5 comments about Oktoberfest, Vienna, Marzen (Classic Beer Style Series).

1. Oktoberfest is one of my favorite types of beers, and homebrewing is my newest hobby. Unfortunately, this book does not give a true "flavor" to the brew. The background information is rather amatuerishly written while the recipes are too involved for beginners. Those wanting to know more about brewing Oktoberfest would be better served by searching the web for numerous websites/recipes.



2. This book does a good job of explaining the style and history of this beer style(s), but is somewhat dated. Since this book came out, the home brewing practices and equipment have changed significantly, and it would be nice to see the book reflect that. Overall this book is worth owning because there is not much literature about Oktoberfest, Vienna, and Marzen beers.



3. My chief complaint about this book is that it was written by George Fix, rather than Darryl Richman. Unlike this book, Richman's book on Bock is a gem. This book however (written about a closely related style), is a disappointment by comparison.
   
   The author built his recipes around Belgian pale and pilsner malts (wrong country, wrong lovibond, wrong flavor), and achieved the requisite color in his recipes with the addition of varying amounts of crystal malt. In other words, he cheated in his recipes by using color malts in order to take advantage of simple infusion mashing. That is *NOT*, the way to make authentic tasting Oktoberfest !
   
   The CORRECT way is brewing with real German vienna & munich malts (correct country, lovibond and flavor), and the correct technique (labor, energy, and time intensive triple decoction mashing, and subsequent long wort boils that generate the distinctive melanoid and caramelization flavors).
   
   Fix also recommends using the wrong yeast strains.
   
   This book is basically a bunch of ill-advised shortcuts and poor recipe decisions, rather than a serious treatise on how to make real authentic Oktoberfest, Marzen, and Vienna style Lagers. This book is a glaring example of why authentic German brewmasters look down their nose and laugh at Americanized versions of their native beer styles.
   
   Speaking as an experienced homebrewer, I was VERY disappointed with this book. Interested readers would do much better to buy Richman's book on Bock instead, and simply adjust the recipes slightly to lower the desired gravity, color, and caramel/melanoid profile.
   
   Not recommended.



4. The main criticism of _Vienna, Marzen, Octoberfest_ (VMO) by G. and L. Fix is that the contained recipes use pilsener malt enhanced with caramel malt additions rather than "authentic" vienna malt. I do not agree with this criticism.
   
   The Fixs' reason for this approach is clearly explained: quality vienna malts were hard to come by at the time of writing, and in light of this supply problem, an alternative formulation was necessary. Continental pilsener malt is closer to vienna malt than standard american 2-row malts, and so it was the natural pick. Contemporary brewers have reasonable access to higher-quality European vienna-style malts and may be able to formulate more authentic recipes, though it is still the case that darker colored malts tend to be made from lower grades of barley. Even though the homebrewer has access to authentic vienna malts, he may still prefer to follow the Fixs' lead in the likely scenario that the vienna-style malts he has access to are not especially fresh; since Pils malt often has a better turnover than specialty styles, it is likely to be fresher. A formulation using crystal malt will also not display as much harsh graininess. While long lagering will generally compensate for such problems and may reward the brewer with a finer product, many home brewers do not have the patience or space to lager a batch of beer for several months, which makes the Fixs' alternative formulations more attractive.
   
   A hybrid of the Fix's approach with the "purist" approach is vindicated in In _Brewing Classic Styles_, Zainasheff and Palmer recommend around equal parts continental pilsener, vienna, and munich malts for both Vienna and Oktoberfest beers (the latter containing caramel malt as well). In addition, Daniels writes in _Designing Great Beers_ that one can be successful in brewing Vienna and Oktoberfest styles using "Munich, Pilsener, and Vienna malts in virtually any proportion (337)."
   
   In addition, while no explicit recipe is given, VMO does present historical information on the vienna style that any experienced brewer could use to formulate an "authentic" or "throwback" recipe. Here's a start: use exclusively vienna-style malt; target between 1.055-1.060 original gravity; use a decoction mash procedure to develop further color and flavor; use styrian goldings or similar hops for all additions, targeting about 30 IBU (perhaps higher to compensate for loss of bitterness over the long lagering time); split the wort and ferment with two different yeasts: one fruity lager strain and one clean lager strain (or even one fruity ale strain and one clean lager strain); blend the two beers before lagering for a heck of a long time.
   
   Another reviewer pointed to Richman's book on Bock beers as an alternative to VMO. I do not agree that _Bock_ is a better alternative, but Richman's book is a great resource for anyone interested in perfecting older lager brewing techniques like decoction mashing---essential for anyone interested in producing turn-of-the-last-century-type lager beers including throwback versions of Vienna and Oktoberfest.
   
   VMO is definitely not the strongest book in the classic beer style series, but the criticism I have seen in reviews on this website is overly harsh.
   
   Happy Brewing



5. This is a good book. While I am no afficionado on Fest beers, I do like to drink them and I certainly like to brew. This is a good book to give you enough background, bring you up to the current status of Fest beer brewing and some basics on brewing some and building your own. Works well for me. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to brew beer and has interest in Oktoberfest beers.

2 comments about The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture (Harvard Historical Studies).

1. This is an eminently readable piece of scholarlship. The information is well-organized, well-expressed, and utterly fascinating. Congratulations to the author. Well done!



2. Pretty accurate historical perspective...and narrative. I will be passing it on to foodie friends.

5 comments about Great British Cooking: Wellkept Secret, A.

1. I am an American who loves Britain and who has lived in England. I think British cooking gets a bad rap, and that's just what the author points out. Just yesterday I made the Brown Windsor soup and it's wonderful, so I'd say I'm off to an excellent start with this excellent book. Hooray!



2. The delight in this book is not only in the recipes, which I have enjoyed immensely. Jane Garmey's wit in the presentation makes one sense a wink at the poor reputation British food generally holds, just as her recipes give it the lie. Generally, British food at its best is wonderful... trouble is that finding it 'at its best' often requires a journey.
   
   The volume is not exhaustive, but presents many classic dishes, most easily prepared (and some which would appeal to, for example, one so avidly traditional as to spend the two months it takes for genuine plum pudding.) It is a pleasant sampler of varied main dish, savoury, pudding, and tea favourites.
   
   I would highly recommend this book to those who enjoy cooking. There are many items here which do not require unusual effort or odd ingredients, and can have wonderful results.



3. Although the book has no pictures, the recipes taste and look like authentic British foods. The measures have been converted to standard American measures and some traditional British ingredients have been changed to easier to find American ingredients such as sour cream instead of creme fraiche; however, this book would be easy to use in any country. A good basic 'What the English really eat' cookbook!



4. I like to cook but don't have as much time for it as I'd like. I can do the recipes in this book on the weekends, but on workdays, they just take too long.
   
   That's too bad, because the food is very good.



5. People who have read my other reviews of cookbooks will know that I grew up around restaurants (my grandfather's)and that I am an avocational home cook and avid but selective cookbook collector. My wife and I grew up in the Northeastern United States and much of our childhood cooking was in the British tradition. For an upcoming return tour of England we wanted to learn more about this cuisine, particularly its iconic dishes. Based upon earlier reviews, this book came at the top of my list and I was not disappointed. So many of the recipes made my mouth water and seemed familiar in a comfortable way. Even before our American interest in local ingredients and local foods, British cooking led the movement. The dishes in this book are just the ones to recreate using quality ingredients produced close to home.
   
   Persons who have ever wondered what "pease porridge" was in the old nursery rhyme will find a tasty recipe here. Travellers who might be put off by a dish like "Cullen skink" will find that they are facing a soup of haddock in creamy milk that is quite appealing. There is a whole chapter devoted to "teatime" and its foundation dishes such as cucumber sandwiches, sweet quick breads, scones and so on. Scotch eggs (eggs wrapped in ground sausage bound up with flour and deep-fried) are one of our great picnic foods and one of England's classic pub offerings. How about sweets like lemon curd and real mincedmeat pie filling? There are great "pickles" like orange chutney. If these dishes appeal to you, do buy the book.
   
   My hardcover purchase dates from 1981 and there are no photos to whet the appetite but the food itself does enough of that. This book is a keeper, even after our tour is over.

5 comments about The Hungarian Cookbook.

1. `The Hungarian Cookbook' by Susan Derecskey may be one of the easiest cookbooks I have yet reviewed, as this is quite literally exactly the food I grew up on. My comfort food, as a kid, was goulash, dumplings, Hungarian crepes, strudel, cabbage and noodles, and chocolate walnut cake, each and every one of these dishes made in exactly the same way as described in this book. All of these dishes came to by from my paternal grandmother who emigrated to the United States just before World War I, from a small town in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, forty miles east of Vienna, which is now in Hungary. From this background, I can say with certainty that this is an exceptionally good evocation of Hungarian cuisine.
   
   This is also an exceptionally good evocation of a national cuisine in general, even when compared to some of the leading treatments I have seen recently of the cuisines of Turkey, Lebanon, Germany, and Armenia. It is also as good as many treatments of French and Italian regional cuisines, although it may not be quite as good as the best of these, and it is certainly not as good as Paula Wolfert's classic work on Moroccan cuisine. It is also just a bit less than the classics on national cuisines such as Diana Kochilas on Greece or Penelope Casas on Spain. But, it is exactly all you need to recreate the great Hungarian dishes I remember from my childhood.
   
   Aside from finding recipes for my long lost chocolate nut birthday cake, the first thing which impressed me about the book was the care in which the author pointed out that some recipes were simply difficult to get right the first time. This fact is probably obvious for strudel dough, but it is less obvious with recipes for potato dumplings.
   
   For those of you who may be totally ignorant of Hungarian cooking, its most distinctive characteristics are noodles, dumplings, and soup. Egg noodles and dumplings essentially serve for Hungarians the role of pasta and risotto has for Italians. This is really carb central in that in addition to the white flour, potatoes are also an important ingredient for many dumpling recipes. And, these dumplings are real gut grenades. They are guaranteed to spike your blood sugar in record time.
   
   Since soup is such an important part of the Hungarian cuisine, I paid special attention to the recipes for stock in Ms. Derecskey's book and found them entirely to my liking. They are not long cooking, the vegetables are put into the simmering stock for just an hour, and the author is more careful than most in advising the cook to be very careful not to boil the stock and to skim off scum as quickly as it appears. I usually don't see as much care given to stock making in books on `minor' national cuisines.
   
   Vegetable dishes are always a special interest of mine and this book has several especially good ones. Like most of central Europe, the king of the vegetables was the cabbage. There are several good asparagus and beet and cucumber recipes, but no sign of artichokes or rapini. This is cabbage country, partner. I was also more than modestly pleased with the recipes for salads. I never associated salads with Mitteleuropa, but there they are. Very nice vinaigrette recipes to be sure.
   
   The only thing that puzzled me about the book and its recipes was the author's stating that Hungarians were not especially fond of mature beef. They preferred to cook veal, including braises and stews, which almost seems like a waste when you can let the cow mature a bit and get much more meat for stewing.
   
   While Hungary does not have the great pastry tradition of its neighbor much did rub off while the two countries were joined at the hip up to 1918 under the Hapsburgs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In fact, Budapest was the empire's second city ahead of even Prague in esteem. The star of the Hungarian pastry is strudel, which has a lot of similarities with Greek filo, but it is not exactly the same. I have tried to make strudel with filo and the results are less than perfect.
   
   If you have any Hungarian in your blood, you really need this book. If you are simply interested in reading of world cuisines, this one is a winner. The instructions on making strudel and dumplings alone are worth the price of admission.
   
   Highly recommended.



2. I'm really pleased with this cookbook. Many of the recipes remind me of the dishes my grandmother used to make. I'll admit to adding a bit more paprika to the goulash than the recipe called for, but overall I was very happy with the results, as were my guests.
   I like that the author recommends side dishes and desserts to accompany and follow the main courses. The section on wine is most welcome as I find more Hungarian wines in my local wine shop.
   If you are of Hungarian descent or simply interested in Hungary, this cookbook makes a good addition to your culinary library.



3. I bought my first copy of this book over thirty years ago, and even then had to special order it. In the last couple of years I have bought four more copies for family and friends as many of the recipes are identical to those of my mother-in-law whose family was from Croatia. Any one whose family originated in the Slavic area of Europe, including Austria, may find some family favorites in this wonderful, entertaining and reliable book.



4. Excellent cookbook,interesting addtional information. Recepies close to mum's. A bit of a shame that it contained no creative photographs but that was known at the time of purchase. The real value is in the authentic recepies.



5. I purchased this as a gift for my brother. All of us siblings enjoyed grandma's and mom's real Hungarian cooking and like to dabble ourselves. My brother is a very decent cook but was lacking a nice Hungarian cookbook. As I scanned this one, I noticed many of our family favorites. This is a simple and attractive little book that I'm sure he and his family will enjoy.
   
   I have several Hungarian cookbooks that look and read like History books. While interesting and well written, they are not as easily navigated. This is better for the busy cook who just wants good Hungarian food.

5 comments about Taste of Romania: Its Cookery and Glimpses of Its History, Folklore, Art, Literature, and Poetry (New Hippocrene Original Cookbooks).

1. I thought this cookbook with its emphasis on art in the title would be a "prettier," more attractive book, more of a coffee table type production. It is, instead, rather clunky in appearance, and the quality of the paper and artwork is not what I expected. It's definitely not a glossy book.



2. Worth a try even if you're not madly in love with a Romanian (as I am)...



3. This book is amazing! I used to be a lousy cook who never "went beyond" (lol) french fries, but this book taught me how to make Romanian soups, steaks, the wee ones "mititei" and so on. It tells you how to choose and where to find the equivalent ingredients in the US, when the original Romanian ingredients are not sold here.
   Also, it gives you an insight of the Romanian culinary culture through some stories, poems and even proverbs related to it.
   It is indeed a great book, not just an ordinary cookbook!



4. This book is a HUGE disappointment. Recipes are complicated and in metric. Unusual ingredients. Better recipes and directions when you Google Romanian Foods AT NO COST



5. Love this book! No, it does not contain pictures but neither did my grandmother's ancient cookbooks that are falling apart now. I love this new book that I can use daily and make changes to it according to my family's traditions.

5 comments about The Gingerbread Man.

1. This is a beautiful book with the most amazing illustrations you will find anywhere! Illustrations make or break a book for me, and this one does not disappoint. My daughter is almost 3 and wants to hear this story over and over, and I love to read it to her. She knows the rhymes by heart and likes to chant along with me when I read.
   
   VERY highly recommended!!



2. The book is wonderful. This was my favorite childhood story and it brought back many pleasant memories. My husband and I are enjoying the book as much as our daughter. She also really loves the book and requests that we read the book several times a week. The illustration is wonderful and enhances an already great story.



3. I read this book to elementary students. They adored this book. It really held their attention. I was amazed at how this book could be used for several other teaching ideas. This book should be in every family and school library. It was so much fun to serve gingerbread cookies from the local bakery after reading this story to my students. Ideal for KK-3rd grade students!



4. First, I want to state up front that Barbara McClintock's charming illustrations and Jim Aylesworth's retelling are excellent for bedtime reading. The book is very appropriate for young children and storytelling groups.
   
   However, my sons didn't react with much enthusiasm. I jokingly blame Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith for that.
   
   Scieszka is the author and Smith the illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. After numerous bedtime readings of that crazy compendium, I decided it was time to introduce the classic story that spawned The Stinky Cheese Man.
   
   Well, the original fell a little flat. Fortunately, we're only weeks away from Christmas, so the book did renew my sons' interest in baking their own gingerbread men.
   
   However, my recommendation is that you read the original to your children first and then follow it up with the parody, especially if you have young boys. I've found that my sons will giggle at just about anything that is "stinky."
   
   In summary, this is an attractive take on a classic tale but the story lacks the silliness to compete with other bedtime books.



5. This is one of if not the most charming version of The Gingerbread Man. The pictures and story are my favorite version of this classic story.

5 comments about A Revolution in Taste: The Rise of French Cuisine, 1650-1800.

1. I enjoyed A Revolution in Taste, though it was a long slog from beginning to end.
   
   My goals were go back to the extravagant, pre-classical period of French Cuisine, and to mine it for lost methods that might be resurrected. In some cases, ideas that were dropped because they were no longer economical can be made practical again through the application of more modern techniques. With this purpose in mind the book is interesting and a worthwhile read.
   
   It also serves, as most thorough histories do, to make it clear that nothing's as simple as you probably once thought.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who has more than a cursory interest in the subject. It's not a breezy read. Very little grooming has gone into making the prose inviting, and every page is dense with information. I much prefer this to fluff, but a bit more polish and annecdote would help the medicine go down easier.



2. This was an interesting book, about the history of french cuisine. The author tries to debunk some of the myths we think of why food choices were made. The book is slow, even for a history book, but enjoyable



3. This is a DENSE little volume. Extensively researched and annotated, it covers everything from the health food fads of the 1600s, to the arrival of the artichoke in various European cities in the 1400s and 1500s, and in Paris itself "shortly after 1532."
   
   You will learn how typical seating arrangements at medieval dining tables discouraged conversation during meals.
   
   Or how, between 1600 and 1650, "culinary refinement" to flatter the tastes of gourmets began to take precedence over prevailing medical theories, some dating back to the time of Hippocrates, about the health effects of various foods and diets.
   
   And how, with the growing profusion of fresh meats and vegetables, French cooking evolved from an early era of heavy, sweet and acidic sauces which largely masked the taste of the food (which might not be so darned good) to delicate cooking and sauces intended to highlight the freshness and natural flavors of meat and produce.
   
   The development of roux based sauces, emulsions. The fact that "nouvelle cuisine" was actually a term first used about food and cooking in 1742 -- eat your hearts out, Gault-Millau.
   
   The arrival of coffee in France in the mid-17th century and how it transformed the typical French breakfast. The evolution (the author calls it a "revolution") from winemaking for local consumption, with wines of reasonably low alcohol and little extract, intended for drinking young, to the deeper and richer Bordeaux, Burgundy and other French wines we collect and cellar today.
   
   There is a handful of recipes from the 17th and 18th century (I've not tried them yet). An extensive bibliography for those who really want to dig in.
   
   Quite the book for the serious foodie. Not likely to be a book most folks will take to the beach, however.



4. This is an excellent new history on a fascinating subject. Pinkard treats her subject beautifully, in lovely and very clear prose. The analogy between nouvelle cuisine innovations and modern locavorism is intriguing. The addition of modernized recipes in the appendix is a pleasant bonus, especially for those of us who are familiar with the original recipes and have always puzzled over some of the more opaque instructions, or wondered what the results would be.



5. An ingredient that will take a book to another level is often the love and care the author feels for the subject, in this case it is French cuisine and it's intriguing history. Author Susan Pinkard's enthusiasm and love for the subject at hand propels her book towards the rarity of excellence and makes for a great and entertaining read. As an amateur chef with a great interest in food the historical insight in this book book was both revealing and a very pleasant surprise. Historical anecdotes abound and enliven the book. It is most interesting to understand the evolution of cooking from heavy sauces intended to disguise bad (no refrigerators then) food to those that would enhance and bring out the natural flavor of food was most informative for me. Another evolution was the change from food as medicinal to something a bit more derived from taste is also interesting. It is all here, a great history, an appendix, and even recipes that can actually be understood. A must for the foodie or for anyone just interested in a fine read.

3 comments about Williams-Sonoma Collection: Italian.

1. The Williams-Sonoma Collection is fantastic. I am slowly trying to complete the collection and always find meal times a pleasure now to try new recipes. Every dish that I follow from the books are always superb and I get a lot of compliments on my dishes. Easy to follow and tasty!
   
   Highly Recommended!!!



2. I was very happy with the "Florence" edition, so I thought I'd try this one; Boy, was I not disappointed! The first dish I tried was the Braised pork-loin with prunes, and I added the pesto lingune with green beans and potatoes, I subsituted the prunes with pears, and the meal came out fantastic. I've eaten in Italian resturants in Beverly Hills and the recipes in this book rival them. Follow the book exactly and you won't be sorry.



3. I really love this book! The pictures are great and the recipes are what I was looking for! I highly recommend it!

5 comments about The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia.

1. As someone who was born and grew up in Tbilisi, I was very happy to find this book -- it captures all of my favorite recipes, and when I prepare them according to this book, they taste just like my grandma's cooking.
   
   More than just a recipe book, this is also an exploration into the rich history and culture of Georgia, and how the history shaped the cuisine. I suggest this book to everyone who would like to add some interesting preparations to their cooking. For vegetarians, Georgians have plenty of healthful and filling ways to prepare veggies and beans, and also some mouth watering sauces that will enliven any dish (veg or not).
   
   I enjoy this book both as a cook book, and as a historical book!



2. I've already written a review of this great book. I have only one suggestion: the basic khmeli suneli recipe can be augmented further to reach the authentic smell and taste. The wikipedia article on khmeli suneli has additional ingredients that can be added to the recipe. I tried that, about 2 teaspoons of each ingredient that's not already in Darra's recipe (less for black and chili pepper), and it came closer to the authentic smell and taste. I think the author of the wikipedia article might have meant safflower (marigold) instead of saffron though, so I didn't add that.



3. This is a marvelous, utterly authentic encyclopedia of Georgian cooking. I tried some of the recipes before leaving for Georgia in summer 2006, and they were great, and gave me a good idea of what to expect. Once in Georgia, the book was an invaluable reference that I constantly turned to whenever I tried something new. Just about *everything* I had is in here, along with many things I didn't get around to sampling.
   
   This book also helped me learn the correct Georgian names for the dishes and many of the ingredients. A significant portion of the book is devoted to providing cultural background on Georgia and Georgian food, such the elaborate rules for a _tamada_, or Georgian toastmaster. With its charming photos of representative paintings scattered generously throughout its pages, it also made me a Pirosmani fan, and better able to appreciate the originals when I saw them for myself.
   
   Most importantly, as the other reviewers say, the recipes *work*. We just made the potato salad with walnut paste (p. 172), and it was delectable. Other dishes we have tried and like include tomato soup with walnuts and vermicelli (p. 73) and green beans with egg (p. 130). Pkhali was one of my favorite dishes in Georgia, and I'm glad to have the recipe for when I get around to making it myself. There is a recipe for beets with cherry sauce, a dish a travel companion had tried but that even some of our Georgian hosts weren't familiar with. For the few recipes that seem to be missing from this book, like eggplant with walnut paste, try Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook, another excellent collection of delicious recipes from all the former Soviet republics.
   
   _The Georgian Feast_ is well worth having even if you don't eat meat - many of the recipes are completely vegetarian. This book is a real treasure.



4. This is an ok effort by Ms. Goldstein but unfortunately the recipes don't quite result in the amazing flavors that Georgian cuisine is known for. Perhaps it is Ms. Goldstein's substitutions of less authentic ingredients as some ingredients in the "real" dish are hard to find. Perhaps it is something else. (Her "adjika" is REALLY bad/wrong for instance....)
   
   OK book if you want an idea of what Georgian cuisine is like. Not good if you REALLY want the real thing...



5. Book: "The Georgian Feast", by Darra Goldstein
   
   Winner of the IACP Book of the Year for 1999, Professor Darra Goldstein's "The Georgian Feast" offers English speaking Westerners an interesting and well researched peek at the cuisine of the Georgia. Not the State of Georgia in the Southeastern United States, mind you, but rather THE GEORGIA, as in the (formerly Soviet) Republic of Georgia, which spans the lands between the Black and Caspian seas, north of Turkey, and South of Russia. The veritable crossroads of the ancient world, through which much of the trade between Europe, Greece, Rome, Russia, India, the Mid East, and China flowed.
   
   LIKES:
   
   * INTRODUCTION: For me, the single biggest joy of this book is the in-depth introduction to Georgian history, geography, and culture ... something I wish more authors would attempt, but which all too often is limited to only the most capable, motivated, and historically erudite authors, few of whom bother to turn their attentions to the culinary genre. In this case, we are blessed with a Russian Professor who labored to assemble an engrossing overview of Georgian feast cuisine. The 25 page introduction and 57 page cultural excursion chapters are gems, and are worth the cover price of the book, all by themselves.
   
   * HEAD NOTES: Many of the recipes in part 2 also include indepth and informative head notes on the ethnic origin and cultural contexts of a given recipe, sometimes replete with cultural vignettes and famous quotes. Again, something I wish more authors would include. To me, a recipe is a participatory story in which you commune with those who created and enjoyed the recipe before you ... and those who will go on making the recipe after you are gone.
   
   * ETHNIC BREADTH: The author covers a wide smattering of the styles present in the cuisine ... grilled fare, pilafs, stews, salads, pickles, soups, desserts, and goes to considerable effort to identify the ethnic and geographical origins behind selections from each. She also spends a little time covering things like `feast' etiquette, and hospitality, that many Westerners will find interesting.
   
   
   MINOR NITS:
   
   * UNPOLISHED RECIPES: The author does an excellent job relating historical and cultural tidbits, but her recipe documentation skills are a bit uneven and unpolished ... walking a meandering line between antique/rustic, and (in a few places) modern. Personally, I don't mind unpolished free-form historical recipes that omit helpful things like the optimum size/shape of vegetable dice (and meat fabrication), size/type of pan, suggested cooking times, optimal sequencing of steps, comforting photos, and tips on making ahead or leftovers management. However, those who DO feel a strong need for such things may be disappointed by their absence.
   
   * MINOR NON-AUTHENTIC SLIPS: The author does a fine job in most of the book giving slightly modernized adaptation of authentic recipes. However, in several instances, some recipes are over modernized, to their detriment. For example, the recipe for "Cold Jellied Pork" on p.96, the authoress indicates the use of pigs feet and a little pork shoulder, but in deference to modern sensibilities, calls for the feet to be discarded after simmering (prior to straining and reducing the stock to a jelly into which the meat is set). I'm pretty certain, sight unseen, that period recipes would likely have called for the feet to be simply deboned and coarsely chopped along with the shoulder, rather than discarded ... such waste is only common to modern cuisine.
   
   * MINOR ERRORS: Minor errors abound - such as the yeast bread on p.138 that appears to call for too much yeast.
   
   * IMPRECISE TERMINOLOGY: In addition to the frequent lack of things like dice size, the author sometimes uses terms in a somewhat vague fashion ... such as "Salt" (is it fine table salt, medium salt, or coarse salt ?), yeast (baker's ? instant rise ?) or "Dried Fenugreek", the latter of which the reader must hunt around to confirm that it refers to dried ground leaves, not dried ground seeds. The helpful introductory chapter on ingredients covers some (but not all) of these, but the editor could and should have clarified the recipes on such points.
   
   All in all, I was very happy with this book, and I'm looking forward to exploring some flavors and techniques that are a bit new to me (walnut sauces, pomegranate juice, etc.).
   
   Despite the lack of polish in the recipe section, I highly recommend this book for the culinarily inquisitive who like to cook exploratively, without the comforting training wheels of precise measures and photos.

5 comments about Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

1. I have been an amateur cook for several decades, with a particular weakness for patisserie. It is without doubt the hardest of the culinary specialties to master.
   I am perhaps a little too long in the tooth to be wowed by anything in the baking department, but here is a book worthy of any good cook's attention. It has been lovingly assembled with beautiful photographs of the many coffee houses mentioned, and you would have to have a heart of stone not to be seduced by at least some of them. More to the point are the recipes themselves. Having tried a number of them, I can attest to their authenticity and exquisite quality.
   I suppose that this is not intended as a book for beginners, and certainly would not recommend it as such. If, however, you have passed the point of having to throw away that sticky mass of dough that somehow went wrong, you may well be a candidate for this extremely accomplished book. If, in addition, Austro-Hungarian patisserie is your bag (and whose isn't?) then go ahead. Buy it and enjoy!



2. The book itself is elegant enough to display on your coffee table. The pages are shiny and the recipes are detailed. There is a background story to each pastry, though the pictures would be more meaningful with captions. The shipping was fast and wonderful. I am very happy with the overall purchase!



3. This is not a set or recipes from the coffee houses of Vienna, Prague or Budapest. These have been altered to fit American tastes in quite a number of instances. There are descriptions in the recipes where the author states this plainly, but he usually DOES NOT give the original recipe or any other indication of what the changes are.
   
   Some of the changes may be trivial, or they may be large changes. Who knows without the original recipe ? However, the use of high fructose corn syrup in some of the basic preparations is an indication of the problem.
   
   Having tried some of the recipes (I've only had the book for a couple of week so far), the results are quite OK, but I was trying recipes where I knew that they sounded like recipes from some of my other European cookbooks, and not the obviously altered recipes.
   
   The lack of the original recipes makes this merely a nice introduction to these great desserts, but not a book to give you a 'true' taste. If you are in the US and an introduction is all you want, then this would be an excellent book, no question of it. Otherwise, there are better books out there.
   
   (And on a purely personal note, a 'stick of butter' is meaningless outside of the US. Why can't the author use standard measurements ? That's what standard measurements are for. Yes, I can use a certain famous search engine to find out how much a stick of butter is in grams and write that alongside the recipes, but I shouldn't have to do so...)



4. If you can find this book, for a reasonable price that is, get it. This book was done with great love. Reading through the list of ingredients and instructions, I came to realize that these recipes are no easy feat. I fell in love with this book, because it has put to use Farmers cheese which I have come to absolutely love. When your family or friends taste these recipes, they will praise you highly. All your love and labor would have been worth it.
   
   As for some of the comments on this book.... There are no pictures in this book, but who cares. You can not eat the picture. You can eat the final product of the mixed and baked ingredients. I don't care for pictures anyhow, as it gives a view from one persons eyes as how it SHOULD come out. As long as you follow the wonderful directions, you will achieve succes in the preperation and the visualization aspect of the dessert. Have patience. Have fun. Experiment.
   
   As for the comment of blandness... everyone is different. Add more sugar the next time, or more chocolate or fruit or whatever it is you like. There is no cookbook that exists that meets the needs or wants of every individuals palate. Even in Vienna. While assembling a dessert I sneak a taste here and there and usually I am able to tell what it needs more, or what it needed less of. Once it's baked, I can not do anything about it... Take notes and try again.
   
   Also, one should always read a cookbook, especially, before attempting. I never take a book into the kitchen whils cooking, I always write the recipe down on a piece of paper for preservation of the books sake. Since this is becoming a hard book to find, I really want to preserve it. (This is for those who comment on the editing - For which I found no fault).
   
   Anyhow, a GREAT book on desserts from exotic lands, to me at least, that I am sure will wow my guests or yours, at the range of our tastes/inspirations.
   Thanks Rick Rodgers. Lovely book.
   
   Enjoy.



5. I bought this cook book before it escalated to the present $90 + dollar price, and I must say, to those of you contemplating buying it now - that it is probably still worth it. I have no culinary background, just a fondness for cooking, and I was able to reproduce the Esterhazyschniten that is featured on the cover of this cookbook, and mine turned out looking almost identical. The history, photos and recipes in the book are fantastic - I have made several now and all yield excellent results, including the Poppy seed cake and the Schniten above and a delightful triple layered cake with walnut, apples and poppy seeds. I gave that one to some other "gastronomes" who were delighted with it. The only thing I am lacking for creating more of these authentic desserts is time; the instructions are thorough, the recipes precise, and the history captivating. Buy the best coffee your grocer provides and create one of these almost heavenly delights. Its almost as good as renewing your passport and going there!
   
   I bought one of these for a dear friend in addition to my own copy. I highly recommend this book! I would not hesitate to buy anything from this author, as he is logical and easy to follow. He manages to convey some of the fun that he had in experiencing the coffee hauses for himself. That makes this cookbook diverting.