Posted on: Wednesday, December 14, 2005
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Books for foodies to chew on
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Columnist
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If someone you know is dreaming of cookbooks under the Christmas tree or alongside the Hanukkah candles, here are a bunch to consider:
"The Best Recipes in the World" by Mark Bittman; Broadway Books, hardcover, $29.95. Bittman, known to fans as "The Minimalist" and author of "How to Cook Everything," has selected the most important and characteristic recipes from cultures around the world and here tells, in informative detail, how to prepare them. Well-organized and authoritative, this book could replace a lot of unused tomes on the shelf.
"Washoku, Recipes from The Japanese Home Kitchen" by Elizabeth Andoh; 10 Speed Press, hardcover, $35. Gourmet columnist Elizabeth Andoh is one of the foremost English-language authorities on Japanese food; she operates a culinary arts center in Tokyo. Washoku refers to the balance of nutritional goodness and aesthetic pleasure in a properly constituted Japanese meal. This gorgeous primer walks the reader through the principles that govern washoku, the art of the multi-dish meal and the necessary techniques and recipes. As much a book on culture as on food.
"Scott Conant's New Italian Cooking" by Scott Conant with Joanne McAllister Smart; Broadway Books, hardback, $35. A book for the serious home cook, this recipe collection is from the chef-owner of L'Impero in New York. "Serious" because, although the recipes are unpretentious and appear straightforward, they require a chefly approach in technique and ingredients (the best, the most expensive, the hardest to get). Everything looks delicious.
"Gordon Ramsay Makes it Easy, 100 Sophisticated but Simple Recipes" by Gordon Ramsay; Wiley, trade paperback, $24.95. The British celebrity chef (his "Hell's Kitchen" is on Fox TV) keeps it simple with recipes that never flow over from one page to the next. The book comes with a DVD showing Ramsay cooking at home. The language is conversational and the recipes as pared down as they can get while retaining panache. Lotsa photos.
"A Cook's Book of Quick Fixes & Kitchen Tips" by Anne Willan; Wiley, paper, $15.95. As the founder of La Varenne cooking school, Anne Willan has had plenty of experience with culinary flubs. Here, she suggests ways to rescue or recycle failed food: Burnt-on omelette? Pour in a little cream to soften the bottom. Roast a bit overdone? Shred it and serve it in a well-seasoned salad. The book is full of interesting ideas — one to a page, with illustrations — though often more creative than practical.
"Fields of Plenty, A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It" by Michael Ableman; Chronicle Books, hardback, $35. Though it contains recipes, this is not a cookbook. Rather, it's a magnificent piece of reporting, chronicling the struggles of farmers across America who are attempting to work in a sustainable way while producing wholesome, delicious food of a sort that has long been disappearing. You'll recognize Ableman, a British Columbia farmer and founder of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens in California, as the subject of PBS' award-winning documentary "Beyond Organic." Despite its weighty mission, the book reads easy and the recipes make you hungry.
"The Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups" by the CIA Chefs; Lebhar-Friedman Books, paper, $17.95. The folks who teach cheflings have released another technique-oriented book, this time on soups from around the world. Periodic photo spreads teach such step-by-step methods as how to make a basic cream soup, or how to make a bisque. But you'd have to like soup an awful lot for this purchase to make sense.
"The Eating Well Diabetes Cookbook" by Joyce Hendley and the Editors of Eating Well; Countryman Press, hardback, $29.95. You don't have to have diabetes to need this book: Most of us indulge in too many carbohydrates, courting blood sugar problems and weight gain. This book packs a huge amount of information onto each page: Not just the recipes, but icons that indicate whether the dish is high-fiber and/or quick and easy, prep times, how to make the dish ahead of time, notes on ingredients, and nutritional analysis with exchanges. Each recipe is clearly labeled as to the number of carb servings (from 0 to 2). Introductory chapters on dietary matters, insulin control, what healthy eating looks like and "changing for good" are worth the price of the book.
"The Real Food Daily Cookbook, Really Fresh, Really Good, Really Vegetarian" by Ann Gentry; 10 Speed Press, paper, $24.95. This would be a great gift for someone who is thinking of taking a turn toward meatlessness but is not ready for "Laurel's Kitchen." It's attractive, not intimidating and includes many vegetarian standards — hummus, grilled tofu, corn and bean salad.
"Hungry Planet, What the World Eats" by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluiso; 10 Speed Press, hardback, $40. This is as fascinating and important a coffee-table book as I've come across in years. The writer-photographer team invited themselves to dinner with 30 families in 24 countries and chronicled the experience in words and pictures, along with a breakdown of what the family ate for a week and what it cost. Each family is photographed with the contents of their larder — an interesting exercise in itself. The book is additionally larded with essays on topics such as the Slow Food movement, the rise of diabetes, the state of the fishing industry, the ethics of eating animals. Delicious and consumable at many levels (just looking at the pictures is an education).
"The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook"; America's Test Kitchen, covered spiral-bound, $34.95. New this fall from the folks who do Cook's Illustrated magazine and PBS' "America's Test Kitchen" TV series is this spiral-bound giant — a Fanny Farmer for the millennium, gathering together the recipes that make up what, for lack of a better term, we might call the middle American diet. Like its elder sisters ("Joy of Cooking" and so on), the book is full of reference information (tables of equivalents, substitutions, step-by-step technique how-tos, food safety information). But the design is distinctly contemporary, with lots of what graphic designers call pull-outs (little boxes containing tips and supplementary information), color photos and "101" lessons on ingredients. The hallmarks of the modern diet — concerns about health, convenience and quickness — are covered; little red flags point out especially fast recipes. One quibble: The books arrive with the pages in a separate plastic package and you have to spend a painstaking few minutes slipping them into the binder and placing the subject tabs in the right places.
"Mexican Everyday" by Rick Bayless; Norton, hardback, $29.95. These recipes are the ones featured on Chicago restaurateur Rick Bayless' PBS series "Mexico One Plate at a Time." A stickler for authenticity, Bayless does his best to simplify a notoriously labor-intensive cuisine. But you'll still find yourself facing recipes that require a dozen or more ingredients, many of which need to be roasted, ground, pounded, chopped, mixed or otherwise prepped before you get to the real cooking. On the other hand, there is no other way to achieve the bright, bursting flavors that characterize this food.
"Galatoire's, Biography of a Bistro" by Marda Burton and Kenneth Holditch; Hill Street, hardback, $24.95. This one is enough to bring tears to your eyes because, though largely undamaged, Galatoire's and many other French Quarter restaurants in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans have not reopened, primarily due to a lack of staff. (The latest word is that they'll reopen in January.) In a city dripping with tradition, Galatoire's is all but drowning in it: In appearance, in quirky customs, in menu, even in waitstaff (given the number of gray heads you see there), it seems that little has changed about this Royal Street restaurant in its 100-year existence. There's something else that's different about Galatoire's: It's not a touristy place. They tolerate visitors but they can spot you the minute you walk in, and you won't get anything like the best table because those are reserved for New Orleans residents, particularly during the famous Friday lunch hours (and hours and hours — the meals are notorious for going on and on). This book tells the story — stories, really — of that restaurant, its founding family, staff and patrons.
"The New Spanish Table" by Anya von Bremzen; Workman, paper, $22.95. Spanish food, particularly the little-plate foods called tapas, have been enjoying great popularity around the country (why doesn't Honolulu have a real tapas restaurant yet?). If you're of a mind to delve further into the cuisine, check out this contemporary recipe collection, brightly illustrated and equally brightly written, with lots of tidbits of information in addition to the recipes.
"The Healthy Beef Cookbook" by Richard Chamberlain and Betsy Hornick; Wiley, paper, $21.95. This book is published under the auspices of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Dietetic Association, so it's got a vested interest. Still, it's great for carnivores who want to maintain good health while still eating red meat. Each recipe is nutritionally analyzed and the book contains many healthy tips. Recipes range from grilled favorites to soups, stews and chilies and appendices offer information on nutrition, cooking techniques and beef cuts.
Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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