I re-read your review today of this book, and now I really need to get one. When I first read your review (which you did an excellent job on) I was not that sold on the book, but reconsidered after I read it again today.
Thanks, Cathy
Thanks, Cathy
Cathy, given your proclivities (we all know you're a spicy wench) you might also want to check out Andreas Viestad"s "Where Flavor Was Born." To my mind, the best cookbook published in 2007.
Viestad explores the cuisines of the Indian Ocean, using, as his starting point, the fact that there's a similarity of the spices used, but different cuisines. Many of those spices are the same basic flavors as used in the Mid-east.
It's arranged like "Spice," in that the chapters are dedicated to individual spices. And his text is nothing short of incredible. Here's a sample. He's describing Stone Town, in Zanzibar, and says:
"And it is all about secrets and semi-secrets, about what is hidden and what lies in the open, about the lies that serve noble causes and truths that can hurt. There are rumors and gossip, more so than other places, one should think.....In the space between truths and lies, between what is public and what is secret, everything happens."
For those like you and me, who read cookbooks like others read novels, that's pretty heady stuff.
One to avoid, on the other hand, is Amy Riolo's "Arabian Delights: Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula." In my opinion it contributes nothing to the literature on the subject except bulk.
Viestad explores the cuisines of the Indian Ocean, using, as his starting point, the fact that there's a similarity of the spices used, but different cuisines. Many of those spices are the same basic flavors as used in the Mid-east.
It's arranged like "Spice," in that the chapters are dedicated to individual spices. And his text is nothing short of incredible. Here's a sample. He's describing Stone Town, in Zanzibar, and says:
"And it is all about secrets and semi-secrets, about what is hidden and what lies in the open, about the lies that serve noble causes and truths that can hurt. There are rumors and gossip, more so than other places, one should think.....In the space between truths and lies, between what is public and what is secret, everything happens."
For those like you and me, who read cookbooks like others read novels, that's pretty heady stuff.
One to avoid, on the other hand, is Amy Riolo's "Arabian Delights: Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula." In my opinion it contributes nothing to the literature on the subject except bulk.
OK you got me pegged;)
And you can bet I will be buying my own copy of "Where flavor was born" it sounds like my kind of reading!
Thanks for the tip, Cathy
P.S. I meant to ask, if it's not a top secret project, re: this research you're conducting - will the ending result maybe be a book authored by non other that yourself? If maybe I have stumbled onto a tabo subject please forgive; if not I want to know as soon as it becomes available!
And you can bet I will be buying my own copy of "Where flavor was born" it sounds like my kind of reading!
Thanks for the tip, Cathy
P.S. I meant to ask, if it's not a top secret project, re: this research you're conducting - will the ending result maybe be a book authored by non other that yourself? If maybe I have stumbled onto a tabo subject please forgive; if not I want to know as soon as it becomes available!
No, it's not a book. I'm booked out, thank you very much. Two was two too many.
It's not really a secret. We're developing an additional department in the Cheftalk.com reviews section. Basically, if we can make it work, it will be essays that include multiple-title book reviews.
A little nebulous sounding, I know. But once the first one is ready (there are three in the works) all will become clear.
It's not really a secret. We're developing an additional department in the Cheftalk.com reviews section. Basically, if we can make it work, it will be essays that include multiple-title book reviews.
A little nebulous sounding, I know. But once the first one is ready (there are three in the works) all will become clear.