Posted on: Wednesday, December 5, 2007
TASTE
Gifts that feed the soul — and the family
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser food editor
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RICHARD AMBO | The Honolulu Advertiser
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FINDING THEM
Unless the item specifies ordering information (as in the case of some local community cookbooks), check local bookshops first, then online sources. Many books and authors have their own Web sites, too. All should be available at least for special-order.
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HOLIDAYS IN HAWAI‘I
This is the fourth in a series of holiday stories in our features sections this week.
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Americans can't seem to get enough of cookbooks, poring over them at night in bed, sticking Post-It notes next to recipes they would like to try (but probably never will), amassing teetering collections of books of all types and sizes.
So it is that, as the holidays approach, the cookbooks fly off the presses. If you judge by the numbers of same-subject releases, the hot topics in food this year are Indian cooking, potluck entertaining and baking (especially cakes). Here's a look at these and other topics.
AT HOME IN INDIA
"Complete Book of Indian Cooking, 350 Recipes from the Regions of India," (Robert Rose, oversize trade paper, $27.95). Comprehensive, detailed, instructive, gives a good overview of the foods of the vast nation, with notes and a tip for each recipe; excellent ingredient guide. Not over-endowed with photographs, so if you're not familiar with Indian cooking, you may find some dishes difficult to visualize.
"Modern Indian Cooking" by Hari Nayak and Vikas Khanna, (Silverback, hardcover, $29.95). The work of a chef (Khanna) and restaurateur and food writer (Nayak), this book focuses on refined, contemporary versions of Indian dishes. Recipes stand alone with little explanation, though there are photos; best for someone already familiar with Indian cooking.
"American Masala, 125 New Classics from My Home Kitchen," by Suvir Saran and Raquel Pelzel (Clarskon Potter, hardback, $35). A kind of sequel to his popular "Indian Home Cooking: A Fresh Introduction to Indian Food," this book shows what happens when an Indian chef puts his stamp on American dishes. The cover photo, of fried chicken prepared with no less than a dozen spices, says it all.
"5 Spices, 50 dishes, Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices," by Ruta Kahate (Chronicle, trade paper, $19.95). With coriander, cumin, mustard, cayenne and turmeric, cooking teacher and culinary tour leader Kahate creates straightforward Indian food, much of it vegetarian — from corn with mustard seed to tiny coriander cookies. Made us want to start cooking.
"Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking," by Madhur Jaffrey (Chronicle, trade paper, $19.95). The graceful Indian actress and writer, who was among the first to introduce America to the foods of her home, here turns her expertise to everyday dishes. A good, compact introduction, with photos, cooking notes for each recipe and information on tools, techniques and "an Indian pantry."
"Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet," by Padma Lakshmi (Weinstein, hardback, $34.95). Dubbed the "gorgeous gourmet" by Self, the India-born "Top Chef" host (who doesn't look like she ever eats her own cooking or anyone else's) brings her palate preferences to the kitchen and tweaks a world of recipes with tangy, tart, hot and sweet accents. Some great, easy ideas here: adding red chilies to mac and cheese, making lettuce cups with a curry stir-fry, spicing beef stew with cumin, creating a cool papaya mousse with jaggery — the brown cane sugar of India.
POTLUCK PLEASERS
"Crowd Pleasing Potluck," by Francine Halvorsen (Rodale, trade paper, $19.95). Despite its title — which implies gargantuan covered dishes — this is potluck with panache, a book you'd consult when you're trying to impress a group of 8 or 10, not the kids' soccer team. Recipes are along the lines of pork crown roast with apple stuffing, poached pears with white wine and shaved Parmesan). Photographs, make-ahead notes, tips.
"What Can I Bring Cookbook," by Anne Byrn (Workman, paper, $14.95). Byrn, the queen of semi-scratch cooking and author of "The Cake Mix Doctor," offers recipes, tips for transport, make-ahead notes, space for jotting down reminders and how to double or triple recipes. Mainland-style recipes, but lots of good ideas: encasing taco filling in a ring of packaged crescent rolls and making chicken and dressing in the slow cooker.
NEW ABOUT BAKING
"Southern Cakes," by Nancie McDermott (Chronicle, trade paperback, $19.95). Southern cooks have long been known for hospitality — and a tendency to produce a cake at the slighted provocation. McDermott, who grew up in North Carolina, chronicles the range of cakes from plain pound to Mississippi; each comes with the story of its origins. (And, guess what? They make dobosh cake in Louisiana, but they call it "doberge"!)
"Sky-High, Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes," by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne (Chronicle, hardback, $35). Pastry chef Huntsman and journalist Wynne join forces in praise of cakes that rise to the heavens. Chapter covers baking basics, notes with all recipes and photos with many. For experienced cake bakers.
"Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More," by Carole Walter (Clarkson Potter, hardback, $35). The James Beard Award-winning writer and baker turns her attention to "250 anytime treats," from cinnamon pull-apart biscuits to sour cream marble bundt cake. Notes and tips for each recipe, well-done photos. For the fanatic baker.
"The Essential Baker, The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices and other Ingredients," by Carole Bloom (Wiley, hardback, $40). Pastry chef Gale Gand says this is the only baking book you need, and Bloom's range, and her commitment to painstaking instruction, are impressive. The recipes don't even begin until page 55 as she defines terms and outlines techniques. Book is organized by ingredients (Fruits and Nuts, Chocolate, Spices, etc.) not types of baked goods. There are 225 recipes, with photos interspersed.
GRAB BAG
"Rocco's Real Life Recipes," by Rocco DiSpirito (Meredith, trade paper, $19.95). After a period of retrenching when his restaurant partnership broke up and his TV show tanked, DiSpirito is back with a cookbook for the average fan, full of advice and focusing on recipes that can be made in half an hour, often using shortcut ingredients, such as bottled marinara sauce.
"Pure Dessert," by Alice Medrich (Artisan, hardback, $35). To sweets-lovers, Alice Medrich is a legend, founder of the Cocolat sweet shop in Berkeley, Calif., author of several Cookbooks of the Year from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Here, she brings all her experience to bear to create desserts that are better for you, simple to make, but don't taste like it, limiting the use of sugar and eliminating fillings and frostings. In a word: pure.
"America's Best Lost Recipes," by the editors of Cook's Country (America's Test Kitchen, closed spiral, $29.95). Classics with intriguing backstories, or some claim to fame or even just intriguing titles ("Naked Ladies with Their Legs Crossed"); most here stem from Europe, East, Midwest. Meticulously tested; fattening just to read.
"The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium International Cookbook," by Donald Gazzaniga and Maureen Gazzaniga (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's, hardback, $29.95). Most of us find it easier to cut back on sugar and fat than on sodium; our palates are so inundated with it. Here, a retired couple who have been through it — they're the founders of the www.MegaHeart.com nutritional Web site — offer their advice and recipes from around the world. Sodium content guide and sodium meal planner.
"The Best International Recipes, A Home Cook's Guide to the Best Recipes in the World," by the editors of Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen, hardback, $35). Yet another from those testing maniacs at Cook's Illustrated, bringing together recipes from a Moroccan tagine to Asian sesame noodles, cioppino to fish and chips — all cooked and cooked and cooked until they're perfected.
"Mediterranean Harvest, Vegetarian Recipes from the World's Healthiest Cuisine," by Martha Rose Shulman (Rodale, hardback, $39.95). More than 500 recipes plus short, delightful and/or informative essays on restaurants, ingredients, techniques and food customs. From orange-scented olive oil brioche to mushroom lasagna, nothing to feel deprived about here. No photos.
"Healthy Heart, Lifestyle Guide and Cookbook," by Bonnie Polin and Frances Giedt and the Cleveland Clinic (Broadway, hardback, $37.95). Experts from one of the best-known heart care centers in the country offer information about how to adopt a heart-healthy diet, with tested recipes, each nutritionally analyzed.
"Seventh Daughter, my Culinary Journey form Beijing to San Francisco," by Cecilia Chiang with Leisa Weiss (10 Speed Press, hardback, $35). Chiang, who founded the groundbreaking Mandarin in San Francisco, serving "real" Chinese food, shares her recipes, and her life, in this cookbook-cum-memoir.
"Apples for Jam," by Tessa Kiros (Andrews McMeel, hardback, $29.95). This unusual cookbook is organized not by dish or technique or season or anything else you'd expect. Rather, the recipes are grouped by color — red foods, yellow foods, green foods and so on. Each chapter introduced with a memory. The mood, recipe choices, photos and writing style is warm, inviting, down-to-earth and kid-friendly.
Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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