Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History) Review

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(More customer reviews)You know those "precious metals cleaning plates" sold at ridiculous prices in airline catalogs? Well, Hervé This tells you how to cobble together your own from foil and salt (p. 192). I tried it with a couple of sterling silver pieces--and it worked wonderfully!
In the first couple of chapters of this new translation from the 1993 original in French (Secrets de la Casserole), This introduces some basics of cooking and discusses the sensations of eating, debunking the 90-year-old four-tastes theory. Afterward, this book can be dipped into at any point. It has chapters on basic ingredients (milk, eggs, etc.), on cooking methods (steaming, braising, etc.), on souffles, pastries, and breads--everywhere (not surprisingly) emphasizing French cooking. The second-to-last chapter on kitchen utensils is also essential reading, and the last chapter highlights kitchen mysteries yet unsolved.
For someone with some scientific background, this book occasionally comes across as patronizing. I liked, though, his explanation of evaporational cooling: to summarize, the water molecules that escape (i.e., evaporate) from the surface of the liquid must have a lot of energy--more energy than the typical molecules left behind--leaving behind liquid that has a lower temperature.
There are a couple of minor scientific mistakes: limonene, and not the mirror image, is in fact the relevant molecule in lemons (p. 28); and the record-holding temperature that the physicist Nicholas Kurti achieved was a millionth of a degree above, not below, absolute zero (p. 95). The translation from French may also be faulty on page 30, where he says that "we see a smoke, not vapor" above a soup--"fog" or "mist" probably being intended rather than "smoke."
Overall, this book is fun to read and full of interesting information. It is a good introduction for anyone interested in cooking or how things work. But for those with a deeper interest, Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (which This frequently echoes) is a better choice and a more thorough reference.

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Twelve: A Tuscan Cook Book Review

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(More customer reviews)I love this cookbook and not just because I met the author at a cooking school in Siena. It is beautifully written, striking photography and a great format. Set up to showcase what is fresh each of the 12 months of the year. Most of the recipes are fairly simple and ingredients available. All of my friends that went to the school bought the book also. We have all tried many recipes from it. Some were dishes we made in class. The Cantuccini are my all time favorite & have become an expected Christmas gift every year from me. A truely wonderful cookbook.

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A 12-month journey through the tastes of Tuscany.In this exquisitely photographed book, Tessa Kiros uses each month of the year as a device to explore and record recipes in seasonal cooking with fine ingredients. Her personal observations throughout reveal the nuances of the Italian meal."The Store Cupboard" has tips on filling the pantry with the right ingredients. The "Basics" section provides preparation instructions and recipes that Tuscan home cooks learned from their parents and grandparents. Substitutions for harder-to-find ingredients are offered along with encouraging tips on improvising to suit any taste. Wine notes and a glossary round out the book.Here are examples of the fabulous recipes:- Risotto alla Toscana (Tuscan risotto)- Spezzatino di cinghiale (wild boar stew)- Zuccotto (chocolate and vanilla sponge pudding)- Melanzane alla parmigiana (baked eggplant with tomato, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese)- Stracotto di manzo (beef braised in red wine)Twelve is a sensitive, personal exploration of one of the world's most popular culinary traditions by an author who lovingly shares her discoveries with the home cook.

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Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2 Review

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(More customer reviews)I love the The River Cottage Meat Book so when I saw a recommendation for Preserves in the Guardian online (The Guardian, Saturday 10 January 2009, "Source It") I had to take a look. Pam Corbin has some excellent thoughts on growing and buying locally-sourced goods.
There are a good number of recipes for jams/jellies, pickled preserves and more. The first section runs through canning and processing in good detail, with hints on why preserves go bad and best practices to avoid it.
As this is the UK edition, most of the recipes use metric, but the last pages have direct conversion tables to Imperial (or US) measures for anything you might need.

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Preserving is a centuries-old way to make the most out of every season, stretching the more bountiful months into the sparser ones—and what’s more, it is fun, rewarding, and easy to learn. Explaining the history, science, and basic processes of preserving, Pam Corbin guides us through a world of jams, jellies, butters, curds, pickles, chutneys, cordials, liqueurs, vinegars, and sauces that can be made from local produce throughout the year. She includes 75 recipes, covering everything from traditional favorites such as raspberry jam, lemon curd, quince cheese, and sloe gin, to fresh new combinations such as apple butter, cucumber pickle, and nettle pesto. The handbook includes seasonable tables, regional maps, flow charts of all the preserving processes, and full-color photographs throughout, and is completed by a directory of equipment and useful addresses.

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Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes Review

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(More customer reviews)As someone who owns close to two hundred cookbooks (passion or sickness, your choice on what to call it) I've vowed not to purchase another one for the rest of my cooking days. When I first glimpsed "Falling Cloudberries" at a bookstore I had to will myself to walk away. Never again, I said.
Never say never.
First, a bit of background. Like most foodies and cooks, Tessa Kiros grew up scented by cooking smells and surrounded by people who're passionate about food. Her book is filled with recipes that represent her heritage: Greek, Finnish, Cypriot, South African, and Italian. As such, there are dishes here that challenge the American palate, especially those of pedestrian tastes, but what a delightful and tasty challenge it is.
I'll set aside the sheer beauty of this book for now and rate it on the essentials--the approachability and accuracy of its recipes, the reliance on fresh and obtainable ingredients, a balanced mix of easy, intermediate and advanced cooking methods, logical and sensible organization, practical tips to ensure success, satisfaction with the end product, and (always a consideration for me) a generous representation of everyday fare.
I've tried about a dozen from this thick book and it's, without doubt, a 5-star cookbook just basing it on the above:
(1)Finnish - Gravadlax with Dill Cucumbers; Potato Pancakes (of course, to go w/ the gravadlax); Fresh Salmon, Dill & Potato Soup; Finnish Meatballs; Stroganoff with Pickled Cucumbers and will later try the Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns
(2)Greek - Dolmades; Tzatziki; Chickpea, Feta & Coriander Salad; Calamari with Butter, Lemon & Garlic; Prawns with Peri-Peri; Lemon & Oregano Chicken; Stuffed Vegetables and will later attempt the Baklava
(3)Cypriot - Moussaka (if you can make lasagna, you can make this without batting an eyelash); Pork in Red Wine
(4)South African - Fried Chicken and Barbecue Ribs, if you can believe it!
That's it...that's as far as I got and tons to go. Everything I tried was simply delicious and none of them required tremendous labor, just the same amount of effort I put into everyday cooking. For those that are fussier, I plan to just make them in the weekends when I have more time.
The book is drop-dead gorgeous and I mean every part of it. From the spine to the flyleaf, to all the photos to the quality of bond, and it even came with a pretty ribbon bookmark (how thoughtful). It's peppered with tidbits on Tessa's family and her growing up cooking with them. There's even a penciled drawing of her family tree that I thought added an amusing and extra special touch to this very personal account of food and cooking over several generations. Really creatively executed and one can easily tell that it was a labor of love. It's too beautiful that I don't cook with this book lying as is on my counter. I photocopy the page I need or wrap it first in clear plastic before using. Even these precautions don't seem enough. Someday, when I can no longer grasp my chef's knife or intimidate a slab of pastry into submission with a whack or two, I want to look at this book and just lose myself in its pristine beauty. Ridiculous, I know, but there are cooks out there who know precisely what I mean--they're the same people who look longingly at gorgeous cookbooks and say `never again' without much conviction!

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Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a gorgeous, fun cookbook filled with beautiful comfort food, personal memories and fabulous cooking advice mixed in with each recipe. The photographs are stunning and I love that it is organized by the color of the food. Some of the recipes are quick and easy such as Angel Hair Pasta with Zucchini, Mint and Feta while others take more planning like the Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Cake with homemade Lemon Curd ice cream. Everything we've made from the book has turned out *Wow* and it is definitely one of the funnest books to use when planning a dinner party. Thanks, Tessa!

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This is food for families, for young people, for old people, for children, for the child in all . . . for life.- Apples for JamApples for Jam is a keepsake cookbook filled with savory recipes woven together by a rainbow of colors, memories, and lavish full-color photography.Tessa Kiros has circled the globe working in restaurants in Australia, Greece, Mexico, and London. Her extensive travel and multicultural background lend authenticity to more than 200 recipes, which are grouped by color and presented alongside vibrant photographs, sound cooking advice, and heartwarming anecdotes about friends, family, and the whimsies of childhood.Kiros shares a bevy of diverse and easy-to-prepare dishes playfully themed in colored chapters. An index references both specific foods and recipes. With memories of daisy chains, ice cream cones, circuses, and four-leaf clovers, Kiros shares her belief that good food sparks cherished memories that intensify life's melting pot of flavor. A sampling of the flavors includes:* Sage and rosemary mashed potatoes* Pecan butter cookies* Roast rack of pork with fennel and honey* Pomegranate sorbet* Roasted zucchini and tomatoes with thyme* Pan-fried sole with lemon butter

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