2 comments about Cooking the Swiss Way (Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks).

1. Cooking the Swiss way is a simple book with basic Swiss recipes. It also gives a broad explanation of some of the Swiss customs. It is a fantastic book (5 stars) for the young cook in the kitchen trying new cultural recipes although for the more advanced it misses its mark.



2. This entire series is fantastic. I've been using it both with my Girl Scouts & 4H clubs for about 20 years now, but also for myself.

   This is meant to be a children's cookbook, but unlike most on the market it doesn't talk down to them. A fantastic introduction to the regional cooking with lots of useful information regarding cooking in general & ethnic cooking as well.

   Not for someone who is advanced in a particular cuisine, but it does what it sets out to do really, really well. Just wish they would put out regional American cooking books as well.

No comments about Curye on Inglysch (Middle English recipes) (Early English Text Society Supplementary Series).

2 comments about Quality Czech Mushroom Recipes.

1. Mushroom hunting in the old countries is a popular activity. When the Czech and Slovak immigrants came to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and other states with woodlands, they naturally explored for mushrooms. The recipes in this little book reflect the culinary traditions of the people.

   This book contains appetizers, main entrées, soups, salads, egg dishes, sautés, sauces, and spreads. There are many old fashioned recipes cherished by the immigrants and others adapted to the New World.

   Recipe contributors come from Eastern Iowa and other states as well. The Guild of the Museum was founded by Charter Members Mae Novotny, Sylvia Rohlena, Marjorie Stone, Patricia Hikiji and Evelyn Lamparek, all from the Cedar Rapids area. The non-profit museum was dedicated in October 1995. Its purpose is to promote an active interest in Czech and Slovak history, culture and fine arts. The activities, programs, and other educational opportunities offered by the Museum & Library are consistent with the mission of protecting an Old World heritage.

   Cedar Rapids area Guild Members Barbara Edmunds, Fern Fackler and Marilyn Tucker along with Cynthia Tucker Shaffer of Burke, Virginia were essential in the book's development. Melinda Bradnan, editor, used recipes from her mother-in-law Marion of Cleveland, Ohio, reflecting her Slovak heritage. Roger Mather of Iowa City contributed a poem about mushrooms.




2. The above would have been a far more fitting title for this collection. The title gives one the impression that this is a book of recipes from Czech and Slovak immigrants who brought over mushroom recipes from the old country. This is in fact a collection of recipes from Americans of Czech descent (predominantly from the Midwest - 72 of the 97 recipes are from contributors living in Iowa, and only 9 from contributors living in East- or West-Coast states), probably several generations removed from the old country, and having seemingly no knowledge of Czech cuisine - certainly almost none of the recipes here show any basis in the cuisines of Eastern or Central Europe at all, beyond the occasional use of sour cream!

   As for "quality", most of these recipes remind me of the kind of the kind of things you'd find in a 1950's "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook - numerous recipes for casseroles and meatloaf, stuffed mushrooms, pallid versions of Asian and French dishes, etc. Many recipes call specifically very low-quality ingredients, for example, a quiche recipe that calls for Velveeta cheese! The recipes here seem to have been compiled in 1959, not 1999. The vast improvements and innovations that have taken place in American cooking over the last 30 years seem to have largely passed by the contributors to this collection. Even the better recipes here (such as Pork Loin with Three-Mushroom Sauce) are recipes any knowledgeable cook could adapt out of "The Joy of Cooking".

   My recommendation if one is looking for Czech mushroom recipes is to pick up Jack Czarnecki's "Joe's Book of Mushroom Cookery" and try some of the Czech-inspired recipes found there, or pick up a good Czech/Slovak cookbook and adapt recipes found there to dishes featuring various kinds of mushrooms.

No comments about Food and Cooking in Viking Times (Cooking in World Cultures).

3 comments about Flavors of the Riviera.

1. Colman Andrews was my roomate's boyfriend when I lived in LA in the 60's, and it is a pleasure to see that the very handsome young writer and foodie became so distinguished in his career path. In those days he and my roomate would often go off to Italy or Yugoslavia (the Dalmatian Coast) on trips that always encompassed dining excursions; hilarious stories of these events made the trips come alive for me upon their return. Colman is as interesting a person as is his writing, and this book is unlike any other cookbook I have read, as it is as much a travel book as cookbook. He is also editor of Saveur Magazine...this man knows cooking and travel and writes intelligently and humorously on both subjects. Even if you don't cook, you will be entertained, enlightened by the information on food, produce, wine, language, history and probably you will want to book a seat on the next flight to the Riviera within the first few pages!



2. `Flavors of the Riviera' by leading culinary journalist and executive editor of `Saveur' magazine, Colman Andrews, could just as easily be identified as `The Cuisine of Liguria' (more on this later) but the most important message of this book is in its subtitle, `Discovering Real Mediterranean Cooking'.
   
   In many ways, this book belongs to that noble clan of books on Italian regional cooking exemplified by Arthur Schwartz's `Naples at Table', Fred Plotkin's `La Terra Fortunata' on the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Lynne Rosetto Kaspar's `The Splendid Table' on the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna. To some people, including myself, the Riviera in the title primarily evokes France of Cannes and Toulon and Marseilles. Actually, the proper geographical region `Riviera' is in three parts, the larger two being in the Italian region of Liguria from La Spezia in the east to Sanremo in the west. The smallish French portion of the true Riviera is the Mediterranean coast from Menton to Nice, including the principality of Monaco. To make the picture even more Italian, Mr. Andrews relates how this French region was for several centuries part of an Italian region, conquered for France by Napoleon in his invasion of Italy and ceded permenantly to France in an election coinciding with the unification of Italy under Garibaldi. In fact, the dialects of these French and Italian provinces is its own Latin based language sounding part French and part Italian.
   
   So, while the Riviera is largely Italian Liguria, it is not all of Liguria, because this coastline is bordered by steep hills and mountains, being the foothills of the Alps and the Apennines. The region is dominated by two cities, Genoa, the capitol of Liguria and Nice, the fourth largest city in France. Neither are as glamorous as some of their more famous cousins such as Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Milan, and Trieste. Genoa, in fact, is downright dowdy, immersed in its role as a major port and not bothering itself a lot with tourism. Nice has a bit more of the `Atlantic City' air about it as a resort town, but it is not as fashionable as other French cities such as Paris, Lyon, or Marseilles.
   
   Among all books on regional culinary subjects, one may place those by Paula Wolfert and Lynne Rosetto Kaspar at one extreme where the focus is on culinary excellence. Mr. Andrews' book falls at the other extreme, aiming primarily for journalistic, historical, and analytical excellence. As such, his opening essay on the elements of an `authentic' cuisine in general and the `authentic' Mediterranean cuisine in particular should be read by all foodies before they read any more books on any regional culinary speciality. I have no wish to steal his thunder, but the sense of his analysis is that many writers of the `Mediterranean' cuisine is more a description of how people eat at Chez Panisse than how they eat in Nice or Messina or Antioch or Tunisia. I have had some faint intimations of the incongruities of which Coleman speaks when I read and hear one Italian cuisanard after the other claim that `we are talking of the cuisine of poverty' only to proceed to recipes laden with procuitto, parmesan, truffles, and artichokes. This is a bit of an exaggeration, since, for example Mario Batali, on his `Molto Mario' show often highlights ways in which the use of bread crumbs, stale bread, organ meats, and wild greens played a role in the `cuisine of poverty', but that didn't stop him from using the expensive stuff too.
   
   Andrews does not dispute the evidence of the healthfulness of the `Mediterranean Cuisine', but like the very popular recent book on why French women don't get fat, he points out that this healthfulness has as much to do with taking a long time to eat and proper rest and exercise in conjunction with eating what is available locally.
   
   One of Andrews' points is that we probably are not really interested in the authentic cuisine of poverty. How many of us are really eager to sit down to a gruel of chestnut flour and milk? Another very interesting point in Andrews' analysis is that many classic dishes are really rather new. I was first struck with this fact when I realized that dried pasta was not even very common in northern Italy until the second half of the 20th century. Another excellent example is the fact that the ingredients of the classic Provencal dish, ratatouille are almost half `New World' immigrants, which were not even used very much in Europe until early in the 19th century, as they were suspect due to their relation to the deadly nightshade.
   
   The last of Andrews' key points about `authentic' cuisine is that very, very few dishes have a single `authentic' recipe. While one can point to a `genuine' Caesar's salad recipe, since the dish was invented at a particular time and place by a particular well-known individual, it is simply impossible to identify a definitive Salade Nicoise. While Julia Child may give us a complicated recipe with lettuce and a potato salad, the historical recipe includes neither ingredient.
   
   Coleman Andrews does not go so far as to give us a book full of recipes for chestnut flour and milk. He does, however, give us recipes that can be traced to practitioners who are native to the Italian Riviera, and he is careful to cite these sources. In many ways, his book is an excellent extension of Nancy Harmon Jenkins' analytical `The Essential Mediterranean' in that he gives us essays on all the basic elements of the Riviera terroir.
   
   While the recipes in this book are sound, they are not the main attraction. The center ring at this show is Andrews' manifesto on what you really mean when you speak of `authentic' cooking and cuisine.
   
   Highly recommended for foodies and students of cuisine.



3. A book I refer to constantly. None of the recipes are difficult, and the flavors complex. Brilliantly written. A real treasure. The pesto castelnuovo recipe has become one of my favorite comfort foods!

1 comments about Doin' Dutch Oven: Inside and Out.

1. This book is ok if you just want a list of recipes. It doesn't say anything about setting up the fire or conditioning the dutch ovens. It just says: put some coals underneath and on top; or put on stove or in oven. In the later part of the book, most recipes include items that are already pre-made - in cans or in pouches - not really what I'm looking for (and it doesn't even list them specifically). This would have gotten 2 stars if it weren't for the chapter on 'special seasonings'. All that chapter does is offer a list of seasoning ingredients for $100 - pathetic.

No comments about Delightfully Dutch: Recipes and Traditions.

4 comments about The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages (Studies in Anglo-Saxon History).

1. it had tons of information on how they ate and i found that intreging. unfortunetely it did not tell you substitutions on the meals for today. it would be so much fun to actually eat the things they had back then.



2. "The Art of Cookery" is a substantive book. It is wide-ranging, lucidly written and is both erudite and appropriate for a general reader. This is not a cookbook. It is, however, an essential book to read for anyone who is interested in cooking food from the middle ages, as well as anyone interested in the history of the European diet. If you are looking for recipes then you should consider Terence Scully's "The Neapolitan Recipe Collection." It is a scholarly presentation of a late 15th century manuscript at the Pierpont Morgan Library. Mr. Scully's commentary, like the text of the "The Art of Cookery," is lucid and fabulously informative.



3. This book has so much information it can be alittle daunting at first but keep going. It has no recipes per say but it will tell you about table manners, syrups, regional differences and so much more. This is must for the library, not just if you like to cook but are also interested in the culture of the period.



4. As with her many other books Scully, has produced a book that is rich in detail with the culture and locals of the middle ages. This book has one draw back, you won't be preparing anything from it. I have mainly used this book for a historical perspective, while gathering ideas for potential menus that I wish to make. So often I have wondered what would have been period or what would have gone with a particular recipe that I was trying. This book will aide you in this.

No comments about Renaissance Secrets: Recipes and Formulas.

2 comments about Classic Austrian Cooking (Cookery Classics).

1. This book is a classic in its area. There are not (in my experience) a lot of books about Austrian cooking. Often, indiginous Austrian dishes like the well-known Wiener Schnitzel get lumped into books about German or Hungarian cooking. Not that there isn't any resemblance, but the Austrian aspect gets ignored. Beer's book goes a long way at remedying this. The book has the classic, well-known recipies, plus others that are less well known. For example, a tasty lentil soup makes a good vegetarian entree. And there are others as well. The biggest problem I found with using the book is that there are too few pictures to show what you are making is supposed to look like. If you follow the directions as written, chances are what you make will look at least marginally like you'll find in the pictures included, but the shots are too few and all sandwiched in the middle. That being said, I can vouch for the authenticity of the recipies. My mom was from Austria, and learned to cook from her grandmother, who had been a cook for a family of the Austrian nobility in the Habsburg days. Well, mom keeps my copy of this book at her house and uses it quite often. Many of the dishes she knows by heart, but it says a lot for the recipe's authenticity when my mom trusts it enough to use for her own cooking!



2. This is update of a 1954 cookbook, with ingredients brought up to date with supply and some techniques also caught up with modern equipment. The cake war, as author calls it, is also updated.

   I agree with another reviewer who thought photos would have enhanced this, as they do all cookbooks. It certainly inspires one trying it after seeing it prepared and presented.