5 comments about Dutch Oven Cooking.

1. Be for warned that this book is not about using the good ole' cast iron oven on an open fire. This book is aimed at cooking in your oven in your kitchen. Because of this I was very dissappointed. The dutch oven this book is refering to is ceramic inside and out.



2. While the recipies may lean more to Le Creuset dutch ovens used at home, all of them can certainly be done in the old fashioned DO over charcoal. I find this to be some of the fun in DO cookery rather than just meat, biscuits and gravy. The recipies define steps, oven temps and time clearly. If you like challenges, this is fun.



3. I like this book because the recipes are pretty easy and there is a good number of pictures which always helps. The hearty chili and coq au vin recipes are great.



4. This book offers easy and interesting ways to use the Dutch oven in your kichen to bake, broil, steam, deep-fry, saute, braise, and roast. Recipes run the gamut from great pastas, to yummy soups and stews, classic dishes, and some interesting variations using seafood, meats, poultry, and delicious vegetarian ingredients. It is a great book for really utilizing and using a great kitchen cooking vessel that no home should be without.



5. We have yet to find a recipe that is bad. When company comes, we often pick a recipe out of this cook book and reccommend it. The problem is...it's out of print. We have bought used copies for gifts and have recieved many thanks!! BUY IT if you can find it.

5 comments about Catalan Cuisine: Europe's Last Great Culinary Secret.

1. I am a Catalan person living abroad, and sometimes it is difficult to explain friends that Catalan food is something different to what everybody knows as Mediterranean food, since being totally Mediterranean, it is not Italian nor French. This books discovers the authentic taste of Catalan food, that, as the author says, HAS TO BE DISCOVERED. Try it and enjoy your meals. I can say that CATALAN FOOD IS ONE MILLION BETTER THAN ITALIAN AND FRENCH. It keeps simple and accentuated flavors with simple raw materials, but obtaining an PERFECT COMBINATION.

   CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AUTHOR, and please continue plublishing thousands of more recipes of Catalan food.




2. This study of Catalan cuisine provides an in-depth and excellent approach to the foods and customs of the Spanish province. No color photos, but the book is packed with not only recipes, but observations of the culinary traditions which make Catalan cuisine unique. An outstanding reference.



3. In Catalan Cuisine, Colman Andrews draws upon the great cooking traditions of Spain's Catalonia region. This superb collection of regional dishes showcases the simple and vibrant flavors in hundreds of Catalonia's best and beloved recipes ranging from Valencian Paella with Shellfish; Eggplant Flan; and Sweet Red Peppers Stuffed with Duck, to Salt Cod with Garlic and Paprika; Pork-Stuffed Apples, and Cinnamon Ice Cream with Warm Strawberry Coulis. The recipes are "kitchen cook friendly" and will turn any family meal into a celebration of taste and delight.



4. Catalan cuisine is ancient. It earliest roots go all the way back to the Romans who occupied northeastern Spain.

   It uses many of the same ingredients as other Mediterranean cuisines -- tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, beans, pasta and all kinds of meat -- but it combines them in unexpected ways.

   Who would expect salt cod with honey, for example? Catalan cuisine has it, and Colman Andrews presents its recipe here. And who would expect a restaurant which specializes in salt cod? Andrews tells us that Barcelona has one.

   He says that one very unusual -- indeed unique -- feature of Catalan cuisine is its habit of mixing olive oil and lard together, in the same dish, as a cooking oil. Catalans also use butter as a cooking fat, making for rich, nourishing, tasty dishes.

   Catalonia has both mountains and seashore. So one may find spiny lobster stew (Civet de Llogosta) on the one hand and Andorran-style trout (Truita de Riu Andorrana) on the other.




5. `Catalan Cuisine, Vivid Flavors from Spain's Mediterranean Coast' by the very notable culinary journalist and editor, Colman Andrews, contributes to Spain's cuisine's being the third best documented European cuisine, after Italy and France. Andrews is an important figure in culinary reporting less from his books than from his position as editor of the excellent `Saveur' magazine which, with `Cooks Illustrated', should be one of the two magazines a foodie really should be reading.
   
   `Catalan Cuisine' is as good or better than Andrews other ethno-culinary volume, `Flavors from the Riviera'. Like the earlier volume, its strengths lie primarily in history and a focus on ethnographic accuracy (without loosing too much in the way of practical cookery). For example, Andrews' recipe for the Catalan version of `tortilla espagnole' (potato frittata or omelet) is different from every other recipe I have seen from Spanish culinary experts such as Penelope Casas and Janet Mendel in that it contains no onion. This omission makes the dish a lot less interesting to me as food, but it reveals something which sets Catalan cooking apart from the rest of Spain.
   
   In `Delicioso', Ms. Casas identifies Catalonia as the land of the casseroles. On first blush, there is little evidence of this attribution in Mr. Andrews' book. `Casserole' doesn't even appear in his index. But then, we recall a paragraph early in the book where Andrews identifies the most important cooking utensils in Catalonia. After the ubiquitous paella pan, there is the `cassola' (in Catalan, or `cazuela' in Castilian), an earthenware dish with deeper, straighter sides than a paella and an inside glaze. I really regret that Mr. Andrews didn't find his way clear to give us a picture of this dish, as I visualize it as a sort of `Tarte Tatin' dish a bit over 12 inches in diameter and about two inches deep.
   
   One of the more interesting aspects of Andrews' books is that he always illuminates interesting historical and geographical aspects of his subject. On the Riviera, we learned that for a large part of its history, the French Riviera was politically a part of Italy. Here, we learn that the Catalan influenced region, `paisos catalans', extends into southwestern France, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Andorra, and even a corner of Italian Sardinia. The evidence of this influence is the range of the Catalan language (`Spanish' is actually Castilian, one of the four official languages of Spain, including Basque and Galician), which is not simply a Spanish dialect, but a language of its own, as similar to Italian and French as to Castilian. This is due to the fact that Catalonia was the center of Roman influence in their province, `Hispanolia', and Barcelona was the principle Roman seaport to this region, through which was introduced olive and grape cultivation techniques.
   
   Andrews' primary premise in this book is that Catalan cuisine is at least as distinctive in European food as, for example the cuisine of Campagnia (Naples and Southern Italy). To this end, his organization is highly analytical rather than simply being a collection of representative recipes. The flagship of things distinct about Catalan cuisine may be the four classic sauces of the region, `allioli', `sofregit', `picada', and `samfaina'. While each has some similarities to sauces well known to French and Italian cuisines, the real importance lies in the differences. `Allioli' in Catalonia is made exclusively with garlic and olive oil plus salt (All Catalan food is heavily salted). Other minor ingredients such as vinegar and herbs are allowed (making it seem very much like vinaigrette). The similar Provencal sauce, `Aioli which includes eggs is dismissed as `fancy mayonnaise' which, by the way, Catalans claim was invented in Minorca and not the French city of Mayenne. `Sofregit' is similar to the Italian `soffritto' and the French `mirepoix'. `Picada' is very similar to the `pesto' of nearby Liguria in Italy. Samfaina is similar to ratatouille, cooked down to the consistency of a relish.
   
   Next, practically a third of the book is taken up by `Part Three: The Raw Materials', in which Andrews discusses and presents recipes for the fifteen most important ingredients, which are eggplant, nuts, anchovies, rice, poultry, salt cod, mushrooms, wild game, snails, legumes, organ meats, olives and olive oil, eggs, seafood, and `the pig'. To the logical among us, this may seem a bit messy since one would think that anchovies and salt cod would fall under `seafood', and that organ meats would fall under `the pig', but it all works well enough, as the categories are a way of organizing recipes and not a guide to the Barcelona commodities market.
   
   I really like the fact that aside from having an excellent bibliography, the book refers to several important books on related subject not only to support a point, but also to refer one to important recipes Andrews does not include himself in this book. His most important references are to Penelope Casas' `The Food and Wine of Spain' for recipes on sausage making. This is symptomatic, in that Parsons has no recipes for `basic' techniques such as pasta, pastry, bread, or charcuterie (sausages), in spite of the fact that both pasta and sausage and ham are important Catalan culinary products.
   
   Andrews makes up for his unusual organization by providing an excellent Appendix of `Recipes according to Category' and other useful sources for Spanish tourism and shopping.
   
   I think it's ironic that at the top of the cover is a blurb by the famous Barcelona chef, Ferran Adria praising the book, while there is not a single reference to Adria or El Bulli in this 1988 original book.
   
   A superb culinary essay. Excellent for lovers of Spanish food and foodies in general.

2 comments about A Little Hungarian Cookbook.

1. "Hungarian cuisine is renowned for its plentiful use of paprika. This charming volume presents a collection of classic Hungarian recipes, as well as a few wise words regarding the use of paprika. Paprika Chicken, Sweet and Sour Cabbage, Pickled Cucumbers, Sweet Dumplings and Apple Strudel. Each recipe is accompanied by a lovely full-color illustration." 60 pp.



2. Five stars for presentation. Darling little book that makes you wish there was more in it. (4"x5") Great for a small gift. It has some of the best known Hungarian recipes.

2 comments about Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History (Victorian Life and Times).

1. College-level culinary libraries strong in Victorian history will appreciate Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History, with its survey of Victorian times introduced by nine recipes detailing examples of food production, cooking and diet in early England. Discussions go far beyond the usual cookbook to include surveys of kitchen arrangement and duties, dining habits, social influences on food and wine choices, and much more. An excellent survey any college-level culinary collection specializing in food history will relish.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. I do NOT work for any book company that's trying to pump sales of a book & I found this book to be very interesting & informative. The small print & close lines might make some put it back on the shelf, but it's so interesting to see how the socioeconomic forces in Victorian England influenced the foods that were consumed, which eventually led to some of the traditional foods we eat. It is slow reading--you won't whip throught this in an evening, but it's funny how people are so nostalgic about the homey environments that seem to typify the fond attachments to anything Victorian, but nobody thinks about all the grunt work involved in producing the big, elaborate meals or how much effort was involved in the cleanup. This book isn't for everyone, but if you want to educate yourself as well as learn why we eat some of the foods we eat today, you'll probably enjoy it.

No comments about The Wine and Food of Europe: An Illustrated Guide.

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 My Mother's Cookbook.

1. A fascinating, delightful and beautifully presented cookbook. Truly a work of art. This is pictoral, historical and culinary masterpiece tracing the journey of a family of European immigrants into full-blooded Americans over three generations, featuring the very recipes that fed them along the way. Intriguing, spellbinding and just plain scrumptious, this cookbook is a 'must have.' Often given as a gift (with great feedback). Creates high interest among my club members and friends. Now left out on the dining table as a 'conversation piece.' Never fails to fascinate. Excellect Choice!!!

1 comments about A Pied Noir Cookbook: French Sephardic Cuisine From Algeria (Hippocrene Cookbook Library).

1. I found this cookbook not quite what I had hoped for. Some of the recipes are interesting, and the account of her family was very good. But I had hoped for more uniquely sephardic recipes than it gave me, more middle eastern than french.

2 comments about Culinary Journey to the Mediterranean.

1. I have used this cookbook at least once a week since I bought it last year. It has excellent and easy recipes. I highly recommend the Lebanese Lentils and the Rustic Torta. They are both super easy and delicious!



2. Easy, wonderful recipes. Ingredients were easy to find in any supermarket. Highly recommend the Torta Rustica and Shrimp with Tomato and Feta.

1 comments about VIENNESE COOKING (International Cook Book Series).

1. This is an absolutely horrendous ethnic cookbook. There is no context given to the recipes; it's just a laundry list of about a thousand recipes, put together by category with little background or context. As an outsider's introduction to the food of the Danube Valley and the former Hapsburg empire, it sucks.

   So why give it four stars? It's all about expectations. This is actually not a bad book, as long as you take it as a reference cookbook for an Austrian housewife or chef. The recipes are authentic -- the original Sachertorte, for example, several pages of goulash recipes, and lots of interesting dishes that you might not associate with a Viennese kitchen (Irish Stew). By and large you're getting a look not at the traditional ethnic cookbook (part travelogue, part history lesson) but a look inside the kitchens of the people who eat the food. It's essentially something in the Joy of Cooking tradition.

   I question its appropriateness for a modern American audience; for the most part, to get full enjoyment out of it you have to know something about the culture it came from. But that doesn't make it a bad book; if you need an Austrian recipe, it's in there. This series also tends to be reasonably priced, and it's been around a long time. There is probably better out there, but if you want to see what another culture sees as a cook's bible, this is one book to check out.