5 comments about A Taste of Ancient Rome.

1. I bought "A Taste of Ancient Rome" more out of historical interest than out of any real desire to prepare foods in the Roman style. One day, though, I ended up being given six frozen mallard ducks, and one of the recipes in this book, Duck with Turnips, caught my eye. I tried it, and it was absolutely amazing. Since that day I've prepared over half of the recipes in this book, and I've found most of them to be delicious, easy to prepare, and economical.
   
   One of the more enjoyable facets of international cooking is seeing how cooks from different cultures meld flavours in a way most of us in North America would never think of. The recipes in this book contain many combinations that would seem to us to be insane. Duck with turnips? Cream of wheat or spelt with a ham bone? Cantaloupe with garlic and pepper? Tuna steak with dates? These blends sounds very bizarre, but they all work, and work well.
   
   The writer has included a few recipes which couldn't be prepared in our time (such as the recipe calling for parrot!) simply to show the decadence of first-century Rome. But what surprised me the most about the other recipes is how many of them are absolutely accessible to the modern chef. One reason for this is the fact that the ingredients unfamiliar to us can for the most part be easily substituted with ingredients we have on hand. Apparently, even some Romans (Pliny the Elder, for instance) hated garum and substituted salt, so it's not inauthentic for us to do so. Another reason is simply that we still eat many of the foods the Romans did. Although they didn't have pasta, tomatoes, potatoes, soy, corn, or any of the other foods borrowed from the Far East or the New World, they did have most of the meats, fruits, nuts, and vegetables we eat on a daily basis.
   
   That said, this book is not for everybody. There seems to be a subset of North Americans who eat nothing but conventional, middle-of-the-road food and who have no interest in anything the least bit unusual or new. If you shop for all your groceries at Wal-Mart, if you turn down any food that isn't aggressively conservative as being weird, foreign, or disgusting, and if TGIFridays or Appleby's is your idea of a really good restaurant, you probably won't enjoy this book. However, if you are able to go beyond your food comfort level and especially if you're interested in how people ate 2,000 years ago, A Taste of Ancient Rome might be for you.



2. This book seems to be a great way to gain an understanding of the cuisine of Old Rome. The first section is an introduction in which the reader has a lot of the peripheral detail explained as a preparation for getting into the recipes. I've just stayed with one or two of the simpler items for now but perhaps I shall present a feast fit for Lucullus in the not too distant future.



3. From eggs to fruit, this book on Roman cooking gives us the recipes, in both Latin and English, updated to fit modern tastes and modern ingredients. Some spices and herbs, frankly, no longer exist, but the author does her best to select the best replacements. But she does not end there? No, she also gives us the history of dining in Rome. Her book gives us a lot about dining, trade and preparation. She really fills out the background behind the food.



4. I checked a copy of "A Taste of Ancient Rome" out from my university library to prepare a menu for a "real" toga party in 2003. The food was a huge hit with my friends - we had the stewed apricots, the roasted meat, the green beans with cumin and I can't even remember what all else.
   
   It took me five years, but I liked the cookbook so much that I've finally purchased my own copy. I'm not a cookbook buyer in general, but I liked that this one had a balance of interesting history and recipes I could make.
   
   I am in a historical re-creation group, but I don't generally do food/cooking research. I found it perfectly suitable to my needs, but can't speak to it from a serious researcher's point of view. It feels more like the result of a serious researcher's work. Which is to say: this isn't a primary source, and if you're used to working at that level, there may be details missing that you'd like to see.
   
   But as someone who just wanted to cook a tasty Roman meal, I found this well worth the price.



5. Want to do a little time traveling with dinner? This book will take you back two thousand years. Ms. Giacosa starts with a few chapters of historical background, followed by the meat of the book - essentially Apicius for modern cooks.
   
   The recipes are presented in a three-part form - first, the original Latin, then a literal translation of the original, then her adaptation and modernization. In some cases, she also describes a modern dish, usually from Italy, that may be related to the Roman version.
   
   The originals normally don't give amounts or cooking instructions, so the modernized version is only one possible interpretation. (So, feel free to adjust them to your taste - the Romans probably would have.) As another reviewer pointed out, readers who are nervous about anything more exotic than cheeseburgers should stay away, but my family liked a lot of these reconstructions. Pork with apples, tuna with dates, asparagus patina (a patina is like a frittata, basically, though some of the patinas are more like quiche), carrots in cumin sauce... Some are complicated, but many are very simple - the best one I've tried so far is the sauce for tuna: Pepper, oregano, mint, onion, a bit of vinegar, and oil. This is DELICIOUS over cold broiled tuna steak.
   
   Fun and fascinating!

5 comments about Hungary (Culinaria).

1. I really like this book. All of the CULINARIA books are huge. They're probably not the most handy to have sitting on your counter while you're trying to cook up something from the pages, but still, they're pretty darn cool. This book has really nice, quality photos with insight about what the picture is showing you. The history packed into these books is crazy. It covers everything related to cuisine in Hungary. And I do mean everything. If you not only have an interest in the food of this country, but also a curiosity about the history behind the food,... GET IT. If you're only interested in some interesting historical tid-bits about Hungary and it's culture, but not really interested in the recipe aspect,... GET IT. It covers both and isn't boring.



2. I borrowed this book from the library in my ongoing search for a reliable English version of the recipe for Esterhazy Torte which I first ate in Hungary, a cake to die for - truly. Anyway, I didn't get it in this book but it gave me everything else! This book does have many recipes but I would not really characterize it as a recipe book. Rather, it is about Hungary's traditional agriculture, its resultant tastiest base ingredients for the local cuisines. Basically, it is a book about traditional Hungary, the country, seen through its foods and drinks. You kind of feel like you're being taken on a tour of the country with stops along the way to eat the local specialties (through your eyes until you can get into the kitchen). I wish I had read this book before I went to Hungary because now I see how much a missed. It has lots of colorful pictures and just the whole presentation is A-1, including the quality of the physical book. It doesn't have the most recipes but it has the best ones. I did have trouble understanding what some of the ingredients were here and there but I am sure some research would clear it up for me. I recommend everyone who is interested in Hungarian food buy this book FIRST and then buy additional books afterward. I even recommend it for anyone planning a trip to Hungary. I wouldn't lug it along but it would really help you plan a few key restaurants, cafes and markets to go to and what key dishes and drinks you have to have.



3. this is a terrific book of authentic hungarian cuisine, the book focuses heavily on recipies with sour cream, paprika and sweets. i give it four stars for a reason though, one i found rather annoying at times
   
   not all recipies have quantities required for them!!!!
   
   this is very annoying for instance with goulash soup which requires "a layer" of paprika, took me 3 tries to get the right amount. If only it said 1/4 of a cup like i ended up using it would have been perfect.
   
   so make sure you remember when making those ones to write down the quantity you use in the book once you get it right and you have a 5 star book.



4. This book is authentic. It is not only a great cookbook but also a colorful introduction to the Hungarian culture. I am a Hungarian living in the US and have always had a hard time explaining our ingredients, dishes and delicacies to my friends and when I saw this book I realized that this was the best solution. That was all I needed in my kitchen, so now whenever I serve a Hungarian dish to my guests, I just show the book as an explanation. We always have a good laugh at the pictures and at the stories and memories they bring up, it is a great way to show where and how I grew up - and what I was eating meanwhile.
   
   The recipes are authentic and they cover the variety of the home-made dishes we eat.
   This book will make you want to cook a tasty gulyas soup and a chicken paprikas with noodles... but be careful! You may soon find yourself sitting in a cafe in Budapest trying one delicious pastry after the other, or getting dizzy on a wine-tasting tour near the Balaton or trying to sneak some sausage and pickled vegetables in your suitcase on the way back. :) Jó étvágyat! Enjoy!



5. I'm very happy with this book. The recipes I've made so far reminded me of home. I especially loved
   the creamed spinach recipe (spenot), which turned out just perfect. (I followed the book's recipe to the
   letter.) Not everyone will like this particular dish, but this is what I grew up with and I always loved it.
   I have numerous Hungarian cookbooks--some from Hungary--but this is by far the best.
   
   I'm also impressed that on one of the first few pages there's a picture of carp soup. I'm originally from Baja,
   Hungary, where this soup is served at Christmas at many family's tables. There's nothing I've ever tasted in
   the 50 years of my life that compares to a properly made carp soup--absolutely nothing. I'm so impressed
   that this book gives this dish the attention it deserves.
   
   If you think that carp soup is a joke, do a Google search using the following key words:
   baja hungary fish soup festival
   
   However, don't bother trying to make the soup...

5 comments about The Gingerbread Boy.

1. An old woman and an old man have no kids, so the old woman makes a gingerbread boy. When she opens the oven, the gingerbread boy jumps out and runs away. He gets chased by the old woman and old man, a cow, a horse, and some farmers out threshing. Eventually, a fox manages to catch the gingerbread boy through cunning, and the fox eats him up. Some kids may find the story quite scary, and may find the unhappy ending a bit disconcerting. But it's a classic tale and quite engaging. The book has about 1300 words.



2. This is one of the great books for parents to get for their kids bookshelves. I've really enjoy reading this book when I was kid. It's about a childless old couple who got lonely and the old woman decide to bake herself a gingerbread boy, who ran away once done and kept on running from and cow and a horse, but only to end up getting outsmarted and eaten by the fox. A great classic tale and racy read. You even found yourself running along the gingerbread boy as you read this book.



3. Paul Galdone's adaptation of The Gingerbread Buy is a wonderful version of the story. It is great for teachers and for families. I use it in my classroom every year with my first grade students.



4. This audio book has no read along for kids, a big disappointment!



5. This is a timeless classic enjoyed again and again. Illustrations are great and the story capivates young & old audiences alike.

4 comments about A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences (Hippocrene Cookbook Library).

1. Judith Pierce Rosenberg's A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes And Reminiscences is no ordinary recipe collection, but a collection of stories of Swedish culinary and cultural heritage, supplemented with recipes from Rosenberg's Swedish roots. What's the difference between this and a cookbook? Reminiscences of life in Sweden revolve around food, with such succulent descriptions as have not been seen since the late food writer James Beard's works. The first hundred pages are devoted to these descriptions...but if you wish recipes alone, it's easy to go to the second part of the book, with its lightly color-coded page edges. Don't skip the first part, though - you'd be skipping the heart of a wonderful collection in A Swedish Kitchen.



2. This cookbook was more memoirs than recipes. There were very few recipes for very common swedish items such as swedish crisp bread ( a staple). This is NOT a reference book. It is merely following a wealthy woman's travels while enjoying Swedish food. Her memoirs were somewhat interesting, but it became repetitive towards the middle of her book. Some of the recipes were accurate.



3. I am the recent bride of a Swede (that makes it sound like some Viking conquest!), and I was so happy to find this book with stories and recepies that the author, also an American married to a Swede, enjoys. Learning not only the way to prepare my husband's favorite dishes that we can't find ready-made in the US, but also learning the background of each special occasion or holiday that these dishes are tied to really expanded my knowledge and understanding of this other country that I visit every year as well as of the man I married. My husband was very happy with our Christmas feast this year. This book made a big difference. Tack ska du ha, Judith!



4. The author and I have something in common - we're both Americans who are married to Swedes. The first half of this book is about her travels in Sweden, the people she's met and the places she's shopped or dined at - which is great for me, since I've been over to Sweden quite a few times now. I haven't actually tried any of the recipes yet, but my husband has looked at them and thinks they're quite authentic. He can't wait for us to try some of them!

5 comments about The Art of Romanian Cooking.

1. As an avid cook, I highly recommend this book, full of origical recipes based on Romania's history and traditions. There is a huge selection of recipes to choose from: meat, fish, soups. And the best things are in the desserts chapters. I especially liked the walnut budinca. And the ingredients are easy to find anywhere and the recipes easy to follow. The authors little stories are also very interesting.



2. Romania is usually included in general cookbooks about the Baltic nations, so it's refreshing to see it earn its own acclaim in The Art Of Romanian Cooking, a specialty cookbook which covers everything from appetizers such as Fried Cheese Papanasi to Tongue with Olives. The historical commentary accompanying many of the dishes is also fascinating and inviting.



3. We recently visited the country and enjoyed the food so much that we wanted to try it at home. This book was a great resource for what we wanted.



4. Personally I am a romanian and as you see from my reviews I only review what I am passionate about or different items regarding Romania. This item in particular is a good thing to buy if you are interested in learning more about Romanian cooking. Romania has several unique meals as well as different ways of cooking some common day things than the US. Any of you ever hear of pork gelatin/pork jello? Well, it's not what you think but actually a mix of pork, gelatin and other spices served during the holidays in Romania and quite tastefull. You might also be surprised about some Romanian appetizers and how good or different they taste. This book is also very good for those of you who have gone out to Romania tasted and liked the cooking but had a hard time getting original recipes for some of the things you tasted. Who better to show you this than someone who had actually lived there as this author.
   Many people I have met personally were very pleasantly surprised at some of the tastes of Romanian food and its appearance while some have it at some special ocassion as.. well something different. If you ever wanted to try Romanian deviled eggs, the Romanian meatballs "mici" or other types of foods then buy this book. Hope you enjoy and I wish you a taste of Romania in every bite.



5. For someone used to American (and western) cooking, it is better than its Romanian counterpart, which I just bought upon a recent visit to Romania.
   Recipes are clear and easy to follow.
   Lya.

5 comments about Finnish Cookbook (International Cookbook Series).

1. I love this book, and I would never have stumbled upon it except for Amazon's "recommendations" program.
   My grandmother was Finnish and used to bake bread on a regular basis. I was only 7 years old the last time I saw her, but as I knead the Finnish rye bread dough, I can see her in her kitchen making bread.
   I want to make everything in the book. Everything in it seems "right" to me. I see myself in it.



2. This book is an introduction to the Finnish kitchen. Ojakangas, a second generation Finnish-America, learned some traditional Finnish dishes from her grandmother. But when her husband was awarded a Fulbright grant in Finland for 1960-61, she was able to get make an intensive study of Finnish food culture. She discovered how some of the dishes she had learned to make as a child had roots deep in Finland, while others were presumably American creations. In this collection of recipes, Ojakangas focuses on the foods found on Finnish tables, although she does include some of the Finnish American traditions that have become standard in Finnish-American culture.
   
   The book makes fascinating reading, for Ojakangas provides not only the common recipes, but she also includes with each recipe a brief description of how the dish fits into the context of the daily diet. Rather than following the standard American cookbook organization of appetizers and soups, main dishes, sides dishes, and desserts, Ojakangas pay close attention to which types of foods are most important for Finns and how they are used together. With this in mind, the book begins with breads, moves on to the coffee table (mainly cookies and cakes), pastries (both sweet and savory), soups, fish, meat dishes (heavy on the liver, pork, and sausage, and very little chicken), vegetables and salads (mostly roots, very little greenery), desserts (fruit soups and porridges), dairy and eggs, beverages, sauces, and sandwiches (open-faced). At the end of the book is a chapter with suggested menus for special occasions and a selected reading list and bibliography.
   
   This is the best and most authentic Finnish cookbook that I've come across in English. I've tried out a few Finnish American cookbooks, and although their recipes may be tasty, they often are distinctly American in flavor, with many more ingredients like green vegetables than one would ever find in Finland. In this book, we find recipes for all the Finnish standards, for everything from kalakukko to maksalaatikko, from mämmi to sima. Ojakangas provides both the Finnish and English names for each dish; although the Finnish is generally quite accurate, there are a few typos. (I stared at "valdemariisi" for quite some time before I realized it should have been written "vadelmariisi", or raspberry rice.)
   
   The culinary descriptions make this book great reading for anyone contemplating visiting or living in Finland for an extended period. I sure wish I had read it before heading off to study in Finland as an exchange student. The first week I arrived in the country, my host-mother showed me around the kitchen and told me to make myself at home. Then she went off to work in Helsinki for the week, and I was left to fend for myself along with her teenage daughters. By the end of the week, I was starving, having consumed all the food that was familiar to me in the first few days. When my host-mother returned from Helsinki and heard that I had reported there was no food in the house, she became very upset, and showed me a large sack of potatoes and other mysterious food stores. At the time, although I was an decent pasta cook and could make some passable stir-fried vegetables, I had never cooked a potato in my life-nor did I know what to do with any of the other foods in the kitchen. I didn't know what Finns ate or when they ate it, so I was completely at a loss when left to feed myself in a Finnish kitchen. A thorough reading of this book before leaving home would have provided a great preparation for what I would find in Finland. I would not have been so surprised by the dark chewy breads, the early meal times, and the importance of lunch and coffee-hour rather than dinner and dessert.



3. This book is really a keepsake for the newest Finnish generations. I didn't have a recipe book from my grandparents or aunts, but there are so many things my grandmother made and she was also from Northern Minnesota. The only thing I wish it had more of was pictures, but the author is so knowledgeable, that this book is a must for the 3rd and 4th generation Finns.



4. My first husband was a Finn, bred, born and raised, and often longed for the food of his youth. This book was invaluable; it had all the recipes for dishes that he missed, with instructions that let me turn out perfect pulla (a wonderful bread), kalakukko (rye bread stuffed with fish and bacon) and piirakka (rice or potato pasties) in record time. Some of the cultural information is a bit dated in my edition (I have the old 60s version), but it was still an interesting read. My daughters still make piirakka every Christmas Eve.
   
   My edition has a typo that I hope has been corrected in the newer one. The recipe for lutefisk starts with "Take a large fried codfish..." It should, of course, be a large dried codfish.



5. This is an excellent Finnish cookbook. My wife, who is of Finnish decent, has been thrilled with her copy. She says she has found many recipes that her mother and grandmother both used and it is especially fun to read the titles in the Finnish words she has known . We use a great deal of Finnish food in our daily diet, but there are a great many in this book that are yet to be tried. Beatrice Ojakangas deserves 5 stars for putting forth such a great book, and for mixing in a little of Finnish culture as a bonus.

5 comments about Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook.

1. I love this cookbook! The recipes are wonderful as well as the cultural tidbits. I was an exchange student in Belgium and whenever I feel "homesick" for my home away from home, the recipes in this book are the cure!



2. As an American living in Flanders for many years I can vouch for the authenticity of the recipes and the quality of the results. There's a lot of good stuff in here, and it's well worth the purchase. I would only urge you not to read this book as a travel guide! The author must have been away from the country for quite a long time and her cultural information is pretty dated, or she is looking back with rose-colored glasses. For example, for all the romanticizing about Belgian home cooking I don't know anyone under retirement age who actually cooks much - the women are all working just like everywhere else in the world nowadays and most of this stuff gets bought in stores, not made at home. It's telling that she describes learning to cook at the shoulder of her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, but that she herself is a professional cook - about the only job where people have time to prepare time-consuming dishes anymore, including in Belgium.
   
   Also, much to my astonishment she describes Belgium's beautiful coastal villages - a month ago coastal development was voted by readers of 'De Morgen' newspaper as the worst blight of many blights on the Belgian landscape perpetrated by builders and a lack of city planning - a long wall of concrete apartment blocks overlooking the sea that is so ugly it has to be seen to be believed. The beaches are nice, but only with your back to the towns. Similarly she goes on about Belgians' love of vegetables...being from California I can only laugh at this one. Hardly anything interesting is grown in this climate - if you like green beans, cauliflower, endive and leeks you're in major luck, but once you've had them a million times you realize why people drink so much beer here - it puts you out of your misery.
   
   The reality of today's home cooking is that it's meat and potatoes, with some boiled winter vegetables. Belgian cooking has moved to traiteurs and restaurants, and with all those people working and not cooking, incomes have improved, and they eat out for both the classics and for upscale cuisine. Restaurants are amazing - the quality is incredible for the price. So this book may describe a bygone era, but still characterizes the culinary heritage very well. It's comfort food for all those dark, rainy days.



3. I purchased this book for a Belgian-themed party I was hosting, and was not disappointed. Although it was a bit sparse on quick, easy to put together party foods, it had enough recipes that I still had a tough time choosing which to make. Everything was delicious, and well-described in the book. My guests were impressed. Nothing I chose to make was any more difficult than Ms. Van Waerebeek led me to believe.
   My advice is to buy this book for adventurous, Belgian-themed dinners, or if you enjoy reading about a real person who had ethnic cooking techniques passed down through her family. It is just right its descriptions, the author gives great, brief backgrounds to help you decide if you're interested in making each recipe. It's clear she is very familiar with the cuisine.
   If you have an interest in this type of cooking, you can't go wrong with this book!



4. I am a Belgian living in the US and I bought this book in 1996. I vouched for it being authentic and still representative of how people cook today. Even busy families know that sitting together at the table at the end of the day is a great way to unwind and to strengthen the body and mind. They value the time to listen to each other while eating slowly (no tv or other distractions). My friends and family in Belgium may sometimes bring ready made food (excellent quality is available there) but all know how to cook, do it often, and enjoy the process as a way to relax and nurture the family.
   
   People can keep up because they know that every meal does not need to have many courses. For example, I went to a restaurant-brasserie recently in Brussels where one of the day's specials was a plate of asparagus: 6 big, flavorful white asparagus with a mousseline, chopped hardboiled eggs & parsley sauce, with bread and a glass of good wine it was a satisfying and delicious meal.
   
   So, some of the recipes in the book are for special occasions or for the weekend, the smaller dish can be used as weekday meals when time is scarce.
   
   I use this book often and all recipes work as described, are easy to follow, and include all the information that is needed for a successful outcome - unlike too many cookbooks with attractive pictures but missing information.
   
   I have two friends over for lunch tomorrow and I am going to serve the waterzooi of scallops with garlic bread - quick and easy to prepare ahead of time, always delicious.



5. I use this cookbook lots. The recipes are not complicated and very easy to follow instructions. The dishes we've made so far are all great. My grandfather was Belgian so it inspired me to try the cooking, so glad I did!

2 comments about Mediterranean Cooking.

1. I would have liked to see more recipes from Syria and Lebanon, although the ones that are included are very good. Sources for ingredients are included at the end of the book and the author has also included a recipe for home made yogurt which can really cut the cost of this essential ingredient. Preparation techniques are, for the most part, simple and accessible to American and European cooks requiring little special equipment.



2. `Mediterranean Cooking' by the eminent cookbook author, Ms. Paula Wolfert may not be the best book on Mediterranean recipes, it may not even be the second best book on Mediterranean recipes, especially since Ms. Wolfert is competing against her excellent `The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean' plus flagship volumes from her hero, Elizabeth David and books from good friend, Nancy Harmon Jenkins and scholarly works from Clifford A. Wright and home friendly books from Joyce Goldstein and others. The list goes on and on. Mediterranean cooking has been addressed from about every angle you can think of, but part of that interest is due to Ms. Wolfert's own works, starting with her landmark `Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco'. But, if this volume were the only one you had on `Mediterranean Cuisine', you should count yourself fortunate that you found this book.
   
   While this is not a scholarly book by most standards, like all of Ms. Wolfert's works, it is much more than a list of recipes. One major premise of the book is that a native of a region on the Mediterranean coast could walk the perimeter of this Sea and find familiar food all along the shores of the old Roman Empire. This forms the basis of Ms. Wolfert's organization of chapters which is based on the leading foodstuffs of the Mediterranean from the Maghreb (Northern Africa from Morocco to Tunisia) to the Levant (Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Syria). In fact, I have to suspect than friend Nancy Harmon Jenkins borrowed Ms. Wolfert's concept of how to present Mediterranean cuisine in Jenkins' 2003 book, `The Essential Mediterranean'.
   
   Ms. Wolfert's basis for choosing recipes she states in for simple reasons. First there are `...great and famous dishes for which I can find superb recipes'. Second are `...regional and unusual dishes'. Third are `...dishes which illustrate contrasting or similar uses for the same materials'. Fourth are `...delicious dishes that are not widely known'. All this means is that `This is a very personal book, a book of food that interests me'. And, almost all of the recipes come from home cooks acquired on Ms. Wolfert's many regular trips to the lands of the Mediterranean.
   
   One warning is necessary about the publisher's blurb that this second (1994) edition contains '75 new recipes'. In the introduction, Ms. Wolfert herself says that this has been more of a trade of 75 healthier, less fatty recipes for 60 older recipes. The book is not that much larger than the original edition, but I think all of this is of only minor concern, as the real value of the book lies in the insights Ms. Wolfert gives on the overall world of Mediterranean cookery.
   
   The flagship chapter tells the story of the combination of `Garlic and Oil' in Mediterranean cuisine. There are recipes combining these two items from one end of the Mediterranean to the other and Ms. Wolfert presents several samples from Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. The last of these recipes for `Sauce Rouille', a classic condiment for Bouillabaisse leads to Ms. Wolfert's riff on why bouillabaisse purists say that this dish cannot be made beyond 100 kilometers of Marseilles. All of this is done with a rather large sense of tongue in cheek. To make restitution, Ms. Wolfert offers us two recipes for the much less legendary `Soupe de Poisson', a simple Provencal fish soup with but one white fleshed saltwater fish.
   
   The olive oil and garlic chapter is followed by a chapter on olives themselves. Ms. Wolfert piques our intellect by observing that if you divide the Mediterranean with an imaginary line down the sole of the Italian boot, along the eastern shore of Sicily, and down the boundary between Tunisia and Libya, you will have divided the cuisines into those who eat olives marinated and cured (the east of this line) and those who eat olives cooked with their dishes (Spain, France, Italy, the Maghreb). Ms. Wolfert has no good idea why this should be and the only thought I can offer is that this is roughly the boundary between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires when the split was made between Rome and Constantinople.
   
   The most famous of all cooked olive dishes is probably the Neapolitan `Spaghetti alla Puttanesca'. Ms. Wolfert gives us a new explanation for the origin of this easy dish and befitting its fame, offers three different recipes. The most traditional includes a tomato sauce. Ms. Wolfert's two alternatives include no tomatoes, but are heavy on basil or peppers and raisins. All three are as fast or faster than any other recipes I have seen.
   
   The remaining chapters are on:
   
   Eggplant, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Other Mediterranean Vegetables
   Chick-Peas, Lentils, and Beans
   Pasta, Couscous, and Other Mediterranean Farinaceous Foods
   Herbs, Spices, and Aromatics
   Yogurt
   Cheese
   Nuts
   Lemons, Oranges, Figs, Dates, and other Mediterranean Fruits
   
   As familiar as all of these subjects are, Ms. Wolfert has something new to say on most of them. On cheese, for example, while the most famous of Mediterranean young cheeses are mozzarella and feta, Ms. Wolfert gives equal time to Sardinian and Egyptian varieties. The highest praise is reserved, of course for Parmesano Reggiano.
   
   Since this edition was published in 1994, before the full flourishing of the Internet, all sources are mail order only, but most of these sources are familiar to all us foodies, so tracking down their Internet sites should be pretty easy. The Bibliography is modest with almost all entries being books available in English such as titles from Elizabeth David, Alan Davidson, Waverley Root, Claudia Roden, and other English and American writers.
   
   Just like her hero, Elizabeth David, Ms. Wolfert has written many excellent books, but if you could have but one from each author, I would take this volume and Ms. David's first `A Book of Mediterranean Food'.

2 comments about Lulu's Provencal Table.

1. `Lulu's Provencal Table' by renowned culinary writer and editor, Richard Olney is one of the best works in the very select genre of what might be called `culinary anthropology'. The works I know in this field are few in number but very high in quality and in the rewards for interested readers.
   
   The leading work in this field is certainly `Honey from a Weed' by Patience Gray. Other notable titles are `The Cook and the Gardener' by Amanda Hesser and `The Tuscan Year' by Elizabeth Romer. Befitting Olney's influence, almost all of John Thorne's essays also belong to this tribe of writing. Also befitting this influence, it is Thorne who writes the new introduction to this very substantial work. In this piece, Thorne cites Madeleine Kamman's `When French Women Cook' as another member of this select tribe. I cite this in deference to Thorne's expertise in the area and I hope to review it very soon.
   
   Like my reviewing of `Honey from a Weed', I owned the book for almost a year before I opened it up and I deeply regret my delay, as this is a vicarious culinary pleasure of the first order. The subject / cook / interviewee of the book is Lucie Tempier Peyraud, known to all as `Lulu', the wife of the important French vintner, Lucian Peyraud and co-owner of Domaine Tempier, a vineyard and dwelling `nestled in the hillsides outside the neighboring fishing ports of Bandol and Sanary, some ten miles from Toulon and thirty miles from Marseilles.' Author Olney became friends with the Peyrauds shortly after purchasing a very run-down cottage near Domaine Tempier, before he was the renowned culinary writer he was to become with his books on French cuisine and his editorship of the Time-Life series of books on world cuisines.
   
   Olney was talked into doing this book by another Peyraud friend, Alice Waters, whose Chez Panisse has been a buyer of Peyraud wines for many years. The inspiration for the book is Lulu's great cooking experienced by Olney for decades, and experienced by Waters during frequent trips to Provence on wine testing and purchasing expeditions. In fact, according to Thorne, it was Waters who initiated the project and talked Olney into carrying it to publication.
   
   On the surface, the book may appear to be just another Provencal cookbook, similar to several titles from the likes of Patricia Wells and Lydie Marshall. And, it can be used in this way, but it is much, much more.
   The book was built out of interviews by Olney of Lulu as she prepared her various dishes. As Lulu was the consummately instinctive cook, she rarely knew on a conscious level exactly how much of a particular ingredient she uses for most recipes. As one reads Olney's asides on this archeological aspect of the interviews, one senses they are reading the captured essences of an ephemeral form of cooking which arises out of a great love of the art and the ingredients to the cooking.
   
   This is also what makes this such a great `reading' cookbook, yet it is not a culinary memoir with recipes added in here and there, which always play second fiddle to the narrative. Every other recipe offers important hints on general cooking technique such as the suggestion to leave the outer membrane on squid to add to the flavor and to search out the leafy bible tripe from the cow's third stomach, a very delicate addition to the traditional honeycombed tripe from the second stomach. While this is a relatively simple form of cooking, it is not primitive, as many recipes especially the famous French daubes take many hours to prepare, even with the addition of major modern kitchen equipment such as the blender and the food processor, which Lulu and Olney use frequently.
   
   Waters describes Lulu's cuisine as `la cuisine de bonne femme', which may be loosely translated into what Emeril Lagasse labels as `a food of love thing'. This is part of the reason this is both simple, but requiring a great amount of attention. This style of cooking will fail if it gets only half your attention, the other half being spent with Opra, the Knicks and Lakers basketball game, or an errant adolescent not quite old enough to be counted on to stay out of trouble on its own. This means that this book jumps to the top of the list of books I recommend to people who like to read cookbooks. It also jumps to the top of my list as a source for Provencal cooking. Since both author and subject are true to the terroir of coastal Provence, there may be a few recipes, such as the classic nine page long recipe for Bouillabaisse which you will not be able to duplicate as you may simply not be able to get whole rascasses, wrasses, combers, and John Dory's. Scribe Olney is true to his mission of describing how Lulu actually cooks, but he does transpose an aside here and there for us New World suburbanites so we may approximate the classic dishes.
   
   I heartily agree with Thorne when he says that the first sixty pages of the book can easily be left to a later time, as it is largely a `pro forma' recitation of the history of Lulu, Lucian, and their Bandol vineyard. The real action starts on page 61 with `Lulu's Kitchen: Recipes'. This recipe by recipe table of contents demonstrates that this is a really serious cookbook that just happens to be a great culinary read as well. The recipes cover all standard courses and food ingredients, with each and every recipe being a part of Lulu's real cuisine. There are no fillers here, so you will find no bread baking recipes, as it is apparent that Lulu did not bake her own bread.
   
   This is an important culinary book, a superb mix of cookbook and memoir of the Provencal terroir and style. Very highly recommended.



2. Richard Olney probably came closer to perfection as a cookbook author than any other American. His books are exquisite models of focus, structure, warmth, and practicality, and his treatment of food and wine somehow manages to be simultaneously perfectly balanced and highly personal. Next to Olney's cookbooks and vinyard monographs, the oevres of James Beard and Julia Child, for example, feel overblown, oversold, and downright sloppy.
   
   Olney's warmhearted incision is the perfect match for the home cooking of Lulu Peyraud. Mm Peyraud is the Marseille native, mother of seven, keystone of the Bandol food and wine community, renowned home cook, and owner-operator of Domaine Tempier, widely considered the finest vinyard of France's Mediterranean coast. Most famously, she is gratefully credited by Alice Waters, Kermit Lynch, Jeremiah Tower, Paul Bertolli, and a host of other American food heirarchs with being their inspiration and touchstone. But for years before America found the simple pleasures of expertly-prepared, highly-local, regional foods, Lulu and Richard were cooking lunches for each other under their respective grape arbors. This book is a broad sample of those meals. In it, Olney documents the preparation, from farm and fish-market to plate, of Mm Peyraud's favorite family meals. Each recipe is presented with notes on ingredients, irregularities and seasonal adjustments in Mm Peyraud's preparations, lucid explanations of techniques, and reminders to keep things loose. The result is a highly-informative glimpse into the regional cuisine that forms the culinary hunge between France and Piedmont-Liguria. This cuisine is one of the world's most satisfying, and I believe that this book is its greatest Testament.
   
   I won't single out any recipes this time. The book is full of stunners from salad to desert. Buy this book and a couple of bottles of Domaine Tempier [a rose and a red, for starters], and serve those wines, chilled Provence-style, with a sampling of these magical dishes. Serve them, if at all possible, under a grape arbor on a hot, sunny day in an ocean breeze. And raise a glass to Lulu and Richard for their generous hospitality.

5 comments about The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean: 215 Healthy, Vibrant, and Inspired Recipes.

1. This is the fourth Paula Wolfert book I have reviewed and I find it better than the first three, even better than her important first book on Moroccan cuisine. It easily lands on my short list of best cookbooks dedicated to a specific regional cuisine. While Elizabeth David's book on Mediterranean cuisine maintains an important place in the literature of Mediterranean cuisine and Claudia Roden's book on the food of the Middle East improves the depth of coverage over David, Wolfert's book tops both of them in depth of coverage and may rival David's book for insights into the culinary wellsprings of the region.

   Outside of writing on the Mediterranean and the Middle East, I find Wolfert's book to rival those of Diana Kennedy on Mexico and even match the quality, if not the seminal influence of Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. The main edge I would give to Child's book is that it succeeds in bringing a more limited topic into a bit clearer focus.

   Wolfert does not cover the entire Eastern Mediterranean, and her book gains from the focus she put on the four areas she covers. These are:

   Northern Greece (Macedonia and Thrace)
   Turkey (Anatolia)
   Georgia (bordering on the Black Sea, south of the Caucasus)
   The Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel)

   While Georgia does not border on the Mediterranean, Wolfert finds that the cuisine here is very similar to the other three regions she has chosen, which makes sense since Georgia borders on Turkey and probably shares much of the same agriculture as northern Greece.

   Wolfert shares with Kennedy a love of her subject, which matches or surpasses that of even native writers. Paula gives us practically every aspect of her search of local, authentic recipes from stories about her local contacts through thoughts about how to adapt authentic recipes to American kitchens to reflections on those features which distinguish great cuisines, as she does when discussing pilafs, where she says "For me, any cuisine that makes plain starches so beguiling is a cuisine of great sophistication." The accuracy of this statement hits home immediately since I just got finished reviewing a book on Tuscan food which manages to make stale bread, dried beans, and corn mush into interesting food.

   That this is a great book still requires some qualification to identify the audience for which it is best suited.

   First, it is an essential volume in the library of cookbook collectors and food scholars. Like Kennedy and unlike David and Roden, Wolfert maintains the touch of the scholar in her writing in citing connections to local sources and native language documents. For the cookbook reader and collector, I also offer the opinion that Ms. Wolfert is an excellent writer, or, she has a really crackerjack crew of editors at Harper Collins to tighten up her prose.

   Second, it is probably one of the very best cookbooks for natives of this region transplanted to the United States. There are books on the cuisine of Turkey and Greece, but I suspect books on the food of Georgia are pretty uncommon.

   Third, it is a great book for non-natives who happen to have developed a taste for this food.

   Fourth, this is a superior source of recipes for vegetarian dishes and for ways of substituting bulgar wheat for rice in various dishes. The book is also a great source of yogurt recipes, including directions on making it at home.

   Fifth, the book takes special note of recipes, which are suitable as Meze dishes.

   Sixth, the book gives more coverage to breakfast and lunch and to the food appropriate to Ramadan. When other authors gloss over this last subject, it is like they are ignoring the presence of the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

   There may be people who will not get their money's worth out of this book. Like Wolfert's most recent book on slow cooking recipes, these recipes are all rather long and clearly benefit from long cooking times. If speed is your thing, go to Rachael Ray or a general cookbook author like Mark Bittman. Both have adapted dishes from Wolfert's canon.

   For my money, this is easily one of the top ten (10) cookbooks available in English. It's geographic range is eclectic and it may not replace books specializing in Greek or Turkish or Lebanese cuisines, but it's approach to food writing is a great model for others.




2. The person who bitterly wrote that this book has "millions of kibbeh recipes..." actually did a favor to me. His or her derogatory statement triggered my purchase: I finally found the book I was looking for!!

   This book made it to the list of winners of Julia Child's Awards, and it is by far the best guide to prepare dishes like Kibbeh or kibbi I have found. Kibbeh is the national dish of Lebanon and a staple of Middle Eastern Cuisine. A really nice treat to all!

   My kibbehs turned out GREAT for the first time!!! My frustration is over!! The "exotic" spices can be purchased online, just like the book. Not a big deal to me.




3. What a wonderful cookbook for the serious cook who is interested in new recipes, other cultures and healthy food with a nice mix of history of a given recipe or dish. Ironically it was a negative review or slam, about the authors many (50) Kibbeh recipes that perked my interest and made me want the book.
   
   So when I got the cookbook within a couple days of ordering it I went straight to the kibbeh section and had to smile, because it is so interesting because it reminded me of a favorite Italian cookbook with a lot of recipes for different meat balls, or a cookbook I have that has dozens of different types of hamburger recipes. It's awesome.
   
   The book is big and the variety of recipes is vast, with some of my favorites that call for chickpeas, or roasted peppers, fish or chicken. Am a huge fan of pilaf and love her recipes. Love the Macedonian chickpeas, eggplants and tomatoes on page 252, which is easy to make and will make an impression for family and friends.



4. I adore this cookbook and never tire of reading the recipes and fascinating intros to each. Paula Wolfert does an amazing job a painting a picture of the food--you can almost taste it even before you walk into the kitchen. I found the plethora of kibbeh recipes exciting and it was a real thrill to have them work on my first attempt. Unlike many of the reviewers, I don't find the ingredient lists 'esoteric' (this may simply be b/c I spend way too much time ordering spices from Penzeys and visiting Indian groceries), but I have also had great success when when skipping or substituting ingredients. My all time favorite recipe, and worth the price of the cookbook alone, is the "Split Tummies" which are softened eggplant stuffed with a lamb/spice /pinenut mixture (I often use turkey) baked over a bed of vegetables. At the height of summer, when the garden is bursting with peppers, tomatoes, greens and eggplant, this cookbook is a joy!



5. Ever since I first purchased her cookbook, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, I have been a fan of Paula Wolfert. Her recipes are not always easy, but they always produce great food. Buy the book.