AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR DECEMBER 2008 ============================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE!! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. OREGON; the taste of wine (Graphic Arts Books, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 128 pages, ISBN 978-0-88240-746-3, $24.95 US hard covers) is by photographer Janis Miglavs, who has lived in Oregon since 1982. He is a well-known travel adventure photographer with many credits worldwide, notably in National Geographic. This book is a photographic tour, with interviews and discussion on winemaking in the region. He has profiles of select wineries. The over-arch is a short section on history and culture, with an historical timeline to cover the 16 AVAs in Oregon (most prominent to us in Canada is Willamette Valley and Wall Walla Valley). This includes material on terroir, sustainable practices, LEED certification, and so forth. Ninety-four people contributed to the book (they are all listed alphabetically) from David Adelsheim to Cecil Zerba. And there is a good integration of photos with quotes from the various winemakers. Audience and level of use: wine travelers, Oregon wine lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Fly Over Red and Fly Over White wines were developed at one winery when it became ignored by wine writers who were to busy coming up from California and “flying over” the winery. The downside to this book: no index. The upside to this book: well-written and well-photographed. Quality/Price Rating: 89. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. THE SCIENCE OF GOOD FOOD (Robert Rose, 2008, 624 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7788-0189-4, $37.95 Canadian, soft covers) is by the team of David Joachim (involved in more than 30 cookbooks), Andrew Schloss (past president of IACP), and A. Philip Handel (who direct Hospitality Management at Drexel University). It is alphabetically arranged, from abalone to zucchini. The 1600 entries plus explain the physical and chemical transformations in food preps. Each entry has an explanation of the science behind the food, equipment or cooking method. Major topics embrace agriculture, food and safety, animals, and flavours, along with kitchen wisdom, equipment and techniques. There are many cross-references, such as “see” and “see also”. As well, there are 200 illustrations and photos and 100 demonstrative recipes to show principles such as deep frying. There are tables on “how it works” and “what it does”. The book concludes with a bibliography and website listing, plus an index to pull in all the references found in other entries. Audience and level of use: a reference book, good to poke around in, although a bit heavy in size for the bedside and/or the john. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: stuffed lamb’s hearts with bacon and mushroom; acorn squash filled with pumpkin seed risotto; basil ricotta ice cream; beta-carrotene cake; chipotle consommé; tomatillos jalapeno jam. The downside to this book: for a reference book like this, I’d pay a few more dollars to get a hard bound copy: ISBN 978-0-7788-0205-1 $54.95 CDN The upside to this book: recipe titles are listed in red in the index. Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. THE FRUIT HUNTERS; a story of nature, adventure, commerce and obsession (Doubleday Canada, 2008, 280 pages, ISBN 978-0-385-66267-3, $29.95 CAD hard covers) is by Adam Leith Gollner, who has written extensively on fruit as a freelance writer for the New York Times, Gourmet, and Bon Appetit. He currently lives in Montreal. Log rolling has been provided by the Stearns and by Taras Grescoe. His book is an international examination of the fruit we eat and why we eat them, for scientific, economic and aesthetic reasons. He delves into how mass produced fruits have been created, grown and marketed. This wide ranging and sprawling book also covers inaccessible fruits. There is a lot of travel to exotic places such as Borneo to track down obscure fruits. There are chapters, then, on the nature of fruit, the adventure of travel, the commerce of production and marketing (including politics and treaties), and the obsession of preservation and breeding for creating fruits and hybrids that travel. Along the way, there are commentaries on the spreading of pests, irradiation, and electronic pasteurization. And yes, durians are covered but there is no scratch and sniff sample here. The book has a bibliography and an index. Audience and level of use: foodies, academic libraries, culinary hospitality programs. Some interesting or unusual facts: Fruits are seed envelopes that contain within them the genetic coding that will further the entire plant. Over a quarter million different plant species bear fruit, yet only 75,000 of these are edible. Most fruit food come from only 20 different species of crops, such as apples, oranges, berries, etc. The downside to this book: no mention of organics or biodynamics. The upside to this book: a good read. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 4. KNIVES COOKS LOVE; selection, care, techniques, recipes (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008; distr. Simon & Schuster, 180 pages, ISBN 978- 0-7407-7002-9, $25 US hard covers) is by Sur La Table, with Sarah Jay. Sur La Table (founded in 1972) is now a chain of kitchen furnishings stores, with added cooking schools and cookbooks. Sarah Jay is now a free-lance writer; she was formerly executive editor of “Fine Cooking” magazine. Log rolling endorsements come from Cat Cora (Iron Chef), Nancy Oakes (Boulevard) and Emeril Lagasse (Bam). The concept of knives here includes cheese knives, meat cleavers, salmon slicers, ceramic knives, and shears. This basic primer covers everything you should need to know, including 46 techniques and 20 recipes, most with step-by-step photos on chopping, dicing and slicing. There is a section on how to care for blades and handles, testing for sharpness and using honers. Sidebars are full of advice from other chefs. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used, with no metric tables of conversion. Audience and level of use: foodies, kitchen fanatics, culinary schools of hospitality. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: green apple and fennel salad; rice with chicken and chorizo; bread and butter pudding with ginger; roasted cauliflower gruyere gratin. The downside to this book: a few more harder and useful recipes could have been useful. The upside to this book: large typeface and good pictures. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 5. BAKEWISE; the hows and whys of successful baking with over 200 magnificent recipes (Scribner, 2008, 532 pages, ISBN 978-1-4165-6078-4, $40 US hard covers) is by Shirley O. Corriher, author of CookWise (a Beard winner). Log rolling comes from the heavyweights of Harold McGee, a Joy of Cooking co-author, Peter Reinhart, and Jacques Pepin, although I don’t know why the overkill was needed since Corriher had previously written an award-winning book. The early PR bumpf for this book claimed 250 recipes; downsizing seems to be a theme everywhere this year. Here are the important recipes for baking PLUS the science and the techniques behind the preps: moist cakes, free-standing soufflés, shrink-free meringues, flaky pastry, light genoise, and crusty breads. She has “at a glance” charts for problem solving, and “what this recipe shows” for culinary information that can apply to hundreds of recipes. Further, she has a wide range of courses, all cited. For example, she’ll give techniques ascribed to 3 or 4 different chefs plus her own notes on science (techniques, mixing times, mixing speeds, et al). Overall, you just need to remember the maxim of following the rules before breaking the rules. Baking is better suited to rules than cooking. The latter is all-forgiving.; baking is not. Ingredients are listed in both weights and volumes, for both avoirdupois and metric forms. But she still has tables for reference. She concludes with an extensive bibliography of books and articles, plus sources of supply (all US). Audience and level of use: the informed cook, bakers, culinary schools. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sweet peas and roasted walnut muffins; Southern biscuits; scones; gougeres; lemon cream chiffon cake; croustade. The downside to this book: I would have liked more details on the differences between gas and electric stoves. The upside to this book: better baking through chemistry. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 6. THE KOREAN TABLE; from barbecue to bibimbap (Tuttle Publishing, 2008; distr. Ten Speed Press, 160 pages, ISBN 978-0-8048-3990-7, $27.95 US hard covers) is by Taekyung Chung, a Korean cookbook author and Japanese TV chef, and Debra Samuels, a food writer and stylist and cooking instructor. Is Korea the next big wave of Asian food in North America? It certainly seems poised to be, since it is meat-based, healthy, robust and flavoured, famous for the bulgoi (Korean BBQ), kimchi (pickled spicy cabbage) and bibimbap (mixed rice). The book promises how to create whole menus from start to finish, both mains and side dishes. The authors begin with the basic larder, move to snacks and starters, and then salads and soups, and so on. Recipes are listed in English, Korean pictographs, and transliterated Korean. Ingredients are expressed in both avoirdupois and metric forms. Desserts and drinks are also included. At the back, there is a resource guide and bibliography. Audience and level of use: adventurous cooks, Korean food lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: mandu (dumplings); glass noodles; japchae (beef and veggies); udon noodle soup with clams; tuna sashimi salad; sticky rice with dried fruit and nuts. The downside to this book: nothing really, except it might be hard to find some ingredients. The upside to this book: good Korean food primer. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 7. COMPLETE CURRY COOKBOOK; 250 recipes from around the world (Robert Rose, 2008, 304 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0184-9, $27.95 Canadian soft covers) is by Byron Ayanoglu, chef and food writer, and Jennifer Mackenzie, also a food writer and recipe developer. These preps are touted as quick, easy, no fuss, no muss. The ingredients are readily available; no extensive larder is needed. This means canola oil is used instead of ghee or coconut, which is a shame. Shortcuts are highlighted, as well as some prepared foods and sauces. There are 250 international recipes here, from India, Thailand, China, Caribbean, and even England. There are suggestions on how to pair recipes and create menus, as well as complementary preps for raitas, chutneys, relishes, breads and samosas. Many preps would benefit from a mise en place if they are indeed to be quick. Some recipes are tagged “quick sauté” (cook in less than 30 minutes) while others are tagged “slow simmer” (an hour or more). Both avoirdupois and metric units are used in the ingredients listing. No desserts. Audience and level of use: beginner primer. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chilled buttermilk soup; curry-roasted squash and apple soup; sweet mango curry chicken; yellow curry pork; green curry pork; red curry pork. The downside to this book: the authors use no coconut oil/fat or ghee. You don’t need a lot but it is useful in some recipes. The upside to this book: good larger typeface. Quality/Price Rating: 83. 8. THE HEIRLOOM TOMATO; from garden to table (Bloomsbury, 2008, 260 pages, ISBN 978-1-59691-291-5, $35 US hard covers) is by Amy Goldman, a gardener, food author, and the chair of the board of Seed Savers Exchange. All of the photos were expertly shot and framed by Victor Schrager who has also done two previous books with Goldman. Log rolling is by four gardening academics and writers. She pays homage to the growers who bred and introduced varieties. But the name of the game here is biodiversity and the preservation of heritage. This book is a history, botanical guide, gardening primer for tomatoes, cookbook with 55 recipes, and a source book for 90 places to buy seeds (including from Canada). There are full colour photos for 200 varieties, from Abe Hall to Zapotec…yet over 1000 varieties exist in the world. Check out the “Ugly” Tomato, or the incredible-edible “San Marzano” (which gets a whole page). Goldman lists her research for each variety’s origins, size, colour, flavour, best uses, and other facts. Every variety is edible, but some are barely, such as the Yellow Pygmy. She has 55 recipes, mainly for the classics such as ketchup. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there are NO tables for metric conversions. There is a listing of 16 advocacy groups such as Seeds of Diversity Canada, and the book concludes with an extensive bibliography. Audience and level of use: tomato lovers, heritage food lovers, schools of hospitality, reference libraries, gardeners. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: tomato water; pan bagnat; gazpacho; cherry tomato salad and baked ricotta cheese; cream of tomato soup; grilled beef with stuffed tomatoes. The downside to this book: no index to the recipes – not even a listing. The upside to this book: the portraits of the 200 tomatoes. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 9. IS THIS BOTTLE CORKED? The secret life of wine (Faber and Faber, 2008, 259 pages, $24 Canadian hard covers) is by Kathleen Burk and Michael Bywater, both UK wine writers (although Burk was born and raised in California wine country) and academics. It is an engaging little book comprising some 75 or so Q and A about wine. As the PR bumpf says, “This book is guaranteed to provide readers with a ‘Yes, but did you know…’ answer.” Did you ever wonder what Falstaff was drinking when he quaffed sack? Why does Bridget Jones drink Chardonnay? What did Jane Austen drink? Why do we drink to forget? What is winespeak and wine guru? There is a bibliography of sources and a really good, extensive index – a rarity amongst such eclectic books. One answer a day to accompany your glass of wine… Quality/Price rating: 84. 10. THE URBAN COOK BOOK (Thames & Hudson, 2008, 256 pages, $24.95 US hard covers) is by King Adz, who was at one time destined to be a chef but now works as a film director in marketing and advertising and music, et al. This is a part memoir, part travelogue through five cities: Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, London, and New York City. His road- trip rules were to use public transport, eat street food, and stay at cheap hotels. In each city he finds five “urban talents” and two recipes apiece. Thus, these are fifty creative recipes for the graffiti generation. URLs abound, and everybody appears to be about 25 years old. Lots of colour and ADD type displays for the photographers, illustrators, fashion designers, digital and street artists, skaters, DJs, club owners, musicians, and Internet entrepreneurs who he located. Street food includes green Thai curry, Turkish lahmacun and kebabs, and Indian chicken bicken. Quality/Price rating: 85. 11. THE CORNBREAD GOSPELS (Workman Publishing, 2008, 379 pages, ISBN 978-0-7611-1916-6, $14.95 US soft covers) is by Crescent Dragonwagon, an author who is now a cornbread specialist. It is partly a memoir of her love for cornbread, and partly a history and culture sourcebook. There are anecdotes and bread tasting, illustrating the differences between Southern and Northern cornbreads. She visits the National Cornbread Festival in Tennessee. The 200 plus recipes are both sweet and savoury, for cornbreads, muffins, fritters, pancakes, rolls, tortillas and puddings. The initial arrangement is for cornbread, by region: south, north, and southwest. There is also a separate chapter on international dishes. Then come all the other varieties and desserts. A pantry/larder is discussed with ingredients to keep on hand. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used but there is a metric conversion table. Audience and level of use: corn lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: jonnycakes; Colombian arepas; Greek bobata; Indian makki ki roti; mixed-grain muffins; Craig Claiborne’s spoon bread; corn crepes; hush puppies; cornbread dressing. The downside to this book: nothing I can see or read. The upside to this book: engaging woodcuts by Andrea Wisnewski. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 12. COMPLETE BOOK OF THAI COOKING (Robert Rose, 2008, 288 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0180-1, $24.95 Canadian, soft covers) is by Linda Stephen, a chef who specializes in Thai cooking. The 200 recipes here exhibit lots of flavours like most Asiatic food (spicy, sour, salty, sweet) plus the balance between the flavours. Stephen has some culinary history notes for those lovers of Thai food who want to recreate dishes at home. She has a glossary, a pantry list, advice and techniques, and uses both avoirdupois and metric measurements in the ingredients listings. All foods are accessible from local markets, and Western equipment and techniques are emphasized. She’s upfront about food allergies and dislikes: don’t do any of this if you are allergic to peanuts, can’t take the heat, or don’t like cilantro. All of these can be eliminated from any recipe, but then it wouldn’t be Thai food any more. There’s a curious 17 recipe section on “fusion comfort food”, including meatloaf, carrots in mango juice, and breakfast mashed potatoes. Otherwise, the prep list goes from apps to desserts. Audience and level of use: beginner primer. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Thai Muslim lamb curry; steamed fish with chili lime sauce; Chiang Mai curry noodles; stuffed cucumber soup; Thai potstickers; mini-banana pancakes The downside to this book: there are some meaningless touristy photos. This also makes for a heavier book from the coated paper. The upside to this book: good large typeface Quality/Price Rating: 85. 13. TEN; all the foods we love and ten perfect recipes for each (Workman Publishing, 2008, 455 pages, ISBN 978-07611-3982-9, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Sheila Lukins, long-time food editor and columnist for Parade magazine, and co-author of the Silver Palate cookbooks. Notable log rolling is by Bobby Flay. Basically, this is a good idea: identify foods that we all love the most, and come up with the TEN best ways to cook them. You can dispute both the foods and the preps, but the idea itself is pretty good. The 32 foods include chops (all kinds of meats), pasta, chicken, ice cream, steak, seafood salads (really???), burgers (all meats), cakes, mashed potatoes, BBQ ribs. Veggie soups. She has dishes from top chefs, including one from log roller Tom Valenti (but I couldn’t find one from Bobby Flay). Names here include Judy Rodgers, Jeremish Tower, Anthony Bourdain, and Daniel Boulud. The layout is nice, with a colour plate section with page references. Sources are all US. Avoirdupois measurements are used but there are metric charts. Audience and level of use: basic foods and basic preps for them. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: for roasted and baked chicken, she has herb-roasted, roasted brined, Asian scented orange chicken, orange-ginger-tomato chicken, Vietnamese-style, tandoori style, chicken grand mere, Zuni roast chicken, post-roasted chicken, lemon-herbed roasted drumsticks. The downside to this book: too American – we have our own Canadian choice. The upside to this book: good database of important food and their engaging preps. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 14. THE COMPLETE WHOLE GRAINS COOKBOOK (Robert Rose, 2008, 288 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0178-8, $27.95 Canadian, soft covers) is by Judith Finlayson, a multiple cookbook author and food journalist. Whole grains have a variety of health benefits, and they also taste very nutty. As well, they are mostly crunchy and/or chewy. Thus, they have the positives of both taste and texture. All courses are here, from breakfasts to desserts, with colour photos to identify the grains used. There’s the usual info on buying and storing and cooking methods. There are a dozen grains and about 150 recipes (most with both regular and slow-cooker methods). Gluten-free grains include amaranth, buckwheat, corn, job’s tears, millet, oats, quinoa, rice and wild rice, and sorghum. Gluten grains include barley, rye, and wheat varieties. She has a section on diabetic food values for each grain, as well as nutrient analyses for the preps. Both avoirdupois and metric measurements are employed. Audience and level of use: basic primer. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: hot millet amaranth cereal; rhubarb and orange muffin; pork pozole; millet-crusted tamale pie; wheat berry gravy; black sticky rice salad. The downside to this book: coated paper makes this a heavy book. The upside to this book: colour picture IDs for the grains. Quality/Price Rating: 87. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESTAURANT/CELEBRITY COOKBOOKS... ...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks. Actually, they’ve been around for many years, but never in such proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be flogged at the restaurant or TV show and since the chef ends up being a celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I’ll try to point this out. The usual schtick is “favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks”. There is also PR copy on “demystifying ethnic ingredients”. PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase “mouth-watering recipes” as if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don’t seem to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some companies, though, will ship around the world, so don’t ignore them altogether. Here’s a rundown on the latest crop of such books – 15. THE SWEETER SIDE OF AMY’S BREAD (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 254 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-17074-8, $34.95 US hard covers) is by Amy Scherber, owner of Amy’s Bread in NYC since its launch in 1992. Today, it is in three locations. She also supplies wholesale to more than 300 restos and food stores. She has appeared on many TV shows. Check out www.amysbread.com. She specializes in breads and in muffins, cookies, bars, biscotti, layer cakes, and pastries. There are 71 preps here for most of her products, ranging from breakfast to after dinner desserts. Also included are recipes for sandwiches and sandwich breads. All preps have weights and measures in grams, ounces and avoirdupois volumes. Try cherry cream scones, lemon poppy seed muffins, soft brioche rolls with melting chocolate centres, and coconut cream cake. Quality/Price rating: 86. 16. LATIN EVOLUTION (Lake Isle Press, 2008; distr. By National Book Network, 303 pages, ISBN 978-1-891105-37-1, $38 US hard covers) is by Philadelphia restaurateur Jose Garces, who owns three establishments: Armada and Tinto (both tapas) and Chilango. He is also executive chef of Mercat a la Panxa in Chicago, has been nominated for a few Beards, and was an Iron Chef challenger. This is a collection of contemporary Spanish-Latin American cuisine, as reflected by his restos. The preps are all based on the Spanish Basque region, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the beaches of Ecuador. Each prep has avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents. The typeface is large enough to read, especially with the leading. There’s a glossary of foods, with substitutions, and this is followed by a terrific index with that same large typeface and plenty of leading to help locate any recipe. Try crab pozole verde, truffled lamb albondigas with sherry-foie gras cream, lobster with coconut-habanero sauce, pork belly montaditos with garbanzo bean puree, sous vide halibut with chorizo croquettes, and – wait for it – pepita-crusted yellow fin tuna with white bean stew, mole verde, and honey-mustard vinaigrette. Quality/Price rating: 88. 17. THE BIBENDUM COOKBOOK (Conran Octopus, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-84091-505-1, $29.95 US hard covers) is by the team of Terence Conran (acclaimed restaurateur and designer, “Habitat” stores), Simon Hopkinson (currently, an award-winning UK food writer, but head chef at Bibendum until 1995), and Matthew Harris, current head chef at Bibendum, where he has worked since 1987). Bibendum, housed in the historic Michelin building in London, has been one of the great restos in the UK for the past 21 years. There are 40 recipes here from Harris, all taken from the restaurant, and arranged by season. There are also 10 classics from Hopkinson, which they claim “have stood the test of time and are still served in the restaurant today.” There are also four dinner menus reproduced on the end pages, two from 1987 and two from 2008. They are virtually unreadable, being purple on purple. What a shame…There’s nothing wrong with the classics such as chocolate pithiviers and crab vinaigrette and piedmontese peppers – they lack the excitement of the newer dishes. There are excellent photographs and historical reproductions of every aspect of restaurant life, as well as extensive text about Bibendum. Recipes have both avoirdupois and metric measurements incorporated with the ingredients. Typical British fare includes devilled lambs’ kidneys on toast, roast pigeon with peas and mint, Sussex pond pudding, and jambon persille with sauce gribiche. Quality/Price rating: 87. 18. MARTHA STEWART’S COOKING SCHOOL; lessons and recipes for the home cook (Clarkson Potter, 2008, 504 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-39644-0, $45 US hard covers) is a “how-to” cookbook, arranged as lessons, and with more than 200 recipes plus techniques. The arrangement is by product, sub- arranged by technique. She begins with lessons 1 – 9 (stocks and soups), with techniques on how to make dashi, pureed soups, and consommé. The next eight lessons are on eggs (how to boil, how to poach, fry, scramble, make an omelet, coddle, bake, make a frittata. Really, really basic stuff. But really, really well presented with 500 photos of techniques and an index. Other categories: meat-fish-poultry, veggies, pasta, dried beans and grains, desserts (how to make soufflé, meringue, genoise, custard, pate a choux, sorbets, and granitas. One complaint: there are no metric conversion tables, which I am putting down to American insularity. There is a separate page at the front, with a box labeled: “This book belongs to”…but it is tacky. Quality/Price rating: 86. 19. BAKED; new frontiers in baking (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 208 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-721-1, $29.95 US hard covers) is by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. “Baked” is the name of their endeavour which opened in Brooklyn in 2005. Since then, they have done a ton of TV shows, and have an upcoming series this fall. They do a lot of wholesaling in NYC, such as with Dean & Deluca. But log rolling is still needed – from Martha Stewart and Jacques Torres (see below). Both authors had careers in advertising, and the pizzazz shows in the book. They promote comfort baking, using common everyday products in unusual ways. The 75 recipes cover brownies and bars, cookies, chocolates, candies, drinks, cakes and cupcakes – all the things we lusted for when we were little kids. Nostalgia rules in such as icebox tower cake or sweet and salty cake. One of the best sections is the breakfast chapter, with sour lemon scones, orange almond blueberry muffins, and chipotle cheddar biscuits. Avoirdupois measurements with metric conversion charts. Quality/Price rating: 85. 20. JACQUES TORRES’ A YEAR IN CHOCOLATE; 80 recipes for holidays and special occasions (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 199 pages, ISBN 978-1-584796428, $35 US hard covers) is by the former pastry chef at Le Cirque, who is now dean of pastry studies at the French Culinary Institute in New York. He also has his own chocolate factory, Jacques Torres Chocolate. Judith Choate, author of 21 cookbooks, is the focusing food writer. Torres had his own food shows on PBS and the Food Network, and has written two other cookbooks. All of the recipes are organized by holidays, beginning with January, and running through Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, Chinese New Year, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Passover, Cinco de Mayo through to the various Christmas permutations and New Year. There is a history of the restaurant and factory, as well as techniques such as molding. Preps appear to be adapted for the home kitchen. All the typefaces are large, with extra leading – making the book a joy to read without eyestrain. The yummy gastroporn pix help too. Try chocolate blackout cake with ganache drizzle, chocolate chess pie, chocolate-covered matzo, mudslides, langues de chat, and pumpkin chocolate cake. Quality/Price rating: 86. 21. THE NEW AFRICAN-AMERICAN KITCHEN (Lake Isle Press, 2008; distr. National Book Network, 272 pages, ISBN 978-1-891105-39-5, $21.95 US hard covers) is by Angela Shelf Medearis, who has her own PBS TV show, “The Kitchen Diva!”. She has also appeared on the Food Network with Bobby Flay. She has written four cookbooks, plus over 80 books for children. The 200 recipes, all meticulously researched, come from slave quarters, plantations, church suppers, family reunions, ancient celebrations, and modern ethnic kitchens. These heirloom recipes are arranged by region, including Africa and the Caribbean, and a “making do” section from slave kitchens. There are vignettes of culinary history, anecdotes and quotes, plus tips and techniques where needed. While the ingredients are listed with avoirdupois weights and measures, there are no metric conversion tables. Try Ethiopian party punch, South African pickled fish, Nigerian eggplant appetizer, Caribbean stuffed red snapper, chicken with peaches, crackling cornbread, and lemon chess pie. Quality/Price rating: 89. 22. SAUCE (Gold Street Press, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 240 pages, ISBN 978-1-934533-14-7, $30 US, hard covers) is by Sonja Lee, a Norwegian chef with a TV show and an Oslo restaurant, Malla, which opened in 2007. She has worked with Alain Ducasse and in restos in the triangle of NY, Paris and London. Here are preps for about 200 sauces, dips, salsas, and spreads; it was originally published in Norwegian in 2007. The intriguing photographs show the creation of the sauce’s ingredients. Her contents are divided into categories such as jus, mayo, oil-based sauces, cream-based sauces, butter-based sauces, and then fruit/vegetable sauces, dessert sauces, and spirit-based sauces. Additionally, she covers dips and salsas and marinades in their own chapters. There are a couple of pages of close type matching dishes with sauces. An informative book, with some log rolling by Chuck Williams. Quality/Price rating: 86. 23. MORE FAST FOOD MY WAY (Houghton Mifflin, 2008, 241 pages, ISB 978- 0-618-14233-0, $32 US hard covers) is by Jacques Pepin, well-known TV chef, cooking school teacher, winner of many Beards and IACPs for his 25 or more cookbooks, etc. This book also has the qualifier “as seen on public television”. He has written, “This is the easiest of my cookbooks for beginners…for people pressed for time or limited by a poorly stocked supermarket...or for any one who wants great food quickly.” His first book in this series (FAST FOOD MY WAY) was published in 2004. The current book is also a companion to the 26-part PBS series that seeks to create simple, special meals in minutes. The 140 recipes are straightforward, and while arranged by course, there are 26 menus with page references to follow along with each show. He has a separate index to “minute recipes” for those super-quick dishes (radish treats, red pepper dip, salmon rolls, rice paper rolls with avocado and sun-dried tomato) – there are 28 of these. He advocates use of the pressure cooker and microwave. Canned food is also useful for beans, tomatoes, peaches, and tuna, as is “ready food” (cheese, olives, smoked fish and smoked meats), condiments, purchased brioche, pound cake, and bread. Some of these preps are make aheads (hours, days), but all of them are indeed quick. Bear this in mind: it is labour intensive, and there is some competitive spirit of a contest in how fast one can make a dish. With Jacques Pepin at the helm, this is larder/pantry cooking at its finest. No wine recommendations. Quality/Price rating: 88. 24. OLIVES & ORANGES; recipes & flavor secrets from Italy, Spain, Cyprus & beyond (Houghton Mifflin, 2008, 372 pages, ISBN 978-0-618- 67764-1, $35 US hard covers) is by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox. Jenkins, daughter of food writer Nancy Harmon Jenkins, has cheffed mostly in New York city; she just opened Porchetta in the East Village. Mindy Fox is a focusing food writer, now food editor at La Cucina Italiana. Log rolling includes pieces by Mario (Batali), Paula (Wolfert), Adam (Gopnik), and Molly (O’Neill). The preps are Mediterranean, but for family reasons there is a strong run of Italian and Eastern Mediterranean dishes. Try Fattouche from Lebanon; Green beans with shaved onion, fried almonds and parmesan; Red onions cooked in orange juice; Pan-roasted Brussels sprouts, turnips, and beets with farm faro; or North African spiced shrimp. She begins with a description of her “flavor pantry” (oils, salts and salty products, grains and legumes, broths, herbs and spices, and cheeses) and then moves on to small plates, salad, soup, pasta-risotto-polenta, fish, poultry, meats, and then sweets. There is a US sources list and all weights and measures are in avoirdupois (with no metric conversion tables). There are no wine recommendations. Quality/price rating: 86. 25. HEIRLOOM COOKING WITH THE BRASS SISTERS; recipes you remember & love (Black Dog and Leventhal, 2008; dist. T. Allen, 285 pages plus, ISBN 978-1-57912-784-8, $29.95 US hard covers) is by Marilynn Brass and Sheila Brass, authors of “Heirloom Baking” which was nominated for a Beard. Both are antique dealers (with a name like brass, what else could you be?) with a penchant for cooking. They are known as “Queens of Comfort Food”, and have been on PBS many times. Here they continue with the “heirloom” motif, moving on from baking to the rest of the menu. These are the 135 classics, collected over many decades and updated for the modern kitchen. They represent over 100 years of cooking in North America. Simple and easy to make, such as zucchini cheese bake, Romanian stuffed cabbage, red velvet cake, milk chocolate pound cake, toasted almond butter cookies, meatloaf, and the like. Plus variations. Arranged by course, the preps use avoirdupois measurements, but there are conversion charts. The resources list has a list of sources, contributors, and bibliography. There are graphics of the original recipes and antique cookware from their own personal collection. And there are spare pages and a folder for you own recipes. Quality/Price rating: 85. 26. FRANK STITT’S BOTTEGA FAVORITA; a southern chef’s lover affair with Italian food. (Artisan, 2008; T. Allen, 270 pages, ISBN 978-1-57965- 302-6, $40 US hard covers) is by the chef and owner of three distinct Birmingham Alabama restaurants. He has written other cookbooks, has appeared on TV, won a Beard and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Foodways Alliance. Katherine Cobbs is the focusing food writer. This is Italian cooking layered with Southeastern US sensibility. Log rollers include Mario (Batali) again – see above. The 200 recipes include such as parmesan soufflé, duck with peaches and moscato, Tuscan porterhouse, zabaglione meringue cake, baked feta with focaccia, and pizza with wild mushrooms and butternut squash. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used, but unfortunately there are no conversion charts for metric users. He has a listing of the basics and foundation recipes in the pantry section, and there is a description of tools and techniques. Sources are all US. An interesting read with some vivid photos. Quality/price rating: 87. 27. BIKER BILLY’S ROADHOUSE COOKBOOK; adventures in roadhouse cuisine (The Lyons Press, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 222 pages, ISBN 978-1-59921-434-4, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Bill Hufnagle, host of a cable TV cooking show and author of three previous cookbooks. He rides a Harley and hangs out with the “Big Boys” (www.bikerbilly.com). This is a collection of roadhouse recipes, history and lore – over a dozen famed highways such as Route 66 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. All US of course. There are 100 plus recipes here, such as the Whiz Bang sandwich from the Santa Fe Café in Ohio, the chicken and sausage gumbo of Top of the Hill Grill in Vermont, spinach stromboli at Jo Jo’s Pizza in New York state, and the hot-rod mocha java milkshake at the Hop Ice Cream Shop in North Carolina. Arrangement is by course or product, and not (unfortunately) by itinerary. Stories abound from these biker- friendly diners, and each has full addresses and website, and occasionally a black and white picture. Terrific value for those American road trips. Quality/Price rating: 90. 28. THE MAIN; recipes (Whitecap, 2008, 200 pages, ISBN 1-55285-945-2, $29.95 Canadian, soft covers) is by Anthony Sedlak, a chef who had a successful Food Network show entitled “The Main”. This book is a collection of the better recipes featured in the show’s first four seasons (it is now in season five). The focal point of the show and this book is the use of one main ingredient in different and complementary dishes. The 47 meals are arranged alphabetically by the ingredient, from “aged cheddar” to “yogurt”. In between are gnocchi, oysters, pears, prosciutto, corn, crab, and sesame seeds. The format and arrangement are the same for each. For example, under “ground sirloin” we get a lot of classy photos, advice on timing, a recipe for the burger, another for homemade BBQ sauce, cabbage-celeriac coleslaw, and poutine. Weights and measures are in avoirdupois but there is a metric conversion chart. This is such a guy book it should be at the top of any gift list for a man, despite log rolling by Anna Olson and Lynn Crawford. Quality/Price rating: 88. 29. BAREFOOR CONTESSA BACK TO BASICS; fabulous flavor from simple ingredients (Clarkson Potter, 2008, 272 pages, ISBN 978-1-4000-5435-0, $35 US hard covers) is by Ina Garten, who is a Food Network star (Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics) and the author of five previous cookbooks. Her book concentrates on the basic elements of simplicity, covering such topics as the best ways to boost flavours in foods, what not to serve at a party, no-cook things to serve with drinks, floral arrangements, and professional advice on entertaining. She also has a questions section with answers to what people ask her all the time. Arrangement is by time of day, such as “cocktail hour”, lunch, dinner, breakfast, plus veggies, soup, and dessert. Some prepared foods are used, such as puff paste. Typical dishes are soft-shell crab sandwiches, plum crunch, tri-berry oven pancakes, roasted pears with blue cheese, and lobster corn chowder. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there is no metric conversion table. Also, the sources quoted are all US. Thirteen menus are presented, but at the end, and they all have page references so you don’t have to look them up in the index. Quality/Price rating: 87. 30. IN THE KITCHEN WITH ANNA; new ways with the classics (Whitecap, 2008, 222 pages, ISBN 978-1-55285-946-9, $29.95 Canadian soft covers) is by Anna Olson, a multiple cookbook author and host of many Food Network cooking shows, principally “Sugar”. She and her husband chef Michael also own Olson Foods & Bakery in Niagara. These preps are the tried and true classics, some with inventive modern spins. Her variations are also useful and welcomed. Typical are Canadian minestrone soup, brandied pork terrine with cranberry, turkey salad with dried apricot and marjoram, braised edamame with leeks and miso, and sesame salmon with roasted red pepper salsa. With each recipe, there is a taste note, a technique, and a tale (memoir). Good large print, and the ingredients are listed with both metric and avoirdupois measurements. Arrangement is by course, but at the end, there are some pages of menu suggestions, with page references to the dishes so that you don’t have to look them up in the index. And kudos for spelling “hors d’oeuvre” correctly. Quality/Price rating: 90. 31. THE PALEY’S PLACE COOKBOOK; recipes and stories from the Pacific Northwest (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 232 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-830-5, $35 US hard covers) is by Vitaly and Kimberly Paley, owners of Paley’s Place in Portland, Oregon. He won a Beard for his work in 2005, ten years after the resto opened. Kimberly is food and beverage manager. Robert Reynolds is the focusing food writer. The emphasis, of course, is on fresh, seasonal and local foods from Oregon and surrounding states. It is arranged by course, with a section on the larder/pantry and on cocktails. There are just a few scattered references to Oregon wine, mostly in a food and wine matching context. These wines needed to be highlighted more. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there is no metric table of equivalents. Most of the resources listed are local; certainly, they are all American. Overall, there are too many non-food pictures, but the book does suffice as a record of the restaurant and its preps. Unusual dishes here include pan-fried lamb’s tongue with aioli, snails with bone marrow, poached halibut cheeks, poppy seed- crusted albacore tuna, lamb necks braised in pinot noir, braised elk shoulder, and a cherry-olive oil polenta cake. Great layout and coverage of local foods, especially cheese. But se also West, immediately below. Quality/Price rating: 89. 32. WEST; the cookbook (Douglas & McIntyre, 2008, 250 pages, ISBN 978- 1-55363-357-8, $50 Canadian hard covers) is by Warren Geraghty, the chef at the top-rated Vancouver restaurant, West. He has had extensive London experience, and has been head chef at two Michelin-starred restos. Recipe contributions have also been made by David Hawksworth, Rhonda Viani, David Wolowidnyk, and Owen Knowlton (the latter dealing with wine pairings). Jim Tobler wrote the text. This is a fine example of a restaurant book, with an explanation of how the place is run (with photos) and how the staff meshes. The 100 recipes were crafted with the home cook in mind, and cover the full range of appetizers to desserts and beyond. The resto was originally called Ouest and served French cuisine. It became West and did the local, fresh and seasonal Pacific Northwest food theme. In that respect, it is similar to Paley’s Place Cookbook (see immediately above). But there is just as much lack of detail on regional wines as in Paley, and there is little on local cheeses. There is a more consumer-friendly arrangement, by the seasons, beginning with Spring, and then sub-divided by starters, mains, desserts, and cocktails. Try these: foie gras and goat cheese and apple terrine, quail galantine, crab and cous cous tian, scallops with butternut squash remoulade, salmon with sesame-scented cabbage and smoked salmon gnocchi, pumpkin panna cotta. And there is a larder/pantry collection of sauces and oils and the like. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there is a metric conversion table. Quality/Price rating: 90. 33. MARTY’S WORLD FAMOUS COOKBOOK; secrets from the Muskoka landmark café (Whitecap, 2008, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-55285-929-2, $29.95 Canadian soft covers) is by Marty Curtis, the owner of Marty’s World Famous Café in Muskoka. He opened a Muskoka ice cream parlour in 1996, and then he developed his café, centered on butter tarts, his specialty and secret. He even has some BBQ recipes using butter tarts as a base for the rub and sauce. There is an extensive section on making butter tarts, and he reveals the recipe that made him so famous in Muskoka. I can tell you the secret: lard. Anyway, his baked goods and pies are the best thing about the book since he uses the same pastry recipe (from the Grey Nuns of Quebec) for all of them. These preps include Muskoka maple pie, blueberry pie, cherry pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, pumpkin pie, turkey pie, tourtiere, and mincemeat pie. Other than these, there are recipes for basic diner food. Try smoked trout pate. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there are metric conversion charts. Quality/Price rating: 86. 34. CUISINE A LATINA; fresh tastes and a world of flavors from Michy’s Miami Kitchen (Houghton Mifflin, 2008, 276 pages, ISBN 978-0-618-86750- 9, $30 US hard covers) is by Michelle Bernstein, chef-owner of Michy’s in Miami. The focusing food writer is Andrew Friedman, who has co- authored many cookbooks. Log rolling is provided by Bobby Flay and Anthony Bourdain. These are Latin dishes, neither expressly Floridian nor Cuban. Her work collates the Argentine food of her mother, with its intertwined Latin and Italian roots (Argentine veal Milanesa), the seafood of Florida (fried calamari with chili coconut sauce), some Jewish roots influences (mustard-crusted brisket), and French training (shaved fennel salad). All courses are here but she does one dessert only: a bread pudding. Try Peruvian mixed seafood ceviche, shrimp tiradito with avocado and corn nuts, conch escargot, Cubano sandwich, codfish fritters with tomato stew, Latina bouillabaisse, and spiced crab cakes. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there is no conversion table to metric. Quality/Price rating: 88. 35. ON THE LINE (Artisan Books, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 239 pages, ISBN 978-1-57965-369-9, $35 US hard covers) is by Eric Ripert, the chef and part-owner of Le Bernadin, possibly the best restaurant in New York City. Christine Muhlke, a food writer and editor, is the focusing food writer here. The book promises to be inside the world of Le Bernardin: “the stations, the heat, the cooks, the costs, the chaos, and the triumphs” (their words, not mine). This is a story of everyday line work at a major restaurant, and should form a basis for every hospitality student’s culinary studies. Le Bernardin has been around for two decades, and is just one of three New York City restaurants to earn three Michelin stars. There’s a lot of fly-on-the-wall stuff here, real insider info, with photos, charts, tips and advice. It’s a basic primer on how a top notch resto works. Besides the line stress, there are sections on the wine cellar, costing a meal, menus and tasting notes. The cuisine is modern French, emphasizing seafood: 150,000 plates come out of the kitchen every year. There are 50 preps here, in an all-in-one index made hard to read by a light typeface on grey paper. The recipes are given their own section at the back, and, of course, are next-to-impossible to photocopy. Try wild salmon and smoked salmon with apple, celery, and baby watercress and jalapeno emulsion; yellow fin tuna, foie gras, and toasted baguette with chives and EVOO; conch marinated Peruvian style with dried sweet corn; layered crab, avocado, and potatoes spiced with yellow aji pepper sauce; or bacalao salad with avocado. No metric conversion tables. Quality/Price rating: 90. AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR NOVEMBER 2008 =================================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE!! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. ORGASMIC APPETIZERS AND MATCHING WINES; tiny bites with the moan factor (Whitecap, 2008, 232 pages, ISBN 978-1-55285-923-0, $29.95 CAD paper covers) is by Shari Darling, a wine educator and wine judge who has a food company “Orgasmic Culinary Creations”. She is also a member of the Wine Writers’ Circle of Canada. Here she posits the epiphany moment when perfect food meets perfect wine on your palate. She begins with appetizers, and presumably, (if the book sells well) she’ll move on to mains and sides and desserts, possibly even menus and entertaining. Her first 40 pages here discuss taste relationships between food and wine, their building blocks and taste profiles based on intensity of flavours. “All the recipes – ingredients, herbs, spices, and amounts – have been reworked to be wine savvy and to fall within my Building Block Principles for pairing success.” (p.2). Part Two of the book deals with preps sorted by their applicability to styles of wines. She has 11 categories, beginning with sparkling wines, moving through four kinds of white wines, rose, three kinds of reds, late harvest, ice wines, and fortified wines. For each, she describes the character and flavours, types of grapes and regions, and the best possible food choices. This is what separates Darling’s book from the others which deal with food and wine pairing: she has gone after the best, most epiphany-type taste sensations. A quick check of the food charts of umami flavours shows a high percentage of gouty foods to avoid, if you suffer from raised uric acid levels (as I do): anchovies, sardines, wild mushrooms, fermented foods, cured meats, distilled spirits. Weights and measures for each ingredient have both avoirdupois and metric forms. More details are at www.sophisticatedwino.com and www.orgasmicculinarycreations.com Audience and level of use: those with a strong interest in food and wine matching. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: crisp, dry whites (tuna, green olive, and caper spread; mexicali salsa); big, fat whites (creamy crab tartlets; bacon cheddar melt); off-dry whites (mandarin pancakes with Peking duck; sesame-coated pork skewers); light, fruity reds (caramelized onion and goat cheese crostini; chicken-stuffed mushroom caps). The downside to this book: too much of it is tied into sex (e.g., “tantric twosomes”, “moan”, “titillating”, “wanton”, “virgin”, “orgy” – which is okay if it sells the book. At least there are no explicit pictures. The upside to this book: a good theme, the part about matching great tasting wines with great tasting foods for that epiphany moment. Quality/Price Rating: 89. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. COOL CUISINE; taking the bite out of global warming (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 244 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0392-4, $24.99 US paper covers) is by Laura Stec, a San Francisco chef with concerns over global warming, and a culinary health educator for Kaiser Permanente Medical Group. She has written the book with Eugene Cordero, a meteorology professor at San Jose State University. Together, they have created globalwarmingdiet.org. This is a neat little collection of scientific fact and culinary principles, in order to find new ways to look at the climate crisis. The authors cover the greenhouse effect, fertilizers, methane, the cycle of agro-business and chemicals and global warming system, looking for new ways to decrease the carbon footprints we all create. Just consider: the average North American restaurant produces 275 pounds of waste each day. Or, food transportation accounts for 17% of energy consumption in North America. These all need a carbon footprint label, to go along with the Nutrition Data label. The best way to smallen the footprint is to stay home, eat green, eat more veggies, and do the SLOW technique: Seasonal, Local, Organic and Whole. The first 150 pages cover the problems and the solutions. The last 75 pages are the recipes. The authors have a lot of end notes as well as a resources list. Avoirdupois measurements are used, with metric conversion tables. Audience and level of use: concerned individuals, chefs. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: The recipes have been designed for the SLOW principle -- baked millet and quinoa with onion and corn; winter emmer risotto and roasted root veggies; collard greens and black olives; green beans and candied shallots; buckwheat and hard- boiled eggs; slow cooked beef stew. The downside to this book: lacks a discussion on wine, which still needs to be written by someone. The upside to this book: this is an attractive package. Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. LESSONS IN WINE SERVICE FROM CHARLIE TROTTER (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 162 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-905-0, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Edmund O. Lawler, a journalism teacher in Chicago who has written two other books about Charlie Trotter’s, the restaurant, for the hospitality trade. So this book is about the resto, and not about (nor authored by) Charlie Trotter the man. There is additional log rolling from Angelo Gaja, the noted Italian winemaker. Lawler has advice from four or so top rate sommeliers for this book. He outlines and analyzes the development and execution of wine pairings and wine service at Charlie Trotter’s. This means details on how to hire and train staff, provide “intuitive” service, and craft and maintain a wine list. Trotter’s has 1800 different wines with a $2 million inventory and 20 front of house staff trained to pour and describe wines. They advocate a “Wine Experience”, which is a series of two ounce samples of five or more wines. There is also a “Premium Wine Experience” – for $250 a head. They can do it with the new nitrogen systems. This slim book also has a listing of seasonal food and wine pairings. Audience and level of use: educational, meant for hospitality students and other restaurateurs, sommeliers, and wine servers. Some interesting or unusual facts: wine service should be “service oriented”. “Trotter estimates the restaurant breaks about $50,000 worth of the delicate stemware each year.” Riedel, of course. The downside to this book: nothing about pricing or markup policies. The upside to this book: there are chapter summaries of wine services. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 4. DULCE; desserts from Santa Fe kitchens (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 152 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0489-1, $24.99 hard covers) is from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation; it is one of a series of cookbook fundraisers (actually, this is third), along the lines of community cookbooks. But it is simply one of the most gorgeous such community books I have seen, resplendent with reproductions of paintings held in the local Museum of Fine Arts, crafts in the Palace of the Governors, and other items from the Museum of International Folk Art and especially the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year). The Foundation is a non- profit organization dedicated to these four museums, as a sort of “Friends of…” group. The 200 recipes are contributed by a committee which collected from people and restaurants, and they are arranged by the principal ingredient or product, such as chocolate, cookies, ices, fruit, tarts and pies, creamy desserts, and so forth. Most of this is non-Southwest dessert territory, Audience and level of use: art lovers, Santa Fe lovers, community cookbook collectors. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Pina Colada cheesecake; bittersweet chocolate and cranberry terrine; Harry’s Roadhouse chocolate cream pie; Mexican hot chocolate ice cream; orange biscochitos; natillas; pinon crumb apple pie. The downside to this book: another cherries jubilee recipe? Or baked fudge? The book needs more local New Mexican preps and native ingredients. The upside to this book: contributors include then Pink Adobe, Quail Run, Terra Cotta Restaurant, Santa Café, and Andiamo Restaurant. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 5. 1,000 GLUTEN-FREE RECIPES (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 700 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-06780-2, $35 US hard covers) is by Carol Fenster, an expert on gluten-free cooking whose preps have appeared in many magazines, and who has written seven previous cookbooks on gluten-free cooking. This is one of Wiley’s “1,000 Recipes” series. All meals and all occasions are covered here, with vegetarian options (highlighted with a V) and quick options (highlighted with a Q). And some preps here avoid dairy; these are indicated with substitutions. The book is arranged by food categories. There are 172 breakfast dishes, 75 sandwiches and soups, 106 pasta and veggie dishes, 205 mains, and 377 desserts. Several named chefs provided recipes for this book. She offers make-your-own flours, such as a sorghum blend. Her book has a concluding chapter on a homemade gluten-free larder, with an inventory such as lemon-pepper seasoning, adobo seasoning, basil pesto, chipotle mayo, buttermilk, and Clementine marmalade. While she has suggested menus, there are no page references given. And many of the baking recipes are not scaled as to weights, only to volumes. Her website www.savorypalate.com has more details and recipes. Audience and level of use: those who cook gluten-free meals. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: French silk pie; dried cherry and nut cookies; sausage with warm lentils and polenta; lemon meringue tart; caprese salad; runzas. The downside to this book: there are no tables of metric conversions. The upside to this book: index clearly shows the V and Q symbols. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 6. SWINDLED; the dark history of food fraud, from poisoned candy to counterfeit coffee (Princeton University Press, 384 pages, ISBN 978-0- 691-13820-4, $26.95 US hard covers) is by Bee Wilson, an award-winning food columnist for the Sunday Telegraph. She had previously written “The Hive” about honeybees. This is a great lively history of food adulteration, covering cultural and scientific history and food politics in a chronological approach through six chapters. The basic scams here are to make money by extending a product: watering it down, prolonging its life, brightening the colours, and adding bulk. This leads to contamination, substitutions, mislabeling, and misnaming. Most of the topics are British (the book was first published earlier this year in the UK). It begins (after a swift survey of food frauds through ancient history) with 18th century scams in the UK, such as fake coffee and fake mustard, and then moving on to pickles made green from copper, candies made brighter from lead, white bread bleached with alum, fake wartime coffee (WWI and WWII) – leading up to fake organics in the present day and the food from China (melamine everywhere, adulterated lard, bad baby formulas). Along the way, processed food, synthetic foods, and preservatives are also covered. The role of Frederick Accum is explored; his investigations led to many swindlers being jailed. Poisoning and cheating, all in the name of greed. Consumer ignorance has always helped the food swindlers: we need to be alert and educated, to read the labels (RTFL). Wilson has end notes, bibliography, and an extensive index. Audience and level of use: foodies, academics, hospitality students, libraries. Some interesting or unusual facts: “pays special attention to nineteenth- and twentieth-century America and England and their roles in developing both industrial scale food adulteration and the scientific ability to combat it.” The downside to this book: British orientation for the most part. The upside to this book: a great read. Quality/Price Rating: 90. jessica_pellien@press.princeton.edu 7. THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA COOKBOOK (Lebhar-Friedman Books, 2008; distr. National Book Network, 312 pages, ISBN 978-0-86730-931-7, $39.95 US hard covers) is from the CIA. The book says that it is a collection of 375 favourite recipes for the home cook. There are tips and preparation techniques as well. These are self-described as all- time classic faves, but who determines these? This point is never addressed. Typical contents cover apps to desserts, with breakfasts, light fare, beverages and snacks included. There are 40 illustrative techniques shown, such as how to do a creamy risotto or build a coal fire. Tables include showing cuts of meat, cooking times for grains and legumes, grilling times, and metric conversions from avoirdupois weights and measures. The layout of the book is by double columns with a lighter typeface for the ingredients. There are colour photos of plated products, with page references to the recipes. The CIA gives an explanation of a larder and a pantry, plus the importance of a mise en place, proper equipment, and proper seasonings. With all these matters prepared in advance, actual cooking is relatively easy. Audience and level of use: cooks who need a reliable book of recipes. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: New England clam chowder; radish salad with peas; cold roasted tomato and basil soup; bibimbap; tortelli with bitter greens and ricotta; garlic cheese grits. The downside to this book: tiny typeface is used for the index. The upside to this book: sturdy binding, bookmark ribbons. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 8. THE AMISH COOK AT HOME; simple pleasures of food, family and faith (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008; distr. Simon & Schuster, 204 pages, ISBN 978-0-7407-7372-3, $29.99 US hard covers) is by Lovina Eicher, a syndicated columnist (“The Amish Cook”) appearing in 130 American newspapers. Kevin Williams, who assists her here, is the editor of that column. The book is part memoir, part cultural overview of Amish life, and part cookbook. Most of her anecdotes and stories are centered around the family kitchen table. The book is arranged by season, and cooking is expressed through the eyes of an Old Order Amish family who live without electricity, plumbing or automobiles. Her celebrations include weddings, holidays, funerals, and Christmas. She has good pictures of agricultural products, larders and farm implements. This is easy comfort food, simple to make. While the weights and measures are in avoirdupois, there are no metric conversion tables. Audience and level of use: those interested in a slower life, ruralists. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: dandelion jelly; stuffed mushrooms; rhubarb cobbler; ham and pea salad; zucchini patties; sausage and noodle dinner; sauerkraut supper. The downside to this book: just a lack of metric conversion tables The upside to this book: good commentaries. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 9. A REVOLUTION IN TASTE; the rise of French cuisine, 1650 – 1800 (Cambridge University Press, 2008, 317 pages, ISBN 978-0-521-82199-5, $32 US hard covers) is by Susan Pinkard, a modern European history Ph. D. now teaching at Georgetown University. It is a historical survey which tries to answer the questions how and why did French cuisine develop a philosophy that a meal is to be savoured and not devoured? And that dining is an experience? that restaurants developed first in France (as “restorer”). All of this is Parisian, of course, rather than French, and comes from the Ancien Regime. Her chapters deal with historical recipes and culinary techniques, Parisian high society and the court relative to fine dining, haute cuisine vs. bourgeois cuisine, horticulture and gardening, diet and medicine, the rise of a wine culture, and the development of the modern taste. She relies on cookbooks from La Verenne (1651) and Bonnefons (1656) for the earlier material, and provides a sharp commentary on the food articles in Diderot’s “Encyclopedie” (1772) – this is the main range of her survey. There are 80 recipes and variations from the early modern French kitchen, all sourced and all updated: lots of sauces, soups, bisques and joints, fish, and veggies. The extensive bibliography has both pop and scholarly materials, and there are also footnotes for further explanations. Audience and level of use: culinary historians, food libraries. Some interesting or unusual facts: In referring to the pre-1650 period, “cuisine was artifice: perfection was achieved when flavors fused so completely that it was hard to guess what the individual components were”. My comment: some global fusion food served in today’s restos is still like this. The downside to this book: the general reader might shy away from its scholarly nature. The upside to this book: a good explanation of the complex cultural meaning of food. Quality/Price Rating: 90. dshannon@cambridge.org 10. THE HARNEY & SONS GUIDE TO TEA (Penguin Press, 2008, 227 pages, ISBN 978-1-59420-138-7, $25.95 US hard covers) is by Michael Harney, the tea buyer and blender of Harney & Sons for twenty years. He is assisted by Emily Kaiser, an associate food editor at Food & Wine magazine. His book is a compendium of the 56 teas every connoisseur ought to know, starting with the delicate white teas to aged puarh tea. His categories in between include Chinese green tea, Japanese green tea, oolongs, yellow teas, Chinese black tea, and “British legacy” black teas. For each category and type, he gives a background, description of several sub-types, br4ewing temperatures and times, what the leaves look like, aromas to smell and body and flavours to expect. In his appendix, there are tea-tasting menus, a brief history of teas, and descriptions of the various harvesting and treatment processes. At the end of his book, there is a bibliography and a list of suppliers (some are only online) Audience and level of use: confirmed tea drinkers. Some interesting or unusual facts: tea is sourced from China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. The downside to this book: it can be technical at points. The upside to this book: quite thorough and interesting. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 11. A TASTE OF CANADA; a culinary journey (Whitecap, 2008, 258 pages, ISBN 978-1-55285-911-7, $34.95 Canadian, soft covers) is by Rose Murray, well-known Canadian food writer and author of nine cookbooks. Here she attempts to discover Canadian cuisine. The book is part memoir, part travelogue, part cookbook. In trying to discovery Canadian cuisine, she finds that it is a reflection of who we are by region and ethnic group, not a reflection of Canadian foods. Her book is arranged by course, from starters to desserts, with special features on Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes), tourtiere, pork, dried beans, fiddleheads, wild rice, cranberries, maple syrup, pumpkins, rhubarb, and apples. These are what could be considered “Canadian foods” since they feature in much of the wide country’s cuisine. Murray gives us both classic and contemporary preps (such as butter tarts in phyllo), using regional ingredients and regional menus where possible. The latter includes a Christmas dinner in Newfoundland, a Maritime buffet, a Quebecois sophisticated supper, an Ontario midsummer grill, a midnight sun supper from up North, a Prairie brunch, and a BC picnic in Stanley Park. There are also generic menus for national distinct holidays such as Canada Day and Thanksgiving. Audience and level of use: lovers of Canadian cuisine, the curious Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: tourtiere turnovers; wild mushroom and back bacon risotto; wild rice pancakes with sour cream; wine-pickled salmon; grilled arctic char; seafood pot pie; maple glazed grilled peameal bacon. The downside to this book: too many non-food pictures, and not enough plated examples. The upside to this book: she uses both avoirdupois and metric weights and measures for ingredients listed in the recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 12. A SPRING WITHOUT BEES; how colony collapse disorder has endangered our food supply (Lyons Press, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 292 pages, ISBN 978-1-59921-432-0, $27.50 US hard covers) is by Michael Schacker, an investigative science writer with The New Earth Institute. He looked into WHY many bee hives disappeared. Over 100 food are pollinated by bees, some exclusively: almonds, raspberries, kale, chives, onion, cherries, tangerine, and watermelon. When bees disappear, so does food. It could all lead to Civilization Collapse Disorder through lack of food. The use of imidacloprid (IMD) has been blamed for the bees dying off, especially when research shows that IMD was first used in France in 1994, and the bees exhibited colony collapse disorders (CCD) at that time. IMD lowers insect resistance to predators, organisms and viruses. Banning IMD brought the bees back to France. Surprisingly enough, this information had been suppressed in North America. Schacker reveals all. The obvious solution is organic pest control, sustainable agriculture, no IMD, regenerative farming, and essential oils. There are copious end notes and appendices of government documents. He also has lists of areas in the US where CCD has happened, farmer solutions, and lists of groups and suppliers. Audience and level of use: conspiracy fans, concerned food people. Some interesting or unusual facts: “Organic” bees do not have CCD. IMD, used to control pests, is similar in molecular structure to DDT. Hmmmm… 10% of 2.4 million hives in the US in 35 states in 2006/2007 disappeared. In 2007/2008, 36% of hives disappeared. The Bush-led EPA loosened pesticide regulations starting in 2004. Hmmmm… The downside to this book: there is extensive logrolling by academics and public interest groups, including Anthony Rodale who once employed the author. The upside to this book: very readable Quality/Price Rating: 89. 13. GARY RHODES 365 (Michael Joseph, 2008; distr. Penguin Books, 480 pages, ISBN 978-0-718-15315-1, $45 Canadian hard covers) is by Gary Rhodes, author of 17 cookery books in the UK (“Great British Classics”, “Time to Eat”, et al.). Here he presents one recipe per day for a variety of different occasions. The chapters cover breakfasts, feeding midday snacks to kids, suppers for one or two, entertaining on Saturday night, Sunday lunches with family, and afternoon teas. He also has ideas for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas. Weights and measures are in both avoirdupois and metric. Audience and level of use: standard family fare. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: baked Vacherin cheese; toasted ginger figs; grilled mackerel with calvados apples; cumberland sausage with red onion tart; chicken with porcini and chestnut mushrooms; macaroni and cauliflower with four cheeses. The downside to this book: this is a British book, so you’ll have to watch the vocabulary. The upside to this book: there is a generous selection of recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 83. 14. THE ESSENTIAL COCKTAIL; the art of mixing perfect drinks (Clarkson Potter, 2008, 274 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-40573-9, $35 US, hard covers) is by Dale DeGroff, founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail and author of “The Craft of the Cocktail”, an IACP Child winner. He was also the bartender at New York’s Rainbow Room where he re-introduced the cocktail menu in 1987, a menu that used only fresh ingredients. This current book has 100 essential drinks (Black Velvet, Champagne Cocktail, Manhattan, Mint Julep, Rob Roy, et al) plus 100 or so best variations, all of course using fresh ingredients and nothing from a package. Topics include martinis, sours, highballs, and punches. There is a primer section on bar prepping, highlighting garnishes, glassware, and tools. His resources section has a bibliography, listings for industry news, informational websites, bar supplies, foods for garnishes and purees. Audience and level of use: his clients and students, hospitality students. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sgroppino al limone; banshee (banana grasshopper); millionaire’s manhattan (expensive ingredients); port cobbler; rainbow punch. The downside to this book: some preps may prove complicated or have “hard to obtain” ingredients. The upside to this book: good photos Quality/Price Rating: 86. 15. CHOCOLATE (Octopus Publishing, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 160 pages, ISBN 978-0-600-61904-8, $21.99 US hard covers) is by Stephen Lagorce; it was first published in French by Hachette in 2007. The book is shaped like a chocolate bar, with a brown cover and a silver-foiled slab for the book, like a Hershey Bar...with 40 ounces net weight and a slipcase cover, about 14 inches by 7 inches in size. It’s probably a winner of innovative packaging for the year. The basics covered include how to taste chocolate, how to store after purchase, common accompaniments (such as wines, liquors, coffees, cigars, spices), and advice on cooking techniques. This is more of a gift book as it sparsely runs through the various forms of chocolate and chocolate products (dark, white, milk, powders, spreads, grand crus, etc.). Additional material covers chocolate festivals around the world, should you want to travel. Audience and level of use: chocolate lovers, gift recipients. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: essentials only, such as icing, ganache, fudge, butter cream, gateau, macaroni, soufflé, truffles, and pound cake. The downside to this book: a little short on textual material. The upside to this book: packaging is fun, Quality/Price Rating: 83. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS... ...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent “re-editions”... 16. THE ATLAS OF FOOD; who eats what, where and why. Rev. and updated (University of California Press, 2003, 2008, 128 pages, ISBN 978-0-520- 25409-1, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Erik Millstone and Tim Lang, both UK academics in policy studies. After it came out in 2003, it was awarded an Andre Simon Best Food Book Award. In the important issues of global food and agriculture, here have been a lot of changes in the past five years. All of the tables and facts have been updated through 2007 where possible. Today’s food concerns revolve around contamination (food and water), over-nutrition, micronutrient deficiency, processing, basic farming, and trade issues. The authors argue that human progress depends on resolving global inequality and creating a more sustainable food production system. There are good graphic illustrations to help the lay person understand such concepts as organic food, fast food, alcohol, eating out, food additives, processing giants, changing diets, land ownership, fair trade, aquaculture, greenhouse gases, et al. Great source list too. Quality/Price rating: 89. amy.cleary@ucpress.edu 17. CLASSIC FRENCH COOKING (Spruce, 2004, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 337 pages, ISBN 978-1-84072-875-0, $16.99 US hard covers) is by prolific cookbook author Elisabeth Luard, who has also won many food awards. CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING (Spruce, 2005, 2008, 333 pages, ISBN 978-1- 84072-956-6, $16.99 US, hard covers) is by prolific food writer and Italian specialist, Valentina Harris. CLASSIC SPANISH COOKING (Spruce, 2006, 2008, 333 pages, $16.99 US, hard covers) is also by Elisabeth Luard. All three books have just been uniformly reissued as part of a separately purchased series. Each book has just over 100 “classic” preps, with colourful illustrations throughout. The pages are heavy in weight, and there are two book mark ribbons for convenience. Each book has metric conversion charts, large typefaces, and notes on the respective pantries for French, Italian and Spanish cooking. The Spanish book also has a bibliography, but it is the only one here with that additional feature. Covered are, of course, risottos, pastas, ragu, gazpacho, chorizo, tortilla, paella, ratatouille, brandade, etc. We’ve seen it all before, but this is a good price, engagingly presented. Quality/Price rating: 85. 18. WINDOWS ON THE WORLD COMPLETE WINE COURSE, 2009 edition (Sterling, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 340 pages, ISBN 978-1-4027-5746-4, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Kevin Zraly, an award winning wine expert and long-time sommelier of that late, lamented restaurant atop the World Trade Center. This has been newly revised and expanded, with pages of new material on how to taste wine. It has frequently been revised since its first edition in 1985. Now it has been redesigned in layout, and with more recommendations in his tour of the latest vintages. Over 20,000 students have taken Zraly's courses and workshops. This is the text that comes with the courses, and as such, it serves as a suitable book for almost any introductory wine course. It certainly does address the needs of students and beginners: the style-format is "question and answer", on what wine is, tasting wine (how to taste wine over sixty seconds), wine service at home and in restaurants, storage and cellaring. He avoids the markup controversies in restaurants; however, one can compare a number of different sections and conclude that he favours 3 to 4 times the wholesale price. The bulk of the arrangement is by "classes", with ones for white wine, red wines, champagne, fortified, and wines from outside France and the United States -- still in the Q & A format, augmented by a continuous stream of sidebars and tidbits which extend the answers. Throughout, too, there are full-colour reproductions of wine labels. The book concludes with a glossary and a pronunciation key, as well as bibliographic notes for further reference reading. Quality/Price Rating: 90, 19. THE RIVER COTTAGE MEAT BOOK (Hodder, 2004, 2008; distr. McArthur, 544 pages, ISBN 978-0-340-82638-6, $29.95 soft covers) is by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a UK writer and Channel Four broadcaster. He lives at “River Cottage” in Dorset, and fights for real food and meat in England. This is his third cookbook in the River Cottage series. It was published in 2004, and here gets a paperback reprint at a reduced price. The original edition sold 165,000 copies, so lots of people are eating lots of meat. This is a tightly researched, from a British perspective, book on meats such as beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and game. There is a side excursion into offal. 40% of the book is about meat; the rest is about recipes scattered amongst cooking techniques with their own chapters (roasting, slow cooking, fast cooking, barbecuing, preserving and processing, and using leftovers in soups and stocks. There is a bibliography and a British resources list of suppliers. He includes a small section on a dozen mood categories, with page references. So for “Sheer Comfort”, we can have cold roast beef open sandwich, rice pudding pork, daube, beef in stout, Irish stew, red flannel hash, spaghetti Bolognese, and others. All the dishes we associate with the UK are here, such as steak and kidney pie, jugged hare, roast belly of pork, roast grouse, oxtail stew, pork pie, and roast beef (the full monty, he says). Of course, his shepherd’s pie is made with lamb. Many more details are at www.rivercottage.net. Quality/Price rating: 89. 20. THE WILLIAMS-SONOMA COOKBOOK; the essential recipe collection for today’s home cook (Free Press, 2008, 464 pages, ISBN 978-1-4165-7592-4, $34.95 US hard covers) is from Weldon Owen Inc, a packager in San Francisco. There are more than 250 Williams-Sonoma stores in North America. According to the publisher, this is a “virtual greatest hits of the previous thirty-two titles” published in the Williams-Sonoma line. They total some 1300 recipes, and 370 of them have been culled for this book in a single volume. All courses are here, from apps to desserts, along with 200 or so colour photos. The only thing missing would be beverages. There is a collection of basic recipes, a glossary, and some charts on measurements and substitutions and oil usage. Ingredients in the recipes have both avoirdupois and metric measurements. Try classic crab and shrimp salad with avocado, roasted beets with bitter greens, roast salmon with warm lentils, braised oxtails with olives, grilled corn with chipotle butter. You are not far away from California. Quality/Price rating: 89. 21. CITRUS; a history (University of Chicago Press, 2007, 2008, 252 pages, ISBN 978-0-226-47028-3, $17 US paper covers) is by Pierre Laszlo, a European professor emeritus of chemistry and author of “Salt: Grain of Life”. It was previously published in 2007; this is just the paperback reprint. Nearly 100 million tons of citrus are produced globally every year, and Laszlo traces the rise and spread of the global phenomenon, from Southeast Asia through North Africa to modern Spain and Portugal. The fruits were introduced to the Americans as part of the Columbian Exchange. Laszlo deftly explores the role of citrus in agriculture, horticulture, cooking, nutrition, religion and art. There are also 20 colour plates of advertising, posters, archival pictures, paintings, and current photos. There are a dozen and a half recipes, such as orange wine, lime chutney, candied strips, ugli duckling, and, of course, marmalade – all in avoirdupois but with no metric conversion tables. The “selected notes” at the end combine end notes and bibliography in a satisfactory fashion, and include websites. There is, of course, an index. Quality/Price rating: 90. ldawson@press.uchicago.edu 22. NOTES ON A CELLAR-BOOK (University of California Press, 2008, 349 pages, ISBN 978-0-520-25352-0, $29.95 US hard covers) is the 1920 classic by George Saintsbury. It has been edited and annotated by Thomas Pinney, author of the two volume “A History of Wine in America”. It has always been held in major esteem as the pinnacle of British wine writing style, and it remains one of the greatest books in the literature of wine. Every important wine of consequence from around 1920 is commented on, and many times the wines appear to be epiphanies. The book is a collection of tasting notes, menus, anecdotes, recollections, and opinions. Pinney and the publisher, with the financial support of Saintsbury Winery (named in honour of George Saintsbury), provide explanatory end notes to take care of arcane material. Pinney has also written an essay on the book’s legacy. Of value to scholars and wine lovers everywhere are the extra 40 pages of Saintsbury’s other wine writings. There’s a bibliography, and of course all the contents here have been re-indexed. Quite an achievement. Quality/Price rating: 90. amy.cleary@ucpress.edu 23. HOW TO BE A BETTER FOODIE; a bulging little book for the truly epicurean (Quadrille Publishing, 2006, 2008, 304 pages, ISBN 978-1- 84400-641-0, $10 US paper covers) is by Sudi Pigott, a UK food writer and restaurant reviewer. The book, with some self-humour, tries to give the reader some gastro-credentials. We’ve seen it all before in other foodie books: enough material to get you through a cocktail party of entertaining dinner. If you screw up the conversation, just laugh at it and blame the book. In this case, though, the emphasis is on the UK picture. Arcane knowledge may be great at parties (“when I was last in the UK, the…”), especially when sourced form a little known book. Contents: how to be truly greedy with appearing so; cooking kit; foodie kitchen; foodie library; foodie wardrobe; table manners; recherché nibbles; unusual delicacies others ignore; leftovers and holdovers; q and a quizzes; gastro memberships; gastro-seasonal ingredients and festivals to note. And the grand finale, the oh-so-British “Better Foodie Christmas”. Great fun at this price level, Quality/Price rating: 88. 24. THE FEARLESS GOURMET; decoding menus from around the world (MQ Publications, 2006, 2008, 289 pages, ISBN 978-1-840729658, $14.95 Canadian, soft covers) is by Norman Kolpas, a cookbook writer. It is a reissue of the 2006 UK book. The publicity material says that it is packed full of useful food terms, ranging from deciphering menus to shopping for groceries in many countries. Its sturdy cover, bookmark ribbon, and size make it easy to pack and take with you on trips. The emphasis is on “how to order like a local.” Arrangement is by region, beginning with Europe and the UK first. This is followed in turn by Africa and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific (watch out for those Ozzies and Kiwis), and finishing with the Americas. Canada gets four pages, mostly “habitant” dishes, such as pea soup, pemmican (jerky), poutine, soupe a l’ivrogne (salt pork, onions, bread cubes, beef broth), tarte au sucre, tourtiere, and voyageur stew (when did you last have voyageur stew?). Well, that’s what the world thinks of Canadian cuisine. The rest of the book? Quality/Price rating: 85. 25. THE REAL GREEK AT HOME; dishes from the heart of the Greek kitchen (Mitchell Beazley, 2004, 2008, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-84533-451-2, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Theodore Kyriakou and Charles Campion, the former a renowned Greek chef and the latter can award-winning restaurant reviewer. It was originally published in 2004; this is the 2008 paperback reissue. They explore the cultural, religious, and economic influences on Greek food. The emphasis here is on home meals, peasant food, with a wide range of recipes from the classics to celebrations (using lamb dishes). The book is divided into three areas, the cities (more sophisticated food), the Ionian islands, and the Aegean islands. Thirty pages are devoted to Greek essential dishes, the various mezzes and dips, and there are chapters for Easter lamb dishes and festival foods. Travel pictures dominate, and there is even one showing the skinning of a dead rabbit. Both metric and imperial measurements are used for each ingredient. Try iman bayeldi, Christmas pork with figs, chicken sofrito, rabbit mountain style, tsoureki Greek Easter bread. Quality/Price rating: 85. 26. THE FIRESIDE COOKBOOK (Simon & Schuster, 1949, 1977, 2008, 325 pages, ISBN 978-1-4165-8967-9, $30 US hard covers) is by James Beard. It was originally published in 1949. There are 1217 dishes here, that number being the total of the recipes and all the variations. This is a full-colour facsimile edition of a 60 year old work. The type face for the ingredients listing is a little small for comfort, and of course avoirdupois is used throughout with any metric conversion tables. Mark Bittman, in his foreword, calls the recipes “Frenchified, now overcute”. While it is a dated book, there is a helluva lot here that Americans just were not doing in the 1950s: making pasta from scratch; creating hundreds of appetizers; how to cut-up chicken; using garlic and oil as a sauce. There are also almost 450 colour illustrations here. It is a delicious piece of Americana. Quality/price rating: 87 on a sentimental basis. 27. COUNTRY LIVING ONE-DISH COUNTRY SUPPERS; delicious casseroles, frittatas, roasts and stews (Hearts Books, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 127 pages, ISBN 978-1-58816-718-7, $19.95 US hart covers) comes from the US magazine, “Country Living”. It is a selection of recipes, chosen for their ease and simplicity, for every taste and occasion. Of course, you can do them all in a skillet, Dutch oven, or slow cooker. And some great ideas for that next pot-luck Church social. The arrangement is by principal ingredient such as meat, seafood, poultry, and vegetarian. Every recipe comes with nutritional information, and there are technique tips scattered throughout. Try andouille and black- eyed pea chili, Korean-style short ribs, smoky pork chops with cabbage and apples, barbecued smoked sausage and lima beans, and curried butternut squash. About 80 recipes, no metric conversion tables. Quality/Price rating: 88. 28. CAMBODIAN COOKING (Periplus Editions, 2005, 2008; distr. Ten Speed Press, 96 pages, ISBN 978-0-7946-5039-1, $19.95 US hard covers) is by Joannes Riviere, a French chef who is an authority on Cambodian cuisine. The book was originally published in 2005 as a find raiser for “Act For Cambodia”, which provides care for landmine victims and runs a cooking school. Typically SE Asian in style (balanced salt-sweet- bitter-sour), the dishes feature peasant foods: curried fish cakes, stir-fried chicken with chilies and cashews, stuffed cucumber soup, khmer raw veggies, banana sesame fritters. There is an ingredients section here for easy of shopping and larder preparation. Absolutely gorgeous colour presentations of plated dishes. Quality/Price rating: 90. 29. DRINKS (DK, 2005, 2008, 512 pages, ISBN 978-0-7566-4138-2, $19.95 US, soft covers) is by Vincent Gasnier, who is an Master Sommelier – and the youngest one to ever get the MS! He’s a multiple award winner and currently is a writer and private consultant. This book, with its more than 1200 colour photos, is now in a compact (but not updated) paperback edition. It was $65 Canadian in its hardcover version. I suppose that if you had to choose one book to cover all alcoholic beverages, then this would be the one, especially since it is so widely available at a discount through such places as Amazon.Ca. Otherwise, coverage is broad and redundant. Wine is covered in 140 pages, spirits in 115 pages, beer in 98 pages, cocktails in 60 pages, and ciders in ten pages. They are arranged within their separate sections by country, with the name of the grape or product, region, a description, and a list of recommended producers. About 1000 “drinks” are covered and illustrated. There is basic stuff on buying, storing, and serving drinks, what foods they go with, and where and when to enjoy the libation. Gasnier does give a good range of tasting notes, stressing colour, aroma, and taste. Each product is illustrated by a bottle or label. There is a glossary and an index. This is now a value-priced, great gift book. Running heads under the page numbers (plus the pastel colours) help to quickly retrieve the name of the wine or spirit. Quality/Price rating: 90. 30. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING STEP BY STEP COOK BOOK (Hearts Books, 1997, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 576 pages, ISBN 978-1-58816-760-6, $29.95 US hard covers) has been announced as a “new edition” yet the copyright notice remains as “1997”. Here are 1,000 recipes, with 1800 photos and 500 techniques. About a quarter of a million copies of the earlier edition had been sold. Arrangement is from appetizers to desserts. Each section begins with a technique, complete with how-to photos and a finished plate presentation. Other diverse recipes using the same technique follow, thus ensuring variety of plates for every occasion and taste profile. Basic techniques include making omelets, pan-frying, rolling out pastry, and the like. There are plenty of sidebars with additional cooking info, menu planning, food safety, a glossary of terms, nutrition guidelines, entertaining tips, and choosing wine. Metric equivalent charts are on the end pages, as are roasting charts and substitutions listings. Really basic stuff for really basic people, but I hope the users are young: the book weighs Quality/Price rating: 89. 31. PARKER’S WINE BUYER’S GUIDE, 7th edition (Simon & Schuster, 2008, 1513 pages, ISBN 978-0-7432-7199-8, $35 US soft covers) is by Robert Parker, the noted numerate wine writer. The book is also available hard bound, for $65 US. His first edition was in 1995, and over the years the only real changes were with recent vintages or some slight re- tasting. But this time, he has wisely decided to incorporate the Parker team, the tasters who already write up whole sections of his Wine Advocate newsletter. But you won’t find this information in the publicity material from the publisher’s catalogues. There are five named contributors to the Parker team, and thus this team production is new and different from all of Parker’s previous editions. And of course, this is rightly so since most of the book is based on his bi- monthly newsletter, a sort of cumulation. The newsletter is expensive in Canada; I stopped subscribing when it hit $90US (the exchange rate was brutal). In fact, I get most of my wine information from the Internet. I can buy fine wines with the money I saved after not renewing all my wine subscriptions. Anyway, love him or hate him or be neutral, Parker is the best all round guide to wines priced high or low – and a bargain price for the paperback. Here is a major reference work to recent vintages, prices and ratings for 8,000 wines, with a primer on buying, storing, aging, serving, etc. To do it all, the book is densely packed with a small typeface. He has a special section: “dark side of wine” which covers internationalization of grape varieties, excessive winemaking manipulation, inflated restaurant markups, greed, wine writer ethics, and other topics. While there is a bibliography of books and magazines, there is no listing of websites. One comment for Canada: Parker persists in listing Eisweins from Germany and Austria, but none from Canada. In fact, nine BC and 10 Ontario table wines are simply mentioned – but no ice wine. What gives? Hey, these are award winners, easily better than the other Teutonic stuff. Quality/Price rating: 93. 32. RICE, SPICE, AND ALL THINGS NICE (Simon & Schuster, 2006, 2007, 176 pages, ISBN 978-1-8473-7049-5, $29.99 Canadian, paper covers) is by Reza Mahammad, a UK TV chef who also runs The Star of India in London. This is the paperback reprint, now making its way into Canada, Here are 80 recipes, mostly from North and Central India. Despite some log rolling by Hugh Grant, the book’s emphasis is on spicing. The photos are a mixture of plated dishes and travelogue, while the text is enlivened with appropriate tips and anecdotes. Both avoirdupois and metric weights and measures are used in the ingredients listings. Try crunchy semolina biscuits, duck varuval, banana-leaf-wrapped sea bass, crispy okra, or lamb in black pepper sauce. No microwavers need apply. Quality/Price rating: 86. 33. REAL FAST FOOD (Overlook Press, 1995, 2008, 320 pages, ISBN 978-1- 59020-115-2, $17.95 US paper covers) is by Nigel Slater, who has won six Glenfiddich awards for his writing and art direction, is food correspondent for The Observer, and hosts a UK TV show. This book was originally published in 1992 with a 1995 revision, but despite and announced 1,000,000 copies in print, it still needs log rolling from Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson. Lawson, by the way, in her introduction, retracts her log roller from an earlier edition. Hmmmmm…..There apparently have been no changes to the text (there is no new copyright date), and although the acknowledgements thank two people for their photos and drawings, none of these illustrations appear in this paperback reprint. Indeed, even the bibliography has not been revised, deadheading in 1994. There are 350 recipes, emphasizing simple techniques and semi-aggressive flavours for a 30 minute completion time. Of course, like all such books, you will need a good larder- pantry and a mis en place. If you have the earlier editions (and there should be 1,000,000 of you readers who do), then you won’t need this one. But on the other hand (OTOH), it is a good collection of fast and ready dishes, at an affordable price. Quality/Price rating: 84. 34. THE PAINTER, THE COOK AND THE ART OF CUCINA (Conran Octopus, 2007, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-84091-495-5, $27.95 US hard covers) is by Anna Del Conte, who was the first cookery writer in England to specialize in Italian food. Her books have won many prizes. This book was originally issued in England last year, and here makes its North American debut. This is a food-travel book, going through six Italian regions (Piedmont, Veneto, Liguria, Le Marche, Puglia and Sardinia) which she assures us are relatively undiscovered by English-speaking visitors. This is not entirely true, since the cuisine, wines and foods of the Piedmont and Veneto are certainly well- known. From Piedmont there is risotto, bollito misto, bagna cauda, and white truffles. The arrangement is by region, from North to South. Most of the recipes come from other sources such as cookbooks and chefs and local cooks. Del Conte provides a vivid framework for each region, describing the food (cheeses, olives, breads), festivals, and historic lore, but no wines. There are reproductions of about 100 colour food paintings by Val Archer. For my tired eyes the typeface is large and there is extra leading. Try the classics of rabbit with olives and pine nuts (Liguria), fish soup (Le Marche), eggplant stuffed with sausage (Puglia), or Sardinian pasta. Quality/Price rating: 89. 35. EATING DISORDERS: the facts. Sixth edition (Oxford University Press, 2008, 255 pages, ISBN 978-0-19-955101-9, $24.95 paperback) is by Suzanne Abraham, an academic at the University of Sydney, and co- director of their Eating Disorders Unit. It is a basic guide covering anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and obesity. The book was originally published in 1984, and has been regularly revised over the years. Each disorder is described as to origin (why), diagnosis, and treatment. Topics include adolescent eating patterns, sexual maturation process, problems that family and friends also face (with advice on coping). “This sixth edition contains numerous case history outlines, which provide insights into the minds of the eating disorder sufferer.” It is well-indexed, allowing readers to quickly find what material they need. Good resource book. Quality/Price rating: 90. 36. PERFECTION SALAD; women and cooking at the turn of the century (University of California Press, 1986, 2008, 282 pages, ISBN 978-0-520- 25738-2, $16.95 US soft covers) is by Laura Shapiro, who had originally wrote the book in 1985. It is here reissued with a new nine page afterward that brings us up-to-date. Otherwise, the book and bibliography are intact. It is now one of UC’s fine “California Studies in Food and Culture” series. Her book is essentially a history of early home economics where fat played a big role (mayonnaise, cream sauce) and veggies were boiled to death. All in the name of nutrition, which could apparently cure more than just health issues – it also included social issues. “Perfection salad” was the ultimate dish, because it was so perfect: chopped cabbage, celery, red peppers, bound by a plain – and later, tomato – aspic. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, “perfection salad” as a term is not indexed – you’ll have to look under the generic “salads” on pp.90-96, and begin reading until you find it. Quality/Price rating: 90. 37. @HOME, WITH LOVE (Penguin Books, 2008, 330 pages, ISN 978-0-14- 300857-6, $39 Canada oversized soft covers) is by Julie LeClerc, author of “café@home” (2003) and “feast@home” (2004). This current book is a straight reprint and collation of both books. Each has maintained its own pagination and index, so you’ll have to look things up twice, a minor nuisance. LeClerc is currently food editor for the New Zealand “Woman’s Weekly”; she was formerly a chef and caterer. This single volume offers some 200 all-purpose recipes, with an emphasis on family, friends and social dining. Unfortunately, she mixes metric weights with avoirdupois volumes in her ingredients listing. Still, there is something for everybody here, with lots of lamb recipes. Quality/Price rating: 84. 38. THE COMPLETE BEST OF BRIDGE COOKBOOKS, volume 1 (Robert Rose, 1980, 2008, 384 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0206-8, $29.95 spiral bound) is by the bridge team of Karen Brimacombe, Mary Halpen, Helen Miles, Valerie Robinson, and Joan Wilson. The material, 350 recipes, comes from the first two books in the series, “The Best of Bridge” and “Enjoy!”. Over the years, through self-publishing and self-marketing, all of the bridge books have sold over 3 million copies. Here, they are being reissued in sequence, with continuous pagination and a new index. The publisher has redesigned the book, which includes new photos of plated preps. The food is pretty basic (there have been no changes to the original recipes), so the book forms a primer and first cookbook for those who are shy about cooking. What could go wrong with spiced tea? Or tacos? Oat muffins? Cheesy scalloped potatoes? Ingredients are listed with both avoirdupois and metric measurements. Hopefully, there will be a cumulative index to the whole run. Quality/Price rating: 90. 39. THE FOOD ENCYCLOPEDIA (Robert Rose, 2004, 2006, 701 pages, ISBN 978-0-7788-0150-4, $49.95 hard covers) is by Jacques L. Rolland and Carol Sherman, with other contributors. It apparently contains all the 4,000 entries found in THE COOK’S ESSENTIAL KITCHEN DICTIONARY; a complete culinary resource (Robert Rose, 2004, 413 pages, ISBN 0-7788- 0098-9 $19.95 paper covers) by Jacques L. Rolland, an experienced food expert. All of the other entries have been collated by Sherman and her team of five contributors. The current book has some food history, etymology, anecdotes, and cultural notes. There are over 8,000 definitions (doubling the older book); this is an alphabetical listing for food names, beverage names, recipe titles, cooking terms and techniques, 120 biographies of prominent people and chefs, with two columns to a page and deftly illustrated for many entries. It includes UK, US, French, Italian, Asian and other languages. Ancillary matter includes sidebars and lists of cheeses under the main “cheese” entry, and descriptions of pasta and shapes under the “pasta” entry. And similar lists under “rice” for some of those varieties. But the entry for Cornish pasty still does not give the order of the food inside the dough. There are food quotations and anecdotes (mostly humourous) plus drawings of veggies. Some typical entries: luganega is a Northern Italian pork sausage similar to kielbasa; the history of the fork covers two columns. There are cross-references to additional entries (these are in bold face), and there are plenty of “see” references. Quality/Price Ratio: 88. 40. CHILI MADNESS; a passionate cookbook. 2d edition (Workman, 1980, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 204 pages, ISBN 978-0-7611-4761-9, $12.95 US paper covers) is by Jane Butel. It was originally published in 1980. Currently, she owns a cooking school in Albuquerque and Corrales New Mexico. This second edition claims more than 130 new recipes – out of 160 in total. This makes it a brand new book. The classics are maintained: Pecos River bowl of red, authentic Texas border chili, Georgia chain gang chili, red chili nightmare. Fire dragons all, with lots of historical and hysterical details. Milder chilis are chipotle chili and white lobster chili. There are also some festive new recipes that round out the chili meal: appetizers, sides, breads, desserts, and drinks. She even covers leftovers (I’ve never seen any chili leftovers in my life!). This is a fabulous re-birth of an important culinary work. Quality/Price ratio: 97. 41. BILLY'S BEST BOTTLES; wines for 2009. 19th edition. (McArthur and Company, 2008, 178 pages, ISBN 978-1-55278-747-2, $19.95 Canadian paper covers) is by Billy Munnelly, a well-known wine writer in Ontario. I got it too late for inclusion in my annual gift article, wherein I discussed other wine annuals. The wines in Billy's listings are all available at the LCBO in Ontario; most will also be found in other provinces and American states. He leads off with several dozen wine picks and series of "best" wines – arranged by “what’s new, hot and happening” for pizza, for BBQ burgers, steak, romance, movie at home, under $15, etc. His "Wine Spectrum Chart" (also at www.billysbestbottles.com) is for food and mood matches, based on fresh wines, medium (body) wines, and rich wines, subdivided by white and red. This is the "Six Pack" approach to wine drinking. Each wine has advice on how to serve plus plenty of food matches and ideas. It can be too cute in style. This edition has some 300+ wines, all “best buys” from around the globe, and with a label shot as well so you can see what the bottle looks like. Many are under $12, but there are only a few under $10. At the back there is a section on touring Ontario wineries (Prince Edward County, Niagara, and Lake Erie regions). There is an index to the wine by country, with a page reference to the entry. This is a good shopping list if you make a photocopy of these pages. His book exhibits a no-nonsense commonsense approach to wine. He has more details at www.billysbestbottles.com. Quality/Price rating: 90. WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR OCTOBER 2008 =================================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE!! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. THE BEER BOOK (DK, 2008, 352 pages, ISBN 978-0-7566-3982-2, $25 US hard covers) has been pulled together by Editor-in-Chief Tim Hampson. There are 14 contributors (with bios), but no signed reviews or entries. Most of the beers are bottled, but there are some from microbrew pubs. There is a pix of a beer bottle or can or pump for all the major beers covered. The directory-type data includes names and addresses, websites, and a mini-capsule history. There are also maps which include the US, Germany, UK, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. There are more maps of “Beer Trails” in Oregon, Bamberg, Cotswold’s, Brussels, and Prague. There are features on the biggies Anheuser-Busch, Brooklyn, Guinness, Hoegaarden, Pilsner Urquell, and others. And essays on tasting, malts, German beer, lager, hops, glasses, wild beer yeasts, and beer-food matching. There is a glossary and index to beers, as well as space for your own tasting notes. Audience and level of use: beer drinkers who like to read. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Canada gets six pages for Amsterdam, Creemore, Granville Island, Pumphouse, McAuslan, etc. 27 labels in all are covered for Canada, with 2 to 4 beers apiece. The downside to this book: needed more on Canada – also why was there Labatt and Molson coverage? The upside to this book: great package. Quality/Price Rating: 90. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. THE BON APPETIT FAST EASY FRESH COOKBOOK (John Wiley and Sons, 2008, 770 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-39912-5, $34.95 US hard covers) has been pulled together by Barbara Fairchild, the Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit food magazine. The book proclaims, “1100 quick dishes for everynight cooking”. So at three courses a night that comes to a year’s worth of relaxation in the kitchen, maybe with time for a drink or some chatting. Not. Advanced preparation is the rule – you just cannot do this kind of cooking night after night by contemplating food choices at 4 PM and picking up stuff on your way home. And you’ll need space for a large pantry of ingredients to have on hand. Nevertheless, this is a great, definitive all purpose recipe book for every quick and easy situation. Hundreds of contributors are listed at the end, but there is no contributor index for their recipes – just an index by the recipe itself. The table of contents lists the titles of all recipes in page order, and this is useful for an overview. “Quick and easy” is full of compromises and shortcuts. Quick stews use packaged broths and tender meats – what you will need if you don’t start a slow cooker in the AM before work. Most recipes can be done mostly in advance or with careful use of leftovers. Why wait until the last minute, unless you like living on the edge. But if it gets you away from fast food home delivery, then more power to the book! Your best choices for quick and easy remain the appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, pasta, rice, chicken, and seafood. There is a drinks section, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. There is an index to recipes and an index to serving sizes, beginning with 1, 2, and then 4, 6, 8 – right up to 24. Audience and level of use: the harried, those with ADD. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: there are three gazpacho preps, plus a dozen other chilled soups, and there are 16 stews. The downside to this book: all of the recipes are in avoirdupois, and there is no metric conversion chart. Apparently, they couldn’t find a spare page, although the inside covers are often used for this kind of information in this kind of book. Also, there are no indication of total timings for each recipe’s prep and cooking times, as a separate category or cook’s note. The upside to this book: the layout is attractive and useful, with two recipes per page. Quality/Price Rating: 89. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. 1001 WINES YOU MUST TASTE BEFORE YOU DIE (Universe, 2008; distr. Random House, 960 pages, ISBN 978-0-7893-1683-7, $36.95 US hard covers) is a whopping book package put together by the publisher under General Editor Neil Beckett, formerly an editor for Harpers Wine & Spirit Weekly and now editor of The World of Fine Wine (quarterly), from which, presumably, most of this book is derived. There is some logrolling with an introduction by a colleague, Hugh Johnson. Beckett is assisted by some 44 named contributors such as Belfrage, Coates, Jefford, Johnson, Mayson and Tom Stevenson. There are four sections: sparkling wines (100 pages), white wines (290 pages), red wines (440 pages), and fortifieds (90 pages). The odd rose turns up in the sparkling (Mateus Rose of all things!) and under the reds (Chateau Simone Palette). Unfortunately, there is no Tavel or Sasha Lichine’s Rose which sells for over $100 a bottle. So these are not all expensive wines, just some classics from around the world. Blue Nun is here too. Canada gets two wines, both icewine and both from the Okanagan (Mission Hill SLC Riesling and Inniskillin Vidal). So what’s wrong with Ontario?? Don’t we do the best icewine in Canada? Didn’t Inniskillin’s Niagara Icewine win the big prize last century at VinExpo? The overall aim of the book is to make choosing the right wines easier. The contributors explain what makes each wine special and when they will be at their best. There is even room for some anecdotes for some of the wines. On average, there is a half-page for each wine, plus space for a label photo. There are also some extraneous photos of vineyards, wineries, and winemakers, but these just tend to be too generic and unfortunately just eat up space. The main use of this book is as a checklist for the wine connoisseur: how many have you tried? You can match your notes and your skills to the book. All the important regions are here, of course, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chianti, Napa, Barolo, Rioja, Barossa, Mendoza, Maipo, Alsace, etc. There is a glossary and contributors’ bios. There are also many separate indexes by producers, by price ranges, and by regions. However, the indexing by price ranges is all screwed up with many Grand Crus ending up in the under $20 range. How about Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon for under $20? Maybe that’s the price for a sniff. I guess the publishers can blame it all on the computer. Unfortunately, those dozen or so expensive wines that are listed in the cheapie section are NOT also listed in the expensive section where they should have been located. Other interesting wines available for under $20 include Sassicaia, DRC St. Vivant, and some Chambertin (one spelled incorrectly)… Audience and level of use: this seems to be a gift book. Buy it and spend an hour looking through it before you wrap it up. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: The downside to this book: dreadful price range index, and ill-informed at some points. The upside to this book: browsable and entertaining Quality/Price Rating: 84. 4. THE BEST CASSEROLE COOKBOOK EVER (Chronicle Books, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 640 pages, ISBN 978-0-8115-5624-9, $24.95 US paper covers) is by prolific cookbook author Beatrice Ojakangas. There are 500 recipes here. Casseroles have been defined as a blend of inspiration and what’s at hand. But some of what’s here are not really casseroles. For example, there’s a prep for slow-baked peaches that is just peaches and sugar, slowly baked in an oven, in a dish. So there are not really 500 “casseroles”, which I would define as a dish with layers and more than two ingredients. “Casserole”, of course, is named after the physical deep dish. So you can just make it up as you go along, so long as you have some kind of deep dish to put it in. A classic would be stifado (Greek beef casserole with onions), or even the Languedoc “cassoulet” which shares a root word with casserole. There is something here for everybody, including picky eaters, kids and vegetarians. The range is from appetizers through breakfasts and brunches, mains, sides and desserts. There are the stews, the chunky soups, the egg and cheese strata and frittata, the baked pasta, and so on. There is a chapter on basic sauces and broths; she uses no convenience foods such as canned soups. The index is detailed, and avoirdupois measurements are used with a table of metric equivalents at the end. Audience and level of use: beginners. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chili-cheese omelet squares; currie3d mushrooms; chicken and asparagus breakfast pie; hash brown crusted potato pie; hot pepper strata. The downside to this book: some dishes are not really casseroles, although they do use the baking process. The upside to this book: a goodly number of preps. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 5. BEES; nature’s little wonders (Greystone Books, 2008; distr. Douglas and McIntyre, 128 pages, ISBN 978-1-55365-321-9, $26 Canadian hard covers) is by Candace Savage, who writes popular natural history books such as “Crows” and “Prairie”. Commercial honeybees are the primary pollinators for 90 or more fruit and vegetable crops (such as almonds, oranges, and blueberries). But they travel around the country, by truck, on a lease basis: the colony goes to the agricultural patch, much the same as migrant workers. It appears that the stress of movement and pesticides weakened the immunity of bees to mites and viruses, leading to colony collapse disorder (CCD) for about a third of US colonies. Savage gives us these details as well as the history of the honeybee, opportunities for conservation of pollinators, cultural details via sidebars and nuggets, as well as some material on myths and poetry. The illustrations are mostly historical, and the book is a nice package to read. There is a bibliography (endnotes and websites too), plus an index. Audience and level of use: the curious, the foodies wishing to know more about bees. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: honeybees live about five weeks. The upside to this book: you read this book right through at one sitting, or a little at a time. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 6. THE ILLUSTRATED KITCHEN BIBLE (DK Books, 2008, 544 pages, ISBN 978- 0-7566-3974-7, $35 US hard covers) is by a book packager, with Victoria Blashford-Snell as editor-in-chief. She runs her own catering firm, teaches, acts as a presenter on UK TV, and has written eight popular cookbooks. Here she assembles 1000 preps plus some 3,000 colour instructional photos for techniques. She has menu planners, shopping lists, easy step developments, an idea of what can be made ahead, and ideas for both leftovers and holdovers. All courses, all foods, and all seasons are covered here. Each prep has an indication of serving numbers, prep times, and equipment needed, and storage time lengths. Each of the three categories (starters, mains and sides, desserts) has a special table of contents that lists the title of the recipe, a short one or two line description, a small picture, prep times, and storage times, and of course the page reference. Sub-categories for the three larger groups include a breakdown by topic. For example, for starters, there are topics like seafood starters, snacks on toast, weekend brunch, healthy snacks, party bites, hearty soups, etc. Audience and level of use: beginners, general cookbook purchasers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: herbed fish goujons, anchovy and olive bruschetta, sesame shrimp toast, sausages with lima beans, ginger cream sauce. The downside to this book: a 90 minute DVD was announced to accompany the book, but it appears to have been cancelled. Bummer. The upside to this book: nice collection, affordable, the usual DK presentation of colour. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 7. GLUTEN-FREE BAKING WITH THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (Adams Media, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 260 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869-613-4, $18.95 US paper covers) is by Richard J. Coppedge Jr., a baking professor at the CIA. About 1% of North Americans – almost 4 million people – are affected with celiac disease. And it is on the rise. Here, Coppedge shows us how to use alternatives to gluten to bake favourite dishes, usually the basic such as bagels, quiche, upside down cakes, tarts, etc. He has devised five blends of flours, each making about 1.5 pounds worth. The blends are rated as to sensitivity levels. All the recipes use one of these blends for prepping a dish. And all of his recipes are also scaled, so you have volumes and weights listed side by side with the ingredients. Web sites are listed for more guidance. Audience and level of use: those who need to cook gluten-free (or reduced gluten) foods. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: pumpkin bread; pecan pie; beef pot pie; double-chocolate muffins. The downside to this book: you’ll need to keep a special pantry. The upside to this book: everything is easy to follow, with nutritional information per serving. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 8. THE WINE PLANNER; selecting the right wines to complement your favourite food (Adams Media, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 128 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869-721-6, $16.95 US hard spiral bound) is by Chris Hambleton, now a full-time wine educator in the UK. After the usual chapters on the basics of wine knowledge, the arrangement of the book is by flip card sheets. Here the reader can see food and wine matches. There are four categories on a “page” – appetizers, mains, desserts, and cheeses. You can mix appetizers with other mains, and then match the appropriate wines. So a dinner with an app of bresaola, pasta Bolognese, carrot crème brule, and comte cheese will have a California Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Muscat Vin de Glaciere. But if you go for a baked Alaska, then you can substitute a California sparkler. Change to a game terrine for an app, and you can offer a New York Pinot Noir. Brand names are mentioned, and so are price ranges. Most of the wines cited are available in Canada. About 200 wines in all are here, and all are numbered so that you don’t get lost. Audience and level of use: beginner level or those needing a food and wine matching refresher. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: “I have found that, however good the food in front of you is, it can be totally ruined by a bad choice of wine. And, conversely, your favourite bottle of wine can be overpowered by your dinner.” The downside to this book: the flip sheets are easy to rip out. The upside to this book: interesting, provocative concept. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 9. CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS (New Holland, 2008; dist. Canadian Manda, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-84773-231-6, $12.95 US spiral hard bound) is by David Biggs. And 10. 101 CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 128 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-16942-1, $16.95 US hard bound) is by Kim Haasarud, a beverage consultant who has also authored a series of “101” books on martinis, margaritas, and sangrias. Biggs has a lot more extra stuff about history and archival photos. Haasarud gets right down to it. She has a huge collection of modern cocktails; many just have champagne added to existing martinis or other drinks. There’s nothing wrong with that, just as there is nothing wrong with using only “sparkling” wine. The recipes for Buck’s Fizz are basically the same (champagne and orange juice), except Biggs adds ice cubes, and Haasarud does not add ice but adds grenadine for colour, with optional gin. Similarly, the Mimosa in Haasarud is just orange juice and champagne. With Biggs, he encourages you to also add triple sec. Chacun a son gout. Audience and level of use: home bartenders. The downside to this book: a shortfall of preps in the Biggs book. The upside to this book: I like the format of the Biggs book, with its spiral binding. Quality/Price Rating: Haasarud gets an 88; Biggs gets an 82 – this is based on price only, since for four bucks more you can get another 41 recipes. 11. THE EDIBLE SERIES: -HAMBURGER; a global history (Reaktion Press, 2008; distr. Univ. of Chicago Press, 152 pages, ISBN 978-1-86189-390-1, $15.95 US hard covers) is by Andrew F. Smith, who teaches culinary history at the New School in NYC, and is editor of The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. -PANCAKE; a global history (Reaktion Press, 2008; distr. Univ. of Chicago Press, 128 pages, ISBN 978-1-86189-392-5, $15.95 US hard covers) is by Ken Albala, who teaches history at the University of the Pacific (and writes culinary history books). -PIZZA; a global history (Reaktion Press, 2008; distr. Univ. of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-1-86189-391-8, $15.95 US hard covers) is by Carol Helstosky, who teaches history at the University of Denver and also writes foodbooks. These three books are the beginning of the Edible Series, given a nice cachet by being distributed by the University of Chicago Press. Briefly, each book has historical and archival illustrations, and each book covers the international history of what many believe to be solely American fast food. There are about a dozen or so sourced recipes, both historical (e.g., Salisbury steak) and modern (e.g., turkey burgers). Each book has a select bibliography, websites listings, and names of associations. And each book is indexed. Smith’s “Hamburger” begins with White Castle in 1921, and goes on to the big three (McDonald, Burger King, Wendy’s). Hamburgers brought on the fast food lifestyle, especially with recognizable and consistent diners for car drivers. Internationalization followed, and there are fast food takeouts all over the world. There’s a section here on the world’s most expensive hamburger using Kobe beef, foie gras, and truffles. Throw in a glass of Chateau Petrus and you are looking at a grand a serving. The “Pizza” book moves from the Neapolitan poor to Italy’s official pizza sanctioning body (Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana) which calls for a really hot oven. And then to franchises such as Pizza Hut and Domino’s. The “Pancake” book covers the US flapjack, the French crepe, the Egyptian katief, and the Indian dosa. The franchises are the Original Pancake House (founded in 1953, now with 90 outlets) and the International House of Pancakes (1958, now with 900 outlets). Coming up in the series are upscale books on “Caviar” and “Lobster” (is there a caviar franchise chain anywhere?), as well as beverages and desserts and other fast foods such as hot dogs and fish & chips. For some reason, chicken is not on the list of upcoming books… Audience and level of use: popular food historians, culinary historians in general. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: pizza neapolitana, rustica, Sicilian, Chicago deep dish, pissaladiere; palacsinta (Austro- Hungarian), Breton galette, socca, and latkes. The downside to this book: if you want to find stuff about the world’s most expensive hamburger, you have to look under “Daniel Boulud”. There is no entry for “expensive”. The upside to this book: a smart looking series, affordable. Quality/Price Rating: 88 12. IT’S 5 O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE; the global guide to fabulous cocktails (Sixth & Spring Books, 2008, 147 pages, ISBN 978-1-9333027-62-3, $17.95 US hard covers) is by Colleen Mullaney, who has also authored “Punch”. Here the 60 preps have a global theme, so there are cocktails from around the world. There is a section on bar basics plus a playlist for entertaining. They can be downloaded from iTunes, or maybe you already have them. From the UK there is passion fruit martini with Coldplay, and The Tartan, with soundtrack from “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. From the Caribbean, there is Rum Swizzle with Peter Allen, Mudslide with Bruddah Kruz, and Firefly with Bob Marley – among others. Audience and level of use: party drinkers who need music. The downside to this book: nice idea, but needs more drinks. The upside to this book: good content. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 13. JUST CHOCOLATE (New Holland, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-84773-233-0, $12.95 US hard covers) is by Kathryn Hawkins, a UK cookery writer and food stylist. It is a small book, but it does have 80 or so preps that cut across cakes, pies, muffins, puddings, tarts, and parfait, with both hot and cold desserts. Basic information at the beginning covers how chocolate is made, what determines quality, and a history of its “feel good” function. The short bibliography covers only 10 other books. Her list of 29 top chocolatiers in the world includes five from France, two from Belgium, plus, of course, www.bernardcallebaut.com in Canada. Audience and level of use: beginners, chocolate lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chocolate swiss roll, chocolate and cherry puffs, chocolate and apricot tart, chocolate and ginger pudding, chocolate box gateau. The upside to this book: spiral binding, good value. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 14. HOT DRINKS (Ryland, Peters & Small, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 96 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-804-4, $16.95 US hard covers) is by Louise Pickford, a UK food writer and stylist who now works out of Australia. Her contents are hot chocolates, coffees, teas, spiced punches, and the like (including some milky drinks). It is all pretty straightforward for about 50 preps. Audience and level of use: beginning level. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Catalan coffee punch; ginger and lemon tisane; eggnog latte; hot spiced rum chocolate. The upside to this book: easy to put these preps together. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 15. SOUPS; no-fuss recipes for hearty soups (Ryland Peters & Small, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 96 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-730-6, $16.95 US hard covers) is by Tonia George, Food Editor of the UK’s “Waitrose Food Illustrated”. This is another basic book on a food course. The 50 preps include some variations on old faves. All have photos of the plated product. There is a recipe section on accompaniments such as oils, relishes, butters, puff pastry treats, croutons, and rolls. Audience and level of use: beginner level. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: zucchini, lemon thyme, and feta loaf; parsnip, chorizo, and chestnut soup; chicken avgolemono; chilled avocado soup; spiced carrot soup. The upside to this book: there are metric conversion charts. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 16. EAT FEED AUTUMN WINTER; 30 ways to celebrate when the mercury drops (Stewart Tabori & Change, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-719-7, $35 US hard covers) is by Anne Bramley, a food podcaster and broadcaster. All the preps here have been developed from her podcast “Eat Feed”, which claims 50,000 listeners a month at www.eatfeed.com. She states that most home cooks do their serious cooking in the winter months, with lots of holidays, many birthdays, and cool or cold winter entertaining. Up here in Canada, we can add Spring to that list. In the Tudor household we rely on salads all summer long. So this book is all about stocking a pantry or freezer. All the ingredients in this larder are cross-referenced to the recipes. You’ll need apples, pears, beans, grains, dried fruits, and citrus. From flesh, you’ll need braising cuts, charcuterie, cheese, and game. The winter veggies are crucifers, roots and squash. She has 30 menus with sidebars; you can also mix and match courses. All 100 preps have avoirdupois measurements, but there are metric conversion charts. Audience and level of use: home cooks Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: duck breasts with grapes; stout-glazed lamb chops and colcannon; gingerbread with butterscotch sauce; wild mushroom toasts; wild rice pilaf with cherries and pecans; smoked fish cakes. The downside to this book: this is a large production for so few recipes. The upside to this book: good idea for home cooking. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 17. BOTTLENOTES GUIDE TO WINE; around the world in 80 sips (Adams Media, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 246 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869- 787-2, $14.95 US spiral bound) is by Alyssa Rapp, who founded Bottlenotes, a customized wine club service and wine special events firm. Some material here has been abridged from the “Everything Wine Book, 2d ed, 2005”. Thus, this is a basic primer with history, different types of wine (red, white, sparklers, fortified), regional guides, and a short analysis of trends. She mentions up and coming countries of interest, such as Argentina, Austria, South Africa (up and coming?), Israel, Lebanon, India and China. But Canada? Eventually, we find out that there are three kinds of tasters: those who prefer lush fruity wines; those who prefer bold and tangy wines (young, zesty); and those who prefer mature and spicy wines. There is a glossary, but no bibliography. Try www.bottlenotes.com for more details. Audience and level of use: beginner. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: wine consumption in North America has almost doubled since the turn of the century, a mere eight years ago. The downside to this book: more details needed on Canada. The upside to this book: spiral binding is very useful. Quality/Price Rating: 18. MARKET VEGETARIAN; easy organic recipes for every occasion (Ryland Peters & Small, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-720- 7, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Ross Dobson, a Sydney, Australia-based food writer with ties to the UK and USA. There’s no compelling reason why you have to use organic food. The author does not make a case for it, and besides: if you really want to be organic, then you also have to follow through with organic olive oil, organic balsamic vinegar, organic butter, organic cream, etc. Nevertheless, the book is attractive for its reliance on fresh market food. He opens with how to buy food at such a market, but then this will also depend on where you live. The arrangement is by course, from appetizers to desserts. The recipes are easy to follow, although it would be useful too if you had a pantry. Websites and mail order firms are listed, but all are US. The pix, as always, are great. Audience and level of use: beginners, vegetarians, market shoppers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: potatoes and parsnip croquettes; vegetable potstickers; braised fennel with polenta; chile- roasted vegetables with soft goat cheese; paella of summer vine vegetables with almonds. The downside to this book: the word “organic” appears to be just a marketing ploy, so to speak. The upside to this book: avoirdupois measurements are augmented by a metric conversion chart. Quality/Price Rating: 82. 19. FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS (Random House Canada, 2008, 309 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-35675-8, $50 Canadian hard covers) is by Bonnie Stern, a cooking school owner who also writes cookbooks (she has a Beard) and columns, and appears on television. Her HeartSmart titles have sold over 300,000 copies. Oh yes, she’s also Canadian…The emphases in her most current book is on the Friday Night Dinner Jewish traditions. This is not necessarily a kosher cookbook since it has wider applications. There are 25 menus for a relaxed Friday night, dining with fast suppers in a casual style. There are makeaheads, easy adaptations, and variations. Menus include a comfort dinner, an Italian dinner, Thanksgiving, as well as an Israeli dinner, Passover, and Rosh Hashanah. A check of the index shows that there are no pork or seafood dishes, The 170 preps are actually good for any working day of the week. I used to have a Moody Monday dinner just to shake loose the trauma of beginning the work week. There is a strong Mediterranean influence here (both ends of the Med). Weights and measures are expressed in both avoirdupois and metric formats. Audience and level of use: nice for ideas. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: grilled pita with zahtar; butternut squash ribbons; chocolate bark with almonds, ginger, and orange peel; porcini-rubbed grilled veal chops; couscous with nuts and seeds; salmon piccata with lemon and asparagus. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 20. RAISING STEAKS; the life and times of American beef (Harcourt, 2008, 402 pages, ISBN 978-0-15-101202-2, $26 US hard covers) is by Betty Fussell, a free lance writer who contributes to Gastronomica, Food & Wine, Saveur, New Yorker, et al. She has also written ten previous books, one most notably on corn. Log rolling comes from Marion Nestle and Michael Pollan. This is a scholarly book, with copious endnotes, a bibliography of trade journals and books and foodbooks, and index. The 21 or so recipes, all indexed under “recipes”, come from a variety of sources, all acknowledged. Her story of beef is one best told through a series of historical clashes, from the British pastoralists vs. the Spanish ranchers, through buffalo vs. cattle, cowboys vs. industrial machines, up to and including natural vs. growth hormones. She covers breeds (e.g. Angus), feed and anti-biotics, slaughtering and abattoirs, packaging and distribution, with details on butcher shops, tanneries, steakhouses, the role of Chicago, and buffalo meat (much better for you than beef). There are lots of facts and figures, augmented by reproductions of archival posters, paintings and photos. For us in Canada, there are occasional references, with headings in the index such as “mad cow disease” and beef imports Audience and level of use: the academic food reader. Some interesting or unusual facts: “…the flimsy stipulations of the feed bill went unenforced in the United States and Canada. Sixty percent of sampled feeds labeled “vegetable only” were found to contain animal proteins, and more than 80 percent of firms handling feed forbidden to ruminants failed to label it as such. The ban on beef imported from Canada…was no better enforced.” The downside to this book: no websites are listed in the resources section. The upside to this book: good historical survey. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 21. ANDREW JEFFORD’S WINE COURSE (Ryland Peters & Small, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 176 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-723-8, $29.95 US hard covers) is by the winner of eight Glenfiddich writing awards. Jefford, a UK wine writer, has also collected many other awards, such as for best wine writer of the year in 2006 and 2007. This is another basic primer, structured much like a class. Contents are threefold: first up are “The Tools” (how to taste, drink and learn, wineglasses, decanters, and so forth. There are three projects that you must do here. After that, you move on to the next level, “The Elements”, with its five projects revolving around grapevines and styles. It is here that we learn Zinfandel is a third-level grape, like Vermentino. The last – “The Journey” – is the pilgrimage, with its 12 projects on countries and regions. So that’s 20 projects in all, enough for a month. There is just one page on Canada, and that is mostly Ontario and mostly icewine. Sidebars are used extensively, but no question-answer formats. It is all from a UK perspective. Jefford does not go overboard about USA wines. So that keeps everything in balance. There is a glossary and an index, but although reading about wines is encouraged, there are no lists of recommended books or even suggested readings or websites. Audience and level of use: beginner Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: “…wine is necessarily complicated. Dozens of countries; tens of thousands of producers, all of them producing a new vintage every year: this is something that cannot be simplified.” The downside to this book: too much vivid writing. The upside to this book: the graphic layout is impressive. Quality/Price Rating: 83. 22. AFTERNOON TEA PARTIES (Ryland Peters & Small, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-724-5, $27.95 US hard covers) is by Susannah Blake, a cookbook author (for Ryland) on delicate things such as coffees, teas, cupcakes, toast. Here she has 20 menus and setups, such as a Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Champagne Tea, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Baby shower, Moroccan tea, French tea, Russian tea ceremony, Japanese tea, Classic English tea. Calm and tranquility are stressed. There are avoirdupois measurements but metric conversion charts are included. These charts appear to be standard with Ryland, Peters & Small (thanks, guys)… Audience and level of use: tea lovers, gift book lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: for a Gentleman’s Tea, she recommends Yunnan tea, soft-cooked eggs with asparagus spears as dippers, smoked mackerel pate on toast, drop scones with cinnamon butter, and rich fruit cake. The upside to this book: there is a list of useful websites, and the photos are generally excellent. Quality/Price Rating: 89. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESTAURANT/CELEBRITY COOKBOOKS... ...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks. Actually, they’ve been around for many years, but never in such proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be flogged at the restaurant or TV show and since the chef ends up being a celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I’ll try to point this out. The usual schtick is “favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks”. There is also PR copy on “demystifying ethnic ingredients”. PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase “mouth-watering recipes” as if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don’t seem to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some companies, though, will ship around the world, so don’t ignore them altogether. Here’s a rundown on the latest crop of such books – 23. TODAY’S SPECIAL; a new take on bistro food (Quadrille Books, 2008; distr. Ten Speed Press, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-8440-614, $39.95 CAD, hard covers) is by Anthony Demetre, co-owner and chef at the award- winning Arbutus and Wild Honey restos in London. Indeed, these recipes all come from those two restaurants, and it doesn’t hurt to have Gordon Ramsay as a log roller. This is basic bistro fare for weekdays and casual entertaining on the weekend, but with contemporary viewpoints. There are main courses intended as an entire meal without sides. Chapters are by main food, such as fish, poultry, beef, lamb, vegetables and pork, with wraparounds dealing with soups and desserts. He uses “local”, “seasonal” and cheaper cuts to produce the dishes. Most of the intro matter and recipes listings are unreadable since they are black type on dark coloured paper. But there is an index, and the book starts out terrifically with chilled cucumber soup with smoked salmon, mutton broth, roast saddle of rabbit with shoulder and leg cottage pie, slow-cooked shin of veal with roast bone marrow, roast peaches with lemon thyme and vanilla. Both avoirdupois and metric measurements are used. Quality/Price rating: 85. 24. A16 FOOD + WINE (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 278 pages, ISBN 978-1- 58008-907-4, $35 US hard covers) is by Nate Applebaum (executive chef of A16 and SPQR in San Francisco) and Shelley Lindgren (wine director at A16 and SPQR). Kate Leahy, an editor at “Restaurants & Institutions” magazine, provides writing clarity. Logrolling is especially heavy here, with six endorsements from major wine and food people such as Matt Kramer, Joe Bastianich, and Paul Bertolli. This award-winning resto specializes in Southern Italian food, especially the flavours of Campania. “A16” is the name of the highway that cuts across southern Italy. Wines are from Southern Italy, and they are covered in the first 60 pages, with pairings for the food with the food recipe. The food covers pizza from Naples, zuppa, pasta, seafood, poultry, beef, veggies, and a separate chapter labeled “The Pig”. There’s a bibliography and website listing for the wines, but the food resources list is all US. Preps are all expressed in avoirdupois, but with no metric equivalent table. Try summer vegetable cianfotta soup, borlotti bean and mussel soup, coppa di testa headcheese, pork loin spiedino, braised pork shoulder. Quality/Price rating: 87. 25. BRITISH SEASONAL FOOD (Quadrille, 2008, 240 pages, ISBN 978-1- 84400-622-9, $49.95 CAD hard covers) is by Mark Hix, who headed the consortium that owned Le Caprice and other restos in trendy London, UK. He has just opened Hix Oyster and Chophouse in the Smithfield market. He’s also a celebrated food writer (“The Independent”) and cookbook author, garnering several major awards for his latest book “British Regional Food”. Here he takes on seasonality, helped along by over 200 colour photos. This is a British book, so everything here is also local in terms of the islands. The book is a month-by-month arrangement of seasonal best foods, January to December. For January, there is mallard game and Cornish cauliflowers, along with pennywort and Judas ear fungus. February is gurnard. March is wild garlic leaves (not the whole ramp, which kills the plant of course). April brings St. George’s Mushrooms, June has elderflowers, August has laver and sea trout, October introduces a lot of fungus (puffball, beefsteak, hedgehog), and December closes out with quince and salsify. Terrific recipes (using both avoirdupois and metric measurements) but arcane. Quality/Price rating: 85 (but higher if you are British). 26. ARTISANAL COCKTAILS; drinks inspired by the seasons from the bar at Cyrus (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 150 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-921-0, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Scott Beattie, who had worked at many San Francisco bars before shaping the cocktail program at Cyrus in that city. This is a unique book in that the 50 recipes use a variety of organic or sustainable produce, handcrafted ingredients, and local artisanal spirits. The recipes are also seasonal, with local fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers and spices as the calendar rolls along. Beattie also has profiles of local Bay Area distillers and wine country farmers. Advice includes proper juicing, spiced simple syrups, foams, salted and sugared rims, pickling liquid, ice cubes, ginger beer, verjus, tomato water, and dehydrating fruit. Try his take on lemoncello with a variety of citrus fruit, gin kimchi, frondsong with pickled fennel, rhubarbarella, or plum dandy. One drawback: the book is extremely local (great for sales at the resto) and thus the ingredients are virtually impossible for us to get in Canada – or anywhere else outside California. But we can modify locally. Quality/Price rating: 88. 27. MY FAVOURITE INGREDIENTS (Quadrille, 2008, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1- 84400-621-2, $49.95 CDN hard covers) is by Skye Gyngell, head chef at Petersham Nurseries Café in the UK, and a food writer for the Independent and for Vogue. Her first book in 2006 (“A Year in My Kitchen”) was named The Guild of Food Writers Cookery Book of the Year in 2007. Here she presents about 100 recipes to take advantage of the seasonal best produce in the UK. What does she favour? Try fish, shellfish, cheese, nuts, pulses and grains, plus asparagus, cherries and tomatoes. The orientation is distinctly British, and the price may seem high because book originated in the UK. Metric measurements, of course. Quality/Price rating: 84. 28. THINGS COOKS LOVE: implements, ingredients, recipes (Andrews McMeel, 2008; distr. Simon & Schuster, 342 pages, ISBN 978-0-7407-6976- 4, $35 US) is from the gourmet mail-order firm in Seattle, Sur La Table, which began in 1972. It now has 60 stores in the US. Food writer Marie Simmons has pulled it all together. Notable log rollers include Mario Batali, Marcella Hazan, and Jamie Oliver. It is a highly visual book, with many photos of implements and ingredients. There are 100 recipes and 100 descriptions of kitchen implements. Emphasis seems to be on Asian, Mexican, and Western Mediterranean foods and techniques. Each recipe clearly shows equipment needs, as well as prep times, cooking times, and serving portions. Substitutions for both ingredients and equipment are spelled out. This book is just the first in a promising series, and should sell well through its stores and website. Try sausage-stuffed roasted artichokes, roasted boneless leg of lamb with orange gremolata, Chinese five spice-smoked pork tenderloin, mango and chipotle chile guacamole, oven-braised duck legs with toasted pumpkin seed sauce. Quality/Price rating: 88. 29. ORGANIC MARIN; recipes from land to table (Andrews McMeel, 2008; distr. Simon & Schuster, 192 pages, ISBN 978-0-7407-7314-3, $29.99 US hard covers) is by Tim Porter, a photographer and writer, and Farina Wong Kingsley, a San Francisco culinary consultant and teacher. A third partner is “Marin Magazine” which serves the community of Marin County. Notable log rollers include Alice Waters and Michael Pollan. This is a regional organic book, with 16 organic farms telling their story, and presenting 50 recipes from 25 of the San Francisco Bay Area’s organic restaurants. Proceeds from the book will support Marin Organic’s school lunch program, which serves over 12,000 lunches a week with food grown in Marin County. Great photos throughout. The recipes are arranged by season, beginning with Spring. Try (using your own local organic ingredients) fava bean bruschetta, panna cotta with fresh strawberries, chicken fra diavolo with fennel and dandelion salad, roasted butternut squash soup, halibut with shrimp. Quality/Price rating: 86. 30. TAMALES (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 128 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0319-1, $19.99 US hard covers) is by cooking personality Daniel Hoyer, an all- round Southwestern US cuisine consultant and teacher at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Here he explores the single product “tamale” in 50 preparations. There are many styles of masas, fillings, sauces and accompanying salsas. There are many, many possible flavour combos here. The hardest part, for me, has always been finding banana leaves or corn husks. The rest is a snap, since you can order masa by mail if your town does not have any. Most natural food stores have masa. Hoyer has pix illustrating assembly techniques and wrapping. Fillings include pollo asado, machaca (shredded beef), al pastor (pork), pierno de cerdo adobada (pork leg), red chile and pork tamales, and some dessert tamales. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there are conversion charts. Quality/Price rating: 90. 31. COOKING WITH THE SEASONS AT RANCHO LA PUERTA; recipes from the world famous spa (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 2008, 206 pages, ISBN 978- 1584797098, $35 US hard covers) is by the two Deborahs, Szekely and Schneider, along with Chef Jesus Gonzalez of a local cooking school, La Cocina Que Canta. The ranch is a spa in Baja California. All the preps are lightish in fats and carbos, but all are tasty. Szekely is a pioneer of the resort spa, and Schneider is a chef and food writer. Still, log rolling is needed from Alice Waters, Deborah Madison, and Joan Nathan. The 120 preps are organized as a series of 19 seasonal menus, from spring through winter. There’s a lobster paella party, a tecate sunshine event, New Year’s Eve, a Solstice celebration, and Tres Estrellas brunch – something for everyone. Informative sidebars and a ten page spread on the spa itself complete the package. While avoirdupois weights and measures are used in the recipes, there are no conversion charts. Try a pink menu: sangria La Puerta, watermelon and roasted beet salad, grilled yellowtail tuna, guava crème brule. Quality/Price rating: 85. 32. GREAT CHEFS COOK VEGAN (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 272 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0153-1, $35 US hard covers) has been pulled together by Linda Long, who has been a vegan for the past 30 years. She writes on food and nutritional topics. Log rolling comes from Charlie Trotter, which is surprising since he is one of the contributing chefs. This is a collection of recipes from 25 chefs, who also include Cat Cora (Iron Chef), Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson, Thomas Keller, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Vegan food, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits and beans, are low in fat, contain no cholesterol, and are rich in fibre and nutrients. Here, each chef has contributed a menu of three or four courses. The book is arranged by chef’s first name, which is standard in many restos: you have Chef Alex, Chef Floyd, Chef Suzanne, etc. Just about all of these chefs are NOT totally vegan; they also cook meats and dairy. But the conception is useful for selling the book, and the preps are indeed tasty. Each chef gets about n10 pages. There is a pix, a textual description of the chef’s life, and then the recipes. For Chef Anne (Quatrano), we learn that she is at a top Atlanta resto, Baccanalia. She contributes a bruschetta with avocado and tomato, crispy fried okra and chiles, summer vegetable pilaf, and cantaloupe truffle bar. This book can also be used by non- vegans looking for something that is light and delicious. Avoirdupois measurements are listed, but there are also conversion tables. Quality/Price rating: 87. 33. THE ART & SOUL OF BAKING (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008; distr. Simon & Schuster, 454 pages, ISBN 978-0-7407-7334-1, $40 US hard covers) is by Cindy Mushet, a pastry chef, baking instructor, and cookbook author. This is another in the Sur La Table series, sponsored by that gourmet retail store with sixty locations. The book weighs in at 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilos). It’s a quite hefty collection of some 275 recipes, as well as information on 100 popular baking ingredients and about 50 baking implements (all available through Sur La Table). The gamut is everything, from yeast breads through layered pastries, quick breads, pies, tarts, cookies, cakes, custards, soufflés, and their derivatives. There are some sidebars of useful data. The weights and measures are all avoirdupois with NO metric conversion charts; at least, in true baker style, all the ingredients are also scaled by weight. Try chocolate napoleons with port-braised pears, cream cheese pie dough, olive and thyme bread, braided Danish coffee cake, and almond chocolate spritz cookies with orange blossom water. Quality/Price rating: 86. 34. ALINEA (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 400 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-928-9, $50 US hard covers) is by Grant Achatz, who opened Alinea in 2005. Before that, he was sous chef at The French Laundry and executive chef at Trio in Chicago. Along the way he’s picked up a three Beards, including his latest in 2008 for Outstanding Chef in the US. Certainly, this is the heaviest book I’ve reviewed this year: a whopping three kilos (6.6 pounds). Achatz is at the front of the “molecular gastronomy” movement, and here some of his secrets are revealed. This book is not for the faint of heart or the weak (never mind the weight of the book). There is some heavy duty construction here. The cookbook features about 100 dishes, totaling some 600 recipes. And 400 colour photos. There are essays about the restaurant by Michael Ruhlman and Jeffrey Steingarten, plus one by Mark McClusky about the role of technology in the kitchen – it goes beyond stainless steel surfaces. Gourmet Magazine has called Alinea “the best in the country”. I’m not even going to tell you what preps to try: read the book. Buyers will receive access to a website with video demos, interviews, and interaction with the resto team. Quality/Price rating: 89. 35. CHEF JEFF COOKS; in the kitchen with America’s inspirational new culinary star (Scribner, 2008, 264 pages, ISBN 978-1-4165-7710-2, $30 US hard covers) is by Jeff Henderson, who eventually became Chef de Cuisine at Caesars Palace and later executive chef at Café Bellagio. This book rides on his Food Network show, “The Chef Jeff Project”, a reality series. Additional log rolling has been furnished by Paula Deen. All courses are covered, with an emphasis on soul food and deep south cooking. Every prep (of 150 recipes) comes with a story or anecdote from his life (on the streets, in the prison kitchen, motivational speaker) and how the food works in both that context and currently. There’s a short bibliography, and the index has a huge typeface (great for easier retrieval). All weights and measures are in avoirdupois, unfortunately with no metric conversion charts. Try roasted Portobello sandwich, king crab gumbo, Sunday morning cinnamon rolls, molasses braised beef short ribs, and sautéed striped sea bass. Quality/Price rating: 85. 36. IL VIAGGIO DI VETRI; a culinary journey (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 289 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-888-6, $40 US hard covers) is by Mark Vetri, chef-owner of the eponymous Philadelphia resto. He also owns Osteria in that same city. He has won awards from Beard, Food & Wine, and Gourmet magazines. Log rolling comes from Mario Batali, Patricia Wells, and Alan Richman. Here are 120 or so recipes plus 100 colour photos, done up for Northern Italian cuisines. There are accompanying wine notes by sommelier Jeff Benjamin, and some memoirish material by Vetri on his Italian cooking career. As with most books of this nature, there are far too many cute pix of Vetri mugging. This eats up space. The other photos are of plated dishes and instructional techniques. All courses are covered, but there are separate chapters for cold and hot appetizers. This is actually a perfect book for marketing at his two restos: there are pix and the current staff are described. Try crostini di fegatini di pollo, wild boar salami, mortadella-stuffed squid with spring peas and pancetta, cialzon di frutta secca con salsa di foie gras, smoked capon cannelloni, torrone semifreddo cannoli. Most of the wine recommendations are Italian, although there are a few from the rest of Europe. The book ends with a source list, which is all American. All weights and measures are in avoirdupois, unfortunately with no metric conversion charts. Quality/Price rating: 86. 37. OSTERIA; hearty Italian fare from Rick Tramonto’s kitchen (Broadway Books, 2008, 277 pages, ISBN 978-0-7679-2771-0, $35 US hard covers) is by Tramonto, who owns and operates several restos in the Chicago area. He opened Osteria di Tramonto in 2006. Log rolling on the book has been provided by Emeril Lagasse, Alfred Portale, and Cat Cora, although I am not sure why he needs them since he has written six other successful cookbooks. Maybe they need him. These are all family style meals from Italian experiences, and include breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. 150 recipes, all with avoirdupois measurements but no metric conversion charts. There is a sources list for hard-to-find ingredients and equipment, but it is all US. Typical dishes include ricotta pie, peaches in red wine, frittatas, panini, faro salad with pork cheeks and dates, pecorino cheese custard, tuna siciliana. Quality/Price rating: 83. 38. DUCASSE MADE SIMPLE BY SOPHIE (Les Editions Alain Ducasse, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 203 pages, ISBN 978-2-84844042-2 $35US hard covers) is a collection of 100 recipes by Alain Ducasse, as simplified for the home cook by Sophie Dudemaine, a best selling French language chef and cookbook writer. Linda Dannenberg, a freelancer and translator specializing in French cuisine, has adapted the recipes for the North American market. The preps come from Ducasse’s encyclopedic “Grand Livre du Cuisine”. Ducasse owns four renowned restos in Monaco, in Paris, New York, and Tokyo. According to the publisher, the wide range here covers classic French (but why bother?) to international favourites (but again, why bother?). There’s a listing of US sources for food and kitchenware, plus some websites. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used, but there are no metric conversion tables. Arrangement is by course, and the layout is terrific with good clean graphics and no gastroporn. Instead of the “classics” or “international”, try such rarities as chestnut bouillon, fried pumpkin purses, herbed duck ravioli, fresh anchovy tart, and caramelized orange tartlets. Quality/Price Rating: 86. WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR SEPTEMBER 2008 =================================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. WINEWISE; your complete guide to understanding, selecting, and enjoying wine. (John Wiley and Sons, 2008, 360 pages, ISBN 978-0-471- 77064-0, $29.95 US hard covers) is by Steven Kolpan, Brian Smith and Michael Weiss – all professors of wine at the Culinary Institute of America. It is meant as both a textbook for hospitality students, especially those at the CIA, and for the informed consumer who wishes to pursue his vinous knowledge. It is a fairly complete basic guide within two covers at a very decent price. There are over 300 colour photos and 32 maps (in colour, and with sufficient detail). The authors aim to prepare the basic consumer to appreciate wines, to select and buy the best bottles in both stores and restaurants, and to pair wines with foods (and vice versa). They begin coverage with material on the major white and red varietals. They continue with profiles of the major wine regions in the world. Here, Canada is lumped with Greece in a separate chapter labeled as “up and coming”. Ok, I can handle that…There are a few errors in the Ontario section (Pelham is spelled Pellham; there is no mention of Prince Edward County as a wine growing region). Additional material concerns lists of value wines. Audience and level of use: basic consumer level, hospitality schools especially the CIA. Some interesting or unusual facts: As for restaurant pricing policies, the authors say “the wine should never cost double its retail price on the wine list.” With a straight face, I can say that for Ontario, the wine should ALWAYS cost quadruple its retail price…A $10 bottle from the consignment warehouse is regularly priced in the $40 to $50 range. The downside to this book: I wished they had some more details on some of the minor grapes. We do not really know which will be the next “star”. The upside to this book: there is a good list of bargain wines, most of which can be also found in Ontario, PQ and BC, unfortunately not as bargains. Quality/Price Rating: for this price, try 96. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. THE NO-NONSENSE GUIDE TO WORLD FOOD (Between the Lines, 2008, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-897071-44-1, $16 CAD soft covers) is by Wayne Roberts, a Toronto-based environmental activist who writes for NOW and co-ordinates the Toronto Food Policy Council (he’s also the author of “Real Food for a Change” from 1999). It has been co-published with the New Internationalist as one of its “No-Nonsense” series, basic guides to activist projects albeit on a higher plane that Dummies or Idiots series. Other series topics include animal rights, climate change, fair trade, globalization, human rights, sexual diversity, women’s rights, and world poverty. It’s a great survey of the problems that plague global food production and distribution, all of it in the macros (since this is a survey book) of social justice, public health, and green economics. Of course, he brings in related systems with sustainable living, the role of governments, the hundreds of groups that have united (with stories behind these organizations). He deals effectively with the hunger campaigns in Cuba and Brazil. All we see in the papers, though, are stories about escalating food prices, high levels of obesity, and threats to food from global warming. He tries to go behind these stories to get at the issues by highlighting the post-World War II evolution of a cheap food system, the government subsidies, and the disconnect between humans and their environment. He has end notes after each chapter, lists of international contacts and websites, and an index. Audience and level of use: serious foodies, fans of Michael Pollan, etc. Some interesting or unusual facts: “Food production is one of the world’s dirtiest industries, doing more damage to more territory than logging, mining or heavy industry. About 170 million food producers are child laborers, which speaks to the poverty and mistreatment subsidizing low food prices.” The downside to this book: I wish Roberts had spent more space talking about Via Campesina. This really important group needed further exploring. Also, there is no mention of biodynamic or Demeter. The upside to this book: according to the publisher, “there are on-the- spot reports of heartwarming experiments around the world”. And there are doable proposals. But still… Quality/Price Rating: 94. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. NOVA SCOTIA DRINK-O-PEDIA (Nimbus Publishing, 2008, 236 pages, ISBN 978-1-55109-652-0, $16.95 CAD soft covers) is by Graham Pilsworth, an editorial cartoonist and graphic artist now living in Halifax. This is a basic guide to drinks in Nova Scotia. It has been arranged by type: separate chapters appear on rum, beer, wine, whisky and moonshine, tea and coffee, soda and water. The alcoholic beverages are the more interesting sections. There are the usual trivia and “little known” facts, but while Pilsworth has some book sources noted, there is no index to pull everything together. This is the kind of book that you read in the bathroom, on a pickup basis. It is mostly historical, with stuff about women run-running, Alex Keith’s business empire, coffee in Nova Scotia, and the like. There are jokes, bits of songs, and quotes. I don’t think he left anything out, but it does need to be tidied up. The chapter on wine was interesting; certainly, it gave me some deep background about the Nova Scotia wine industry. In the whisky chapter you’ll find a nice summary about the Glenora Distillery. Audience and level of use: Maritimers, drinkers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: there is a flame test for determining the quality of moonshine (quality meaning whether it will kill you or not). The downside to this book: needs an index or some retrieval device. The upside to this book: unique. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 4. COOKING LESSONS; tales from the kitchen and other stories (Quadrille, 2008; distr. Ten Speed Press, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-84400- 615-1, $24.95 CAD hard covers) is by Daisy Garnett, a lifestyle writer now contributing to British Vogue. Impressive log rolling comes from Rose Gray of The River Café. Daisy tells us, in memoir style, how she learned her skills. There are food and family-related anecdotes. It all began, apparently, as she sailed with a crew from Florida to Portugal. It tuned out that she could not sail. So she was made cook. But she couldn’t do chefing either. There are 100 recipes here, with techniques scattered about. Some of the recipes (at least nine) are sourced and cited as being especially influential on her. She includes a bibliography of books that have also influenced here, including the aforementioned Rose Gray’s five River Café cookbooks. The index is only to recipes, not to the memoirs. But there are great watercolour illustrations by Carmen Carreira. Audience and level of use: travelogue readers, food memoir fans. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: pine nut ice cream; grilled lamb chops; shepherd’s pie; leeks with spinach and peas; mango sorbet; lemon pound cake. The downside to this book: the memoirs appear to be a little scattered. The upside to this book: there is an index, but only to the recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 82. 5. THE MODERN BAKER; time-saving techniques for breads, tarts, pies, cakes and cookies (DK Publishing, 2008, 320 pages, ISBN 978-0-7566- 3971-6, $38 CAD, hard covers) is by Nick Malgieri, an award-winning cookbook author whose recipes have also been widely published in the USA. The book is oversized and overweight (3.75 pounds), which makes it awkward in the kitchen. There are 150 recipes with about 200 full- colour photos, which is a DK specialty. Most recipes require less than an hour; they are all classic or contemporary, and include the usual of breads, tarts (sweet and savoury), cakes, cookies, biscotti, and puff pastries. Most of the recipes have some sort of variation indicated. And most have avoirdupois volume measurements, with very little scaling indicated. There is a bibliography, but the entire food resources list is US. Audience and level of use: home bakers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: smoked salmon mill-feuilles; fennel, fig and almond bread; whole wheat currant bread; jalapeno cornbread; pecorino and pepper biscuits; corn pudding tart. The downside to this book: the list of ingredients is in tiny type, hard to read. I had to use an enlargement from my photocopier. The upside to this book: basic, inexpensive food. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 6. FROZEN DESSERTS (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 40 pages, ISBN 978-0-470- 11866-5, $60 US hard covers) is by Francisco J. Migoya of the Culinary Institute of America; he was formerly executive pastry chef at The French Laundry and Bouchon. The book weighs 4.5 pounds. This is a detailed book, since it is also meant as a culinary school text. It covers ice creams, gelatos, sorbets, granites, bombes, and semi-freddi. The techniques offered are both modern and traditional, with a discussion of the different pros and cons for each. The 200 recipes (some are savoury) are complemented by material on equipment. The photos are upclose and tight. The appendices list seasonal availability of fruit and mathematical tables. There’s a section on the basic recipes which yield 5 kilos each, but can be used in many different ways. Recipes are happily scaled in both metric and avoirdupois. The book concludes with a glossary and bibliography plus a list of Internet sites. Audience and level of use: advanced home cooks, culinary schools, working pastry chefs. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: lime sorbet with spider crab; cucumber and wasabi sorbet with smoked salmon; garlic chips; pumpkin gelato; lemongrass semi-freddo with coconut bubbles; assorted citrus sorbet sandwiches. The downside to this book: its weight is awesome – best to photocopy the prep you’ll be using. The upside to this book: frozen desserts are part of every pastry chef’s repertoire. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 7. DINNER AT YOUR DOOR; tips and recipes for starting a neighborhood cooking co-op (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 176 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0291-0, $19.99 US soft covers) is by Alex Davis, Diana Ellis, and Andy Remeis. All three are experienced writers and chefs and consultants, and have been launching and running co-ops for most of the past decade. This book gives you the basics for setting up a dinner co-op: one family makes a huge meal for all the other families, once a week, with pay- back from the other families. Thus, a group of four families will get three meals back for the one that each cooks. The Platonic idea is valid, and falls into the same category as “living together”. The trio is very careful to give you the forms to set up a co-op and explain everything that would be useful for apartment buildings, building co- ops and condos, suburban neighbourhoods, and college campuses. It takes a lot of planning to set up, but it should run efficiently on its own once everybody agrees to “co-operate”. They provide forms and worksheets that everybody has to fill in. In general, you would spend less money and time than cooking for just yourself. And have a lot more fun. However, families need to be aware of the pitfalls: this is not for everyone. You must all be on the same page: no absences, no fights, no cheating. Food safety and liability is an issue. People don’t contribute their fair share; there is always a weak link that has to be turfed: can you kick somebody out of your group without qualms? Food preferences change. Kids and others are picky eaters. Spicing levels vary. The authors attempt some levity here, with anecdotal examples of screwups. There are 50 recipes here for serving large quantities. Most of the preps serve 12 and they are one pots for the most part. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there is no metric conversion chart. Audience and level of use: co-op eaters – the right kind of people are needed here. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: southwestern chicken pot pie; BBQ pulled pork in the crock-pot; crab corn chowder; panzanella salad; hunter chicken. The downside to this book: it can succeed with the right people. Do see the book “The Household” reviewed below. The upside to this book: food variety is emphasized. Quality/Price Rating: 83. 8. THE HOUSEHOLD; informal order around the hearth (Princeton University Press, 2008, 251 pages, ISBN 978-0-691-13442-0, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Robert C. Ellickson, a property law professor at Yale. It is a terrifically original book, dealing with relationships in family-based households as specified by American law and customs. It is a scholarly book, written by an expert in property law, meant mostly for law schools. The chapters cover how, in law, “households” differ from “families”; the three relationships in a household; how surpluses and deficits are distributed; ownership of property; and adding co- occupants and/or co-owners. Rules are discussed in the context of historical overviews (medieval English castles, kibbutzim). As the PR says, “Ellickson applies transaction cost economics, sociological theory, and legal analysis to explore issues such as the sharing of household output, the control of domestic misconduct, and the ownership of dwelling units.” There are copious end notes, a 40 page or so bibliography (about 550 items), an extensive index, and tables of stats on US intentional communities and co-housing communities. For an interesting spin on co-ops, see the book review above (“Dinner at Your Door”). Audience and level of use: lawyers, those interested in communal living. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: He shows that most individuals, when structuring their home relationships, pursue a strategy of consorting with intimates. There is a great advantage to the home setting of informally associating with a handful of trusted people. The downside to this book: could be tough reading for those expecting a popular history book. The upside to this book: very useful in its context. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 9. GREAT PARTY FONDUES (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 128 pages, ISBN 978-0- 470-23979-7, $16.95 US hard covers) is by Peggy Fallon, a recipe developer and cookbook author. These 72 recipes show that fondues are on the rise again. She has advice on the selection of fondue pots, ingredients, safety, and etiquette. Apparently, you should now not eat from the fondue fork, and you should not double-dip. This gives new meaning to the phrase “I survived the sixties”…Most fondues, be they cheese or savoury or dessert, call for five or fewer ingredients. She also adds some dipping sauces to provide a range of flavours. The measurements are all avoirdupois but with no metric conversion chart. A word of caution: you do have to be careful with oil fondues – I once had a fire due to inattention. Audience and level of use: cheese lovers and others. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: for sauces, Spanish roasted pepper and hazelnut sauce, mint-pesto yogurt sauce, puttanesca sauce, chipotle sauce. For fondues, there’s a sweet wine and cheese for dessert, a s’more, and a hot pot fondue with BBQ broth. The downside to this book: more emphasis is needed on the dangers of oil heating at the table, especially with kids. The upside to this book: good range of savoury fondues. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 10. EVERDAY RAW (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0207-1, $1995. US soft covers) is by Matthew Kenney, a food writer, chef and restaurant owner. He has also authored “Raw Food Real World”. The equipment you will need here is a dehydrator and a blender. He used a Vita-Mix. Dehydration will take the temperature up to 120 degrees without cooking the food. Drying is essential to preservation. Consumption of raw food need not be a lifestyle – this is just a nice book with a collection of “no-cook” foods. The chapters concern the usual juices and smoothies, snacks with nuts and seeds and grains and granola, soups, salads and dressings, and ice cream. He also has breads and crackers and desserts, most of which will need a dehydrator. The preps use avoirdupois measurements, but there is a metric conversion chart. Audience and level of use: vegetarians, vegans, raw food enthusiasts. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: nut milk (Brazils, almonds); raw chocolate chip cookies (dehydrator); cumin flatbread (dehydrator); chipotle mayo; macadamia hummus; summer rolls. The downside to this book: missing are raw fish preps such as sushi and seviche, and sir-cured meats. So this is really a vegetarian book. The upside to this book: saves a lot of time, with no cooking. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 11. APPETIZERS & BEVERAGES FROM SANTA FE KITCHENS (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 143 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0338-2, $24.95 US hard covers) is from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation; it is one of a series of cookbook fundraisers, along the lines of community cookbooks. But it is simply one of the most gorgeous such community books I have seen, resplendent with reproductions of paintings held in the local Museum of Fine Arts, crafts in the Palace of the Governors, and other items from the Museum of International Folk Art and especially the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year). The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to these four museums, as a sort of “Friends of…” group. There are also photos of members’ dining rooms and kitchens (without people, thank God). Recipes are contributed by a committee. This is a “party time” book of 200 recipes for appetizers (dips, sauces, pates, antipasti, plus bites of seafood and meats) and beverages (both alcoholic and not). While there are a lot of New Mexican type recipes using chiles, corn and chipotles in a special section, this is still an all-round community styled book. For example, something like Hungarian cheese spread (cream cheese and paprika) turns up in every such book. It is not particularly Santa Fe food, but it does have strong Mediterranean and California components. Jars and cans are used for convenience. Avoirdupois measurements are employed, but there is a metric conversion table. Audience and level of use: society party givers Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chile recipes; chipotle sauce for meatballs; BBQ venison; tomatillos duck triangles; vaquero salsa; chunky guacamole. The downside to this book: recipes are quite common, except for the Southwest. It needs more local recipes. The upside to this book: absolutely gorgeous colour reproductions of oils and crafts. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 12. HEIRLOOM BEANS; great recipes for dips and spreads, soups and stews, salads and salsas, and much much more (Chronicle Books, 2008, 180 pages, ISBN 978-0-8118-6069-7, $22.95 US paper covers) is by Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington. He’s the founder of Rancho Gordo, a specialty food company that provides heirloom produce, seeds, and beans; she’s a food writer, recipe developer, and a leader in the farmer market movement. The heavy guns in log rolling are here: Thomas Keller, Paula Wolfert, Annie Somerville, and Deborah Madison. They begin with a guide to some 34 varieties, mostly Phaseolus vulgaris (Red Nightfall, Jacob’s Cattle, Borlotti, and Yellow Indian Woman) but with some Ph. cocoentus, Ph. lunatus, Ph. coccinus, and Ph. acutifolius. There are details on buying and storing, soaking and cooking, and the like. There is a strong aboriginal influence here, and many of the 90 recipes are definitely from the American southwest. Ingredients are listed in avoirdupois, but there is a table of equivalents on the inside back cover. Audience and level of use: bean lovers, basic cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: wild rice and white bean canapés, marrow beans and marrow bones, bean-stuffed pupusas, Caribbean black bean soup, chili verde with anasazi beans, ABC bean salad, and Christmas lima with pork chop. The downside to this book: no mention of romano beans which are quite popular in Canada and in Italian communities. They are, though, just a synonym for cranberry beans, and a cross-reference should have been made. Indeed, there should have been many more cross-references from bean names. The upside to this book: a good single product book. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 13. QUICK & EASY CHINESE; 70 everyday recipes (Chronicle Books, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 185 pages, ISBN 978-0-8118-5930-1, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Nancie McDermott, a food writer and cooking teacher specializing in the cuisines of Southeast Asia. It is one of a series from Chronicle, with the series title “Quick and Easy…” The 70 recipes here use readily available ingredients (McDermott suggests many substitutions as well) and simple techniques. Indeed, the book concentrates on the familiar Chinese restaurant menu items – you can do them at home for less than the4 price of delivery, and probably in half the time. It even might have made sense, in terms of restaurant variations, to number each recipe and take an order for a number 4 or 62 or 27 to the kitchen. Just a thought. All courses are covered, with avoirdupois measurements. There are seven menus listed, with page references given, and a bibliography. Audience and level of use: beginner. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: typical are pot stickers, hone-garlic spare ribs, green onion pancakes, hot and sour soup, won ton soup, almond chicken, cashew chicken, beef with broccoli, orange beef, pork with black bean sauce. The downside to this book: The mail order sources are all US. The upside to this book: there is a table of metric equivalents. Quality/Price Rating: 83. 14. CUISINES OF THE AXIS OF EVIL AND OTHER IRRITATING STATES; a dinner party approach to international relations (Lyons Press, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 315 pages, ISBN 978-1-59921-286-9, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Chris Fair, a think-tank analyst of South Asian political and military affairs. She has lived and traveled and eaten her way through the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia. She’s been there, done that, and has eaten this in the Khyber Pass, Delhi, Jaffina, and Peshawar. This is a bit of a memoir, but she also has astute political commentary on why these 10 countries are irritating. She begins with the original Axis of Evil: Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Then she moves on to those with nuclear power (Israel, Pakistan, India), and thence to Burma, China, Cuba, ending up in – surprise! – the USA. Yes, the USA earns its place here because it clearly irritates the rest of the world. Israel is here because the First World seems to have guaranteed it, and must defend it no matter what. That can be irritating. Also, it has nuclear capacity and can be duplicitous. But enough about politics. The PR for this book pushes it as being funny and outrageous, but that should only apply to the USA, with its recipes for beer butt BBQ. I found the book to be engaging and witty. Each of the chapters concern a particular country, and she furnishes notes on the local cuisine. In Israel’s case, the cuisine is sort of generic Middle East but with kosher rules. Overall, ethnic foods are fast and cheap, and that is why people eat them. She makes a good point in saying that the UK loves its curry houses, France loves its tagines, and the USA chows down on Mexican food. Each of her country’s recipes begins with a “plan of attack”, followed by tips and advice on cooking. The book finishes with end notes, a bibliography for further reading about perfidies, and web URLs for where to shop. Audience and level of use: foodies and politico junkies looking for something different. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: for North Korea: kimchi, bulkogee, paesuk. For Iran: dolmeh, khoresh, kebab. For Iraq: margat bamya, kubeh. The downside to this book: no metric equivalents, which proves the insularity of the USA (and this publisher) since the rest of the world is metric! The upside to this book: exciting book, give it a whirling read. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 15. FAT; an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient, with recipes. (McClelland and Stewart, 2008, 323 pages, ISBN 978-0-7710-5577-5, $37.95 CAD hard covers) is by Jennifer McLagan, who had intrigued us in 2005 with her James Beard award-winning cookbook, “Bones”. Here she tackles the next single-ingredient food, fat. Can “Tendons” be far behind? This is an “exploration” as the PR sheet says. There is basic stuff about animal fat (its importance, etc.) followed by four major chapters on types of fat: butter, pork fat, poultry fat, and beef and lamb fats. Included, then are, duck fats, caul fat, leaf lard, bacon, ghee, suet, schmaltz, cracklings, and other derivatives. There are about 100 recipes, let’s say 25 apiece for each of the sections. Most of the sweets are covered by butter and lard in pastries. Scattered throughout the book are quotations from literary greats and not-so- greats, on butter and fats. Both avoirdupois and metric measurements are used in each recipe, and there is a bibliography for further reading and recipes. Audience and level of use: foodies, recipes collectors. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: French fries in lard, veal kidney, homemade butter, spiced pork cracklings, pumpkin and bacon soup, braised pork belly, Christmas pudding. The downside to this book: she does not cover the benefits of organic fat, and that to me is a major disappointment. It is well-known that more residue from hormone treatments and the like end up in animal fats than end up in the meat itself, and consequently, most should be avoided. If you love fat, try organic butter and make your own organic lard. Avoid like the plague the packaged lard on supermarket shelves: they have been treated with transfatty acids to act as a preservative. The upside to this book: good topic. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 16. ENTERTAINING SIMPLE; recipes, menus and party ideas for every kind of gathering. (John Wiley and Sons, 2008, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-470- 17499-9, $24.95 US paper covers) is by Matthew Mead, a food lifestyle authority with a variety of authored books. There are 350 engaging colour photos here, as well as 50 recipes. This is a guide to parties, not a cookbook. He gives the basics of simple white tableware, clear glassware and stemware, the essential serving pieces, and then goes on to the dress-up décor the each occasion. He has eight party plans, ranging from BBQ to Brunch to Open House to Coffee Klatch. Other tips include some notes on last minute planning, bar stocking, storage, linens, candles, and maintenance of the setup items (how to care for it all). Audience and level of use: beginners who want to entertain Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: pistachio biscuits, raspberry tea punch, peach shortcake, cheese strata, potato boats, petite shrimp salad sandwiches. The downside to this book: for us in Canada, all the mail order sources are US based. Also, there is no table of metric equivalents. The upside to this book: nice detail, simply expressed. Quality/Price Rating: 85. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS... ...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent “re-editions”... 17. WHAT EINSTEIN TOLD HIS COOK; kitchen science explained (W.W. Norton, 2008, 368 pages, ISBN 978-0-393-32942-1, $15.95 US paperback) is a reissue of a 2002 book by Robert L. Wolke, a consulting editor for “Cook’s Illustrated”. He also wrote “Food 101” for the Washington Post. In real life, he is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. His wife Marlene Parrish contributes about three dozen recipes. The book is in Q and A style, based on queries sent in from his readers in the Washington Post. As a food reference book, it has to go up against the Harold McGee juggernaut, but the format is certainly engaging. Typical sections: why is red meat red? How do they decaffeinate coffee? In 2005 there was a sequel (What Einstein Told His cook 2). Quality/Price rating: 89. 18. THE RIVER COTTAGE FAMILY COOKBOOK (Ten Speed Press, 2005, 2008, 416 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-925-8, $32.50US hard covers) is by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr of the River Cottage cookbook series fame. Since the later books seemed to have sold well, they have resurrected and updated this one from 2005. This is an educational primer aimed at the whole family, being written by a father of three and a mother of five. There are more than 100 recipes here that can be made by children. There are kitchen projects, such as churning butter, curing bacon, doing a kitchen garden. This is a true “family cookbook”, with a distinct British orientation despite the Americanization of ingredients and weights and measures. Try fragrant rice and bacon sandwich. Quality/Price rating: 86. 19. THE MARTHA’S VINEYARD COOKBOOK. 4th ed. (Three Forks, 2008; distr. Canada Manda Group, 306 pages, ISBN 978-0-7627-4724-5, $19.95US paper covers) is by the late Louise Tate King and Jean Stewart Wexler; Wexler is a local journalist. It was originally published in 1971, and revised in 1993 and 2000. This is also its first paperback edition. There are 250 recipes here, reflecting the area’s heritage (Wampanoag aborigines, UK whalers, Portuguese fishers, and newer Brazilian and African- American residents. Indeed, there are 20 or so brand-new recipes reflecting the recent heritage. There are a variety of preps here, covering all courses. Try fried cheese pancakes, orange kiss-me cake, English lemon cake, and cranberry pudding. Quality/Price rating: 87. 20. WINE COUNTRY COOKING (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 232 pages, ISBN 978-1- 58008-938-8, $22.50 US paper covers) is by Joanne Weir, who has written 17 other cookbooks. Despite her acclaim in multi-media and award- gathering, she still needs log rolling by Andrea Robinson, Gina Gallo, and Lidia Bastianich. These are basically Mediterranean-influenced recipes from California wine country; it was first published in 1999 as “Weir Cooking” by Time-Life. But it has been revised and updated. She has 150 preps with wine recommendations and pairings, emphasizing the casual lifestyle (which only happens if YOU are the recipient and not the cook). All courses are covered. The book is now seasonal, and there are different wines given for the pairings. Conversion charts are included for weights and measures. Typical dishes include golden gazpacho, warm squid salad, wild mushroom and blue cheese crostini, chicken breasts, salmon fillets, chocolate tarts. Quality/Price rating: 86. 21. QUICK & HEALTHY RECIPES AND IDEAS. 3rd ed. (Small Steps Press, 2008; distr. McGraw-Hill, 334 pages, ISBN 9780981600109, $18.95 US spiral bound) is by Brenda J. Ponichtera, an RD specializing in weight loss, diabetes and heart disease. It was originally published in 1991, and seems to have sold over a half million copies since that date. This latest edition reflects changes since 2005. There are 200 or so easy recipes, 20 weeks of dinner menus with grocery lists, listings of recipes and what to add to complete a meal, quick meals without a recipe, ideas and tips, nutritional analyses for each recipe. Many recipes call for prepared food products from a can but that’s okay so long as you don’t overdo it. Speed is of the essence. Quality/Price ratio: 84. 22. GRAPE MAN OF TEXAS; Thomas Volney Munson & the origins of American viticulture. New revised edition. (Wine Appreciation Guild, 2004, 2008, 335 pages, ISBN 978-1-934259-04-7, $39.95 hard covers) is by Sherrie S. McLeRoy and Roy E. Renfro, Jr. It garnered an award as “Best Wine History Book in the World for 2004”; this revision updates the story. As Pierre Galet of Montpellier said, “The great merit of Munson is that he was a great hybridizer, a scholarly, systematic botanist, extremely prolific.” The authors’ work was complicated by the fact that much of Munson’s personal archives (including his field notes) were destroyed after his death. Nevertheless, they were able to piece together the story of his life and achievements. He was dominant during the 1875- 1925 period. This revision updates and clarifies his life and achievements. It also signals a new publisher, not the original Eakin Press. It is a straight forward biography which does lend some insight into how he became an important horticulturalist. It is also nicely illustrated with historical photos and reproductions, all in black and white (although the borders can get a bit twee at times). The appendix lists his published works (articles and books) and papers presented. There is also a huge section on grape varieties created by Munson, and whether they were used or discarded: there must be about 450 of these varieties. And then there is yet a separate section on the new grape varieties created from Munson hybrids. There are also extensive end notes, a bibliography of sources (including websites), and a comprehensive index. This book should be of interest to Ontario vine researchers. Quality/Price rating: 85. 23. NAPA WINE; a history from mission days to present. 2d ed. (Wine Appreciation Guild, 2008, 490 pages, ISBN 978-1-891267-07-9, $45US hard covers) is by Charles L. Sullivan, who has written seven books on wine and viticulture history. He has taught California history at DeAnza College for more than 15 years. It was originally published in 1994. It has been updated, with the addition of a new chapter to cover the 1994 – 2007 era. Similarly, the appendices have been recast to allow for updated statistics. Thus, there are the historical tables plus the modern ones for comparison (Napa Valley wineries in 2007, grape acreage from 1856-2006, wine grape production 1856-2006). In general, this is a solid factual history of the wineries in Napa, from 1769 with the Missions up to the modern day of cult wines. Admittedly, there is short coverage of the beginning, 1769-1836 through only a dozen pages. And sadly, Robert Mondavi has passed on. Structurally, the biggest changes in Napa came after 1990. After saying that there was no more room for grapevines in Napa in the early 1990s, the industry went on to not only somehow increase from 33,000 acres to over 45,000 acres but also to tear out and replant more than half of the established vineyards because of phylloxera. In 1990, Napa was white wine country, about 5,000 tons ahead of red. Chardonnay was 15,000 tons ahead of Cabernet Sauvignon. Now, Napa is red wine country, with Merlot the leader, followed by the other Bordeaux varieties. Red grapes in Napa have twice the coverage of white grapes. In just about every aspect of vinous improvement in California, Napa has led the way, with Mondavi most often at the forefront. Sullivan engagingly tells the story. The book has plenty of historical photos and reproductions, mostly in sepia tones. This is an important work, well-recommended. Quality/Price rating: 87. 24. SANTA FE KITCHENS; delicious recipes from the southwest (Ancient City Press, 2005; distr. Raincoast, 247 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0018-3, $40US) is from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. It’s a fund raiser, along the lines of community cookbooks. But it is simply the most gorgeous one I have seen, resplendent with reproductions of paintings held in the local Museum of Fine Arts, crafts in the Palace of the Governors, and other items from the4Museum of Internatio9nal Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The Foundation is a non- profit organization dedicated to these four museums, as a sort of “Friends of…” group. There are also photos of members’ dining rooms and kitchens (without people, thank God). Recipes are contributed by restaurants, chefs and the locals – even the Governor sent in some. While there are a lot of New Mexican type recipes using chiles and corn, pork sausages, tortillas, etc., there are still many non-local food preps such as bruschetta, most of the shrimp, and many desserts. And this is a common failing of many such books. Try instead southwest pasta, Texas cream pie, green chile con queso, or roasted squash soup. Quality/Price rating: 85. 25. SAVEUR COOKS AUTHENTIC ITALIAN; savoring the recipes and traditions of the world’s favorite cuisine (Chronicle Books, 2001, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 320 pages, ISBN 978-0-8118-6574-6, $25.95US soft covers) is by the team at Saveur magazine. This is a reprint of the original book of 120 recipes, out in 2001 as a hardback. The arrangement is by course, antipasti proceeding to desserts. In typical Saveur style, there is deep background on many Italian food products such as Parmigiano Reggiano, wine, vinegar, pasta, tomatoes, olive oil, and prosciuto – even road food. Typical Italian preps include pomodori a riso, crostini, pasta verde, cuttlefish stewed in its ink, Sicilian veal rolls. Lots of pictures illustrating techniques and food products; indeed, over 400 of them. There is also a table of equivalents for the weights and measures. Quality/Price rating: 88. 26. DINNER A DAY; 365 delicious meals you can make in minutes (Adams Media, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 394 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869- 615-8, $16.95US spiral bound) is by Lynette Rohrer Shirk. It contains some material and recipes by Shirk and others previously available in Adams Media’s “Everything” aeries. The arrangement is by course, from soup to holiday classics. These are main courses, which can be fleshed out by a simple salad and bought dessert. Deli-style food, sandwiches (wraps, burgers), seafood, poultry, meat, vegetarian, pizzas and pasta are included, and finished off by casserole one-dish meals. Preps include pot pie, cottage pie, tortilla lasagna, tamale pie, fish in red sauce, summer vegetable spaghetti – one for each day of the year. Holiday classics embrace venison medallions and Yorkshire pudding. Quality/Price rating: 88. 27. THE COMPLETE MEDITERRANEAN COOKBOOK (Tuttle Publishing, 2008, 304 pages, ISBN 978-0-8048-4003-3, $29.95US soft covers) is by Tess Mallos, author of several cookbooks including “The Complete Middle East Cookbook”. There is no indication that this book is a reprint, but I did find a “previously published ISBN”. A search of the book’s bibliography showed no mention of any book published after 1995, so I’m guessing that this current book is at least 10 years old. Not that there are many changes in Mediterranean cooking – but there are many book in the field. There is nothing much here beyond the classics, so you will find paella, couscous, pastas, tzatziki, baba ghannouj, tapenade, cipollata, albondigas, pissaladiere, mezze, and the like. There are even spin-offs, such as Northern France’s “coquilles St. Jacques” but given here as “a la provencale”. The sardalya sarmasi (sardines in grape leaves) from Turkey are both easy and appealing; there is a charming photo of the little things on p.107. Arrangement is by course, service is for four, and volume/weight/metric measurements are given in each recipe, obviating the need for a conversion table. But a teeny tiny index typeface. Quality/Price rating: 85. 28. HEALTHY AND SIMPLE ASIAN RECIPES, for delicious everyday meals (Periplus Editions, 2008; distr. Ten Speed Press, 96 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7946-0510-0, $12.95YS spiral bound) is a collection of decent recipes from the publisher of well-known SEA cookbooks. Although the recipes are not sourced, there are 10 names of cooks and chefs listed on the same page as the metric conversion charts. Its previous title was “LTC Asian Cooking for Health”. There are 50 preps here, covering all courses save desserts and beverages. Try cucumber daikon salad with sweet mirin dressing, fish soup with fennel, Chinese red date soup, and rice with clams and sake. Quality/Price rating: 84. 29. IN PURSUIT OF THE COMMON GOOD; 25 years of improving the world, one bottle of salad dressing at a time (Broadway Books, 2003, 2008, 250 pages, ISBN 978-0-7679-2997-4, $14.95 US soft covers) is by Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner, creators of the Newman’s Own lines. It was originally published in 2003, and here is reissued as a trade paperback. The only real change has been in the title (it was formerly known as “Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good”), and it was written to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Now it is 25 years; hence the change in subtitle. This is the story of their pursuit of offering processed foods filled with only natural ingredients. Of course, they have succeeded, and over $150 million in profits in the first 20 years have been disbursed to charities. It is still a good read, and there are even some recipes. Quality/Price rating: 87. 30. BISTRO; French country recipes for home cooks (Ryland, Peters & Small, 2003, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-694-1, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Laura Washburn, who currently translates French cookbooks into English. It was originally published in hard covers in 2003. New to this reissue is the metric conversion chart. Here are 63 classic recipes for French onion soup, tians from Provence, soupe au pistou, goat cheese tart, Belgian endive salad, pork in cider, cassoulet, and the like. Good sharp photography, as always from Ryland. The mail order list of suppliers is all US. Quality/Price rating: 86. 31. CLASSICAL SOUTHERN COOKING. First revised edition (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 416 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0225-5, $30 US soft covers) is by Damon Lee Fowler, who has written six books on Southern cooking (“Savannah Cookbook”, “New Southern Baking”, “Fried Chicken”, etc.). This revision returns to print a minor classic in itself, There are more than 200 recipes here, and each is carefully explained. This is upscale food, for the most part, with catfish stew, sweet turnip sallet, game turkeys, peach cobbler, and pork recipes. There’s a chapter called “The Southern Way with Vegetables”, and a separate chapter for grits, rice and noodles. Lard is the fat of choice, of course, but good lard has to be made at home as he suggests. There is no recipe for chess pie. But there are metric conversion tables. I do worry about the “perfect” binding, wondering how long it will last. Quality/Price rating: 88. 32. FRESH FROM THE FARMERS’ MARKET; year-round recipes from the pick of the crop (Chronicle Books, 2008, 207 pages, ISBN 978-0-8118-6590-6, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Janet Fletcher, a multiple award-winning food writer and book author who once put in time at Chez Panisse. It was originally issued in 1997, and Fletcher has updated portions of it while still retaining the original photography. There are 75 preps here, for all courses, using in-season produce of course. The arrangement begins in the spring and carries through to winter. While the resources list has been updated to include websites, the bibliography has not been updated, and comes to a halt in 1996. There are also two pages of metric equivalent tables. She opens with a whole section on shopping at markets, and this is very informative for the uninitiated. But I did not like the all-caps listings for the ingredients, especially since the typeface was very light. I found it hard to read and identify the products. For the preps, try Spanish tortilla with spring veggies, pesto pizza, turnip and turnip greens soup, spaghettini with red and gold cherry tomatoes, potato soup with savoy cabbage, warm frisee and fava bean salad. Quality/Price rating: 84. 33. HOME COOKING WITH CHARLIE TROTTER (Ten Speed Press, 2000, 2008, 218 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-934-0, $25 US paper covers) is a paperback reissue of the 2000 hard bound book. The book has been newly designed and photographed. It was originally titled, “Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home”, so if you have that book, then you’ll not need this one. There is a 2008 copyright date assigned to Trotter, so presumably there are some changes, but not necessarily to the recipes. He covers the basics, and then roams through starters, entrees, and desserts, in much the same way his resto would. There are some menus and a pretty good index. The book is value priced. Try chilled asparagus and basil soup with goat cheese, cantaloupe and mango and Asian pear salad, olive oil poached cod, red-wine braised short ribs, chilled peach soup. Quality/Price rating: 88. 34. SAUCES; classical and contemporary sauce making. 3rd edition. (John Wiley and Sons, 2008, 612 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-19496-6 $49.95 US hard covers) is by James Peterson. It was the James Beard Cookbook of the Year after it was first published in 1991. It is a comprehensive survey of the field, and has sold over 200,000 copies in its first two editions. Peterson, the author of 13 cookbooks (most of which have gone on to win awards), has overhauled the book to bring it into the 21st century. He’s simplified a few things, lightened the sauces, replaced repetitive instructions with easy charts, standardized terms for the consistency of sauces, dispensed with some of the old French names, and added a new 16-pager insert of colour photos. There are about 440 recipes, and they also cover salad sauces, vinaigrettes, salsas and relishes, and jellies. Both avoirdupois and metric measurements for the ingredients are embedded in all recipes. Quality/Price rating: 87. AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR AUGUST 2008 =================================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE!! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. BIODYNAMIC WINES DEMYSTIFIED (Wine Appreciation Guild, 2008, 177 pages, ISBN 978-1-934259-02-3, $24.95US soft covers) is by Nicholas Joly, one of the French leaders in biodynamic wines. He’s been at it for over 25 years. It was translated from the French by Matthew Barton. Biodynamic borders on astrology and mysticism as applied to non-human life forms, and deals with the Platonic four states of matter. This is a book about the philosophy of biodynamic considerations without the specific details that a viticulturist would need. It is and energy management system. Rudolf Steiner gave a series of lectures in 1925 indicating what is to be done by extending traditional farming practices to include interactions with the earth and the sun, the moon and stars. Winemakers must eschew all the –cides (pest, herb, fungi) and all the artificial fertilizers. They must also not use anything that would deny the wine from expressing its own terroir, such as Rolland’s micro-oxygenation, cryo-extraction, reverse osmosis, many yeast, oak chips, additives like Tanin Plus and Sinustan, enzymes, excessive filtering. If wines are to be unique and authentic, then they must show terroir and the only way to do this is to be biodynamic. The appendices here include a list of the Return to Terroir Association members for 2007, the Charter of Quality, and a 2007 list of US Demeter certified and in-conversion biodynamic wineries, vineyards and farms. There are also 16 colour plates of photos. The philosophy has moved along at a rapid rate. Already there are changes are in effect for the US harvest of 2008. There will be the possibility of biodynamic grapes for eating, and two levels of biodynamic wine. One from all biodynamic grapes in which the wine process can be re-jigged and sulfiting levels adjusted, and another called “Biodynamic Gold Standard” with a Demeter logo, a more strict process. Details are at www.biodynamics.com and www.demeter.net Audience and level of use: deeply concerned wine consumers, wine schools. Some interesting or unusual facts: I always ask organic winemakers if they’d pursue biodynamic wine. Almost all of them said “No” because it would take too much more work. The downside to this book: apparently, the Library of Congress has no subject heading for “biodynamic” anything, just “organic farming”. There are a few typos, such as “Umbrecht” for “Humbrecht”. And what I found disappointing was the lack of text on what Demeter was. The upside to this book: the philosophy and principles behind biodynamic were very well-expressed. Quality/Price Rating: 90. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. AMERICA EATS! (Bloomsbury, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 207 pages, ISBN 978-1-59691-362-2, $25.99 US hard covers) is by Pat Willard, a food book writer (“Pie Every Day”, “A Soothing Broth”, and “Secrets of Saffron”). The WPA (Works Progress Administration) had a project for unemployed writers during the Depression -- the Federal Writers’ Project. The FWP produced local histories, nature guides, state travelogues, and oral histories. Nelson Algren, Eudora Welty, and Saul Bellow were all thus employed. In one sub-project, writers and photographers were asked to find out how America ate. They were told to produce “an account of group eating as an important American social institution; its part in development of American cookery as an authentic art and in the preservation of that art in the face of mass production of foodstuff and partly cooked foods and introduction of numerous technological devices that lessen labor of preparation but lower quality of the product.” The project was “America Eats!”, and there were to be NO recipes. The vision was for stories about local events where food was to be served: fund-raisers, religious gatherings, dinners at Elks Lodges, tea socials, church suppers, family reunions, rodeos, state agricultural fairs, harvest festivals, hobo camps, et al. This was all about the “importance of social gatherings that glorify the non-professional cook and keep traditional cookery alive.” Willard pulls it all together with transcripts, commentaries and personal re- visits. She does contribute 25 recipes, some from her own family and some from named sources such as Eudora Welty’s Beaten Biscuits. The project ceased in 1943, especially because the war effort reduced community gatherings and the feel of celebration. The material was boxed up and shipped to the Library of Congress, but not all was completed or available. Some manuscripts are in state archives or private hands, or even destroyed. Material was scattered over the five regions that were covered. The stories were never published – until now. A fascinating read. Audience and level of use: culinary historians. Some interesting or unusual facts: Most of the historical photos are from the Library of Congress, although there are two from the original mss. in the archives. The upside to this book: there is an index, plus a separate listing of the recipes. A fascinating read. Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. TOMORROW’S TABLE; organic farming, genetics and the future of food. (Oxford University Press, 2008, 208 pages, ISBN 978-0-19-530175-5, $29.95 hard covers) is by Pamela C. Ronald (professor of plant pathology at UC Davis) and Raoul W. Adamchak (manager of the organic Student Farm’s Market Garden, also at UC Davis). Endorsements have come in from Stewart Brand and Michael Pollan. However, the book covers an explosive issue within the food and academic communities: how to reconcile and incorporate Organic Foods and Genetically Engineered foods to help feed the growing planetary population in an ecologically- balanced manner. Some GE foods have been shown to promote sterility, increase infant mortality, provoke serious allergies, create organ damage, increase vulnerability to childhood diseases, break down auto- immune systems, and create non-nourishing foods. On the other hand, GE foods withstand pests and the weather better. This book is part-memoir, part instructions, and part contemplation. Chapters were written singly and together. The book, arranged by season, chronicles one year in their married life: he’s the organic farmer, she’s the geneticist. They do a good job dealing with the main issues of consumer reactions and modification of behavior, the ownership of seeds and genes (big pharma meets big agra), legislation and trust. Most of Ronald’s work has been done on rice, which is the case study subject of the first chapter. Increasing rice production is the major way to fight starvation in developing countries. In the meantime, just to prove her point (which was written before the headlines started), prices have climbed because of scarcity, causing economic hardship. The rest of the book has photos and tables, plus four recipes (why?), a glossary, extensive references in the end notes, and web URLs with dates of accession. Audience and level of use: consumers, farmers, and policy decision- makers. Some interesting or unusual facts: “Readers who wish to know more about the science behind the passionate arguments surrounding genetic engineering and organic agriculture can find it in this book.” The downside to this book: this is not the book for you if you dislike “frankenfoods”. The upside to this book: the index is full and thorough. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 4. A MOVABLE FEAST; ten millennia of food globalization (Cambridge University Press, 2007, 368 pages, ISBN 978-0-521-79353-7, $27 US hard covers) is by Kenneth F. Kiple, who has taught at Bowling Green State University since 1970. His research concentrates on the history of food, disease and nutrition; he is the co-author of the sterling 2000 set “Cambridge World History of Food” (2 volumes). Indeed, this latest book, which “chronicles the globalization of food over the past ten thousand years”, is based on that set, in effect summarizing it in a good but long overview. This is a good topical survey of foodways and the geography of food, covering the beginnings of agriculture, the domestication of animals, the diffusion of farming cultures, the impact of religion (monks, missionaries), migrations, explorers and traders, the Columbian Exchange and the subsequent spread of cuisines, sugar and beverages, and the results of industrialization (food production, processing and distribution, famine and obesity, fast foods, and genetic modification). But while there is a whole chapter on the Columbian Exchange, there is no entry in the index for “Columbian Exchange”. Strange, but the index is too short as it is. The broad sweep of the book demands more detail in the retrieval of data. While there are extensive endnotes, there is no bibliography. You’ll have to go to the larger two volume set for that. Audience and level of use: culinary historians (who may actually seek out the larger work), foodies. The downside to this book: short index. The upside to this book: good affordable survey. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 5. INTERNATIONAL CUISINE (John Wiley, 2009 [sic], 855 pages, ISBN 978- 0-470-05240-2, hard covers) is by Michael F. Nenes, although it comes with collaboration from the International Culinary Schools of The Art Institutes, with more than 30 locations scattered throughout the USA. This book is just an introduction: there are 17 separate chapters on countries and regions of the world. For each there are subtopics on the land, history, food, glossary of terms, and a sketch map, plus menus and recipes. For example, Mexico has three menus with recipes. The basics are arroz con leche, frijoles refritos, sopa de ajo, mole verde, mole negro, pozole, pescado a la veracruzana. This is a safe and secure book for dealing with the foods of South America, the Caribbean, Japan, SEA, China, etc. It is loaded with sidebars and advice. Wine and beverage notes are given under each area’s food. It can be extremely useful for schools or caterers or restaurants looking to add variety to their menus. The 450 recipes have ingredients expressed in both metric and avoirdupois, as well as by volume and weight. Service is usually for four. And the book concludes with a bibliography of references and websites. There is also an instructor’s manual available. Audience and level of use: culinary arts students, restaurants wishing to expand their global/fusion offerings. The downside to this book: the index has vin santo listed under “win santo”. The black and white photos are not very appealing, and the colour photos look a little institutional. The upside to this book: fairly comprehensive and wide-ranging. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 6. GRAPE VS. GRAIN; a historical, technological, and social comparison of wine and beer (Cambridge University Press, 2008, 209 pages, ISBN 978-0-521-84937-1, $30 US hard covers) is by Charles Bamforth, Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He has written many books and articles about brewing. But here he attempts to slag wine drinkers by touting beer. Indeed, this is the second book this year touting beer over/equal to wine. I now declare the market to be saturated. Bamforth compares the beer culture to the wine culture, noting their separate histories, technology, markets, quality attributes, types and styles, effect on health and nutritional value. However, he cannot avoid the fact that beer is the drink of partiers, consumed in mass quantities mostly by men. Wine has more respectability, is consumed mostly with food, and has more women drinkers. Bamforth, of course, advocates beer: he teaches it. He thinks that beer is overlooked. The argument is specious. Beer is a sparkler with two tastes (sweet or bitter) and a limited range of food pairing. The knock against beer is that it is carbonated. I know many wine drinkers who love wine, but cannot stand sparkling wine, or anything sparkling. That lets them out of beer…There’s a short bibliography and an index. Speaking of short, this is a small book of 200 pages or so, with lots of leading like Robert Parker’s books (the Spencer author, not the wine writer). It could have worked better as a long and interesting magazine article. Audience and level of use: beer drinkers looking for cachet. Some interesting or unusual facts: “One of the biggest differences between beer and wine is that to make the former a huge amount of water is used, whereas for the latter, there3 is need for relatively little”. The downside to this book: there is too much basic stuff on beer and wine separately. The upside to this book: worth looking at, maybe fore a public library. Quality/Price Rating: 80. 7. SOCIABLE! The elbow bender’s guide to Maritime pubs (SSP Publications, 2008; distr. Nimbus, 154 pages, ISBN 978-0-9686803-9-1, $19.95 paper covers) is by Bob Connon, a part-time academic and writer now living in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Here he has created a nifty directory to some 45 pubs in the Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). Some of them have microbrewery operations attached to them. He describes what they look like, their ambience, the beer cuisine, pub food, live music, and the beers they serve. Some of the pubs can be likened to “gastropubs”, a Brit term emphasizing upscale food. But not all of them. There is a certain sameness to most pubs, even many listed in this book. But that conformity is what many eater/drinkers want. The work is alphabetically arranged by province, and there are great photos of the insides and outsides of each. He comments on driving directions, hours of operations, types of beers served, patios and sceneries, parking, seating, TVs, phones (hey, not everybody has a cell), and the ambience in general. But not much on the food. For example, he notes that The Port in Port Williams, just outside Wolfville and thus on his own turf, is a gastropub: “The kitchen is under the supervision of the internationally celebrated gourmet chef Michael Howell, the owner of The Tempest in Wolfville. His stated aim is to provide the quality that people have come to expect from The Tempest with affordable prices for all.” Other places seem to have the foods expected of them: wings, chips, nachos, burgers, salads, etc. Given the seafood culture of the Maritimes, very few operations seem to be venturing out with their “fish and chips” into such things as “gourmet batters” (cornmeal, quinoa, etc.) and “gourmet sauces” (instead of tartar) and “gourmet chips”. They could all learn from such places as the Deep Blue Sea restaurant in land-locked Toronto. Audience and level of use: enthusiastic pub crawlers in the Maritimes, tourists. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Some places such as The Port have a commitment to local and season food only. Some microbreweries do seasonal draughts. The downside to this book: needs more detail on the food. Otherwise, I could just go into almost any local. The upside to this book: glossary of terms. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 8. LEITHS SIMPLE COOKERY BIBLE (Bloomsbury, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 532 pages, ISBN 978-0-7475-9046-0, $65 CDN hard covers) is by Vic Pidgeon and Jenny Stringer of Leiths School of Food and Wine, founded in the UK in 1975. This is the sixth book in a series, with a full range of soups to nuts. “Simple” here means the recipes are quick and easy, or they can be made ahead and cooked a la minute. This is the first book from Leiths to include convenience foods such as purchased mayo and canned beans. It has been based on six years of recipes appearing in the Daily Mail, directly targeted to those readers who did after-work cooking or easy entertaining. The 700 recipes indicate prep times, chilling/cooking/freezing times, and quantities served; weights and measures are metric, with teaspoons and tablespoons. The package also includes wine and food matching notes, pantry requirements and set ups, and seasonal food lists. Some recipes are multi-purpose. The pancake recipe can also be used for both crepes and Yorkshire puddings, although this particular recipe is not indexed under Yorkshire pudding. The index also fails to list “smoked”. They correctly distinguish between Cottage Pie and Shepherd’s Pie, a distinction which has not crossed the Atlantic. Audience and level of use: enthusiastic amateurs. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: duck liver and cointreau pate; smoked trout cakes with mustard sauce; chorizo quesadillas with coriander salad; salmon lasagna; steamed cucumber with star anise. The downside to this book: too small and too light a typeface for the ingredient listings. Also, the typeface in the index is extremely tiny. The upside to this book: there are conversion tables, tons of tips and catering quantities. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 9. SHARK’S FIN AND SICHUAN PEPPER; a sweet-sour memoir of eating in China (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008, 320 pages, ISBN978-0-393-06657-9, $24.95US hardcover) is by Fuchsia Dunlop, who writes about Chinese food and culture for many magazines. She has also authored the justly acclaimed “Land of Plenty”, her first book on Sichuan cuisine, as well as “Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook”. She was the first westerner to train at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine, China’s leading cooking school. She went to China and decided in 1992 to eat “whatever the Chinese might put in front of me” – and the Chinese eat everything that moves. And actually, the subtitle of the book could be “chi qiao” which means “eating skillfully.” Her northern travels almost made her give up eating Chinese food. She notes the sewer-like rivers, the polluted lakes, the generally dirty water, the toxic air, and eating too many endangered species: all of this makes the food unsustainable and poisonous to the body. But as she moved south, the environment got better. Throughout, though, there are vestiges of corruption and greed in the Chinese food industry. She has some good comments and discussions about MSG. At times, this is a very riveting memoir from a professional omnivore. The book has a locational sketch map and diagrams of food shapes. As well there are occasional menus and a dozen basic recipes with ingredients listed in metric for large quantities and avoirdupois for smaller quantities – but no conversion chart. A good exposition of Chinese foodways. Audience and level of use: readers of food memoirs, travelers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: twice-cooked pork; dan dan noodles; red-braised pork; red-braised beef; rice porridge congee; fried rice. The downside to this book: no conversion table for the recipes. The upside to this book: there is an index, albeit in very small typeface. Quality/Price Rating: 10, THE HEALTHIEST MEALS ON EARTH; the surprising, unbiased truth about what meals to eat and why (Fair Winds, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 368 pages, ISBN 978-1-59233-318-9, $24.95US soft covers) is by Jonny Bowden, an expert on weight loss and nutrition, author of other books, a US radio call-in show, and www.jonnybowden.com. His co- author is Jeannette Bessinger, a holistic health counselor and nutrition educator. It follows on his successful THE 150 HEALTHIEST FOODS ON EARTH; the surprising, unbiased truth about what you should eat and why (Fair Winds, 2007) where he describes his top foods, arranged by food groups (e.g., veggies, grains, beans and legumes, sweeteners of blackstrap molasses and raw honey only. In his current book he develops the concept of “polymeal”, which is a meal composed of ingredients that could boost the health of the heart and the blood vessels: fish, garlic, almonds, fruits, veggies, dark chocolate, and red wine. The book begins with a series of four course polymeals, and then moves to a one pot polymeal with sides, and then ends with drinks. The theory here is that eating a polymeal everyday will delay the onset of a heart attack by 8 to 9 years for everybody over 55. He uses both metric and avoirdupois weights and measures, and there are lots of cook notes and tips, plus a pantry list to maintain. Audience and level of use: food watchers. Some interesting or unusual recipes: homemade energy bars, black bean cakes, raw chocolate fondue, Persian-style chicken with pomegranate sauce, lamb chops and sauerkraut. The downside to this book: lots of white space, and the book is heavy to move. The upside to this book: you could probably get away with just doing LOW FAT and NO SUGAR. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 11. PUTTING UP; a year-round guide to canning in the Southern tradition (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 176 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0280- 4, $19.99US soft covers) is by Stephen Palmer Dowdney, a previous owner and CEO of a small batch canning company in South Carolina. Here are 65 recipes he produced for his own canning business. You can certainly save a lot of money, at least half the cost of buying commercially canned food. The book is also part memoir, with anecdotes, stories, and vignettes of the agrarian south. The preps are arranged by month, January to December, and they are locally inspired. But since when will I have a surplus of local shrimp? In addition, there are resources listed for buying canning supplies. And a long list (with explanations) of safety precautions on home canning. I avoid the whole issue by storing my canned foods in the fridge (if jams) and in the freezer (if raw or low-acid). But then that’s me. Audience and level of use: home canners. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: pickled asparagus, beets artichokes, garlic; chow-chow, chutney and relishes; preserves of berries and peaches; jellies; salsas; leather; corn liquor BBQ sauce. The downside to this book: mostly US and Deep South inspired, which means limited product availability here. The upside to this book: metric conversion chart. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 12. A HARVEST OF PUMPKINS AND SQUASH; seasonal recipes (Chronicle Books, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 96 pages, ISBN 978-0-8118-6126-7, $15.95US hard covers) is by Lou Seibert Pappas, who has authored over fifty cookbooks, mostly for Chronicle Books. These are seasonal recipes for a variety of squashes, such as delicate, butternut, acorn, kabocha, buttercup, crookneck, patty pan, etc. Pumpkins are mainly for sweet items such as breads and muffins (there are eight preps here, and five are for pumpkin), and desserts (all nine preps here are for pumpkin). Soups, pastas and entrees all have an assortment of squashes, and most are interchangeable. The biggest distinction is between summer squashes (mostly zucchini) and winter squashes, with pumpkin being a sub- category for the sweet or off-sweet stuff. 40 recipes here are complemented by a glossary of types of squashes, basic cooking instructions, and storage. Audience and level of use: home cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: rosemary-polenta pumpkin muffins; squash and tomato oven frittata; acorn squash halves with orange pecans; Moroccan meatball, chard, and kabocha squash soup; curried chicken with butternut squash crescent; lamb chops and summer squash. The downside to this book: there are a lot of pumpkin recipes. The upside to this book: attractive layout and pictures. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 13. GOAT CHEESE (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0368-9, $24.99US hard covers) is by Maggie Foard, a goat cheese fanatic who now lives on a 12 acres farm in California with her family. This is a book about what goat cheese it, and how to use it in your day-to-day food, all sorted by appetizers, breakfast, lunch and dinner. But unfortunately, there are no actual recipes for making your own goat cheese, not even a simple lemon or vinegar ricotta style fresh cheese. Varieties are listed at the back of the book, and she notes that goat cheeses are made throughout North America now. They are useful on two points: goat cheeses have less fat than cow, and they are more digestible. She says, “More people in the world drink goat’s milk than cow’s milk”. Goat cheese is multi-faceted. You can use it as substitute for cream cheeses, ricotta, yoghurt cheese, feta, and brie – indeed, any soft white cheese. From Europe, we get chevre, St. Maura, Clisson, Bocconcino di Pura Capra, Manchego, and Norwegian Gjetost. Even Le Chevre Noir from PQ gets a nod, so it must be available in the US somewhere. Resources listed in this book are all US, although there is a metric conversion chart. Audience and level of use: cheese lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: morning biscuits with chevre and Meyer lemon jelly; sunburst frittata with ricotta, cilantro and jalapeno; spinach, chicken and orzo salad with goat feta; saffron fettuccine carbonara with roasted asparagus; eggplant, red bell pepper and pesto lasagna; peanut butter mudd pie. The downside to this book: resources are all US, and there is no recipe for making goat cheese. The upside to this book: a good concept. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 14. SUNDAY SOUP; a year’s worth of mouthwatering, easy-to-make recipes (Chronicle Books, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 168 pages, ISBN 978-0-8118- 6032-1, $19.95US soft covers) is by Betty Rosbottom, a free lance food writer, author of cookbooks and a syndicated food column for Tribune Media Services. Soup has never made my mouth water; quite the contrary, soup slakes my thirst. I hate the use of the word “mouthwatering” in PR materials – so you can imagine my horror when I saw it in the actual title. These 60 recipes are for hearty Sunday one-pot meals, with assorted sides of salads and breads (six preps apiece). They are arranged by season, Fall to Summer, fifteen per time of year. But of course you can have them any day of the week: why wait for Sunday? After the soup basics, the recipes indicate prep times and total times for cooking, and what can be made ahead, and so forth, with ideas for side dishes. There are cooks notes on shopping and cooking. She has some topical indexes for soups, indicating which are quick and easy under 30 minutes, slow and simmering, hearty main courses, vegetable soups, seafood soups, light soups, holidays, appetizer soups, and comforting soups. Audience and level of use: soup lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: shrimp gumbo; spring risotto soup; pozole; black bean soup; chilled melon soup; fall roots soup. The downside to this book: the book is a bit light on soups, maybe 100 would be okay. The upside to this book: topical indexes. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 15. THE SKI COUNTRY COOKBOOK (Chronicle Books, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 156 pages, ISBN 978-0-8118-5977-6, $24.95US hard covers) is by Barbara Scott-Goodman, a New York-based author and food writer. Actually, this is an okay book for hearty, wintery foods anywhere. It is arranged by category, from breakfast through to après ski appetizers, soups, mains, sides, desserts, and – wait for it – drinks. Very uncomplicated too. Service is for six and up. Audience and level of use: skiers, winter people. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: smoked chicken and apple hash; apricot and pecan scone; cider-braised chorizo bites; beef brisket; asian-style pan-roasted spare ribs; pear and apricot galette. The upside to this book: there is a table of metric equivalents. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 16. FABULOUS FOOD; sexy recipes for healthy living (Sphere, 2008; distr. Penguin, 223 pages, ISBN 978-1-84744-211-6, $32 Canadian hard covers) is by Sophie Mitchell, who has worked in restos and now presents and contributes to food shows in the UK. Two of the three log rollers are really incestuous plugs from those with vested but undeclared interests. And there are many chick pix of her cooking and serving while looking smashing. So many, in fact, that there are six lines of acknowledgements for her clothes, jewelry, hair and makeup, etc. plus thanks for the various people who have helped dress her. Damn, I hear her say, I broke my nail on the oven door…She promotes quick-fix dishes for the home, for comfort food, for entertaining, for aphrodisiac dinners, and for de-tox and quick weight loss. Nevertheless, as Mitchell says, “finding food that is light but still delicious is difficult”. Both prep and cooking times are indicated, and there is a list of seasonal suggestions. She uses both metric and avoirdupois measurements in the ingredient lists, even down to 25g for parmesan, and 20g for butter. Why? Audience and level of use: modern single. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sardines on peperonata; quinoa with tandoori chicken; fennel chicken on zucchini; butternut squash and almond risotto; red currant glazed venison. The downside to this book: alas, no metric conversion charts. The upside to this book: There are internal cross-references in many recipes to more recipes using similar ingredients. She also gives new meaning to the word “gastroporn”… Quality/Price Rating: 82. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESTAURANT/CELEBRITY COOKBOOKS... ...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks. Actually, they’ve been around for many years, but never in such proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be flogged at the restaurant or TV show and since the chef ends up being a celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I’ll try to point this out. The usual schtick is “favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks”. There is also PR copy on “demystifying ethnic ingredients”. PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase “mouth-watering recipes” as if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don’t seem to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some companies, though, will ship around the world, so don’t ignore them altogether. Here’s a rundown on the latest crop of such books – 17. OLAF’S KITCHEN; a master chef shares his passion (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 224 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-15565-3, $28.95 soft covers) is by Olaf Mertens, who studied culinary work in Germany. Subsequently, he spent several years at Rogues Restaurant, and now is head chef and partner at three Mississauga restaurants (On the Curve, Ten Restaurant & Wine Bar, and West50 Pourhouse and Grille. This is another book about a chef writing for home cooks who want flair in their approaches to dinner. Low fat but flavourful dishes can be approached by using herbs instead of fats. Throughout the book, there is a sense of German influences (chocolate sauerkraut cake, spaetzle, herbal schnapps-cured salmon, scalloped kohlrabi, strudel, soured beef short ribs, et al) with a lighter touch. As with most current books, there is the S-L-O approach (seasonal, local, organic if possible) too. There is a nice section on “faster-cooking” foods, so you can quickly entertain or have a mid-week meal. Beer is the prep liquid of choice for cooking. While the book does emphasize low fat, there are some exciting cheese dishes including a goat cheese brule cake. Of note are nice pictures of the unidentified staff – which makes the book an easy sell at his restos. Quality/Price rating: 86. 18. FOOD 2.0 (Dorling Kindersley, 2008, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-7566- 3358-5, $25 US hard covers) is by Charlie Ayers, one-time cook for Google in 1999 when they only had 40 employees. The book is “with Karen Alexander and Carolyn Humphries”. Log rollers include Iron Chef Cat Cora. His mission was to get the workers all back to their respective computer screens in the afternoon pumped with energy. He left in 2005, and by that time, he was feeding 1500 a day. He now has an earth- friendly fast food resto (Calafia) in Palo Alta. His shopping principles are SLO: seasonal, local and organic. His backup drive is always a fully loaded pantry. His 100 recipes try to promote concentration in the brain, starting with brekkies and moving through to the pick me ups at the end of the day. Try an apricot multi-grain breakfast, or a cranberry-orange bread, dragon breath noodles, khmer spring rolls, turkey-avocado-carrot wrap, or snapper in a yogurt coat. More details at www.chefcharlieayers.com. Quality/Price rating: 87. 19. BREAKFAST AT THE WOLSELEY (Quadrille, 2008; distr. Ten Speed Press, 128 pages, ISBN 978-1-84400444-7, $29.95US hard covers) is by the quirky A.A. Gill, a restaurant critic for the Sunday Times and a freelance food writer. He has written many books, including two on London restaurants The Ivy and Le Caprice, also owned by the owners of The Wolseley. Coincidence? I think not…. Here he gives a behind-the- scenes look at breakfast served in a tony Piccadilly resto which bills itself as a cross between a café and a brasserie (maybe a brashcafe?). He details the front of house activities and the kitchen scenes. While Gill did the essays, there was a photographer and a recipe team (Julian O’Neill and Lewis Esson). Breakfast – also known as brekkies – might be the most important meal of the day, but it seems a lot easier to re3ad about it rather than make it. Would you like to cook, before 7 AM, brioche, haggis and duck egg, lamb kidneys with Madeira, compote of prune and elderflower? I didn’t think so, but invite me over if you do. Gill’s essay is good basic history of the European breakfast. Quality/Price rating: 86. 20. CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 128 pages, ISBN 878-0-470-22939-2, $19.95 US hard covers) is by Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield, co-founders of the California Pizza Kitchen, which opened first in 1985 and now is a chain of 230 restos in 30 US states and eight countries. The group has also come up with “The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook” (1996, and with sales of over 250,000) and “California Pizza Kitchen Pasta, Salads, Soups and Sides”. More about the restos are at www.cpk.com. The book is useful for sales at the restaurants, for obviously there are many fans. Here, the concentration is on preps the whole family can both make and enjoy, including all the signature dishes which bear no relation to Italian pizza whatsoever except for the dough. Jerk Chicken? S’mores? Chipotle chicken? And other non-pizzas like mac and cheese, salads, panini, piccatas, Fifty recipes here, largely developed by Brian Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Culinary Development. Quality/Price rating: 83. AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR JULY 2008 =================================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE!! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. INVESTING IN LIQUID ASSETS; uncorking profits in today’s global wine market (Simon & Schuster, 2008, 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-4165-5017-4, $26 US hard covers) is by David Sokolin, a top US wine broker. He took his family’s small Madison Avenue liquor store and turned it into the USA’s largest wine brokerage house. According to the author, the upscale wine market in the USA is increasing. There are handsome profits to be made, although ugly profits are also appreciated. Sokolin only deals in IGWs (Investment Grade Wine), which have outperformed blue chip stocks for the past century. His book deals with how to make money by trading in fine wines. Part One identifies the key players and the principles governing the IGWs in play (in other words, the principals and the principles).There is basic data about what the futures markets are all about. Part Two identifies the best wine regions, styles, and vintages of the past century. This book, of course, is not meant for the average wine drinker, but for the investor or collector. Even the novitiate would know that the best regions are in France (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Sauternes, and Champagne), northern Italy (Tuscany, Piedmont), Port, and Rioja. California and Australia wines are okay, but you won’t make much appreciation. Between 1986 and 2007 – 20 years – Sokolin’s Bordeaux portfolio went from $327,400 to $3,273,280. Impressive indeed. To do anything in this business, though, he says that you should buy at least 10 cases minimum for each brand. And there are problems of re- selling and storage if you have the actual physical product near at hand. Audience and level of use: wine readers and wine investors, collectors. Some interesting or unusual facts: “For all the great wines California has to offer, I’ve never made much money in this sector.” The downside to this book: no mention of Hardy Rodenstock, or even of frauds. The upside to this book: the book is useful to us in Canada since wine need never enter nor leave this country. As an investor, you’d simply buy and sell wine as you would with any commodity. Quality/Price Rating: 90. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. FOODS THAT FIGHT DISEASE; a nutrition guide to staying healthy for life (Penguin Canada, 2008, 442 pages, ISBN 978-0-14-305657-7, $24 CAD soft covers) is by Registered Dietician Leslie Beck who has authored seven other nutrition books. She appears regularly on TV and radio, and in newspapers (www.lesliebeck.com). Recipe development and nutritional analysis is by Michelle Gelok. This is a guide to what to eat to help prevent the big seven from happening: cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Research clearly links certain diets and foods to disease prevention. Thus, you should eat all the right foods and avoid all the worst foods. This should be AS EASY AS PIE to do – but only if you want to live. Her book is a list of valuable foods, oils and beverages, along with how to buy and store and prepare. There are nutritional advisories on carbos, protein, fat, minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals. The 100 recipes are followed by appendices with a power foods checklist, herbs and spices, plus a guide to reading nutrition labels. Her power foods do not mention meat, and fish/seafood is twice a week only. There are end notes but no bibliography. Audience and level of use: this is a good reference book. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: blueberry and roasted walnut spinach salad, whole grain millet waffles with orange and raspberries, blueberry banana smoothie, garlic roasted Brussels sprouts, kasha cabbage rolls, and cashew mango trail mix. The downside to this book: my copy of this paperback book is already yellowing. The upside to this book: there is a general index and a separate recipe index. Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. THE SPICE BIBLE; essential information and more than 250 recipes using spices, spice mixes, and spice pastes (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 447 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-695-4, $29.95 US paper covers) is a co-publication with the Australian publisher Murdoch Books. Thus, Jane Lawson, the author and former chef, speaks from an Australian background. The recipes use some 45 spices and 15 spice mixes (e.g., curry powder, pickling spice, zahtar) and 15 spice pastes (chili paste, harissa). The book is arranged by part of the plant. First up are the seeds and pods (caraway, cardamom), then the berries and flowers (juniper berry, pepper). Roots and bark are next (cinnamon, horseradish), followed by the pastes and then the mixes. Her notes on the spices show what each is related to (e.g., dill weed is related to aniseed, caraway, coriander, and cumin). Avoirdupois weights and measures are employed, but there is no table of metric equivalents. A bibliography concludes the work. Audience and level of use: cooks, students. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Cajun shrimp with salsa, spicy eggplant, Italian fritters, Asian-flavoured roast chicken, braised pork belly, sesame pork, patates bravas. The downside to this book: some errors like “Arcadian” for Acadian. Also, no metric tables. The upside to this book: there are two indexes, by topic and by recipe. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 4. CARNIVORE CHIC; from pasture to plate, a search for the perfect meat (Viking Canada, 2008, 217 pages, ISBN 978-0-670-06566-0, $35 CAD, hard covers) is by Susan Bourette, once a reporter for the Globe and Mail but now a free-lance investigative writer. Notable log rollers include Chef Jamie Kennedy. She manages to cover high end butcher shops, organic meats, kobe and wagyu meats. Much of the reporting is on beef. She moved across North America and explored or worked at a Manitoba abattoir’s kill floor, an organic meat farmer, a Newfoundland moose hunt, butchering cows, the meat packing district in Manhattan, and steakhouse restaurants. She also eats polar bear in the Beaufort Sea, and alligator in Cajun Louisiana. Her book serves as both a memoir and as a partial history of our eating habits, through an episodic ten chapters. Her main solution to the problems relating to animal treatment, methane emissions and waste disposal is simply to eat less meat but better meat. There are end notes and an index. Audience and level of use: carnivores, memoir readers. Some interesting or unusual facts: “North Americans are eating more meat than ever”: 260 pounds a year each. The downside to this book: no recipes (now, how was that polar bear cooked?) The upside to this book: well-written and somewhat convincing. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 5. FISH FOREVER; the definitive guide to understanding, selecting, and preparing healthy, delicious, and environmentally sustainable seafood (John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 438 pages, ISBN 978-0-7645-8779-5, $34.95 hard covers) is by Paul Johnson, owner of the Monterey Fish Market and supplier to many top California chefs (Waters, Keller, Bertolli). He currently serves on the board of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program. Some of the royalties are being donated to “Save Our Wild Salmon”. But there is log rolling from Judy Rodgers of Zuni Café and others living on the Pacific coast. His book tries to show us how to chose seafood that is both sustainable and healthy, despite many ecological and lifesmart issues. He tries to find the least-endangered, least-contaminated, and best-tasting species. There are 70 of these (anchovies, bluefish, squid, tilapia, clams, weakfish, black sea bass, et al) and 96 recipes to use them. Did you know that Alaskan Pollock is 40% of all fish caught in US waters? ALL of it is frozen and processed to imitation-seafood (e.g., crab). This is FOUR BILLION pounds annually, and is mostly sold to restos and supermarkets (packaged for the latter as “breaded fish”). There is an appendix dealing with omega- 3s and mercury (called a “balancing act”), raw seafood, a glossary of health concerns, organic pollutants, fishing and aquaculture methods. The bibliography lists Internet sites. Audience and level of use: seafood lovers, schools of hospitality. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: catfish tacos, Mediterranean baked cod, minestrone, yellowtail snapper with tomato and tarragon pan sauce, snapper seviche, slow-roasted salmon salad. The downside to this book: nothing on smoked fish. Also, there have been some changes in the past year – skate is now endangered on the East coast, and restos are encouraged to avoid it. The upside to this book: a good book for making choices. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 6. WILD FOOD; a guide to gathering food in the wild (The National Trust, 2008, 96 pages, ISBN 978-1-905400-59-1, $16.95) is by Jane Eastoe. It is a great little book, with excellent colour drawings on foldout pages, albeit with a British orientation. The Trust has arranged the contents by type. There is a chapter on fruit (blackberry, wild plum), nuts-seeds-roots (hazel, horseradish), flowers (borage, elder), seaweed, seafood (oysters, cockles), fungi (ceps, puff balls), plant leaves (dandelion, fennel), and road kill (pheasant, rabbit, deer, badger). For the latter, food prep involves natural enzymatic digestion (also known as rotting) with the aid of maggots and other little beasties. No different than “hanging” game, except the road kill looks a little misshapen. She has a list of resources, all British, with organizations and a bibliography and an index. Audience and level of use: gardeners, foot travelers, intrepid foodies. Some interesting or unusual facts: “Most roadkill has been killed by a blow, which produces a violent but quick end…The meat will be of excellent quality and suitable for eating.” The downside to this book: British orientation, and there are no recipes. The upside to this book: well-conceived and modest price. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 7. THE ART OF THE DESSERT (John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 350 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-44381-0, $40 US hard covers) is by Ann Amernick, once an assistant pastry chef at the US White House. She is currently co-owner of Palena in Washington, D.C. and has authored other dessert books. She is assisted here by her former employee, pastry chef Margie Litman (described as “with Margie Litman”). Still, log rolling is produced by Daniel Boulud, among others. She’s had 34 years of baking experience at every level and every location. Here are 100 recipes sorted by cakes, tortes, pies, tarts, cookies, candies, cold desserts, warm desserts, and dessert sandwiches. There are copious cook notes and sidebars with options for embellishing. Recipes are in both avoirdupois and metric for ingredients. The thorough recipes are three to fives page in length. There are conversion pages for eggs and sugar, and for converting volumes to grams. She also has diagrams for roll/fold pastry. Audience and level of use: sweets lovers, schools of hospitality. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: apricot orange cake, cheese Danish sucree, galette bretonne, almond lace cookies, caramel trifle, orange essence soufflé. The downside to this book: source list is all USA. The upside to this book: she encourages us to scale the ingredients by weight. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 8. FOOD AND FILM; a guide to classic movies (Printorium Bookworks, 2008, 350 pages, ISBN 978-0-9780240-0-0, $39.95 paper covers) is an 8.5 by 11 inch outsized book authored by D.A. Morris and D.C. Chang. Both are movie and food enthusiasts living on the Canadian west coast. The films are from the classic movie period, and do not expressly deal with food as Babette’s Feast, Big Night or Tom Jones would. See Gastronomica’s “Food on Film”, which is more concerned with later movies that deal with a lot of food (this article has no recipes). The book just uses film as a starting point, with food to evoke an atmosphere. The movies here are alphabetically arranged, and include Adam’s Rib, Caine Mutiny, Christmas in Connecticut, Mildred Pierce, Odd Couple, and Rear Window. For each movie, there is a plot synopsis, a still, bios (with pix) of the principals, and some recipes (with pix) tied into the food references. There are food ideas evocative of Waterloo Bridge’s candlelight dinner (roast pheasant, potatoes, figs), or Easy Living’s Automat beef pot pie, The Magnificent Seven’s Mexican dinner, or Desk Set’s last minute meal for harried office workers. All of these you can re-create yourself. Audience and level of use: film buffs with a hankering for mood food. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 9. HE SAID BEER, SHE SAID WINE (Dorling Kindersley, 2008, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-7566-3359-2, $25 US hard covers) is by Sam (Beer) Calagione and Marnie (Wine) Old. He’s the brewer and founder/owner of Dogfish Head, plus author of several beer books. She’s Director of Wine Studies at New York’s French Culinary Institute, and is an award-winning sommelier. Both are hip and cool. This is a book on food pairing suggestions. There are recipes for a wine vs. beer dinner party, with both beer and wine recommendations. The first 70 pages are all about basics – which we all know. Only some of it would be worth repeating (i.e., how to taste beer and wine). On page 70, the food pairing begins. The chapters are arranged by food type. There is a section on cheese (type of cheeses played against type of beers and wines), followed by vegetables, sandwiches, pizza and pasta, spicy food, shellfish, fish, poultry, meat, and fruit desserts (sweet wines vs. fruit/brown ales). There are some 20 recipes for in-home pairing of food and beer and wine. But not all beers mentioned are available in all markets, unlike the wines mentioned. Many labels are reproduced, although there are generic recommendations. It does smack of product placements, especially with websites mentioned. Since both authors are experienced in the business of matching alcohol to food, then I would have appreciated more cross-promotion. Sam could do wine stuff and Marnie could do beer/. But they don’t, and that is a shame. Audience and level of use: beer lovers, wine lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: “More people dislike the taste of beer than dislike the taste of wine.” (Dean Tudor, not the authors). The downside to this book: just a bit too coy for me, with redundant pix of the winsome couple eating up lots of space. The upside to this book: it is a tough sell for beer since there are only two flavours here, bitter and sweet. As well, every beer is sparkling, and many people don’t like sparkle with their food. So there is a very limited mobility for a beer matching food. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 10. SPAIN AND THE WORLD TABLE (DK Books, 2008, 272 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7566-3387-5, $35US hard covers) is by the Culinary Institute of America, with text by Martha Rose Shulman. It is drawn from the CIA’s 2006 “Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival” at Greystone which dealt with Spain on the world food stage. CIA faculty and staff mixed with leading chefs from around the world. That explains some of the log rolling from Ferran Adria (El Bulli), Charlie Trotter, and Thomas Keller (French Laundry). There are 120 recipes, all Spanish and “Spanish-influenced” from star chefs and the CIA as sourced. The range is from traditional tapas to contemporary seafood to classics (Paella Valenciana), along with sauces, condiments, and desserts. There are sidebars dedicated to Spanish ingredients such as wine and sherry, cheese, olives, salt code, and to Spain’s different culinary regions. The layout is ideal, with a larger typeface for the recipes and usually a picture of a plated product. The preps have both metric and avoirdupois weights and measures for ingredients. The book concludes with a glossary, a listing of US sources, lists of contributors (with bios), and speakers and guest chefs at the conference. Audience and level of use: Spanish food lovers, hospitality schools. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: jamon and arugula salad, crispy Cabrales and phylo sandwiches, Manchego coquettes with quinoa sauce, zarangollo ravioli, cold almond and garlic soup, seaweed and tuna toro. The downside to this book: the index is variable. There are no entries for migas or for bocadillos. The glossary doesn’t mention them either. Sangria is only indexed under “Beverages”, not too helpful. The upside to this book: up-close larger-than-life pix of food. They make the tapas look huge. Quality/Price Rating: 89. THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS... ...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent “re-editions”... 11. INTRODUCTION TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, seventh edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 539 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-78276-6 soft covers) is by Clayton Barrows (professor at University of New Hampshire) and Tom Powers (professor emeritus at University of Guelph). This introductory volume covers all the basics of the hospitality business: food service plus beverages, lodgings, and travel/tourism. It is meant for those contemplating a career in the sector, or for those taking an introductory course. There is an instructor’s manual and a study guide available. New materials include the changes in tourism and travel since 9/11, more examples of new technology, more focus on gaming and casino destinations, an expansion of information on franchising, more up-to-date profiles and case histories, sections on spas, and Internet exercises for the students. This is a foundation book with excellent layout and design and use of colour and photos. Quality/Price rating: 88. 12. THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY: cha-no-yu (Tuttle Publishing, 2008, 283 pages, ISBN 978-4-8053-0914-8, $21.95US soft covers) is by A.L. Sadler. He wrote the book in 1930 when he was a professor at the University of Sydney; it was published in 1933. This time out it has a new forward by Shaun McCabe and Iwasaki Satoko, translators of “Chado: the way of tea”. This is a highly technical and cultural work, with many illustrations and drawings and photographs for every single aspect of the “cha-no-yu”. Included are informations about furniture, utensils, architecture and gardens. Sadler places the ceremony in context of the Japanese culture over the centuries. There’s a bibliography, but it has not been updated since the book’s original publication date. Quality/Price rating: 89. 13 HOW BAKING WORKS; exploring the fundamentals of baking science. Second edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 399 pages, ISBN 978-0-471- 74723-9 soft covers) is by food scientist Paul Figoni (Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island). Before teaching she worked in product development for baking concerns. This is a more theoretical book, covering the “whys” behind the basic techniques. She explains rationales for each major ingredient. There are separate chapters for wheat flour, “variety grains”, gluten, sugar and sweeteners, gelling agents, fats, egg products, milk products, leavening agents, flavourings, fruit products, nuts and seeds, and chocolate products. Each section has an introduction, review questions, discussion questions, exercises and even experiments. Here are lots of tables, charts and graphs, and even some math. New material includes reworked exercises and an expanded coverage of sweeteners (including stevia), variety grains, enzymes, starch structure, and gluten structure. There is new material on nutrition, dietary fibre, trans fats, and US federal food legislation. Quality/Price rating: 90. 14. DELIA’S HOW TO CHEAT AT COOKING (Ebury Press, 2008, 264 pages, ISBN 978-0-091-92229-0, $39.95 CAD hard covers) is by Delia Smith. This book was first published over 35 years ago, in 1971. It was written for people who didn’t have time to cook, or did not want to. Smith is Britain’s bestselling cooking author with sales of over 18 million copies. Here she presents 150 recipes, all newly recast for our uber modern lifestyles. She invests many classics dishes with tricks and tips and shortcuts, which makes everything either easy or quick (and sometimes both). Topics include soups, starters/sides, meat, chicken, seafood and fish, vegetarian, and desserts. Most of the dishes use some mind of convenience food from the supermarket; these labels are not carried in this country, so you’ll have to figure out what’s available. Illustrated with colour photographs. Quality/Price rating: 80. 15. FUNDAMENTALS OF MENU PLANNING, third edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 258 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-07267-7 soft covers) is by Paul McVety, Bradley Ware, and Claudette Ware – all at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. This book has offered a complete review of the principles of planning a menu, including concept development, design mechanics, and menu pricing. New to this edition are appendices such as a glossary and the Food Guide Pyramid. There is also new material on dietary guidelines, labeling and descriptors, and nutrition. Updated menus reflect the changing variety and composition of items, especially as we all seem to be marching to a world global fusion cuisine. There is a new section on restaurant design guidelines, and the review questions have been recast. There are also numerous forms, tables and worksheets. For American restaurants, I do find disturbing the huge increase in wine list prices. The publisher could also have reduced the number of pages in the book: the typeface size is enormous. I do appreciate the 8.5 x 11 size of the page, to accommodate reproductions of menus. Quality/Price rating: 89. 16. AU PIED DE COCHON; the album (Douglas McIntyre, 2006, 2008, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-55365-391-2, $40 CAD paper covers) is by the team at the famous Montreal restaurant, but principally Martin Picard who once opened Toque. In 2001 the resto opened to acclaim, promoting hearty and rustic Quebecois food with a delicate flair. This book was originally published in 2006, and this is the paperback reprint. Here are 55 recipes direct from his kitchen. Just about everything is over-the-top and larded with, well, lard and other fats. There are more than 650 illustrations here (mostly photos) that recount Picard and his staff’s story of the resto’s beginnings and philosophy of food. Unfortunately, the publisher has made it hard to actually use the book since it is oversized (9 x 12 inches) and there is no index. You must consult the two paged table of contents to find a recipe. But then, why would a normal person want to cook from this book? It can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have all the ingredients handy. There is much text on suppliers, which is important information in these times of eating seasonally and locally. Both metric and avoirdupois measurements are listed for all ingredients; the publisher notes “for the best results, we recommend using the metric weights and measures”. Try boudin maison, foie gras hamburger or foie gras poutine (or both, together), oreilles de crises, maple pigs’ feet, cotechino, pot-au-feu. Quality/Price rating: 85. 17. CUISINE AND CULTURE; a history of food and people (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 410 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-74172-5, $39.95 US paper covers) is by Linda Civitello, M.A (History) who teaches food history. This is the second edition; the first won a 2003 Gourmand World Cookbook Award. The basic theme is how history shapes our current diet. The scope is universal, from pre-history to modern times, the grand sweep being a good overview. For the most part, each chapter is an anecdotal survey of a time period and/or region. Later, closer to our new millennium, the focus becomes Western, and then in the 20th century, it is mostly North American. This is a useful textbook for culinary arts courses, to give some sense of history to the preparation of food. Accompanying the narration are some historical drawings and reproductions. There are plenty of sidebars for historical tidbits, as well as pronunciation guides to French and Italian words. The appendix has a cookbook chronology, from Apicius (1st century AD) through La Varenne, Beeton, Escoffier, Davidson), plus notes on why these books are important. There are sample menus and historical recipes, and the writing style is lively. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography, footnotes, and index. New to this edition (50 more pages) are materials on foods and customs moving between cultures, more holiday histories, better coverage of the Byzantine-Ottoman-Austro- Hungarian empires, and greater coverage on genetic modification (GM) of food. Quality/Price rating: 90. 18. NEW GOOD FOOD; shopper’s pocket guide to organic, sustainable, and seasonal whole foods. (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 172 pages, ISBN 978-1- 58008-893-0, $10.95 CAD) is by Margaret M. Wittenberg. She had guided the quality standards of Whole Foods Market for more than 25 years. Her book was originally published in 1997; certainly, there have been tremendous changes and upheavals in the industry since that time. This is actually a manual and glossary to the whole world of whole foods, emphasizing buying, storing and preparing. There are many charts and tables that do a good job of summarizing ingredients and seasons for the purchase and prep work. Foods include grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes and beans, nuts and seeds, oils, eggs, dairy products, seafood, meats, poultry, and seasonings and sugars. “Teff” is covered, but “stevia” isn’t. Still, its comprehensiveness makes it good value for the inexpensive price. Quality/Price rating: 90. 19. HOSPITALITY LAW; managing legal issues in the hospitality industry. Third edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2009, 462 pages, ISBN 978-0-470- 08376-5 hard covers) is by Stephen Barth, a professor of hospitality law at the University of Houston. He also began hospitalitylawyer.com. New to this edition is the reorganization to provide for summaries and beginning information upfront in each chapter. There are also “International Snapshots” offering sidebars from practicing lawyers regarding the differences between US and international laws. This is also useful to us in Canada. There are more samples of contracts; there is more new technology discussed. Through this book, the reader – or student – has online access to an annual case summary of over 100 significant hospitality case decisions. The table of contents includes topics such as: business contracts, business structures, managing property, selecting employees, responsibilities of ownership, guests’ property, and service of food and drink. There is an instructor’s manual. Could be useful in Canada, but it does need “Canadianizing”. Quality/Price rating: 87. 20. EVERYDAY DRINKING; the distilled Kingsley Amis (Bloomsbury, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 302 pages, ISBN 978-1-59691-528-2, $19.99 US hard covers) is a reprint of three books by Amis, on a theme of “drinking”: “Kingsley Amis on Drink”, “Every Day Drinking”, and “How’s Your Glass?” There is a lot here on spirits, booze, hangovers, and wine, including “The Boozing Man’s Diet”, “How Not to Get Drunk”, and “What to Drink with What”. There are some very easy quizzes (with answers) suitable for anybody at a party or a game. As for the Martini, it is stirred, not shaken. Christopher Hitchens provides an introduction. This book comes with a combined index to Amis’ three shorter efforts from 1971- 1984. Quality/Price rating: 88. 21. TECHNIQUES OF HEALTHY COOKING. 3rd edition. (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 578 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-05232-7, $65 US hard covers) is from the Culinary Institute of America. It was first issued as a manual in 1990, and it has evolved somewhat into something bigger. It presents the dietary guidelines (restrictions, nutrients, labeling), with details for healthier choices on menus. The CIA discuses ingredient options and serving sizes. The book develops recipes for menus; there are 400 preps here, many showing how to cook with less of everything (less fat, salt, sugar, alcohol, and – dare I say it – less food). The 150 colour photos illustrate techniques and plated final dishes, as well as ingredients and equipment. Servings are for 10 people, and the ingredients are in both avoirdupois and metric weights and measures. The appendix covers recipe analyses. The resources guide details readings, tables and a glossary. There are two separate indexes for subject matter and for recipes. Quality/Price rating: 90. 22. ASIAN COOKING MADE EASY (Periplus Editions, 2007, 96 pages, ISBN 978-0-7946-0507-0, $11.95 US spiral bound) was previously published as “LTC Fabulous Asian Homestyle Recipes”. These are all home kitchen meals from China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, with different flavours and textures. Many preps here involve making spice pastes. All courses are covered, and weights and measures are expressed in both metric and avoirdupois. The 40 recipes are all photographed in their final plating. No index, but there is a complete listing of the recipe by course. Quality/Price rating: 88. 23. SO YOU WANT TO BE A CHEF? Your guide to culinary careers. Second edition. (John Wiley & Sons, 2009, i.e. 2008, 266 pages, ISBN 978-0- 470-08856-3, 64691-1, paper covers) is by Lisa Brefere, Karen Drummond and Brad Barnes, all US authors and teachers in the cooking arena. It was first published in 2005 in a larger form that also covered career changing. That part has become its own separate book which I reviewed last month: SO YOU ARE A CHEF; managing your culinary career (John Wiley & Sons, 2009 [sic], 149 pages with a CD-ROM, ISBN 978-0-470- 25127-0, paper covers and CD). The current book contains templates and worksheets, sample resumes and portfolios, forms and slides. Working in the hospitality area (some may say “arena”) is appealing to young people, and this book certainly shows options available for the cook. It has discussions on employment as chefs in restaurants, hotels, cruise liners, clubs, catering, and supermarkets. As well, there are chances in mass feeding (universities, schools, health centres, armed forces) plus related areas of research development, private and personal chefs, food writers, food stylists, food photographers, and public relations work. There is one paragraph on “celebrity chefs” (did you know that there actually is an employment category here?). For each type of chef or cook or employment, there are sub-sections on a day in the life, reality, pay, organizations, and job descriptions. The appendix details some culinary professional organizations; 42 are listed, described, given addresses, websites and phone numbers. Quality/Price Ratio: 90. 24. MARITIME FLAVOURS; guidebook and cookbook. 7th ed. (Formac Publishing, 2008, 176 pages, ISBN 978-0-88780-768-8, $24.95 CDN paper covers) is By two sisters who are both food writers, Elaine Elliot and Virginia Lee. The first edition was in 1993; this book comes out quite regularly every two years or so. This newest edition has new recommendations to inns and restaurants. They have left the original recipes intact, though many chefs have moved on and restaurants like Chez La Vigne have long closed. All recipes were tested for home use, of course. The profiles cover 91 inns and restaurants, such as those in Wolfville (including Tempest, my daughter’s restaurant: I have a minor conflict of interest here), with a description of the menu and accommodations. Lots of colour photos. But some of the descriptions read like advertorials. The recipes are not particularly Maritime. Do we need another eggplant parmigiana or steak tartare, especially from the Maritimes? What I do like about this book: the recipes work, the plating photos are good, and the book is updated every two years. QPR Rating: 86. 25. PACIFIC FLAVOURS; recipes from the best chefs on Canada’s west coast. 3rd ed. (Formac Publishing, 2008, 160 pages, ISBN 978-0-88780- 756-5, $24.95 CDN paper covers) is by Virginia Lee, a co-author with her sister of other books in the “Flavours” series from Formac. Recipes come from chefs working in Whistler, Vancouver, Victoria, Vancouver Island, and the Okanagan Valley. Over 40 were chosen. The recipes for all courses here are complemented by sommelier Brent Hayman’s BC wine choices. The establishments are profiled at the back, with the usual names and numbers, and some text on what to look for. This revised and updated list includes spas, wineries, and resorts. Just about all preps are local and seasonal, although “Cayman Island Chowder” is a bit of a stretch: even the chef says he substitutes local fish. So why not call it “Caribbean Chowder”? That’s what it is. Quality/Price rating: 88. ---------------------------------------------------- AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR JUNE 2008 =================================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. THE BATTLE FOR WINE AND LOVE, or how I saved the world from Parkerization (Harcourt, 2008, 271 pages, ISBN 978-0-15-101286-2, $23 US hard covers) is by wine writer and bloggist Alice Feiring. It is an exceptional book, and while I may take “exception” with some of what she says or does, it is one of the most interesting reads this year, even this decade…It is mostly a memoir, chronicling her journey through the world of wine. She begins with a 1967 Barolo that turned her around, and later in life she went to Italy to find out more about that particular bottle. She discovers that Robert Parker Junior, by becoming an icon bigger than himself, has created a lust for the jammy fruit bombs with vanilla-cream overtones – a lust shared by both producer and consumer. Just about any Australian-Chilean-Argentine-American wine can be “Parkerized” (definition: created so as to elicit 90 points or more from Robert Parker Junior). And we all know this. Where it gets sticky is when unscrupulous European producers (some large, some small, and who see their sales decline because North Americans are drinking Parkerized wines) decide to change their style and depart from terroir wines to global jammy wines. Feiring hates the style; she loves Euro wines because of their character, earthiness, edge, and their food friendly palate. She visits numerous American wine merchants, and travels to Italy, Spain, Champagne, and Burgundy, detailing all the lies and deceptions of the trade fairs. Some names are mentioned. She believes in authentic wines: sustainable viticulture, hand picking, no added yeasts or enzymes, no added flavours from oak or chemicals, and no processes that alter alcohol and aging levels. Unfortunately, as she notes, too many large (and medium) producers are jumping on the sustainable, natural, and biodynamic bandwagon. And they have NOT been certified. She certainly stomps on them. But as one winemaker in Italy says, “Here is the crime: industry pretends to be artisan and trusting people believe them. This is the crime.” Other chapters deal with UC at Davis and phone interviews with “Bob”. Audience and level of use: wine consumers and wine writers everywhere. Some interesting or unusual facts: “From about the late 1980s onward, the Parker palate has largely dictated how wine is made worldwide.” and “A business [Enologix] was actually thriving by helping wineries shape and coerce a wine into a fat, oaky, thick, dense wine that Parker would give big point to.” The downside to this book: there is no discussion on bottle sizes. Her story about Krug changing its taste profile did not consider that her “good” sample of the new formula was from a half-bottle which had aged faster because of its size. The upside to this book: hey, there is an index! And informative… Quality/Price Rating: 95 (sorry, Alice, I use Parker numbers for books). * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. THE END OF FOOD (Houghton Mifflin, 2008, 390 pages, ISBN 978-0-618- 60623-8, $26 US hard covers) is by Paul Roberts, an author who writes on resource economics and politics for magazines and newspapers. He wrote the doomsday “The End of Oil” in 2004, and now the failure of the modern food economy is his new theme. Needless to say, his book is endorsed by Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food). This is not a hard book to get in to, although it is depressing. It certainly is a timely book because of the excessive rise in food prices since January 2008. His scope is broad, ranging from making food to marketing food and to moving what we eat. Of course, it is all entwined with OIL, his previous book. So he has done his basic research. And there are extremes here: the “haves” are now obese while the “have-nots” are starving. What’s new and different over the past few years have been the incredible amount of international investments and speculative food futures markets (commodity exchanges). With the entrance of China as a global player, the whole situation has been compounded. Commodity producers have taken over: they spend money on political campaign contributions, lobbying, food security, and transportation (read: oil) costs. They believe in ethanol which is raising grain prices. They set prices yet get government subsidies. Their profit margins grow, they don’t cover deficiencies. They influence trade policies. Worst still, they have managed to convince pension funds to buy into the investments. There are long-term costs associated with commodity producers, and we need to be aware of them. Audience and level of use: foodies, consumers, concerned people everywhere. Some interesting or unusual facts: high volume production creates many food-borne illnesses and food of declining nutritional value. It costs money to fix these, so it is all counter-productive. The downside to this book: some circumstances over the past six months have both augmented and deflected the points he has made. Just another reason why the book format is outdated when it comes to topical issues. The upside to this book: there are extensive endnotes and a bibliography (strangely enough, though, he does not cite Marion Nestle’s 2006 book “What to Eat” although her two other books are there). Quality/Price Rating: 92. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. SAVORY SWEETS; from ingredients to plated desserts (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 253 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-74058-2 soft covers) is by Amy Felder, an instructor at Johnson & Wales University in North Carolina. Fusion cuisine includes savoury desserts and new blends of food emphasizing sweet with sour or bitter or salt. This book presents more opportunities for pastry chefs, as well as for the main course chef. Felder has four sections. One is about a vocabulary explanation of taste and profile principles. Another deals with the culinary skills needed for sauces, foams, and gelees, and their textures. The third covers ingredients of veggies, herbs, spices, dairy products, and the pantry of oils and vinegars. The fourth part (quite extensive) is the plated desserts area: she has a deconstruction of eight specific desserts, each with a separate flavour profile and theme. Much of this, of course, works better with the sweeter veggies such as beets, sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, winter squashes, and vidalias, and the complementary herbal sweet tones of fennel and peppers. She has good notes on what to partner with these foods. There are many sidebars, and a bibliography. Audience and level of use: culinary arts students, current chefs. Some interesting or unusual recipes: 21st century gingerbread; tomato trio; beet meets chocolate; corny ice cream sandwich. The downside to this book: The upside to this book: she has several tests for experiencing sour and bitter, sweet and sour, and sweet and bitter in desserts. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 4. 660 CURRIES (Workman, 2008; distr. T. Allen, 809 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7611-3787-0, $22.95 US soft covers) is by Raghavan Iyer, IACP Award- winning Teacher of the Year (2004). He has also written “The Turmeric Trail”, which was a Beard finalist. Strangely, he still needs endorsements from Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Madhur Jaffrey. He defines a curry as “any dish of food simmered in or covered with a liquid redolent with fresh aromatic herbs and/or spices.” This is certainly wide-ranging, and could even embrace Italian ragus. Nevertheless, he uses the definition as a building block for the unique flavours of India, following the spice blends and pastes which reflect sweet-sour- bitter-salty modes. The recipes are arranged by product and course. There are appetizer curries, poultry and egg curries, meats and seafood, paneer (cheese) curries, legume curries, “contemporary” curries, and biryani (layered) curries. Plus some preps for accompaniments (coconut-dusted noodles, lentil pancakes, breads, raitas, rice, potatoes, and even some desserts. The curries are all easy one-dish dinners. He has a bibliography (with a logroller listing eight of Jaffrey’s books), shopping lists, and metric conversion charts. As well, there is a glossary and US mail order sources to complete the package. Audience and level of use: basic levels of use, Indian food lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: cashew cheese with bell pepper sauce; raisin-stuffed lamb patties; cubed chicken with tomatoes and fresh coconut; braised lamb shanks with a fennel and cumin broth; Goan-style spicy pork sausage; mustard-smothered cod and mushrooms. The downside to this book: this is very fat book, with a signature of coloured pix at the front. This section began to fall out as I used the book. The upside to this book: very comprehensive treatment. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 5. LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM A CHEF; finding time to be great (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 176 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-12530-4 paper covers) is by Charles M. Carroll, an executive chef with (in sequence) three country clubs. He has won awards for the US Regional Culinary Olympic Team. This is a motivational book, with detailed attention being given for efficiency and esprit de corps. Then right attitude will get you through the horrors of the pressure chamber called a “kitchen” – or so this book says. He gives an anecdotal tour through the kitchen, sidebars, and forms and templates for quality control and sanitation checklists. His own motivational management theory is SEF: scheduling, empowering, and follow-up. Thus, you’ll need to analyze your attitude, your mission, getting people to work with you and for you, and apply discipline and listening skills. Other sections cover hiring programs and what to look for in people. There is a glossary, inspirational quotes, and aphorisms from Chef Carroll, Audience and level of use: chefs and managers everywhere. Some interesting or unusual facts: Motivation is very difficult in a situation with a low paying job and many different languages being spoken. The downside to this book: more emphasis should have been given to the languages being spoken in the kitchen. The upside to this book: index is extremely useful. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 6. FROZEN DRINKS; an A to Z companion to all your frozen favorites (Adams Media, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 250 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869- 758-2, $12.95 US spiral bound) is by Cheryl Charming, who has authored many bar books over the years. This one is out just in time for summer…The drinks can be made with or without a blender, although using a blender will make the whole process easier (or, you can use lots of shaved ice, an ice cream maker, a frozen drink machine, or simple fridge freezing). Just remember to add alcohol last. Here are 800 preps, with alcohols indicated, mixers, and garnishes. This book goes beyond the usual frozen margaritas and frozen daiquiris. But the dictionary arrangement does have its problems. You’ll need to know what the author thinks is the first letter. For example, she has Three Senoritas and Three Wise Men under “T”, but “3 Musketeers” is at the head of “A” at the very beginning. The index is by ingredient, so this becomes a first place to look. Audience and level of use: for those who live year round in very warm climates. Some interesting or unusual facts: With frozen drinks, you can use fresh ingredients, not store bought. Just puree and freeze seasonally when they become available (or are surplus), and then you can use their coldness to help in the frozen drink part. The downside to this book: there is no separate section or index to non-alcoholic smoothies. The upside to this book: very useful spiral binding. Quality/Price Rating: 7. CATERING; a guide to managing a successful business operation (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 358 pages, ISBN 978-0-7645-5798-9, $45 US, hard covers) is by Bruce Mattel from the Culinary Institute of America. This is yet another successful CIA entry, with detailed advice on every element of the business: how to launch, develop plans, get licenses, establish prices, event planning, staffing and training, develop menus, manage a dining room, marketing, food prep, beverage management, and unruly drinkers/eaters. He covers both on-site and off-site catering (examples of on-site include restaurants, hotels, cruises, clubs, banquet halls – where life is a bit easier since most of these have their own equipment and staff). Mattel has sample menus, resumes, and contracts, along with templates and forms for setting up events. He also gives us some sample recipes for 80 – 100 people. Illustrative matter includes pictures of equipment and sample layouts for the kitchens. This book also has an instructor’s manual for the class teacher. Audience and level of use: culinary arts students, existing caterers. Some interesting or unusual facts: “Catering is a popular but competitive field” You’ll need to develop an identity or a signature style. “Caterers should never run out of ice during an event”. The downside to this book: there is no bibliography or listing of web resources for additional data. The upside to this book: nice leading and type size. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 8. THE PROFESSIONAL PERSONAL CHEF; the business of doing business as a personal chef (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 210 pages, ISBN 978-0-471- 75219-6 hard covers) is by Candy Wallace, founder and Executive Director of the American Personal and Private Chef Association and Institute. Co-author Greg Forte is the Director of the Utah Culinary Institute. “Personal chef” is one of the fastest growing careers in food service. Why? It all hangs with Entitlement and “I gotta be me”, as a rebellion against the close strictures of the kitchen. Those are my thoughts, not the author. PPC is simply self-employment, a free lance cook, and nothing more. Thus, employment opportunities exist like supply teachers and supply waiters. You fill in at dinner clubs, catering firms, dinner parties, teaching culinary arts, working for the rich, and home meal replacement. I could compare this book to any number of other freelance books, especially in journalism, and they would all say the same thing: you’ll need an entrepreneurial business sense in order to succeed. Wallace gives a guide to starting and developing a PPC business by covering the skills and competencies required for certification by the American Culinary Federation’s Personal Certified Chef papers. Her topics embrace: the career paths expected, business ownership, business plan writing and vision statements, managing finances, identifying target markets and revenues, developing sales pitches, and concluding with a “day in the life” of a typical PPC. She presents sample business plans, recipes for menus, forms (client assessment forms, allergy forms, and others). This is a textbook, so it has definitions, summaries, and review questions. The illustrative examples of work are all US. There is an instructor package available at www.wiley.com. Audience and level of use: culinary arts students, those interested in food free-lancing. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 9. 500 HOT & SPICY RECIPES (Lorenz Books, 2007; distr. National Book Network, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-7548-1762-8, $29.99 US hard covers) has the subtitle “Bring the pungent tastes and aromas of spices into your kitchen with heart-warming, piquant recipes from the spice-loving cuisines of the world, shown in more than 500 mouthwatering photographs”. The photos aren’t the only things that will make your mouth water – so will the heat from many of these dishes! This book is one of a series from the publisher, “500 [something] recipes”. It has been compiled by Beverley Jollands, a cookbook author. The book is 9.5 by 12 inches, and is quite heavy (over 3.5 pounds). The range is from appetizers to desserts, and is arranged by course. Most of the dishes appear to come from Asia. In India, the cooking is the most complicated. Up to 15 or so spices can be blended to flavour one dish, and the way they are toasted, ground, and added at different stages contributes to the complexity. Thai foods are similar, but with more heat. There are two recipes per page, and they have both metric and avoirdupois measurements for their ingredients. Audience and level of use: overall, there is a wide range of styles, cuisines, and spicing level. Techniques and ease of use will also vary. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: shish kebabs with sumac; tagine of beef with roast saffron; fish curry with coconut milk; southern Thai curried vegetables; cardamom-spiced pear tarte tatin; sweet couscous with fruit compote. The downside to this book: large and awkward in the kitchen. It is best to photocopy the recipes that you will be using. The upside to this book: each dish gets a photo of the finished product. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 10. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (John Wiley & Sons, 2009, 490 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-08480-9 hard covers) is by David Hayes, managing owner of the Clarion Hotel in Lansing, Michigan, and Jack Ninemeier, professor at Michigan State University. This is a basic text on human resource management, skewed to the hospitality industry. What makes it work are the relevant examples that pertain to the industry, both anecdotal and legal. The legislation and regulations used are, of course, all American, as are the case studies. But there are some international complexities here, discussed in a section on national differences. This embraces operating in a foreign country (abide by their laws) and servicing foreign guests (whose social mores must be attended to). Covered are the basics of employment law and HR policies, recruitment, training programs, compensation, performance appraisals, environmental and safety issues, and ethics. Mentioned are unions, mainly in the context that this is traditionally a low paying industry. The industry also has a lot of part-timers, and there is continual downsizing and outsourcing if the economy slackens (and the unions get involved). Each chapter has summaries, glossary of terms, case studies, Internet activities, and review questions for discussion. There are endnotes, and the book comes with both a student study guide and an instructor’s manual (purchased separately). Audience and level of use: hospitality students. Some interesting or unusual facts: “Managers and supervisors with human resources responsibilities will be challenged to manage according to the labor agreement while addressing the needs of the guests being served.” The downside to this book: it is US driven, but the principles have some application to Canada. Also, the index has too small a font size. The upside to this book: lots of forms, tables and sidebars. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 11. 500 SOUP RECIPES (Lorenz Books, 2007; distr. National Book Network, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-7548-1771-0, $29.99 US hard covers) has the subtitle “An unbeatable collection including chunky winter warmers, oriental broths, spicy fish chowders, and hundreds of classic, chilled, clear, creamy, meat, bean and vegetable soups.” This book is one of a series from the publisher, “500 [something] recipes”. It has been compiled by Bridget Jones, a cookbook author. The book is 9.5 by 12 inches, and is quite heavy at more than 3.5 pounds. The arrangement is by type, including separate sections on noodle soups, rice soups and vegetarian soups. There is a brief beginning section on soup-making strategies: making stock, whisking soup, sieving, pureeing, thickening, and flavouring. Throughout there are a variety of spicing levels, varying ingredients, and textures. There are fruit soups too. There are two recipes per page, and they have both metric and avoirdupois measurements for their ingredients. Audience and level of use: intermediate. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chilled almond soup; mushroom, leek and shallot soup; summer herb soup with radicchio; mixed vegetables in coconut broth; beef noodles in oxtail broth; hot and spicy chicken soup with charmoula butter. The downside to this book: large and awkward in the kitchen. It is best to photocopy the recipes that you will be using. The upside to this book: each dish gets a photo of the finished product. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 12.MASTERING KNIFE SKILLS; the essential guide to the most important tools in your kitchen (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 224 pages plus DVD, ISBN 978-1-58479-667-1 $35 US hard covers plus DVD) is by Norman Weinstein, a chef at the Institute of Culinary Education (NYC). He’s spent a few decades teaching everyone in the business, from beginner to seniors, how to use knives properly. There’s a competitor, which I reviewed last month (IN THE HANDS OF A CHEF; the professional chef’s guide to essential kitchen tools (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 170 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-08026-9, $24.95 US soft covers, from the Culinary Institute of America). Both books give basic knife skills for cutting, slicing, and chopping: to julienne, to chiffonade, to baton, and to quarter. Basic background material covers a guide to knives, how to assemble a knife kit, how to sharpen, how to build your knife skills, and how to use other related implements such as specialty knives for cheese, offset knives, and Japanese knives. These all come with instructional colour photos (the Wiley book only has black and white). Here there is plenty of data on how to slice and dice onions, butterfly a roast, peel and core, and make wings and wedges. Weinstein throws in a bibliography and a listing of websites and US sources of supply. Audience and level of use: beginners, chef students. Some interesting or unusual facts: the author comments on cutting boards and their maintenance. The upside to this book: I had commented on the Wiley book “it would still be nice to actually see knife work in action, perhaps by DVD.” And my request was granted, but by Stewart, Tabori & Chang: a 30 minute DVD of techniques is included! Quality/Price Rating: given the colour, the DVD, and the hardback publication, I’d have to give this one 1 91. 13. SO YOU ARE A CHEF; managing your culinary career (John Wiley & Sons, 2009 [sic], 149 pages with a CD-ROM, ISBN 978-0-470-25127-0, paper covers and CD) is by Lisa M. Brefere, Karen Eich Drummond, and Brad Barnes, all culinary educators, consultants and authors of books for student and professional chefs. Despite the 2009 copyright notice, this book was just published in May of 2008. It was originally a large section in their earlier book “So You Want to Be a Chef?” It was thought that the job search business meant that you were ALREADY a chef, so that material was hived off into this follow-up book. So this current title is a basic career guide, meant for both graduating students and for chefs wishing to change jobs. It tries to answer meaningful questions such as: where to look, how to target a search, how best to present your resume, and the like. The CD-ROM contains documents, templates, forms and worksheets to help organize your thoughts. It has checklists and material for cover letters and thank- you letters. Each of the five major chapters covers a theme, such as resume, job search portfolio, contacting, interviewing, and career advancement. All sections have exercises to work through. There is an appendix of some 41 culinary professional organizations, detailing what each one does, addresses and phone numbers, and websites. Audience and level of use: culinary students, chefs changing positions. Some interesting or unusual facts: there is also an instructor’s manual available. The downside to this book: more detail could have been presented in the section on career advancement. The upside to this book: the index is important, for you can look up “cover letter” and get a list to some 12 references. Quality/Price Rating: 89. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESTAURANT/CELEBRITY COOKBOOKS... ...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks. Actually, they’ve been around for many years, but never in such proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be flogged at the restaurant or TV show and since the chef ends up being a celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I’ll try to point this out. The usual schtick is “favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks”. There is also PR copy on “demystifying ethnic ingredients”. PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase “mouth-watering recipes” as if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don’t seem to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some companies, though, will ship around the world, so don’t ignore them altogether. Here’s a rundown on the latest crop of such books – 14. FURTHER ADVENTURES IN SEARCH OF PERFECTION; reinventing kitchen classics (Bloomsbury, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 319 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7475-9405-5, $45 Canadian hard covers) is by Heston Blumental, chef- owner of the Fat Duck in the UK, getting three Michelin stars in 2004. It was voted best restaurant in the world in 2005. The following year he was awarded an OBE; his motto is “Perfection Takes Time”. This book is based on the BBC cooking series of the same name. His search for the perfect versions of (among others) roast chicken and pizza are complemented in this sequel by a search for the most perfect versions of hamburger, risotto, Peking duck, chili con carne, trifle, baked Alaska. Eight in all. He goes to India for chicken tikka masala and to Italy for risotto. This is the quest for the best, as he says, and is quite engaging in style. He has lots of photos and descriptive pix. Everything, of course, is complicated, but then the end products are superb. The Peking duck goes on and on for three courses. There’s a supply list that is all country-of-origin (e.g., the risotto stuff is sourced in Italy, the Peking duck is sourced from Beijing) and a bibliography for background reading. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 15. BBQ JOINT; stories and secret recipes from the barbecue belt (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 168 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0218-7, $15.95US paper covers) is by David Gelin. He has been endorsed by BBQ and folklore specialists. These are stories from the proverbial “hole- in-the-wall” restaurants that are off the beaten track and serve locals only. These are the places to find great barbecues. He also has anecdotes and histories of the joints covered – and, of course, recipes. States covered include from Alabama to Texas, all of the South. Sixty establishments are noted, such as five in Tennessee (Hog Heaven, Sportsman’s BBQ, Scotts BBQ, Payne’s BBQ, and Three Little Pigs BBQ). Not every place has a recipe listed. Try a North Alabama White Sauce (mostly for chicken), Arkansas BBQ rice, a Florida cassava with garlic sauce, or a South Carolina hash. There’s a chapter on building your own BBQ pit, and a location map for travelers. Quality/Price rating: 85. 16. CAPE BRETON TASTES; recipes from Cape Breton’s best restaurants (Nimbus Publishing, 2008, 80 pages, ISBN 978-1-55109-657-5, $22.95 paper covers) has been assembled by Gary Walsh. He has 28 recipes from 28 restaurants on Cape Breton. There are also plenty of photos of scenery and plated dishes. The preps cover all courses, from starters to desserts, and especially with seafood. While there is a listing of all the restos at the end of the book, there are no street addresses, phone numbers or web sites. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used, but there is no table of metric conversions. And no index to the recipes…Arichat on Cape Breton has L’Auberge Acadienne with its chicken fricot with bannock; Cheticamp’s Restaurant Acadien has pate a la viande (meat pie); Louisbourg’s Cranberry Cove Inn has seafood chowder; and Malagawatch’s Cape Breton Smokehouse has a smoked salmon quiche. A nice production despite my caveats. Quality/Price rating: 86. 17. COOKING WITH JOHNNY VEE; international cuisine with a modern flair (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 216 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0155-5, $24.95 US paper covers) is by Vee, who has cooked all over, finally settling in as a food writer and cooking school owner in Santa Fe, New Mexico (www.lascosascooking.com). Vee is Chef John Vollertsen who was once a sous at the Coyote Café. This is a book for entertaining, with material drawn from his classes. The cuisine is mainly global fusion (Moroccan, Thai, Australian), but it also draws quite heavily on local New Mexican chili lore and recipes. There are sidebars on tips and techniques. You’ll also need a pantry (fully described here) with spices, oils, vinegars, rices, flours, and sauces. The book has been arranged by class topic: green chile festival, red chile festival, New Year brunch, and others. The publisher has added metric conversion charts. But there are too many. Try any of: chocolate pine nut tacos, red chile pork tamale, beer battered artichoke fritters, Indonesian chicken laksa, or pecan- and herb-crusted salmon. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 18. CAKE LOVE; how to bake cakes from scratch (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-662-6, $27.50US hard covers) is by Warren Brown, who opened his CakeLove bakery in 2002 (a year later he opened LoveCafe). He has hosted the Food Network’s US show “Sugar Rush”. The more than 75 recipes concentrate on cakes, and there are about 150 colour photos, many detailing step-by-step approaches. Chapter headings include pound cakes, butter cakes, and foam cakes. Other sections deal with frostings and glazes, fillings, meringues, and “assembly”. The book has conversion charts, but these are all avoirdupois with the conversion being from weight to volume or vice versa, and not metric. About fifty cakes are covered, such as chocolate pound cake, citron bundt, yellow butter cake, and Mr. Banana legs. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 19. ITALY, THE ROMAGNOLI WAY; a culinary journey (Lyons Press, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 352 pages, ISBN 978-1-59921-244-9, $24.95US hard covers) is by Franco and Gwen Romagnoli. Franco, with his first wife, created the PBS TV cooking series in the 1960s: “The Romagnolis’ Table”. It was the first Italian cooking show, and they wrote nine cookbooks and opened many restaurants in the Boston area. With his second wife (a food and travel writer), he here explores the little known places of Italy, complete with carefully chosen recipes. They visit 18 regions, from North to South. They talk to local farmers and producers. From Lago d’Orta comes trota affogata (trout), from Trentino-Alto Adige comes canederli in brodo (pasta soup), from Emilia- Romagna there is a timballo, Tuscany contributes a coniglio in salmi, and Sicilia has cucusu co’ a ghiotta ‘e pisci. No general index, but there are two indexes for the 40 recipes, by region and by course. Preps use avoirdupois weights and measures, but there are no metric tables of equivalents. Overall, a nifty travel book (with colour photos) but there is hardly anything on wines and cheeses. Quality/Price rating: 87. AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR MAY 2008 ========================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. FOOD AND WINE PAIRING; a sensory experience (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 322 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-79407-3 soft covers) is by Robert Harrington, now teaching at the University of Guelph. It claims to be “the only book that presents food and wine pairing from a culinary and sensory perspective”. By that, I guess the author means that FOOD is the first consideration, and wine accompanies food’s tastes – which is as it should be. Other such books emphasize the wine first, and go into long detail about how you don’t want food to overpower the wine. Here, Harrington concentrates on terminology and methodology of sensory analysis, along with the relationship and reactions between food and wine components, flavours and textures. He maps the palate with the taste components of sweet, sour, salt, and bitter in food, plus fats and proteins. Those comparable sensations in wine follow the terms of body, acidity, effervescence, tannins and oak. The culinary perspectives are topmost here: you have the food, now find the wine. He covers flavour variations in spicing levels, intensity and persistence. Consideration is also paid to regional wines and regional foods, and to how and why they pair so well together. Attention is also paid to tackling cheese textures and desserts, both very important when assessing wine pairings. For desserts, he has a large section on Ontario VQA dessert wines. This leads to menu planning decisions. Extra material here concerns service training for staff and wine list development. There are samples of real wine lists and tasting notes. For students, there are exercises, outlines, and a description of key terms, as well as anecdotal sidebars and forms. An instructor’s manual and companion website complete the set. Audience and level of use: students, interested consumers. Some interesting or unusual facts: Harrington has considerable mention of VQA wineries and restaurants such as Toronto’s Canoe. The downside to this book: a bit too technical in place, but this is great for showing off by sommeliers. The upside to this book: there are lots of forms for photocopying. These exercises are useful for consumer groups too. Quality/Price Rating: 90. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. MAYAN CUISINE; recipes from the Yucatan region (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0131-9, $34.95 US hard covers) is by Daniel Hoyer, author of other Mexican cookbooks, and former sous-chef at Coyote Café. He also leads culinary tours into Mexico. Mayan food means primarily chocolate, tropical fruits, and seafood. Hoyer places it all into a cultural and historical context, saying that the most popular “tourist” places to get this food is in Yucatan, Belize, Cancun, and Playa del Carmen. His scope includes fresh salsas, soups, BBQ, salads and sides, as well as desserts and beverages. You’ll need a pantry, sort of like a Mexican pantry. The distinctive flavours come from Mayan “recados” (or, recaudos) which here means seasoning pastes. There are about 125 recipes and variations. The ingredients and sources list are all US, but there is a metric conversion chart for the avoirdupois weights and measures used in listing the ingredients. Check his website for more www.welleatenpath.com. Audience and level of use: tourists, Mexican and Caribbean food lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: avocado soup, Maya chocolate drink (chorreado), papaya marmalade, Mayan-style grilled fish, Caribbean coconut fish soup, turkey in black sauce with stuffed pork roll, pit-roasted chicken, smoked pork stew. The downside to this book: menus might have been useful, to show how dishes go together. Wine notes could also have been appreciated. The upside to this book: good photography and a good size for the typeface. Quality/Price Rating: 89. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. THE GEOGRAPHY OF WINE; how landscapes, cultures, terroir, and the weather make a good drop (Plume, 2008, 289 pages, ISBN 978-0-452-28890- 4, $16US paper covers) is by Brian Sommers, a geography professor at Central Connecticut University. He teaches a course entitled the geography of wine. He does a good job in exploring terroir through wine regions, in order to explain wine character. Just some of the places include St. Emilion, the Rhine, Bordeaux, Loire, California, Oporto, South Africa, Burgundy and Champagne. He tries to answer three pressing questions every winery is dying to find out: where should we develop new vineyards? what grapes are best and suited for a given location? where should we market our wine? Best examples of terroir and choice of grapes can be found in Bordeaux and in a comparison of riesling and chardonnay regions. He discusses climate, microclimates, grape varieties, soils, natural hazards, winemaking styles, politics, urbanization, marketing, and wine tourism. There is a bibliography for further reading. Audience and level of use: wine buffs, sommeliers. Some interesting or unusual facts: he has separate chapters on beers and spirits and ciders, and their place in history and their regions. This would include Scottish malts and local peats and waters, and local varieties of cider apples. The downside to this book: he uses the term “iced wines”, not “ice wine” – why? He only has one paragraph for terroir, with no mention of Canada or Germany. He has more detail about botrytis and Sauterne. The upside to this book: good material on GPS and GIS and computer cartography. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 4. CHEFMD’S BIG BOOK OF CULINARY MEDICINE; a food lover’s road map to losing weight, preventing disease, and getting really healthy (Crown Publishers, 2008, 300 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-39462-0, $24.95 US hard covers) is by John La Puma, an MD with chef’s papers from Chicago’s Cooking and Hospitality Institute. It comes heavily endorsed by eight people: doctors, CEOs, authors, and TV producers. The original subtitle, according to the publicity catalogue, was “deliciously heal anything that ails you”. I think they thought the better of it. La Puma’s goal of culinary medicine is to create recipes and to use foods in meals that prevent or control common health conditions without sacrificing restaurant-quality taste. This is something that we should all shoot for. He promotes an Eight Week Plan, with recipes and menus based on three principles: eat food with good bio-availability (the conditions for absorbing relevant oils and vitamins), avoid anti- nutrient food, and eat to feel full faster. The basics of nutrition are presented, as well as possible food combinations and the glycemic index. He has lots of sidebars, menus and recipes. You can get more details at www.chefmd.com Audience and level of use: dieters. Some interesting or unusual facts: apparently, they don’t teach nutrition courses at medical school. Of 116 in the USA, 68 have no requirement for graduation. The other 48 have an average of two credits (less than a course). The downside to this book: a bit preachy, but this can be useful. The upside to this book: topical bibliography. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 5. MERMAID COOKBOOK (Gibbs Smith, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 64 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0417-4, $14.95 US spiral bound) is by Barbara Beery, who founded Batter Up Kids in 1991 to offer interactive cooking classes for kids. AND 6. THE GOOD FOOD BOOK FOR FAMILIES (Random House Canada, 2008, 306 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-35670-3, $25 Canadian soft covers) is by Brenda Bradshaw, a Vancouver elementary school teacher who had previously co- authored “The Baby’s Table” and Dr. Cheryl Mutch, a consultant pediatrician. AND 7. BETTY’S BEST; simple comfort food from grandma’s kitchen (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 135 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0244-6, $9.95 US spiral bound) is by Betty Rohde, who has written many low-fat cookbooks. Each book has its merits, and they are grouped here because kids are involved. “Mermaid” has only 30 recipes, being themed for the seaside with items relating to pirates, treasure island, and mermaids. It’s useful for sleepovers, birthday parties, and playtime. The book is meant for kids to help out – it’s listed as “for ages 6 and up”. “Good Food Book” has 150 recipes of healthy eating for the whole family to eat together. Even prepare together, as these are kid friendly preps. It’s arranged by course (breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner). Many recipes can be prepared in bulk ahead of time and frozen for future togetherness at the table. This is a great idea that needs to be re-emphasized, especially with the kids helping out for the future meal. There are sidebars that address finicky eaters of all ages. The bibliography and notes are mainly off the web, but they might have disappeared since printing. Canada’s Food Guide 2007 is extensively used as the basis for selecting foods. The authors have some good notes on how to raise a healthy eater. Sample menus conclude the book. “Betty” has quick and easy preps, such as “sausage balls” made with Bisquick, purchased sausage meat, and cheddar cheese. Other convenience foods are also used, such as canned soups. She tries to recreate the childhood dinners of carrot cake, apple pie, date bars, macaroni salads, French toast, chicken and dumplings, diverse salads and soups. This is the bake, fry and roast of Middle America. Kids can help here in these recipes. Audience and level of use: families Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: from “Mermaid”, there are sea foam floats, treasure island trail mix, sea turtle cookies, and rainbow fish fudge. From “Betty”, there are standard iconic preps such as banana nut bread, brownies, Johnny cake, mud cake, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, oatmeal cookies. From “Good Food” come banana nutmeg porridge, raspberry banana smoothie, meatball sandwich, BBQ flank steak, basil pesto, and autumn roasted tomato soup. The downside to this book: “Mermaid” does not have an index, but then it only has 30 recipes. “Good Food Book” has sickly green as its second colour: a very pale choice when it is used for listing the ingredients. The upside to this book: both US books have metric conversion charts, but unfortunately it is regrettable that the Canadian book does not. This should not have happened. Quality/Price Rating: “Mermaid” gets 82, as does “Betty”. “Good Food Book”, with its non-metric character and poor colour choice, gets 85. 8. ANYTHING BUT CHARDONNAY; a guide to the other grapes (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1- 58479-661-9, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Laura Holmes Haddad. The title is a misnomer, since chardonnay IS indeed covered in the book (p.16-17) and is given more space than many other grapes – most just get a page. Having said that, I think the idea was a good one: a guide to the other, mostly minor grapes. But too, red wines are also included, so it is not just a guide to white wines. What are we to think of pinotage? I don’t know a single white wine drinker that would even consider pinotage with its dark, dense, smokey, tannic and bitter flavours. So while this is a wine book for beginners, I really was expecting only WHITE wine coverage. The title should have been: “ABC – anything but chardonnay and cabernet”… She’s pretty good on basic exploration of “albarino” and “viognier”, plus many ubiquitous off-dry U.S. white blends such as Conundrum, Sokel Blosser Evolution, Bonny Doon Big House White, and Ménage a Trois White. This is the hottest wine trend today. For each white and red varietal, she describes where it is from, what it tastes like, producers to look for, and what you will pay in the US. She includes price ranges, food pairing, recipes and wine trivia. Audience and level of use: unsure beginners who want to explore. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: lemon asparagus fettuccine; sesame crusted salmon; fig and gorgonzola crostini; Moroccan lamb tagine. The downside to this book: needs more dedicated space for blends. The upside to this book: good idea. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 9. THE PASTRY CHEF’S COMPANION, a comprehensive resource guide for the baking and pastry professional (John Wiley & Sons, 2009, 375 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-00955-0, $19.95 US soft covers) is by Glenn Rinsky, chef-instructor at Jefferson State Community College and Laura Rinsky, hospitality course designer at Hewitt-Trussville High School – both in Alabama. This is an interesting hybrid reference book, being pitched to culinary students, professionals, and pastry/baking enthusiasts. Certainly, it is available at a bargain price. There are definitions, pronunciations, information, and resources. About 4800 terms are defined with word origins and historical background (but not always), and there are 10 appendices of charts and lists. These listings include specialty vendors, professional organizations, and websites. Through this book, the reader can glean some fads and trends. The authors have black and white drawn illustrations of unique pastry products and equipment. Audience and level of use: chefs, culinary hospitality schools, interested readers of food books. Some interesting or unusual facts: there is a troubleshooting guide to fixing common baking and pastry problems. The downside to this book: some inattention to details intrudes, such as (under “crumpet ring”) their statement that crumpets are flipped. The book is not always in historical context as promised – there is no derivation for “chess pie” (how did it get that name?). And some typos such as “kahula” for kahlua. The upside to this book: confectionary arts are also covered. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 10. IN THE HANDS OF A CHEF; the professional chef’s guide to essential kitchen tools (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 170 pages, ISBN 978-0-470- 08026-9, $24.95 US soft covers) is from the Culinary Institute of America. Here are basic knife skills: to julienne, to chiffonade, to baton, and to quarter. Basic background material covers a guide to knives, how to assemble a knife kit, how to sharpen, how to build your knife skills, and how to use other related implements (peelers, pitters, scoops – even pastry bags). These all come with instructional black and white photos. Chapters are arranged by food types: veggies and fruit, meat and poultry, and fish. The CIA includes chapters on specialty knives such as ice carving tools and a whole slew of Japanese knives. Audience and level of use: beginners, chef students. The downside to this book: if would still be nice to actually see knife work in action, perhaps by DVD. The upside to this book: there is a nice table of weights and measures, and a useful index. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 11. CHOCOLATES & CONFECTIONS: formula, theory, and technique for the artisan confectioner (John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 388 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7645-8844-0, $65 US hard covers) is by Peter Greweling of the Culinary Institute of America. He concentrates on artisanal confectionary production techniques, such as tempering chocolate and candying fruit. Behind it all is the theory and science of candy and chocolate processing. Styles are covered as well. 140 formulas and variations are presented, including dairy based centers of butter and cream ganache. Crystalline and non-crystalline structures are covered, as well as jellies, nut centers, and aerated confections. All of these include marzipan, nougat, truffles, fondants, fudges, brittles, toffee, and taffy. There are 162 photos and line drawings of processes and finished products. The book is loaded with charts and there are lots of standard recipes. Audience and level of use: hospitality schools Some interesting or unusual facts: there is a glossary, a bibliography, and a listing of websites. Quality/Price Rating: 87. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS... ...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent “re-editions”... 12. GORDON RAMSAY’S SUNDAY LUNCH; and other recipes from the f word (Quadrille Publishing, 2006, 256 pages, DVD, ISBN 978-1-84400-280-1, $39.95US hard covers) is by the eponymous restaurant owner-chef and TV personality. It comes with a 30 minute DVD with footage (digitage?) of Ramsay cooking a Sunday lunch menu. The spirit of this book, now being released in North America, is to get families and friends eating together. Obviously, Ramsay does not know that most major fights amongst family members come from such occasions (think birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the like). Nevertheless, here are 25 menus for quick entertaining. It is all based on a TV series he did. Ramsay has sold almost a million books over the course of his writing career. One emphasis here is on ethnic cuisine: Italian, Indian, Moroccan and Malaysian. There are special menus for summer cooking and Christmas dinner, and other times when you need a pig roast or paella for a crowd. Ramsay leaps in at the shopping stage, and tries to help us co- ordinate everything through to the desserts. One problem he tackles is how to get several dishes to arrive on the table simultaneously. Bold print is used for the ingredients, which are listed in either avoirdupois for volume or metric for weights. Try ginger and port marinated lamb skewers, honey mustard pork chops, fig and frangipane tart, or cardamom and rosewater fragrant rice. Quality/Price rating: 88. 13. GARDE MANGER; the art and craft of the cold kitchen, third edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 666 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-05590-8, $70US hard covers) is by the Culinary Institute of America. Garde Manger is the art and technique of preparing a full range of cold dishes for buffet, banquet, and catering events. This includes hors d’oeuvre, appetizers, terrines and pates, and charcuterie. The 540 recipes included in this book are revisions and updating, which take into account the global cuisine of today. There are 40 more preps than in the second edition. New to this edition is material on microgreens, international sandwiches, bringing ratios, fermented sausages, artisanal US cheeses, tapas tasting menus, savoury sorbets, and the raw bar. The book is meant for both students and practitioners. The opening sections deal with history of banquets, the needed skills, safe food handling techniques, the flavours, colours and textures of food for the table. Cost controls and price establishment are also important here. Recipe sections include cold sauces, soups, salads (flavour balances), sandwiches, curing and preserving meats and fish, cheeses (including presentations). There are also chapters with chaud-froid, aspics, gelees, marinades, condiments, and garnishes. Decorating and plating are also included, especially platter layouts and design. The book is well-stitched, so it will put up with much wear and tear. Quality/Price rating: 88. 14. BARTENDER’S GUIDE; a A to Z companion to all your favorite drinks (Adams Media, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 528 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869- 764-3, $14.95 US spiral bound) is by John K. Waters. It was originally published in 2006 by F + W; this is a new paper edition without changes. Waters is a journalist who once worked the bar for more than a decade. He has 2,000 drinks here, with step-by-step mixing directions, proper glassware and garnishes, how to stock a home bar, and product and drink index. Good typeface, elegant layout, and simple to use. Quality/Price rating: 90. 15. DESIGN AND LAYOUT OF FOOD SERVICE FACILTIIES. Third edition. (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 343 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-69963-7 hard covers) is by John C. Birchfield, a foodservice consultant and designer. This well-known book gets a makeover which includes an expanded focus on the front of house and dining room areas, new equipment with new photos, new blueprints highlighting design trends, and new review questions for students. The long appendices feature lists of associations with industry web links, typical facility designs, sample documents and forms, a glossary (“boil-in bag” is here, but not “sous vide”), and an updated bibliography. There is also an instructor’s manual. Quality/Price rating: 87. 16. THE ART OF MEXICAN COOKING; traditional Mexican cooking for aficionados (Clarkson Potter, 1989, 2008, 496 pages, ISBN 978-0-307- 38325-9, $30US hard covers) has now returned to print. It was the first real Mexican cookbook in the US; Diana Kennedy shares her 200 recipes here in this classic reissue. The major staples are covered (tortillas, tamales, masa, pork, beef, seafood, sauces, chiles, desserts). Kennedy has also written four or more other Mexican cookbooks with little duplication – just the basics are repeated. Some corrections, clarifications, and metrification have been made (but there are still no tables of equivalencies). Some of the back material and colour illustrations are gone. Her “Preface” is a gem: she laments the decline of Mexican food due to commercialization, and encourages slow food principles. Her bibliography has not been updated except to note that one book had been revised in 1998 – and what is Paula Wolfert’s southwest France book doing there? Quality/Price rating: 92. 17. THE RESTAURANT; from concept to operation. Fifth edition.(John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 493 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-74057-5 hard covers) is by John R. Walker, a hospitality professor at the University of South Florida. This book has always been a one-stop guide to the resto biz, and is well-read in hospitality schools. It comes with an instructor’s manual and a study guide. New to this edition is greater emphasis on business plans and the independent operator, a new chapter on food production and sanitation, new profiles on recently opened restaurants, newer material on use of technology in restaurants, and expanded sections on back of house and controls. Although heavily pitched to the US scene, there is enough of value here to us in Canada. Quality/price rating: 89. 18. GRAND LIVRE DE CUISINE; Alain Ducasse’s Culinary Encyclopedia (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2004, 2008; distr. Canada Manda Group, 1080 pages, ISBN 978-2-84844-038-5, $80US) was originally published in French by Les editions Culinaires. De Gustibus collaborated to produce a 2004 edition for the US, with the English translation. All metric measurements were put in parentheses, and avoirdupois was stressed for each ingredient; there is also a page for weights and measure conversions. It was all compiled by Jean-Francois Piege, with Didier Elena, Franck Cerutti, Patrick Ogheard, and Benoit Witz, all chefs who worked with Ducasse. Chloe Chauveau and Isabelle Cappelli did the re- write of the original version. The book summarizes Ducasse’s quarter century leadership in French cuisine. There are more than 700 recipes here, using about 100 basic ingredients (not all at once, of course) spread around 10 main cooking styles. There are about two pages for all of the major recipes, with the ingredients, techniques, instructions, photo of the finished plate, and suggested tips and advice for processing and/or finishing the dish. Basic recipes include making stocks and sauces and soups. Typical classic dishes (listed and titled in both English and French) include kid goat and sorrel ragout, porchetta, country garlic croquettes, frog leg vol au vents, spiced semi-wild duckling, slow-cooked young Bresse hen (as if we can get that here in North America)...Still, 5.5 pounds of book makes it awkward to use in the kitchen, and there are some typos (such as “arctic char”). Try also the website www.alain-ducasse.com. Quality/Price rating: 85 (higher if it didn’t cost so much). 19. GELATO! Italian ice creams, sorbetti & granite (Ten Speed Press, 2000, 2008, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-923-4, $14.95US paper covers) is by Pamela Sheldon Johns. It was originally published in 2000; this is the paperback release. The publisher claims 30,000 hard copies were sold. Johns gives a fairly interesting history of ices in Italy, noting that Sicily grows 90 percent of the citrus for the Italian market. There are 50 recipes for gelato and dishes which use ices. Accompanying biscuits, wafers, and sauces are also included. Try orange sorbetto, chocolate soufflé semifreddo, peach gelato, mascarpone gelato, sorbetto bellini, and duomo (dome). A nifty affordable book. Quality/Price rating: 88. 20. MANAGEMENT BY MENU. Fourth edition. (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 411 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-47577-4 soft covers) is by Lendal H. Kotschevar, who was professor emeritus at Florida International University until his death in 2007, and Diane Withrow, a hospitality teacher at Cape Fear Community College in North Carolina. The book has been extensively revised, but it has not lost sight of its tying a menu to management principles. Material includes, of course, how to create and manage a menu. It has updated chapters on the uses of new technology in menu development, accuracy in menus, and using the menu as a marketing tool. Also added is a chapter on ethical leadership in resto management. This is a good book to have for anyone participating in Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares”. There’s a whole chapter con wine and other beverage service, highlighting the latest thinking on the construction of a wine list and wine pricing. Also available is an instructor’s manual and a study guide. Quality/Price rating: 89. 21. ARTHUR SCHWARTZ’S NEW YORK CITY FOOD; an opinionated history and more than 100 legendary recipes (Stewart, Chang & Tabori, 2004, 2008, 400 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-677-0, $27.50 US paper covers) won the IACP Award for Cookbook of the Year in 2005. Schwartz was food editor of the New York Daily News. His book was released four years ago, and is now reissued. There are 160 “classic” New York City recipes here, as well as vintage menus, postcards, and culinary histories starting with the Dutch invasion. Revisit Delmonico’s, the Colony, the Automats, the Jewish restaurants, and why New York is the home of chocolate mavens. And speaking of which, check out his website www.thefoodmaven.com for more details. Try Omelet Surprise, Eggs Benedict, Lindy’s cheesecake, Manhattan clam chowder, macaroni and cheese from the Automat. Quality/Price rating: 89. 22. CANADIAN HOSPITALITY LAW; liabilities and risk. 3rd ed. (Thomson Nelson, 2007, 401 pages, ISBN 978-0-17-640721-6, $106.95 Canadian, soft covers) is by Donald Longchamps, an instructor at Algonquin CAAT in Ottawa, and Bradley Wright, an Ottawa business lawyer. It was first published in 1999; the second edition was in 2002. Lanchamps developed the first edition. They begin with the basics of the law (The Legal Framework), moving on to Human Rights in the hospitality industry, general contract law (with specifics on reservations, overbooking, conventions, catering, banquets, et al). Negligence is covered, as well as liability and risk in the hospitality industry. There’s a lot about private areas and public areas (plus rights of guests) in the accommodation sector. Restaurants and food, bars and beverages, and human resources complete the package. Travel agents have their own chapter. “Discussion questions” for a hospitality school program in law are preceded by good sharp summaries. Cases are cited as examples, statute tables are listed and indexed, there are sample forms and contracts, and a glossary. But all of the books cited in the bibliography are from the last century (one is a revision in 2005 from the same publisher as Longchamps). With the book comes free InfoTrac database searching for four months. The great thing about this book is that it is all Canadian, which puts it at the head of the line. Quality/Price rating: 87. 23. SALES AND SERVICE FOR THE WINE PROFESSIONAL. 3rd edition (Thomson, 2008, 352 pages, ISBN 978-1-84480-789-5, $49.99 US paper covers) is by Brian K. Julyan, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management at the University of Plymouth. As well, he is Chief Executive and Chief Examiner of the Court of Master Sommeliers. This book is a one-stop resource for all involved with alcoholic beverages in the hospitality industry. It is a useful instruction manual for colleges and sommelier programs in that there is a considerable amount of material dealing with self-assessment. Newer materials cover wine regions that are becoming acceptable, and a certain internationalization of the material as the book arrives in North America (it was first published in 1999). For the professional, although those who seek alcohol knowledge may also find it useful. There is a short chapter on spirits and beers, as well as serving beverages and tobacco. Health and safety are important here. So are creating sales. Quality Price rating: 89. 24. THE RIVER COTTAGE COOKBOOK (Ten Speed Press, 2001, 2008, 447 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-909-8, $35US hard covers) is by Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall, a British food personality (broadcaster, writer, farmer, educator, campaigner for real food). His River Cottage farm is in Devon. The original of this book sold 300,000 copies in Europe. Here, it has been (according to the PR) “thoroughly Americanized” – Good Gawd NO...for a North American audience. Other bumpf says “tailored for American cooks”. That means that recipes and cooking instructions have been modified, with familiar ingredients, terminology and measurements. Major changes are in labeling requirements, the use of the words “organic”, “free range” and the like. There are four pages of endnotes. The bibliography remains British. There’s no real need to buy this book if you have the original; all the changes relate to the American market. The contents remain: food from the garden, butchering local animals, foraging, opinions on the local environment, and resourceful use of plants and animals. Quality/Price rating: 90. 25. ALTON BROWN’S GEAR FOR YOUR KITCHEN (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2003, 2008, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-696-1, $17.95 US paper covers) is by the well-known host and commentator for shows on the Food Network. It was originally published in 2003 as a hard cover. Here there has been some updating, especially with the retail listings and websites. Melitta in Toronto appears to be the only Canadian outfit. His book concerns advice on what to have and what to have not in the kitchen. For example, you only need three knives and you don’t need a countertop grill. He writes in a humourous guy-talk kidding style, which is how macho men try to learn things. Thus, there are categories such as Small Things with Plugs, Kitchen Tools Unplugged, Sharp Things, allusions to hardware and tool kits, even some handwritten notes. Great stuff for the guy chef. Quality/Price rating: 89. 26. PROFESSIONAL BAKING; fifth edition (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, 800 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-31652-8, $99.99 hard covers) is by Wayne Gisslen, and features recipes from Le Cordon Bleu (Paris). It comes with a CD- ROM with about 900 recipes (all the preps from the book, with options to modify and resize – and you can also add your own), and a Student Workbook, an Instructor’s Guide and Manual and CD-ROM (available separately). There are also method cards with step-by-step directions for common methods of yeast doughs, cakes, muffins. What’s new this time out is more material on artisan breads (natural fermentation, hand crafting); a new chapter on baking for special diets, including low- fat, low-sugar, gluten-free, and dairy-free diets; new photographs; and a new redesign to enhance the layout. There is a recipe contents page which explores yeast doughs, quick breads, doughnuts and crepes, syrups, pies, tarts, cakes, decorating, cookies, custards, frozen desserts, fruits, chocolate and marzipan. Everything here in this book is clear, precise, no-nonsense, practical and methodical. Both US volume and metric measurements are given in side-by-side columns. Cooking schools, restaurants, hotels, and large hospitality establishments will appreciate the book since it is a major textbook. Quality/Price Ratio: 90. 27. SLURP; drinks and light fare, all day, all night (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 170 pages, ISBN 978-0-7407- 6990-0, $16.99 US soft covers) is by Nina Dreyer Hensley, Jim Hensley, and Paul Lowe. It was first published in Norway in 2005. Here are more than 100 recipes for both drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic, including smoothies) and food for tasty pairings. Plus a few hangover remedies. The book also has entertaining and party ideas; the arrangement is by time of day (morning, daytime, evening). Lots of advice strewn about, and there is a useful index. Quality/Price rating: 85. 28. RICK STEIN’S COMPLETE SEAFOOD (Ten Speed Press, 2004, 2008, 264 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-914-2, $31.95 Canadian soft covers) is by the owner of the Seafood Restaurant (England), and an impressive authority on seafood in general. He has authored other seafood books, and has hosted some television cooking shows. This book grew out of his Cornwall cooking school, and attempts to be definitive. It was originally issued in 2004, and subsequently won a James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award. Although there is a copyright date of 2008, there seems to be some minimal updating. Here are 150 recipes with 550 instructional photographs and illustrations, along with extensive charts and colour IDs for the seafood. Part one covers techniques (with demos) such as a step-by-step guide to scaling, to gutting, to skinning, to pan frying, to filleting, to baking a fish in a salt or pastry casing (plus foil and en papillote), to hot smoking, to steaming, to stuffing. Part two details the recipes, which are mainly classics, distributed according to type of seafood (large fish, small fish, crustaceans, mollusks), and part three is the reference section with information about the fish, the equipment needed, and the pantry ingredients required. Quality/Price Ratio: 90. 29. SIMPLY BISHOP’S; easy seasonal recipes (Douglas & McIntyre, 2002, 2008, 170 pages, ISBN 978-1-55363-388-2, $24.95 Canadian softy covers) is a straight reissue of the 2002 hard cover book. John Bishop of Bishop’s Restaurant in Vancouver (opened in 1985) had crafted a book based on menus of food served at his resto. The dishes are straightforward, with an emphasis on local and seasonal food. 100 plus recipes are organized by course and then by season within. There are entertaining ideas, menus (such as Thanksgiving, BBQ, spring brunch), suggested accompanying dishes, and wine recommendations where appropriate. Weights and measures are in both avoirdupois and metric forms. Preps include bet salad with raspberry vinaigrette, slow-cooked pork shoulder with pan-roasted vegetables, and gooseberry and almond crumble. Quality/Price rating: 88. ---------------------------------------------------- AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR APRIL 2008 ============================================================ By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. MARAN ILLUSTRATED WINE (MaranGraphics/Thomson Course Technology, 2006, 281 pages, ISBN 978-1-59863-318-4, $24.99US soft covers) has been assembled by the MaranGraphics team. They began with a successful graphic series of computer books; I used them in 1990 to learn about DOS. Now they have been branching out to include other consumer interests such as “Bartending” and “Wine”. Maran produces graphic books, with layout, presentation and photos and all kinds of illustrations. The text and wine consultation came from Tonia Wilson, well-known Canadian sommelier and chef, who has appeared in print and broadcast, and now has a catering/consulting company at www.savourflavour.com. This book was quietly released under the radar, and just now has come to my attention. The full colour book is printed on quality paper, and comes with a flexible binding. The introduction includes chapters on the basics, how wine is made, tasting, buying, serving, collecting, storing, and matching with food. Then begins the regional analysis through Europe, the New World, sparklers and fortified wines. There are several good sections here, including how to taste wine and how to serve wine. Matching food to wine (and vice versa) is also a specialty of Wilson. The book includes an excellent chapter on self-education, such as wine tasting groups (joining or forming), winery visits and wine tourism, and the importance of winemaker dinners. Her book concludes with a glossary, Audience and level of use: beginner level. The downside to this book: a bit pedantic for the wine connoisseur. The upside to this book: lots of pictures. Quality/Price Rating: 88. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. BEYOND THE GREAT WALL; recipes and travels in the other China (Random House Canada, 2008, 376 pages, ISBN 978-0-679-31466-6, $70 CAD hard covers) is by the team of Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, who have authored many cookbooks (which double as travel books) about the Far East: “Mangoes and Curry Leaves” (IACP Best International Cookbook winner), “Hot Sour Salty Sweet”, “Seductions of Rice”. Plus two books on bread and home baking. But it is hard to believe that, given their elevated status as cookbook authors, they still need log rolling endorsements from John Thorne (who seems to do nothing else but these days) and Claudia Roden. Anyway, the book is out in time to cash in on the Chinese popularity of the Beijing Olympics. And, of course, the book includes Tibet, which at this writing is a contentious issue. Other areas are Inner Mongolia, Guizhou and Yunnan, and parts of the Silk Road. The book weighs in at 4.7 pounds, a hefty disadvantage for the kitchen. My usual advice still stands: for recipes, make a fair use photocopy to absorb the usual splattering and for ease of handling in the kitchen. As with their other books, here is a mixture of stunning photographs, compelling stories and history, and plenty of home cooking. We’ve seen most of the recipes before in other cookbooks, for these are classic peasant dishes that can be found in Tibetan, et al, recipe books. The value is in the culturally distinct regions’ approach to food. The authors have been in the region many times over the past 25 years (they met there). Sources include families, street vendors, local markets, and small restaurants: shaping noodles, making soups, stir-fries, kebabs, teas, and flour and a few rice-derived desserts. Photos are keyed to recipe pages. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used for the ingredients, but there are conversion tables for American/Imperial/Metric forms. There is a glossary, a bibliography, and sources in North America for food and equipment. Audience and level of use: arm chair travelers, dedicated cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: grasslands herb salsa; Tibetan tsampa soup; tomato-lamb noodle soup; beef-sauced hot lettuce salad; ginger and carrot stir fry; ear lobe noodles; lhasa beef and potato stew. The downside to this book: lovely to look at, but unwieldy to use. The upside to this book: a bright, well-defined travel book. Quality/Price Rating: 88. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. THE NEW STEAK; recipes for a range of cuts plus savory sides (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 200 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-890-9, $19.95US paper covers) is by Cree LeFlavour, whose father was a professional chef. She eventually ran her own baking business, but now writes about food. Heavy log rollers include Bruce Aidells (Complete Meat Cookbook) and Cindy Pawlcyn (chef/owner Mustards Grill). There are 55 steak recipes here, mostly contemporary and reflecting North American styles, bistro, Latin, and SEA), along with 90 sides (most appear with the relevant steak recipe). She has basic data on buying and cooking steak (sautéing, roasting, broiling, grilling, braising, and wok-frying), with an overview of the cuts and portion controls. Pan frying seems to be the most popular way. Her pantry section, for some reason, also includes three types of beef which needs to be purchased fresh of course. The inexpensive cuts (skirt steak, hangar steak) are adaptable to Latin and SEA influences. Audience and level of use: steak lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: for steak, there is T-Bone, strip, filet, rib, Porterhouse, and burgers. For bistro food, there is strip, skirt, steak au poivre, steak Florentine, filet béarnaise, and tartare. Latin has rib, flank, skirt, and hangar. SEA is mostly thinly sliced cheaper cuts such as flank. The downside to this book: no carpetbagger steak, which appears to be coming back. Also, surprisingly, there are no wine notes! The upside to this book: there are tips and advice on building menus. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 4. THE TASTE OF SWEET; our complicated love affair with our favorite treats (Crown, 2008, 264 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-35190-6, $24.95US hard covers) is by Joyce Chen, a New York editor and writer. She also has a website www.thetasteofsweet.com. Notable log rollers include Molly O’Neill and pastry chef Francois Payard. This book is part memoir and part exposition. It is a historical, scientific, and socioeconomic narrative of the concept of “sweet”. Into the mix goes childhood memories and manipulative marketing. You know nothing good can come out of it, since sugar is addictive and artificial sweeteners are toxic. She shows the evolution of sweeteners, such as organic honey, aspartame, and the demon HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). She considers the role of the brain (which feeds exclusively on glucose), studies of taste buds and the concept of supertasters with their burning mouth syndrome, and links to obesity. Other topics: ice cream as a luxury, breeding sweetness into plants (e.g., strawberry), how chocolate became sweetened, the role of sugar in Imperial China, and North American pioneers’ pies. There are extensive end notes but no bibliography. Audience and level of use: food readers, schools of hospitality. The downside to this book: still needs be focused more. The upside to this book: there is an index, and large print for tired eyes. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 5. BON APPETIT, Y’ALL; recipes and stories from three generations of southern cooking (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 312 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008- 853-4, $35 US hard covers) is by Virginia Willis, a former TV producer of “Martha Stewart Living” and “Epicurius”. She now lives and writes in Atlanta. Notable log rollers include Alton Brown and Anne Willan (Willis had attended La Varenne). The 200 recipes are designed to use French techniques (=elegant mode); she has refined down home cooking to haute cuisine. Is this making silk out of a sow’s ear? For breadcrumbs, we now need to use panko. Unsalted butter is used, and for pulled pork, we’ll need pork tenderloin. Lard? Forget it…The full range of courses include updated classics. The general foods include beans, breads, chickens, cheddar cheese, corn, crab, ham, pork, potatoes, pecans, shrimp, sausage and tomatoes. There is some of her family’s history, tips, techniques, and cook’s notes, along with photos of techniques. Avoirdupois weights and measures arte used in the ingredients. Sources and resources are all U.S. Audience and level of use: for those cooks wishing to take a stab at it. Perhaps they could merge low-cal Southern with haute-cuisine Southern for a sort of “cuisine minceur”… Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: sausage-pecan balls; Vidalia onion confit with garlic toasts; Belgian endive with shrimp salad; fried pork chops with pan gravy; corn spoon bread; blackberry cobbler; baked pecan and acorn squash. The downside to this book: no metric conversion charts. The upside to this book: she uses no additional sugar in her corn breads and muffins. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 6. THE BEST BARBECUE ON EARTH; grilling across 6 continents and 25 countries, with 170 recipes (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 254 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-875-6, $24.95US paper covers) is by Rick Browne, from PBS’ “Barbecue America”. This is his fifth BBQ and grilling book. Here he adapts some of the best outdoor cooking recipes for American grills, and gives us stories behind the BBQs. This includes the Argentinean asado, the South African braai, the Korean bulgogi, plus Japan, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and others. Even Canada gets included (grilled venison loin, salmon, game birds). He has the usual tips, techniques, and cook’s notes. Desserts are included. Avoirdupois weights and measurements are used. Audience and level of use: BBQ fanatics. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Irish smoked salmon; Turkish stuffed grilled eggplant; Portuguese grilled sardines; beef empanadas; cheesy grilled veggies; grilled gingerbread apples. The downside to this book: there are no metric conversion tables. The upside to this book: lots of useful photos. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 7. ARTHUR SCHWARTZ’S JEWISH HOME COOKING; Yiddish recipes revisited (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 270 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-898-5, $35US hard covers) is by the eponymous food writer, editor, and cooking teacher. Yet heavy duty log rollers such as Joyce Goldstein, Barbara Kafka, and Rozanne Gold have been summoned. He won an IACP Award in 2005 for his book on New York food (just re-released in paperback). In 100 recipes, Schwartz gives us a culinary history of NYC Jewish culture. He has classics and updated versions of traditional Ashkenazi foods. The chapters cover soup to nuts, with dairy, Passover meals, breads, and desserts – all along with details about the NYC food scene. All of the recipes have been reviewed by an expert in Jewish dietary laws, so the book’s recipes can be pareve, kosher, and Passover as indicated. There is a glossary of Yiddish food terms. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used for ingredients. For more, check his website www.foodmaven.com Audience and level of use: Jewish food lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: rugulach; matzoh brei; challah; brisket; kreplach; gefilte fish; Passover walnut cake; Mandelbrot; Lindy’s cheesecake; sweet and sour beef cheeks. The downside to this book: no table of metric equivalents. The upside to this book: good pix of techniques. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 8. WINE BAR FOOD; Mediterranean flavors to crave with wines to match (Clarkson Potter, 2008, 198 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-35279-8, $27.50 US hard covers) is by Cathy Mantuano and Tony Mantuano (of Chicago’s Spiaggia restaurant). They are opening Enoteca Spiaggia, a wine bar in Miami’s South Beach later in 2008. This is their second cookbook, and it comes with log rolling from Iron Chefs Mario Batali and Bobby Flay. It is mainly tapas-derived from European Mediterranean. The food service is both party and sit down. They have suggestions for complementary (and affordable) regional wines and wine cocktails. The 100 recipes have “ease and flavour preferred over authenticity” (PR says). It has been organized by country and then by city. There are five Italy Venice, Rome, Naples, Milan, Florence), two Spain (Barcelona, Seville), plus Nice, Lisbon, and Athens. There are side chapters on cured meats, cheeses, and pantry foods (olives, beans, capers, canned dolmas, dried tomatoes, et al). The wine recommendations are for regions, styles and grapes, and not specific labels. There are thankfully no California knockoffs…Weights and measures are avoirdupois and the resource guide is all US (mostly Illinois, where the couple lives). Audience and level of use: tapas lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: lemony shrimps with currants and pine nuts (Venice); marinated pork or lamb sandwiches (Athens); Portuguese seafood stew; raw winter veggies salad with anchovy sauce (Nice); charred baby leeks with Romesco sauce (Barcelona); yellowtail carpaccio with citrus and fennel (Rome). The downside to this book: there are no metric conversion charts. The upside to this book: an interesting spin on the small plate phenomenon. There is an index to both the wines and the recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 9. WISCONSIN CHEESE; a cookbook and guide to the cheese of Wisconsin (ThreeForks, 2008; dist. Canadian Manda, 260 pages, ISBN 978-0-7627- 4489-3, $16.95US soft covers) is by Martin Hintz and Pam Percy, Milwaukee food writers who also raise Saanen dairy goats. This book is mainly of interest to US readers since we in Canada cannot get these cheeses due to the quota system; the state produces some 600 varieties, types and styles. But it is a good guide to knock offs which can be found in Canada (gruyere, Muenster, asiago, mozzarella, etc.). There are 100 recipes, from cheesemakers and chefs in Wisconsin. The state has some 250 certified organic dairy farms out of 19,000 total, and there is preferential treatment for all the farms by the state government. Most cheese here comes from pasteurized cow’s milk, about two billion pounds a year. And a lot of it win national and international cheese awards. Chapter One deals with artisanal cheeses, followed by styles of cheddar, Colby, swiss, blue and gorgonzola, Italian cheeses, French cheeses, and Hispanic cheeses. There are profiles of the leading companies, both large and small. Thirty pages are devoted to goat and sheep cheeses. More details are at www.wisdairy.com, the cheese website for the state. Audience and level of use: caseophiles. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: grilled cheese sandwich with jack and smoked Gouda; gorgonzola and pear pasta; cheddar crusted pork tenderloin; cheese grits; swiss rarebit; blue crab quiche; black bean and goat cheese tortas. The downside to this book: a little cagey about thermalization, which is not mentioned anywhere. The upside to this book: there is a bibliography and multiple indexes to both recipes and subject matter. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 10. HEAVENLY FRAGRANCE; cooking with aromatic Asian herbs, fruits, spices and seasonings (Periplus Editions, 2007, 256 pages, ISBN 978- 907946-0353-3, $39.95US hard covers) is by Carol Selva Rajah, chef and food writer (and cookbook author) specializing in SEA food. She currently lives in Sydney, Australia. About 90% of what we taste comes from smell tones; the 150 recipes here emphasize “aromas”. Chapters are arranged by products. There is one on Asian herbs of basils, coriander leaves, curry leaves, garlic chives, lemongrass); another on Asian fruit (limes, coconuts, mangoes, pomelos, tamarind). There’s a third on Asian spices of cardamom, ginger, cumin, fennel, turmeric, star anise, followed by a fourth on “seasonings” such as fermented pastes, fish sauces, mirin, rice wines, and sesame oil. Each recipe has the prep time, the cooking time, cook’s notes, and both avoirdupois and metric measurements. There is a small bibliography. Unfortunately, while there is an index by course, there is no ingredient index. Audience and level of use: SEA food lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: grilled quail with lemongrass and coconut; cabbage sautéed with black mustard seeds; watermelon rind salad with sweet Thai dressing; poached chicken breasts with Sichuan pepper oil; Chinese rice congee with garnishes. The downside to this book: there is ingredient index. The book is too heavy for the kitchen, being almost four pounds. The upside to this book: good book concept. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 11. SMALL PARTIES; more than 100 recipes for intimate gatherings (Gibbs Smith, 2008, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-4236-0246-0, $19.95US paper covers) is by Marguerite Marceau Henderson, a multi-media food writer, owner, chef, cooking school teacher, and more. The range here is from 2 to 12, for celebrations and holidays, including breakfasts. Some topics: bridal events, Thanksgiving dinner, Sunday dinner, BBQ, and New Year’s Day buffet. She has both guidelines and prep timelines for all types and manner of entertaining, along with notes con presentations, garnishes and décor. Each of the 22 situations is for a certain number of people, but they can be cut down or expanded with some thought. Avoirdupois weights and measures are used in the recipes. Audience and level of use: those needing advice on party-giving. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Labour Day Patio Fete for Ten – shrimp and artichoke pasta salad; 3 bean and 3 pepper salad; grilled halibut; grilled tri-top roast; rhubarb and strawberry crisp. The downside to this book: amazingly, there are no beverage or wine notes! The upside to this book: there are some interesting ideas here. Metric conversion charts are included. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 12. ROSALIND CREASY’S RECIPES FROM THE GARDEN (Tuttle Publishing, 2008, 208 pages, ISBN 978-0-8048-3768-2, $34.95US hard covers) has been written by a landscape designer and a prime leader of the edible landscaping movement (her “Complete Book of Edible Landscaping” has won major awards). She is also a magazine writer in this subject, and for this book, she also took all the pictures. There is material here on planting the back yard AND the front yard gardens; you’ll eat your own extremely local produce (extralocavore?). But then, you could also extend the theory to local farmers’ markets. The basics here, as we’ve heard and read ad nauseum so many times before, is to eat only seasonally, locally, and organic. In other words, S-L-O food. Sounds familiar? She has large sections on herb blends and salad dressings, all of which can be used with soups, salads, veggie dishes, and meat dishes c(only 24 pages). Sides, drinks, and desserts are also among the 200 recipes here. Types of preps include classics, complicated, edible flowers, “gifts from the garden” (i.e. preserved), plus easy and quick. Avoirdupois and metric measurements are given, and there are two indexes: one by produce, and one by recipe. Audience and level of use: gardeners, s-l-o people. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: carrot pie; corn pudding; chive blossom butter; rosemary pesto; tortilla soup; pork shoulder sandwiches with tomatillos. The downside to this book: I think we need a warmer climate than Canada for this book to succeed. Try California. The upside to this book: she took great photos Quality/Price Rating: 86. 13. ABOUT WINE (Thomson Delmar Learning, 2007, 562 pages, ISBN 978-1- 4018-3711-2, $63.95US hard covers) is by J. Patrick Henderson, a winemaking instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College in California (and senior winemaker at Kenwood Vineyards) and by Dellie Rex, an instructor at the New England Culinary Institute. It’s in one of the new “About…” series from Thomson, and is meant for the hospitality trade since it concentrates on the business of wine. The publisher also has an instructor package consisting of a manual, CD, and tests. The intro matter moves through the fundamentals of wine and grapes, winemaking, tasting, and evaluation. The business part of it comes next, with large sections on the selling and serving of wine, the managing of a wine list, and purchasing and cellaring wine. Along the way the authors discuss sommeliers, profit managers, marketing, staff training, unique selling points (USPs), pricing, by the glass programs, house wines, and markups. The attitude is all pro-business, especially since house wines are touted as great moneymakers – without regard to quality. Most consumer books say to avoid house wines because of the lack of quality and excessive profit margin. House wines are different in European restaurants. Each chapter has the educational objectives of learning, the key terms expressed, review questions, and summaries. There are good pictures of wine labels, technical processes, maps and diagrams. In the appendices, the reference sections cover classification, wine laws, and wine associations. Audience and level of use: schools of hospitality, interested wine consumers. Some interesting or unusual facts: the section on Canadian wines has no detail on PEC as a DVA, or on the sub-appellations in Niagara, suggesting that the material was written before 2006. The downside to this book: nothing on winery tasting room management. The upside to this book: unintentionally, the consumer gets the lowdown on the restaurant business of wine. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 14. SMALL PLATES PERFECT WINES; creating little dishes with big flavors (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda, 146 pages, ISBN 978-0-7407-6913-9, $16.95 US soft carvers) is by Lori Lyn Narlock, a food and travel writer with 10 cookbooks under her belt. She only has 50 recipes here, but she makes each one of them count. Wine pairings are from the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center, but there are no wine labels or other special promotions for their wines. Her topics range through salads, veggies, meat, seafood, and desserts. But because they are “small” as in meze, tapas, and the like, every meal needs to have about 5 – 6 courses. That will mean a lot of plates and separate preps. She has sample party menus for backyard cookouts, autumn harvests, other seasonal occasions, with timelines for preparations. Each menu item has page references to the recipe. She outlines prep plans, presentation ideas, and sample table settings. And of course some advice on buying and serving wine. There are excellent photos here. All of the ingredients’ weights and measures are in avoirdupois, but there are conversion tables to metric. Audience and level of use: party givers, California fans. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: roasted cauliflower with braised radicchio; roasted Brussels sprouts with chorizo; summer squash cupcakes with lemon glaze; pork saltimbocca; capellini with clams; braised chicken with Swiss chard. The downside to this book: too short, could use more recipes (increase the price of course) The upside to this book: index includes grape varieties with pages indicated for the food recipe matching. Quality/Price Rating: 88. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESTAURANT COOKBOOKS... ...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks. Actually, they’ve been around for many years, but never in such proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be flogged at the restaurant and since the chef ends up being a celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I’ll try to point this out. The usual schtick is “favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks”. There is also PR copy on “demystifying ethnic ingredients”. PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase “mouth-watering recipes” as if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don’t seem to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some companies, though, will ship around the world, so don’t ignore them altogether. Here’s a rundown on the latest crop of such books – 15. SIMPLY DELICIOSO; a collection of everyday recipes with a Latin twist (Clarkson Potter, 2008, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-34734-3, $32.50US hard covers) is by Food Network star Ingrid Hoffmann, who once owned a resto and catering firm. The book is named after her TV series. She’s also got a cooking show on Spanish TV as well, and writes a monthly cooking feature for Buen Hogar magazine (Good Housekeeping). This is a modern take on classic Latin food, emphasizing bright bold new flavours. And, of course, you’ll need a pantry (as she explains it all). The 125 recipes include her take on mole, adobo, sofrito, homey changua, eggs benedict with chipotle hollandaise, avocado and arugula salad, chipotle and black-eyed pea soup, Cuban burgers, rancheros, and many meats. The whole book is bright and tries to be sexy (“carne knowledge”? “pillow talk”? personal life?). She’s the leading candidate for hot kitchen babe of the year... US measurements are employed, but there is no table of metric equivalents. Quality/Price rating: 84. 16. DOLCE ITALIANO; desserts from the Babbo kitchen (W.W. Norton, 2007, 302 pages, ISBN 978-0-393-06100-0, $35 US hard covers) is by Gina DePalma, who has worked for Mario Batali at Babbo as his pastry chef since 1998. It comes endorsed with 9 log rollers, including Bourdain, De Laurentiis, Bastianich, and Lynne Rossetto Kasper. And a foreword by Mario himself. She works from an Italian background, and like the resto, everything is simple and fresh in season. There are wine pairings that often accompany the recipes, and she lists ten essential ingredients for making Italian desserts. These are ricotta, mascarpone, honey, EVOO, lemons (and/or oranges), polenta, nuts, amaretti biscuits, grappa, and sweet wines. She covers biscotti, cakes, spoon desserts, tarts, gelati and variations, tutti fritti (fried), and fruit. There are plenty of cook’s notes and advisements. Some preps include honey clouds, yogurt cheesecake, mocha-cinnamon boney, chocolate and polenta tart, cassata alla siciliana, lemon ricotta fritters, and pannacotta with vincotta. First rate job. Quality/Price rating: 90. 17. THE SPLENDID TABLE’S HOW TO EAT SUPPER; recipes, stories, and opinions from Public Radio’s award-winning food show (Clarkson Potter, 2008, 338 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-34671-1, $35US hard covers) is by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift. Kasper is host and major writer for “The Splendid Table”, a national US food radio show produced by American Public Media. It has been running for more than 20 years, and has garnered a James Beard award. Swift is co-creator and managing producer of that show. Rossetto also writes the syndicated column “Ask the Splendid Table”, read in over 400 newspapers. Her first book “The Splendid Table” won both a Beard and an IACP award for “Book of the Year”. Here, the team grapples with weeknight dinners and timelines for the busy home cook. There are more than 100 recipes, with menus listed on the end pages (a distinctive innovation: thank you!!) – and the menus have page references to the recipes. The authors attempt to deconstruct recipes to their simple forms, and then create new ones quickly. The taste emphasis is on “savoury” and “international flavours”. Like the show itself (which you can hear via the Internet or on NPR if you are near the US Border) the book contains trivia, nutrition, advice, culinary bits of fun facts, and the like. There are multiple larger type fonts and use of bold typefaces and colour in the recipes. Most of the preps come from the show and her columns, but there are a few others written – and credited – to additional food writers. Arrangement is by course progression, and the only major disappointment is that while US weights and measures are used, there are NO tables of equivalencies. Try Dressing-in-a-bowl supper salad (which calls for improvising), Tortilla eggs with avocado and lime, Chinese noodles with four flavors, Sweet yams in ginger-stick curry, and Farmhouse panna cotta. Quality/Price rating: 90. 18. FEASTING ON ASPHALT; the river run (Stewart, Chang & Tabori, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda, 207 pages, ISBN 978-1-58479-681-7, $27.50 hard covers) is by Alton Brown, a writer-director-host for the Food Network. Catch him on “Good Eats” (which won a Peabody in 2007) and “Iron Chef America”. He also writes cookbooks (“I’m Just Here for the Food” won a Beard in 2004). This celebrity cook motorbikes its way through the Mississippi, beginning on the Gulf of Mexico and ending up near the headwaters in Minnesota. He tries to get the best roadside food, and to tell the stories about the people who prepare and serve it. This book is a companion to the six-part series which aired in fall 2007. His itinerary is listed, so you too can stay where he stayed, eat where he ate, and talk to the same people. He did it in 26 days or so, and he provides pages of road tips. All 41 recipes are sourced as to the diner/restaurant. Try BBQ pork ribs, bread pudding, head cheese, Cherry Joe, fried morels. General index and recipe index are both folded in together. There is also a road map poster. But there are too many pix of Brown. Quality/Price rating: 86. ---------------------------------------------------- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR MARCH 2008 =========================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. ICEWINE; extreme winemaking (Key Porter Books, 2007, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-55263-926-9, $50 CDN hard covers) is mainly by Donald Ziraldo, who, with winemaker Karl Kaiser, founded Inniskillin Wines in 1974. It was the first small and new winery in Ontario since 1929. There’s a foreword from Hugh Johnson, an icewine flavour wheel from Shari Darling, some notes from John Schreiner’s book on Icewine, scientific notes from Karl Kaiser, and recipes from the late Izabela Kalabis-Sacco pulled together by Lyn Ogryzlo. The promotion bumpf says, “A gorgeous collection, with full-colour photography and delicious recipes that explains the art behind Canada’s wine delicacy”. They forgot to include that the book also contains a big whack of scientific and technical data, with copious charts, graphs, and tables, compiled for the most part by Kaiser. He has all the figures for the history of Inniskillin icewine, including – on a year by year basis -- harvest brix, harvest temperatures, acid levels, ABV, residual sugars, all from 1983 through 2006 (the latter was harvested in January 2007). In addition, there are figures for all of BC, all Ontario productions, Germany and Austria. Icewine made in other locations, such as New Zealand or New York, are cryogenic extractions (wines from the freezer). The book is very detailed with maps and photos, discussing the effects of terroir, grape varieties, pressing techniques, cork quality. There’s a discussion of VQA and the new sub-appellations in Niagara. Ziraldo has material on how to properly appreciate and taste Icewine, using Riedal glasses which he had helped to create. There are cocktail recipes, and 20 food recipes using icewine or accompanying icewine, using both avoirdupois and metric measurements for the ingredients. Audience and level of use: lovers of icewine. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: foie gras with Granny Smith apples; seared foie gras with icewine-soaked apricots; grilled fig salad with gorgonzola; truffled cream of cauliflower soup; leg of lamb with fig compote. The downside to this book: there’s a suggestion of a gift book here, but no matter. The upside to this book: there’s a separate index for the recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 89. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. 101 FOODS THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE (Bantam, 2008, 437 pages, ISBN 978-0-553-38432-1, $14US paper covers) is by David Grotto, RD, LDN, a nutritionist consultant. It comes endorsed by the Nutrition Director of Prevention magazine and author Dr. Brian Wansink (Mindless Eating). Last year, there was a book published which covered 150 foods. Actually, an in depth survey examined some 360 different foods, and ranked them all on a naturally nutrient-rich score. We don’t know what these other 259 are because Grotto does not list them. But he does some rejigging to include phytochemicals and the like, plus ease of availability. So he attempts to clarify and classify some 101 foods (more details are at www.101foodsthatcouldsaveyourlife.com). This is an alphabetically arranged reference book, from “acai berries” (an anti- oxidant from Brazil) to “yogurt”. Each entry describes the food’s origins and users, home remedies. Therapeutic benefits are also described, along with the relevant research to support those claims in the appropriate end notes. Cancer inhibition is covered, use and prep of the food, plus a recipe. Thus “acai” increases sexual performance and beauty, inhibits cancer, and is useful served with breakfast or dessert. If you use it served over yogurt, then you’ll also get the benefits attributed to yogurt: inhibiting both arthritis and colon cancer, improving cholesterol ratios and gut health. The appendices include some 2,000 calorie meal plans, a list of benefits of phytochemicals and nutrients, recipe credits, end notes, and references to websites. Audience and level of use: people concerned about what they eat. Some interesting or unusual facts: Teff is a grain from Ethiopia. The word means “lost” (if you drop it you won’t find it). It is the smallest grain the world, being 1/32 of an inch (0.8 mm) in diameter. The downside to this book: no illustrations, but then that keeps the price down. The upside to this book: extensive index by food and health condition (e.g., IBS, hypertension, larynx cancer). Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND DRINK BOOKS 3. THE HOUSEWIFE’S HANDBOOK; how to run the modern home (Bloomsbury, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 352 pages, ISBN 978-0-7475-7750-8, $39.95 hard covers) is by Rachel Simhon, a journalist who wrote a housekeeping column for the Daily Telegraph. The book has a definite British orientation, but that also means a British sensibility. Part One deals with the house on a room-by-room analysis. The material covers cleaning, organizing, and storing – all in 200 pages. The other 100 pages are in Part Two, on the techniques of cleaning and scheduling. Tips are strewn throughout, such as descaling a tea kettle and how to deal with a lumpy mattress. All of these are included in the very thorough index. The appendix of some 40 pages covers the issues of stains, household pests, and pets. Audience and level of use: cleaning advice. Some interesting or unusual facts: “Cats like sleeping on fax machines because they are warm. They shed fur and dust all over the machine”. Keeps cats out of the home office. The downside to this book: names and addresses of sources are all UK. The upside to this book: sans serif typeface is very easy on the eyes. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 4. THE REAL TASTE OF SPAIN (Pavilion, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 176 pages, ISBN 978-1-86205-738-8, $45 Canadian hard covers) is by Jenny Chandler, a British food writer specializing in Spain. In 2005 she wrote “The Food of Northern Spain”. Here she concentrates on recipes inspired by the markets of Spain, the “mercados”. She begins with the largest daily market, the Boqueria in Barcelona, and others such as in Madrid, Andalucia, Galicia, and Valencia. There are eight other mercados mentioned, but these are all weekly markets. She has 80 recipes for seasonal and local foods, plus a whole slew of touristy photos of the markets. She discusses the needs of the Spanish pantry (olives, hams, pulses, nuts, peppers, garlic, and rice). The arrangement of the book is by course, and includes shellfish, fish, charcuterie, meat, game, poultry, pulses and rice, eggs and dairy, veggies, and fruit. The ingredients are listed in both metric and avoirdupois formats. And there are lots of cook’s notes. Audience and level of use: intermediate, lovers of Spanish food. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: quince paste; fig and sherry gratin; avocado and quail egg salad; red pepper soup; basque red bean stew; chicken with olives. The downside to this book: too many touristy pix. The upside to this book: variations are given within the recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 5. THE ASIAN KITCHEN (Periplus Editions, 2007; distr. Ten Speed Press, 192 pages, ISBN 978-0-7946-0498-1, $24.95US hard covers) has been compiled by Kong Foong Ling, a food writer and editor specializing in Asian cuisine. These 300 preps come from Asian chefs working in twelve countries from Singapore to Sri Lanka, and including Burma and the Philippines. Thus, there are Vietnamese soups and pho, Thai salads, Indian curries, Japanese sushi, Chinese noodles, Malaysian sambals, and Indonesian satays. Each country’s survey begins with a brief culinary history, followed by suggested menus (with page references), and then recipes arranged by course (starters, soups, salads, seafood, meat, desserts). There are three to six preps per page. At the beginning Ling covers the basics of the Asian kitchen and extensive pantry ingredients. When you deal with 12 countries, you’ll need a large larder. Ingredient measurements are in both metric and avoirdupois, but there are still conversion charts. He has an index by the country’s food and by the major ingredient (e.g., there are 23 pork recipes). Audience and level of use: beginner, comprehensive survey of Asia. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: beef smore; fish lemon stew; coconut gravy; crab curry; green mango curry; bananas in sweet coconut milk. The downside to this book: the inevitable tourist pix take away space from the cooking material. The upside to this book: concise overview. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 6. THE WARMEST ROOM IN THE HOUSE; how the kitchen became the heart of the twentieth-century American home (Bloomsbury, 2008, 238 pages, ISBN 978-1-58234-355-6, $24.95US hard covers) is by Steve Gdula, a magazine writer. It is a survey book, as told from the US perspective, of life in the kitchen during the twentieth century. He traces its evolution from the backroom where housework was done to its current centre of family life and entertainment. He cleverly shows how the kitchen became the focal point, incorporating the dining room. The book is arranged by decade, 1900 – 1999 plus a short epilogue for the past few years. He manages to list food trends, food technology, kitchen design, appliances and furniture, china and flatware, cookbooks and food literature. But really, it all boils down to convenience foods (frozen, pre-packaged, and takeout/delivery) and new appliances. Along the way he fills the pages with bits of trivia to illustrate his points; there are no pictorial illustrations here. There is an annotated bibliography of books, as well as a listing of periodicals, government papers and seminar presentations. As Gdula says, “This is by no means a definitive history of the American Kitchen of the twentieth century, but rather a selection and examination of some of its influences and representations during that time.” But it is easy going and well-written. Audience and level of use: curious foodies. Some interesting or unusual facts: Pesto was on everybody’s mind in the late 1980s. The downside to this book: specific to US, no mention of international influences such as the Slow Food movement or of Alice Waters and the school lunch movement. The upside to this book: broad sweep of US history. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 7. WHISKEY & SPIRITS FOR DUMMIES (Wiley Publishing, 2008, 335 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-11769-9, $19.99US paper covers) is by Perry Luntz, senior editor at Beverage Media. It is a basic guide to a resurging drink category, principally “brown spirits” (i.e., whiskeys, dark rums, brandies) although, of course, clear spirits are also covered (gin, vodka, tequila, grappa, white rum). The arrangement begins with the brown, going into the lore and description of Irish, Scotch, Bourbon, Tennessee, Canadian, and the rest of the world. There’s a lot of Canadian content, mainly on rye. Other material includes advice on how best to enjoy spirits, their health benefits and nutritional values. The negative side of consumption is not covered. Audience and level of use: beginners, curious drinkers. Some interesting or unusual facts: John Molson did beers, and whiskey distillation. As well, he contributed to the building of the railroads, sat in the legislature, and was a general all-round financier and philanthropist. The downside to this book: Joni Mitchell is cited as a wannabe Canadian, but she was born in Alberta. The upside to this book: there are food pairing notes for the brown spirits. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 8. TIME TO EAT (Michael Joseph/Penguin, 2007, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0- 718-15314-4, $45 CDN hard covers) is by Gary Rhodes, UK author of seventeen cookbooks. He also owns restaurants in 5 countries and appears on British television regularly. The 120 recipes take 10 minutes to two hours to prepare. The key is organization and pre-prep work, the mise en place. His contents are arranged by the time it takes to cook these dishes. They range from “no time to shop” and fast food (less than 15 minutes), through 20 – 30 minutes, 30 – 60 minutes, and slow cooking. Mains and desserts are covered, and instructions are given in a countdown format. All the ingredients appear to be easy to find, and they are measured in both metric and avoirdupois. There are basic cook’s notes and instructions. Audience and level of use: intermediate level. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: risotto rice pudding with sultanas; tuna carpaccio with mustard spit French beans; lemon and chili sesame pork; broken feta cheese salad with apples and pears; fiery mushrooms on toast; warm salmon on brown bread with cucumber mayonnaise. The downside to this book: British orientation – you’ll need to know that aubergines are eggplants, and pak choy is bok choy, at least in the index. The upside to this book: an interesting concept, although a database or index an do the same thing, but with more variety. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 9. THE BOOK OF YIELDS; accuracy in food costing and purchasing. Seventh edition. CD-ROM (Wiley, 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-16764-9, price n/a) is now available separately from the hard cover book. I had reviewed the book last year as: “a basic work for students and chefs, and it comes with a workbook. It tells you what you need to know for “how much food to buy”. It is a collection of accurate food measurements for over 1,000 or so raw food ingredients. Measurements are given in weight-to-volume equivalents, trim yields, and cooking yields. Part One of the contents covers herbs and spices, produce, starchy foods, baking, fats and oils, dairy, beverages, meats, seafood, and poultry. Part Two is the workbook of costing sheets and conversion tables. Here, recipe cost and yield are most important. Spreadsheets, though, should be able to handle all of this.” And indeed we have it in the CD-ROM, which will do all the calculating for you. You can use preloaded recipes or input your own. Shopping lists can be generated too. Audience and level of use: schools of hospitality, food libraries, any restaurant doing a volume business. Some interesting or unusual facts: Netscape is not supported. The downside to this book: Only US measurements are given, so you will need to convert to metric or imperial. That is why a spreadsheet works better than paper and pen. Quality-to-Price Ratio: 90. 10. FANTASTICO! Modern Italian food (Kyle Books, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 176 pages, ISBN 978-1-904920-71-7, $19.99 US paper covers) is by Gino D’Acampo, who appears regularly on UK TV shows as an accredited chef with his own line of foods and a resto in Naples, Italy. It is the second such titled book to appear recently (Broadway Books had the title “Fantastico!” in 2007), but that one covered small bites. Here are 100 recipes done up in the modern light style. He has several rules, which should be rigidly enforced. One, you must be in the mood for cooking. If not, then don’t. Two, you should spend less time cooking and more time buying the right food. Three, you shouldn’t use too many strong flavours in a dish. There’s also another rule he writes: the first time you prep, do the recipe completely his way; you can change it the next time through. He has a section entitled “first aid for food”: how to maximize poor tomatoes, mozzarella, out-of-season unripe fruit, old salad greens, old avocados, and more. Avoirdupois measurements are used, but there are metric conversion charts. All courses are embraced, including breakfasts. Audience and level of use: beginner. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chicken in bread crumbs with tomato sauce and spinach; saffron risotto with zucchini and pork; duck breasts in limoncello sauce; apple and pine nut cake with honeyed mascarpone; strawberry and pistachio and ricotta soufflé; deep-fried polenta with sage and pancetta. The downside to this book: too many, way too many, pix of stud Gino. The upside to this book: good food photos. Quality/Price Rating: 84. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS... ...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent “re-editions”... 11. TWINKIE, DECONSTRUCTED (Plume Books, 2008, 282 pages, ISBN 978-0- 452-28928-4, $15US paper covers) is by Steve Ettlinger, a writer of popular reference materials. It was originally published last year in 2007. The rather long subtitle pretty well says it all: “my journey to discover how the ingredients found in processed foods are grown, mined (yes, mined), and manipulated into what America eats. As Pollan did with a cow in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, Ettlinger does to the Twinkie – sourcing where all the stuff which created the food comes from. You can read the label yourself; Ettlinger tracks down the components of processed and packaged foods: polysorbate 60, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening, but only two brief mentions of MSG. Marion Nestle calls his book “terrific detective work and terrific fun to read”. Try a visit to the phosphate mines in Idaho, or the gypsum mines in Oklahoma. Beginning at the source, each Twinkie ingredient is followed as it is crushed, baked, fermented, refined, etc. The original Twinkie came from Wonder Bread in 1930, with a shelf life of two days. Now? Shelf life is anybody’s guess...This is a must read. Quality/Price rating: 90. 12. CAFE COLLECTION (Penguin Books, 2006, 2007, (128 and 128 and 136) pages, ISBN 9780143020660, $38 Canadian soft covers) is by food writer Julie Le Clerc, a former cafe owner and chef. It is a reprint of three separately published books, “Simple Cafe Food” (1999), “More Simple Cafe Food” (2000) and “Simple Deli Food’ (2002). All three books are combined together. With no changes to the books, that means THREE separate indexes, which is a pain. Since there can be two or more recipes per page, there are several hundred recipes here. Her take is mainly on “cafe” food, which fits in with the new tapas small plates. All courses are covered, with an emphasis on make aheads such as soups and stews, lots of breads and pastries, easy to prepare salads and sandwiches and other light lunch dishes. While there is a summer lamb meatloaf, there is also a more challenging olive-coated rack of lamb. Weights are in metric, while volumes are in Imperial measurements. Quality/Price rating: 86. 13. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN STOMACH (Harcourt, 2008, 205 pages, ISBN 978-0-15-101194-0, $23US hard covers) is by Frederick Kaufman, an English professor who also writes on American food culture for Gourmet, Gastronomica, and mainstream magazines. Of the seven chapters here, two have been published in Harper’s, and two more from Harper’s were incorporated into the book as well as some material from the New Yorker. The book is thus wide-ranging, and explores themes such as the Amish black market raw milk dealers, the South Beach diet, the Food Network, hot dog eating contests, and the like. Log rollers include Marion Nestle and Lawrence Osborne (The Accidental Connoisseur). The extremes here cover “stuffing” and “starving” our North American selves. It is all served up with a light humour, large typeface, and an index. Quality/Price rating: 88. 14. EXPLORING TASTE & FLAVOUR; the art of combining hot, sour, salty and sweet in 150 recipes (Kyle Cathie, 2005, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-85626-728-1, $35 CDN soft covers) is a straight reissue of the 2005 hardback which won a World Gourmand Award and was nominated for an IACP Award. It is by Tom Kime who created UK Tesco’s Thai food line and is a BBC food writer. Most of this book is SEAsia; the 150 recipes are meant to combine hot, sour, salty, sweet and bitter for balance. The blending of flavours is useful, of course, but Kime does not even mention umami. Kime devotes space to discussing the principles of SEAsia taste theory, suggesting that some combos of food work well together. His taste directory of food is divided by the five categories. He has material on matching wine with spicy food, when you want to go beyond riesling or gewürztraminer. Chapters are arranged by course, with one whole section on one-pot creations. Recipes include cha ca (fish with turmeric and fresh dill): miang khom (salad of prawns with ginger, lime and chili); gravad lox (with detailed instructions); Moroccan grilled squid salad with chermoula; spicy sausage and bean soup with roast tomatoes; and roasted pork belly with caramelized peanut and chili dressing. Quality/Price rating: 88. 15. PURE VEGETARIAN (Kyle Cathie, 2006, 2008; distr. Raincoast, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-85626-740-3, $35 CDN paper covers) is by Paul Gayler, a British Executive Chef at The Lanesborough, recipe book author, and multiple TV UK show personality. It was originally published in 2006, and this is a straight reprint but in paper covers. The broad range of 150 recipes includes finger food, appetizers, soups, salads, pasta and grains, mains and desserts – all fairly upscale. There are a series of vegetable stocks and sauces to prep the foods. As a British book, there is no coverage of eggplants and zucchini, but rather of aubergines and courgettes. Recipes include avocado salsa rolls, spelt soup, Roquefort- stuffed fig salad, wild rice and parsnip rice fritters, butternut squash and blue cheese tacos, Persian ratatouille-baked tomatoes, Cajun mozzarella and ricotta fritters, crushed artichoke and goat cheese pesto toasts, Spanish romanescu baby leeks, and beetroot gazpacho. Ingredients are listed in both avoirdupois and metric measurements, but there are conversion tables. Quality/Price rating: 86. 16. THE FOOD AND COOKING OF TURKEY (Lorenz Books, 2007; distr. NBN, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-7548-1763-5, $29.99 US hard covers) is by Ghillie Basan, a cookbook writer specializing in Middle East and SE Asia cooking. Her previous “Classic Turkish Cooking” was shortlisted for some book awards in 1998. This current book was previously published, in part, as that shortlisted book. She has about 150 recipes shown step-by=step in 800 photographs. There is a fair bit of culinary history as well as geography, a comprehensive visual guide to Turkish ingredients, and detailed instructions – all in the first 60 pages. Modern Turkish cuisine comes from both its melting pot position between Europe and Asia, and the scores of religious festivals. She ranges from soups, meze, hot snacks, salads, pilafs, fish-meat-poultry, vegetables, sweet snacks, jams and more. The book is oversized and somewhat unwieldy in the kitchen. Ingredient measurements are in both avoirdupois and metric; each recipe has full nutritional information (calories, protein, carbos, fat, cholesterol, calcium, fibre and sodium). There is also a glossary. Recipes include a plum tomato and almond jam, yogurt cake in orange syrup, shredded chicken with walnuts, lamb skewers with flat bread, chicken liver pilaf with currants and pine nuts, lentils with carrots and sage. Quality/Price rating: 90. 17. GREEN & BLACK’S CHOCOLATE RECIPES; from the cacao pod to cookies, desserts, and savory dishes (Kyle Cathie, 2003, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-904920-67-0, $19.95US soft covers) is by Caroline Jeremy, under the sponsorship of Green & Black chocolates, a firm that began in 1991 with organic and fair trade chocolate. It was originally published in 2003, and won a World Gourmand Cookbook Award. This 2007 reissue has been “Americanized”, even to the extent of changing the subtitle from “...to muffins, mousses, and moles” and labeling some recipes “Wicked”. Typical preps include chocolate bread, Italian venison agrodolce, rich stout cake, chocolate apple cake, and brigadeiros. Quality/Price rating: 90. ---------------------------------------------------- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR FEBRUARY 2008 ============================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: !! 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * WINE BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. TO CORK OR NOT TO CORK; tradition, romance, science, and the battle for the wine bottle (Scribner, 2007, 278 pages, ISBN 978-0-7432-9934-3, $26US hard covers) is by George M. Taber, author of “Judgment of Paris” a book of the year in 2006 for Decanter magazine. And hopefully, this current book too will also be a Book of the Year. It is the first really significant wine book to come along in quite some time. Here is this history of sealing bottles, how cork was discovered, how corks are made, and why corks are possibly the best and most effective stoppers of all. If it weren’t for the TCA and chlorine compounds, life would be jolly. But it isn’t. Taber goes into the reasons for cork’s sudden rise in 2,4,6,-TCA levels, as well as other chlorine goodies. Modernization has killed the old fashioned cork. First, the musty taste and smell from TCA’s reaction to chlorine-as-sterilizer. Second, oxidation resulted from the new bottling lines, which demanded speed for efficiency (they put silicone finishes on corks in order to quickly seal a bottle, but the finish created gaps allowing wine to be exposed to air). Both of these increase defective wines to about 15% of the total. Yet about 10% is the profit margin, and wineries lost money here. Taber examines the Portuguese cork industry, with its lack of quality control in the early 1970s after the revolution. He looks at new closures such as plastic corks and Corq, glass, screw caps (and the various liners needed), and Zorks. The first test of screw caps for wine was at Davis in 1950. Essentially, though, it all came down to marketing. Plastic corks were more acceptable to consumers than screw caps – and they still are. There is a concluding bibliography (but no end notes) and an index. Audience and level of use: people who like to read about wine and the industry. Some interesting or unusual facts: TCA was first identified and named in 1981. A solution was possible, but Taber says that the Portuguese ignored the problem, hoping that it would go away. They were also afraid that if they examined their corks, too many of the corks would be rejected. The downside to this book: a few niggling errors (Gall sold Hearty Burgundy at retail in five-gallon jugs? Maybe 5 litre jugs. Tin capsules? Maybe lead capsules for a 1961 Grand Cru Bordeaux. And others...Also, there was no mention of the “Riesling with a Twist Campaign”. The index is not as comprehensive as one would hope. If you wanted to know about New Zealand screwcap activities (and there are two whole chapters on this), you’d never know from the index since there is no entry for New Zealand or any initiatives. It has all been located within the “screwcap” entry, which is a long series of sub-entries. The upside to this book: a well-written, fascinating account of an engrossing subject. Quality/Price Rating: 98. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. IN DEFENSE OF FOOD; an eater’s manifesto (Penguin Press, 2008, 244 pages, ISBN 978-1-59420-145-5, $19.95US hard covers) is by Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, which was the top-rated non-fiction book of 2006. The picture of leaf lettuce on the cover pretty well tells it all; it is accompanied by the text: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Some of this material was previously published last year in the New York Times’ magazine; that article was meant as a follow-up to his 2006 book. As he plainly makes clear, the real evil in food is the ideology that controls everyday eating. Pollan calls it “nutritionism”; it promotes nutrients above the food itself. In many ways, it is a lot like the movement of the late 19th century with Kellogg and Graham and their flours and foods. When you diet, you end up changing your balance of nutrients in your foods. Thus, a low- fat diet becomes a high-carb diet. When “additives” and “supplements” provide nutrients, you really don’t know if they will work in the same way as in “food”. Another argument against nutritionism is that new discoveries and new research methods have overturned the past: butter is better than its trans-fat replacement, free-range food is better that battery food, no fresh eggs were used in the 1960s cholesterol trials (powdered eggs were used, and that skewed the results), fat is a carrier in our bodies for natural nutrients and thus must be present in our diet. He goes on to show that many studies were flawed. For example, a half billion dollar eight year study of low-fat diets for women showed that the target range of 20% of total calories from fat intake was never achieved. The lowest it got was 29%. Because food corporations make their money on both novelties and long shelf lives, then all processed foods should be avoided. He produces what we can call the “The Michael Rules”. Some don’t rules: don’t eat food incapable of rotting; don’t eat food with unfamiliar ingredients and/or HFCS (high fructose corn syrup); don’t eat food that make health claims or are dietary supplements. Some do rules: do eat mostly plants (especially leaves); do eat wild foods; do pay more to eat less; do have a glass of wine with dinner. Audience and level of use: For retrovores (those who eat food that was raised the way they used to be raised) -- anyone concerned about what they eat, or looking for guidance on how to eat wisely. And everybody who read his first book. Some interesting or unusual facts: “I’m hoping this book will give people tools so they don’t have to be dependent on people like me” The downside to this book: while he has good material on fructose corn syrup, he has nothing on the other devil, MSG. The upside to this book: he has a great collection of printed sources (books and magazines) plus websites listed. Quality/Price Rating: 94. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND WINE BOOKS 3. IN DEFENSE OF FOOD; an eater’s manifesto (Penguin Audio, 2008, unabridged, 6.5 hours on 5 CDs, ISBN 978-0-14-314274-4, $38.50 Canadian) is the complete and unabridged audiotext version of Pollan’s book. It has been read by Scott Brick, who also narrated the 2006 “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. While all the text is here in unabridged format, there is no listing of the sources nor of the index, which is a shame...Quality/Price rating: 94. 4. BEYOND NOSE TO TAIL; more omnivorous recipes for the adventurous cook (Bloomsbury, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 226 pages, ISBN 978-1-59691- 414-8, $35 US hard covers) is by Fergus Henderson, the chef-author of “Nose to Tail Eating” (2000). It is a follow-up book of some 100 recipes, with second thoughts of staircase wisdom from the first book. Here he adds desserts (puddings), baking and bread to the original book. The original PR blurb said “part II” but this was replaced with the words “more” and “beyond”. Henderson owns the London resto St. John Bread and Wine. The meat recipes here deal more with the cheaper cuts of meat such as lamb shoulder, pigeon pies, and venison liver. Ingredients are all measured in metric. Audience and level of use: those interested in British cookery, or who have read his first book and need some carbos. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: Wigmore cheese and potato pie; snail, trotter, sausage and chick peas; confit pig’s cheek and dandelion; pickled shallots; minced beef and tatties; fennel, butterbean, oxtail soup. The downside to this book: very British. The upside to this book: there is a nice recipe for pressed pig’s ear, but it was not indexed under “ear”. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 5. THE ELEMENTS OF COOKING; translating the chef’s craft for every kitchen (Scribner, 2007, 245 pages, ISBN 978-0-7432-9978-7, $24US hard covers) is by Thomas Ruhlman, author of 12 books, including “The Making of a Chef” and “The French Laundry Cookbook” (as co-author). Notable logrollers include Anthony Bourdain, Jacques Pepin, and even Alton Brown (Food Network). Ruhlman tries to present the essential rules (“ruhls”?) of good cooking, heavily influenced by French techniques. The arrangement is A – Z, dictionary format, running from “acid” to “zester”. The first 50 pages of notes are interesting, since they cover “from stock to finesse”: the difference between a cook and a chef is apparently “finesse”. These pages cover salt, sauces, eggs, heat, and tools. His entries include a pronunciation guide where needed, and the more than occasional reference to “see McGee” (Howard McGee’s book). Of course, Ruhlman prefers metric measurements for ingredients, and scaling where possible. His bibliography is great: I’ve got all of them except for one from 1988, although I also have Saulnier’s Repertoire and Hering’s Dictionary, which he does NOT source. Both books are useful aide-memoires for the chef. His notes on “recipes”, under “R” in the dictionary section, should have been in the essay section where more people would have read it. The key to utilizing a recipe is to always have a “mise en place”. You can find more about this book at www.ruhlman.com. Audience and level of use: advanced foodies. Some interesting or unusual facts: “McGee’s [On Food and Cooking] is the most important book about food and cooking ever written, probably in any language”. The downside to this book: there is no index to retrieve the nitty- gritty. And why is the 1997 Rombauer Joy of Cooking cited in the bibliography and not the latest 2006 edition which has restored all the old faves? Does he hate casseroles? The upside to this book: France rules!! Quality/Price Rating: 89. 6. FANTASTICO! Little Italian plates (Broadway Books, 2007, 274 pages, ISBN 978-0-7679-2381-1, $35US hard covers) is by Rick Tramonto, a chef who now has a restaurant management and development company with multiple concepts and ownerships. The focusing food writer is Mary Goodbody, a food writer and editor who had previously worked with Tramonto on the book “Amuse-Bouche”. This time they have moved on to the next course: small plates. But of course, Italian small plates, which includes appetizers and snacks with wine. He wants us all to “think small”, which is useful, but you still need to spend a certain quantity of time and preparation in doing the work. His contents cover such areas as “assaggio” (Italian amuse-bouche), then “bocconcini” (small bites), bruschetta, crostini, crudo, antipasti, dried cured meats, panini, cicchetti, and cheese. His 100 recipes come with wine recommendations and tips on buying the foods. US volume measurements are used throughout, and the sources list is all US. Audience and level of use: those into trendy tapas, small plate stuff. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: abruzzi swordfish rollups; goat cheese with frisee salad; heirloom tomatoes with burrata cheese; grilled radicchio di treviso; roasted cipolline; marinated white anchovy and dandelion salad The downside to this book: what are all the chapter heads in Italian except for “cheese”? What’s wrong with formaggio? The upside to this book: good wine notes Quality/Price Rating: 85. 7. COOKING (Ten Speed Press, 2007, 540 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-789-6, $40US hard covers) is by the indefatigable James Peterson, an award winning cookbook author and food writer. He began as a chef, moved into teaching, and now also produces cookbooks – now up to 13 or 14. This cookbook weighs just over 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilos). He claims one million of his cookbooks are in print, but he still needs log rolling from Jeremiah Tower and Bonnie Stern. These 600 recipes form a learn-how-to cook book. There are some 1500 instructional photos which show how preps are made: how to cut up a chicken, shuck an oyster, get pan sauces, and ice a cake. He begins with the basic ten cooking methods, and then moves on to the basic preps such as roast chicken, grilled steak, braised fish, mashed potatoes and gravy, pizza, and berry pie. All courses are covered from apps to desserts, expressed in double columned pages with one or two recipes per page. US volume measurements are used for the ingredients, but there are conversion charts. There is also a glossary of cooking terms on the inside cover pages. Try www.jimcooks.com for more details and recipes. Audience and level of use: beginners, schools of hospitality, libraries. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: foie gras terrine; fried squid; borscht; shrimp and tomatillo soup; bean and parsley salad; chicken fricassee with spring vegetables. The downside to this book: heavy book, hard to maneuver. The upside to this book: there is a separate table of contents foe the how-to photography. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 8. BEANEATERS & BREAD SOUP (Quadrille Publishing, 2007; distr. Ten Speed Pres, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-84400-462-1, $45US hard covers) is by Lori De Mori, a British food writer who bought a farm in Tuscany and now specializes in writing about Tuscan food. Food and location photography is by Jason Lowe, her husband. Tuscans were once known as “mangiafagioli”, or bean eaters. This is a chronicle of Tuscan culinary customs, with 25 portraits of food artisans and 90 recipes. Tuscany, of course, is a very trendy area, a host to dozens of cooking and wine schools. Small producers she has profiled include a pasta maker, a beekeeper, a mushroom forager, knife maker, shepherd, olive oil creator, artichoke grower, and the like. For example, she interviews Famiglia Frullani, chestnut growers, and there is a description of the process, how low-tech they all are, material on drying chestnuts, plus three recipes (roasted chestnuts, chestnut polenta with ricotta, and chestnut flour cake). There is an overall list of recipes, divided into courses, and there are also Italian names for the preps. She has contact data as well as a small map of where they are clustered in Tuscany. The ingredients are measured in metric but she also used teaspoons and tablespoons. Audience and level of use: Tuscan lovers, memoirists. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: salad of guinea fowl, radicchio, and fennel; farro salad; sauteed bitter greens; tagliolini with chanterelles. The downside to this book: no index, just a list of recipes to scan. Also, there are no tables of equivalents. The upside to this book: there is a ribbon book mark. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 9. AUTHENTIC RECIPES FROM MOROCCO (Periplus Editions, 2007; distr. Ten Speed Press, 112 pages, ISBN 978-0-7946-0325-0, $14.95US hard covers) is by Fatema Hal, a food writer who now lives in Paris where she operates “La Mansouria” restaurant. This is one of a modestly priced series “Authentic Recipes from...” Her 60 recipes are basic to the cuisine, and concentrate on spices, tagines, and couscous. There is a brief survey of the history of food in Morocco, where cuisine is essentially a feminine art. There are details about ceremonies and the impact of Islam on the food. These are complemented with touristy pictures. Her pantry lists specific ingredients, of course, but substitutions are suggested, such as using black caraway seeds for Nigella seeds. There are lots of relevant lamb and chicken dishes. Metric conversion charts complete the package. Audience and level of use: curious cooks, tourists to Morocco. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: caraway soup; goat cheese pastries; cinnamon rice pudding; lamb with prunes and sesame seeds; roasted spiced eggplant puree; spring vegetable couscous. The downside to this book: the index is only by recipe title, so “country Bread” is under “C” and not “B”. “Braised lamb” is under “B”. The upside to this book: a concise overview. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 10. THE HEALTHY HEDONIST HOLIDAYS; a year of multicultural, vegetarian- friendly holiday feasts (Simon & Schuster, 2007, 275 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7432-8725-8, $19.95US paper covers) is by Myra Kornfeld, a food writer and restaurant chef specializing in vegetarian food. This is an ethnic- based “flexitarian” cookbook, centered on celebrations throughout the year. Each of the 15 holiday menus offer a vegetarian and fish/poultry main plus sides, appetizers and desserts. Vegans can also pick their way through the dishes. Opportunities include Kwanzaa (Ethiopian-style feats), Easter (Greek), Christmas Eve (East European dishes), Ramadan, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Cinco de Mayo, etc. The food emphasis is on appropriate spicing of seasonal foods, whole grains, and natural sugars. There’s a page or so about culinary traditions surrounding the event and a series of cook’s notes for a prep time line (weeks ahead, days ahead, day of, etc.). Decorations are up to you. The glossary of ingredients is followed by a US resources list and weight and volume equivalency tables. Audience and level of use: celebratory foodies. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: for example of Chinese New Year, there is shrimp and eggplant dumplings, sesame noodles with wilted Napa cabbage, tofu and black bean sauce, roast chicken, bok choy, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, and almond-orange fortune cookies. The downside to this book: resource list is all US The upside to this book: there is a focus on holidays for vegetarians, and for those who need or want a meat option. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 11. THE WRITING DIET; write yourself right-size (Tarcher Penguin, 2007, 234 pages, ISBN 978-1-58542-571-6, $19.95US hard covers) is by Julia Cameron, an artist and writer who has written many books about the creative process, such as “The Artist’s Way”. Her book is based on the simple premise that creativity can block overeating. Her research is fairly sound: in over 25 years of teaching a 12 week course on creative unblocking she has seen many of her students dramatically lose weight. She wants you to take your mind off your stomach, to substitute writing “food for thought” for actual food. She uses journaling to examine one’s relationship with food. We should learn to treat food cravings as invitations to evaluate what we are TRULY craving in our emotional lives. Her book has been strongly endorsed by Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones) and Dr. Christiane Northrup (Women’s Bodies). Part One presents the tools of morning writing, journaling, walking, and HALT (hunger, anger, loneliness, tired). Part Two deals with situations and solutions, with case studies (virtually al women). There are a short series of sidebars of how-to tips which serve as chapter summaries. Situation examples include night eating, snacks, relapse, food as a high, exercises, water, fresh food, sex, breakfast, the fridge, clothes, mirrors, desserts, and affirmations. There are no recipes, and one main generic menu. Audience and level of use: more for women than for men. Some interesting or unusual facts: Overeating blocks creativity, and creativity blocks overeating. Break the cycle by finding something new to do. The downside to this book: there is no index, but the chapters are short and concise enough that most of the relevant material that you would be looking for can be captured on a few pages. The upside to this book: sensible eating menu, a lifestyle book. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 12. FRANCESCO’S KITCHEN; an intimate guide to the authentic flavours of Venice (Ebury Press, 2007, 320 pages, ISBN 978-0-09192-228-3, $65 Canadian hard cover) is by Francesco da Mosta, and architect and filmmaker. He has lived in Venice for most of his life, and his firm specializes in restoration projects in Venice. He had filmed two BBC2 series on Venice and Italy. Here he shows us his 16th century palazzo in the centre of Venice. The 150 recipes are spruced around Venetian food history and reminiscences, almost a memoir. Local cuisine is based on fish and spices, plus crossroads food too. Thus we also have pasta, risottos, and polenta. The tour begins as the courses progress, from antipasti through pasta, fish, meat, vegetables, and then desserts. He has lots of history tucked away in his cook’s notes. But the discussion on local wines is too short, and he seems to favour convivial social drinks and coffee shops. Ingredients are listed in both avoirdupois and metric measurements. The index is by ingredient name and the Italian name of the dish. Audience and level of use: lovers of Venetian cuisine. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: buranei (biscuits); hare pie; roast goose with apple and chestnuts; marinated sardines; leek risotto; gnocchi veronesi; polenta with beans. The downside to this book: too many touristy pictures. The upside to this book: specific to a region, and there are illustrations with historical paintings and engravings. Quality/Price Rating: 86. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESTAURANT COOKBOOKS... ...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks. Actually, they’ve been around for many years, but never in such proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be flogged at the restaurant and since the chef ends up being a celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I’ll try to point this out. The usual schtick is “favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks”. There is also PR copy on “demystifying ethnic ingredients”. PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase “mouth-watering recipes” as if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don’t seem to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some companies, though, will ship around the world, so don’t ignore them altogether. Here’s a rundown on the latest crop of such books – 13. ELIZABETH FALKNER’S DEMOLITION DESSERTS; recipes from Citizen Cake (Ten Speed Press, 2007, 230 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-781-0, $35US hard covers) is by the chef/owner of Citizen Cake, Citizen Cupcake, and Orson in San Francisco. She was a pastry chef of the year in 2006 (Bon Appetit), and has appeared regularly on the Food Network, including “Iron Chef America”. Notable log rollers for the book include Mario Batali and four other chefs. But why also Robin Williams? Here are 65 or so dessert recipes, with lots of colour photography for the preps and (too many) location shots. The 10 anime-style sequences can appeal to a young audience; they illustrate key techniques and ingredient information throughout the book. Most of the preps are elaborate and somewhat complex, but they have been adapted to home kitchens. Each comes with a preparation timeline for organization and mise en place, and there is also a “minimalist” version for those who are pressed for time. Commercial chefs scale everything by weight. Falkner lists both home cooking volumes and scaling for the ingredients, and this is a good thing, since only scaling is accurate. Thus, under apple galettes, we read that you can prepare the puff pastry up to one month in advance, make the caramel sauce one week in advance, and what to do just before serving. The minimalist version suggests making strip tarts rather than the puff pastry. For the ingredients, you’ll need 2 cups (or 10 ounces) of flour, 12 tablespoons (6 ounces) of cold unsalted butter, etc. She opens the book with – what else? – chocolate chip cookies. She follows with chocolate desserts, fruit, cupcakes, “classics”, and heavy construction and layering. The publisher has a metric conversion chart at the back. Check out www.citizencake.com. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 14. THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY COOKBOOK; a taste of Provence (ThreeForks, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 162 pages, ISBN 978-0-7627-4375-9, $24.95 US hard covers) is by Scott Cohen, executive chef of Las Canarias and Pesca on the River, both in San Antonio. Co-author Marian Betancourt is a freelance food writer with an immense string of credits to her name. Notable logrollers include Jacques Pepin and Ed Brown (Eight One Restaurant in NYC). After 15 years in New York (this after a stagiaire in France), Cohen moved out to Texas. Here they present about 100 recipes derived from his two places, and they are reflective of the landscape. But I rather think that it more Sonoma than Provence, since many of the dishes had that Southwest flavour. Typical dishes include black olive tapenade with pickled nopalitos, tuna tartare with sesame seeds and serrano, squash blossom roasted corn huitacoche soup, red snapper cioppino, pissaladiere with goat cheese, cauliflower mashes with Mexican oregano. There is the usual equipment and pantry inventory advice, condiments, sources in the surrounding Texas Hill country area, and a metric conversion table. This is reliable and do-able cooking. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 15. THE BOSTON CHEF’S TABLE; the best in contemporary cuisine (ThreeForks, 2008; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 234 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7627-4514-2, $24.95 US hard covers) has been assembled by Clara Silverstein, a former food writer with the Boston Herald. She has collected and highlighted over 100 recipes from chefs in the Boston area, including Todd English, Jasper White, and Lydia Shire. Chapters are arranged by course (appetizers to desserts and brunch), and the recipes – of course – have been modified for home use. Each prep gets an entry for the restaurant, along with names and addresses and web sites. Sometimes cook’s notes are offered. And there is always a mini- profile of the establishment, sometime with a photo. Thus, for New England cheese pie there is an entry for Meritage at the Boston Harbor Hotel, under Executive Chef Daniel Bruce. There’s lobster and sweet potato cakes from Ned Devine’s at Faneuil Hall, scallops with turnip puree from Blu, beet and kale risotto from L’Espalier, and baked lemon pudding from Locke-Ober. Restaurants and recipes are indexed together, and there is a metric conversion chart for the US measurements. Quality/Price rating: 90. 16. BISTRO LAURENT TOURONDEL; new American bistro cooking (John Wiley, 2008, 286 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-75883-9, $34.95US hard covers) is by the eponymous Executive Chef who has more than six restaurants in the US. He was named Restaurateur of the Year for 2007 by Bob Appetit. Food author Michele Scicolone is the co-writer. Noted logrollers include the usual team of Batali and Flay. Here, Tourondel has 150 recipes derived from his restaurants, which have been described as “traditional French bistro with the a la carte options of an American steakhouse.” An initial response might be: “how thrilling!” But ultimately this is global fusion cuisine with a multiplicity of flavours centered on a core of meat or seafood tones. The range, and table of contents, moves from appetizers through to desserts: grilled white asparagus, egg, prosciutto, black truffle vinaigrette; green papaya chicken salad; spicy curry duck noodles; potato-watercress soup, blue cheese and bacon; roasted cod fish, herb-bacon crust; dried apricot bread pudding. US volume measurements for each ingredient are used, but there is no table of metric equivalents (except for oven temperatures). He has a special section on techniques, but there are still too many extraneous photos of the chef and his resto at work. Wine suggestions and cook’s tips are exceedingly useful. Mail order sources are all US, mostly within striking distance of New York City. Quality/Price rating: 87. 17. NEW WORLD PROVENCE; modern French cooking for friends and family (Arsenal Pulp Books, 2007, 216 pages, ISBN 978-1-55152-223-4, $22.95US soft covers) is by the husband-and-wife team of Alessandra and Jean- Francis Quaglia. They met while working at restos in Nice. They opened their first Provence restaurant in Vancouver in 1997, and their second in 2002. Here are 130 healthy and simple recipes based on their resto menus. Antipasti comes first (I’m allowing that word since the Italians were all over Provence before the French were), followed by appetizers and the rest of the courses. For some reason, there is a chapter on Brunch, between the Meat Mains and the Desserts. Try sauteed squid with chili-citrus vinaigrette; salade forestiere; roasted vegetable tartelettes with sun-dried tomatoes; fennel pollen-dusted wild salmon with lemon aioli; pear and fig torte. The preps are more Northern Mediterranean rather than Provencal, but it is all the same related cuisine. The narrative material and cook’s tips are a bit memoirish, and there are extraneous photos of the authors and/or staff and friends standing around or preparing something, rather than pictures about the plated food. US volume and metric weight measures are mingled and inconsistent; there is no table of metric equivalents. Quality/Price rating: 86. 18. ONE POT ITALIAN COOKING (Whitecap, 2007, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1- 55285-900-1, $29.95 paper covers) is by Massimo Capra, co-owner and chef of Mistura in Toronto. He appears regularly on the Food Network, and this book is endorsed by two other Food Network regulars, Lynn Crawford (Four Seasons in NYC) and Michael Smith. It is a strange book for Capra to author, since he runs an upscale Italian resto at Av and Dav in Toronto. One pot? Does Mistura even do one pot cooking? Well, yes it does: balsamic-glazed lamb ribs, which has been and still is a fixture on their menu. He says that lamb ribs are hard to find (probably because his resto has cornered the market on them!) but worth the effort. Here are more than 100 “easy” and “authentic” recipes. One pot is also to taken to mean one skillet or one sauce pan as well. So we get soups, stews and braises, sautés, and desserts. Most of the food is definitely rustic. Try Tuscan cabbage soup (ribollita), chestnut polenta, farmer’s risotto, garganelli with fava beans and prosciutto, chicken rolls with eggplant, or Lombardy sand cake. Quality/Price rating: 90. AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR JANUARY 2008 ============================================================= By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: !!! 2008 WARNING – NEW PRICE ALERT: All prices listed below are now in US DOLLARS as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition (or not) of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * WINE BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. THIS FOOD THAT WINE; wine food and pairing made easy (McArthur & Company, 2007, 377 pages, ISBN 978-1-55278-684-0, $29.95 paper covers) is by Angie MacRae and Stacey Metulynsky, co-hosts of the Food Network show of the same name as the book’s title. This is a companion book to the TV series. Here are 150 recipes emphasizing simple, fresh and big flavours. Each recipe is accompanied by wine pairing suggestions and explanations, such as why some wines work and others do not. Usually, there is a main wine match and a secondary wine for each recipe. Canadian content abounds with baco noir, vidal, and icewine being covered. All recipe ingredients are expressed in both metric and imperial measurements, a bonus in production. The index includes varietal names, but it needs fine tuning. For instance, under the heading of “merlot” there are beef matches and pork matches generically indicated. But looking under “beef”, I found only 8 recipes and no wines were cited for matching. You can check out more wine matches at Stacey’s website www.groovygrapes.com . Audience and level of use: whoever wants to know more about food and wine pairing. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: lemon chicken lollipops (match with gewurztraminer or prosecco); pan fried trout (riesling); roquefort and green apple tart (off-dry riesling); poached halibut provencal (white Rhone or Italian soave); roast chicken (oaked chardonnay or pinot noir); vegetable phyllo roll (cabernet franc). The downside to this book: too much space wasted on the introductory wine stuff, which is common and found everywhere. I could scream... The upside to this book: breezy style sells: the book appeals to a younger crowd, not to old fogeys. Quality/Price Rating: 88. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. DECONSTRUCTING THE DISH; inspirations for modern-day cuisine (Whitecap, 2007, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-55285-897-4, $35 soft covers) is by David Adjey, a consulting chef on the ever-popular “Restaurant Makeover”. He has also appeared on other Food Network shows. He was once Dan Aykroyd’s personal chef, and Dan has endorsed the book. He begins by stating “I dissect and explain each dish as comprised of building blocks, each hidden within the finished dish”. Exploring this way will allow you to start from the centre (the principle) and work out to the garnish, the vegetable, and the sauce. Adjey also promotes 12 rules, one of which is “Cook from a different region in the world at least once a week”. He has the book arranged from Fall to Summer. These are all complex flavours, not for the faint of heart. Nor are they quick and easy. You’ll need to put some work into it. And that’s a good thing, for spin-offs and variations will later come to you. He has 40 mains and accompaniments or garnishes; there are no apps or desserts. Ingredients are expressed in both US and metric forms. He has a glossary and basic recipes for stocks. Audience and level of use: other chefs, those looking for a challenge. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: duck twofer (roasted breast and confit leg); grouper, yellow pepper, purple potato, pink grapefruit; oxtail, red wine ragout, butternut squash ravioli, fried parsley; turkey, oyster bread pudding, lima beans, white gravy; ancho rabbit, pozole-poblano stew, epazote-hominy ensalada. The downside to this book: some may decry the lack of apps and desserts. The upside to this book: there is excellent photography, particularly on building the dish and plating presentation. Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND WINE BOOKS 3. THE BALI COOKBOOK (Kyle Cathie, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-85626-715-1, $29.95US soft covers) is by Lonny Gerungan who was born on Bali. In fact, his father was the chef at the Bali Hotel and his mother ran her own resto on the island. Lonny is now a TV chef in the Netherlands; he ran his own Balinese restaurant for 15 years. He has made eight TV shows about Indonesia, and authored 12 cookbooks. Bali attracted almost 2 million international visitors last year (many for the environmental summit), but the publisher claims that this is first major book on Balinese cuisine. It is also being marketed as a “perfect souvenir” for anyone who has been there. There is a fair bit of cultural life explored here. The major religion is “Hindu dharma” which combines Hinduism, animism, and Buddhism. The gods must be appeased each day with offerings of special positive foods – which are then consumed by mortals. There are some modifications here, since Westerners eat less rice than Indonesians do. The ingredient measurements are in metric, with teaspoons for volume measurements. There is also a glossary of ingredients. Audience and level of use: unique book, those wanting to explore an exotic cuisine. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: duck breast satay; grilled chicken with sambal sauce; pork belly barbecued in banana leaves; goat in spicy coconut sauce; spicy pig’s trotters; roasted suckling pig with Balinese spices. The downside to this book: some ingredients are hard to obtain in North America. It’s OK if you live in Australia. The upside to this book: metric conversion chart. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 4. KITCHEN SEASONS; easy recipes for seasonal organic food (Ryland Peters & Small, 2007, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-467-1, $24.95US hard covers) is by Australian food writer and caterer Ross Dobson. It is another in the plethora of “eat locally in season” books. The main rationales to do so are, of course, to save money, to get better nutrition through freshness, and to reduce carbon emissions from the distribution system. There are 76 preps here, from apps to desserts. Spring sees leafy young greens (tender) at their sweetest and crispest, plus asparagus and rhubarb. Summer has tomatoes; fall has fruits; winter has root vegetables. The arrangement is by season. Ancillary data include mail order and websites (all US), along with tips on how use farmers’ markets. All of the preps have US volume measurements, but there is a metric table of equivalents. Bonus: the book comes with a ribbon marker. Audience and level of use: basic, useful for newer cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: pickled spring vegetables; potato and smoked trout salad; spring chicken soup with herbs; pasta with purple broccoli; sage pork chops with kale colcannon; apple and blueberry tarts. The downside to this book: there is little here on preserving and putting food by (canning, freezing) for using up surpluses and creating out-of-season enjoyment. The upside to this book: variations are indicated for when you try the recipe again as “Next Time”, with page references to other options. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 5. FOOD, WINE, & FRIENDS; simple menus for great entertaining (Ryland Peters & Small, 2007, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-465-7, $27.95US hard covers) is by Fiona Beckett, a prolific free-lance food writer and cookbook author who has been specializing in food and wine pairing and matching. In fact, she runs the popular website www.matchingfoodandwine.com. She has many menus for all kinds of gatherings, plus drink matches – beyond wines. She has recks for beer, cocktails, coffees and teas, and non-alcoholic beverages. The 110 recipes are scattered over 23 menus, such as creating a cheeseboard by the seasons, a fine wine menu, a tapas event, a dessert menu, a vegetarian harvest dinner, brunch, BBQ, seafood, and Italian and Provencal lunches. Each menu has three or more dishes, with some variations and matching drink ideas. Tips and advice to save time abound. US volume measurements are used. Audience and level of use: good for menu composers and ideas. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: there are tables of matching food to wine and matching wine to food. The downside to this book: Only US websites are listed. The upside to this book: excellent photography and settings. There are also tables of metric equivalents. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 6. THE 500 BEST-VALUE WINES IN THE LCBO 2008 (Whitecap, 2007, 248 pages, ISBN 978-1-55285-866-0, $19.95 soft covers) is by the www.winecurrent.com team of Rod Phillips and Vic Harradine, wine writers and academics. They have worked their way through the LCBO General List and Vintages Essentials, two categories of products in Ontario wherein the wines are always supposed to be available until delisted. Many of the wines thus list for under ten dollars, with most being less than $15. The wines apply to the rest of Canada too, for they employ the CSPC number which is the same everywhere. Except, of course, not every wine is available in every province, nor at the same price point. They give basic info on the wine ratings, the LCBO, wine service, and food and wine pairing. The wines are rated on a five star scale, and are listed by category (colour or style), and then by country, and then alphabetically by producer. Each wine gets some kind of a food recommendation and a rating. There is space for the reader to add his own notes. The original announcement for the book showed that there would be wine labels here to illustrate the notes, but that is not the case with the finished book. Also, there was supposed to be headings for users to add a “Date Bought” and “Your Rating” (this would have been a useful lead to guide, but instead there are just “Notes” and some blank lines). The style of the authors’ notes is just too much PR for me, especially in view of the final rating. For example, the very first wine is a pinot grigio from Argentina at $10.20: “This deserves your attention as a well-paced and well-priced Pinot Grigio in a wine world awash in plonk made from this grape.” And then rated 3.5 stars (“above average value”)? I think not. Too many 3 star wines are written as “delicious”. The actual tasting note describing the wines (fruit, finish, wood tones, etc.) is actually very good and spot on. But not the rest of the note. And the 3.5 starred Gray Fox ($7.10) chardonnay from California – essentially like a US box wine – is undeserving of “pan-fried salmon or trout lightly rubbed with butter under a drizzle of fresh lemon”. Especially since a 4 star wine from Oz, costing more than twice as much, just goes with unadorned “pan- fried salmon”. Or a 4 star Oz chardonnay (again, twice as much in price) goes with unadorned “turkey”. I mean, everything goes with turkey. That’s a no-brainer call. The authors say “McWilliam is a large winery that’s still family-owned – rare today when multinational corporations own most big wineries.” Well, the McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate Chardonnay that is here touted is actually a joint venture with Gallo, with the series meant only for export and designed for the markets it is sold in. To me, that makes it “multi-national” and not family. It is also hard to believe that they could give both red and white L’Epayrie 3 stars, especially when an Alsatian Gewurztraminer also gets 3. Some updating is needed as the Turning Leaf wines are now tetrapaks. I am miffed that my two favourite cheapies (a Chilean white and an Italian red) are not even mentioned. Ah well, one man’s wine is another man’s vinegar...While they suggest that the reader can find a wine for every occasion, one has to read the notes in order to find this information. There is no index to style or mood (you’ll have to read Munnelly’s “Best Bottles” book for that, see below). Any relaxing wines, party wines, BBQ, dinner wines, and the like have to be found by plowing through the book. Audience and level of use: beginners, those who want a quide to LCBO wines. The downside to this book: some quibbles with editorial content. The upside to this book: there is an index to grape varieties and to regions. Quality/Price Rating: Munnelly’s book costs two dollars more, but David Lawrason’s guide to essentially the same turf (and sub-arranged by value rather than alphabetically) is $15 less! 87. 7. SOUPS; over 200 of the best recipes (Hamlyn, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 256 pages, ISBN 978-0-600-61711-2, $12.95US soft covers) has been pulled together by Nicky Hill, although you won’t find this name until page 256. There is no attribution to either Nicky or to the recipes. Soups are very inexpensive and very convenient; I try to have a bowl every day, for they are quick, healthy, and delicious. All seasons are covered here, from cool summer soups to hot winter soups. There are classics, modern twists, and global fusion ethnic soups. The book’s arrangement is by major ingredient (e.g., meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, plus “hearty”, Asian, and “chilled”). There are cook’s notes on how to expand the soups, and indications for prep times, cooking times, and service numbers. After the basics of stock production and equipment, there is a chapter headed “finishing touches” to cover garnishes, cream, bread, croutons, herbs, and spicing levels. Audience and level of use: soup lovers, beginning cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: chicken and corn soup; pea and mint soup; melon and prosciutto soup; spicy apple and potato soup; garlic and almond soup; iced tomato soup with salsa verde. The downside to this book: where did the recipes come from? The upside to this book: sturdy binding. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 8. THE EVERYTHING GUIDE TO STARTING AND RUNNING A CATERING BUSINESS; insider’s advice on turning your talent into a lucrative career (Adams Media, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 304 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869- 384-3, $14.95US soft covers) is by Joyce Weinberg, a food industry professional with 20 years of catering experience. It is another entry in the “Everything” series from Adams Media. This “how to” book begins by emphasizing how to choose a name, how to develop a menu, and how to develop a business plan. It is very useful for recent hospitality school grads, stay-at home parents with hospitality experience, and many food professionals looking to be their own boss. The major topics stress both the fun and the not-so-fun aspects, the idea of personal chefs, the American industry set-up, pricing, proposal writing directed to customers, marketing, finding partners and employers, outsourcing food, food presentation, special equipment. She says that the biggest headache is the costing out of the products. She includes some helpful forms, but you’ll need to find out on your own how to stand out from the herd. The resources section is almost all US, certainly for the listings of the associations and the websites. But there is a glossary and a bibliography for further reading. Audience and level of use: small business explorers, newbies. Some interesting or unusual facts: Overall employment of catering workers is expected to increase by more than 27% in the next ten years in North America. The downside to this book: mainly US-based, but principles can apply to Canada. The upside to this book: covers catering software. Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS... ...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent “re-editions”... * BILLY’S BEST BOTTLES; wines for 2008 (McArthur & Co., 2007, 200 pages, ISBN 978-1-55278-683-3, $21.96 spiral bound) is now in its 18th edition. I got it too late for inclusion in my annual gift article, wherein I discussed other wine annuals. The wines in Billy's listings are all available at the LCBO's General List and some as Vintages Essentials, in Ontario; most will also be found in other provinces and American states. He leads off with his plea for wine drinking by mood, and this mood determines the strength level of the wine. His "Wine By Mood Spectrum Chart" (also at www.billysbestbottles.com) is for food and mood matches, based on fresh wines, medium (body) wines, and rich wines, subdivided by white and red. This is the "Six Pack" approach to wine drinking. Each wine has advice on how to serve plus plenty of food matches and ideas (but the recommendations for pizza are for tomato- sauce and cheese pizzas only). There is a wine calendar for upcoming events in Ontario, but mainly for the GTA region. Wines are indexed by category and by country. But this index can be ripped out in the book store for a listing of the 200 or so wines. This is the major drawback of any spiral bound book. Also, there are not many details about grape varieties for the Euro wines. But it exhibits a no-nonsense commonsense approach to wine, and there is an updated list of touring wineries in Ontario. Quality/Price rating: 87. * WEEK IN WEEK OUT; 52 seasonal stories (Quadrille, 2007, 255 pages, ISBN 978-1-84400-502-4, $45US hard covers) is by Simon Hopkinson, former chef at Bibendum (1987-1995). He is now a full time UK food writer. The material in this volume was previously published in The Independent Saturday magazine between December 1994 and April 2002. If necessary, Hopkinson reworked the recipe. Jason Lowe was the original photographer, and he is back with some presumably new settings. There are 52 productions here, beginning with Winter and moving through Autumn. It is an eclectic mix, relying on seasonal availability. All recipes, of course, are for home use. Each week Hopkinson focused on a particular ingredient or foodie topic at the time. The recipes take their lead from the time of year, and usually there are three or so each week. Try roast quails with butter and lemon; tomatoes stuffed with crab and basil; cold veal with sliced egg and anchovy sauce; hot strawberry and almond pie. Quality/Price rating: 88. * MICHAEL BROADBENT’S POCKET VINTAGE WINE COMPANION (Harcourt, 2007, 408 pages, ISBN 978-0-15-101261-9, $22US hard covers) is by Michael Broadbent, MW, probably the most experienced fine-wine taster in the world, with 55 years and more in the wine trade. He also writes a monthly column for Decanter (and has done so for the past 30 years). This “pocket” book, in a decent 4.83 x 6.75 size, in two colours (black and red inks), updates his previous 2002 book, MICHAEL BROADBENT'S VINTAGE WINE; fifty years of tasting three centuries of wine at $80, so it is a bargain book. He’s shortened the format, leaving out much material from the original 560 large size pages. The original big book began life in 1980, with a revision in 1991 and 2002. This, then, is a third revision, and certainly more affordable. Dropped are his profiles of personalities and many of his anecdotes. Also dropped are Madeira entries, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, various appendices and indexes. Added are updated notes over the past five years, and a re-assessment of all vintages. The sources for his wine notes are from collectors' cellars, wine auctions, legendary tastings, wine society events, and his own personal cellar. He is not consumer-driven like Robert Parker. Most tasting notes have been rewritten and made smaller. France gets 300 pages, Germany 45 pages, California has 20 pages, and Vintage Ports get 25 pages. Bordeaux has the biggest chunk of space, naturally, for it has long lasting, mostly expensive, and widely available wine (plus of course the Brits are just across the Channel from Bordeaux and have an intimate history of involvement in the wine trade, as with Madeira and Port). Bordeaux is the wine which turns up in cellars and auctions everywhere. Most of the whites here are Sauternes. Red Burgundy is mostly DRC. Icewines? Well, none from Canada, but there are a handful from Germany (eiswein). There is also a chart specifying ullage levels and wine terms. Quality/Price rating: 95. * THE GOOD HOUSEKEEPING COOKBOOK; 1,039 recipes from America’s favorite test kitchen. Rev. ed. (Hearst Books, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 608 pages, ISBN 978-1-58816-561-9, $24.95US hard covers) has been edited by Susan Westmoreland, the Food Director of “Good Housekeeping”. It has been often revised over the years; indeed, I grew up with previous editions. It’s a basic book, nothing too fancy, arranged by product or course. Thus, there are chapters on appetizers, soups, stews, quick and easy weeknight meals, quickbreads, desserts, as well as products such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, beans, veggies and fruit. The boards inside the covers have tables of equivalents, substitutions, pan volumes, and food equivalents. There are test kitchen tips strewn throughout. The pages are clay coated which allows for colour photography, an added bonus. Plus the pages clean up better should you spill any foods or oils on them. More recipes are at www.goodhousekeeping.com. The book jacket says: “By the time our recipes appear on these pages, they are guaranteed to work in any kitchen, including yours. We promise.” Quality/Price rating: 90. * SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND; with eight around the table (Quadrille, 2006, 2007, 224 pages, ISBN 978-1-84400-507-9, $29.95US soft covers) is by Ruth Watson, an award-winning UK food writer and food editor (Daily Mail). She has twice won the Glenfiddich Award. This book was originally published in 2006 in hard covers, and the paperback reprint is a straight reissue, right down to the Jamie Oliver logrolling. The basic intent is to provide stress-free weekend entertaining, when you can be focused entirely on the guests and the meals. All of the recipes can be prepared in advance, or made to a quick cook stage a la minute. No cook starters are emphasized, as well as one-pot dishes or roasts. The key, of course, is planning. British emphasis. Quality/Price rating: 85. * THE 100-MILE DIET; a year of local eating (Vintage Canada, 2007, 266 pages, ISBN 978-0-679-31483-7, $19.95 paper covers) is by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, a couple living in Vancouver. They are both authors and magazine writers. This current book is the 2007 paperback reprint of the hard back book. They make a year-long attempt to eat only food grown and produced with a 100-mile radius of their apartment in Vancouver. They did it when they discovered that the food ingredients that we eat have traveled 1500 miles on average. It’s a little easier to do this on the west coast where the climate is milder and the growing season is longer. But there is no denying that imported foods such as coffee and chocolate would have to go, as well as non-BC wines. For Ontario, we’ll have to eat a lot of root veggies and hydroponics. But no matter...The book is well-written and enjoyable on its own terms: it makes you think. Quality/Price rating: 91. * NEW GOOD FOOD; essential ingredients for cooking and eating well. (Ten Speed Press, 2007, 284 pages, ISBN 978-1-58008-750-6, $19.95US paper covers) is by Margaret M. Wittenberg, global VP of Whole Foods Market, where she has worked since 1981. Logrollers include Mollie Katzen and Heidi Swanson, but, really, only Marion Nestle counts here. The book was originally published in 1995; here, it has been extensively revised and expanded. For years it had been a bible for buying, storing and preparing whole foods. There are seven new chapters, including one on whole grains. Grass-fed beef and antibiotic use in meat production is covered, as well as organic labeling and new nutritional findings. She also covers fruits and vegetables, breads, pasta and noodles, beans and lentils, nuts and seeds, oils, poultry and eggs, dairy products, seafood, and seasonings. Just about everything mentioned can be found at the larger health and natural food stores (think: Whole Foods), so that makes the book exceedingly useful. Other useful items include seasonal produce charts and preparation advice. No recipes, but there are cooking guidelines for each product. It is nice to see that the bibliography has very few articles from before 1995. Quality/Price rating: 92. * ONE-DISH VEGETARIAN MEALS; 150 easy, wholesome, and delicious soups, stews, casseroles, stir-fries, pastas, rice dishes, chilies, and more (Harvard Common Press, 2007; distr. National Book Network, 200 pages, ISBN 978-1-55832-369-8, $29US hard covers) is by Robin Robertson, cookbook author (she’s written about 14 of them), chef, and vegetarian- cooking instructor. The book collects the best recipes from three earlier works (“Rice & Spice”. “Pasta for All Seasons”, and “The Vegetarian Chili Cookbook”). I assume that one-third of the recipes come from each book. But all courses and forms are covered anyway, including lunches, dinners, workdays and weekends. There are also dairy-free options. Quality/Price rating: 88. * HISTORY IN A GLASS; sixty years of wine writing from Gourmet (Modern Library, 2006, 2007, 376 pages, ISBN 978-0-8129-7194-1, $16.95US paper covers) has been edited by Ruth Reichl, the current editor of Gourmet magazine. It is a companion piece to Endless Feasts, which was a collection of food essays from sixty years of Gourmet. The current book was originally published in 2006 in hard cover; this is the paperback reprint. The seventeen writers here include Gerald Asher and Frank Schoonmaker, who were long time regular columnists. Hugh Johnson, James Beard, Andre L. Simon, and Frederick S. Wildman Jr. are other notables. There’s a lot of American history here, beginning with Repeal and the War. Madeira, pinot noir, Ray Bradbury’s dandelion wine, Oregon, Washington, Chile, Spain, Chianti, sherry and others complete the picture. Well worth a read. Quality/Price rating: 90. * THE BEST LIFE DIET (Simon & Schuster, 2007, 283 pages, ISBN 978-1- 4166-8492-6, $17.50US soft covers) is by Bob Greene, an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer specializing in fitness, metabolism, and weight loss. He has written 10 other similar life- altering books. This is a paperback reprint of the 2006 hard cover, a monster of a bestseller. It details a diet plan, lifestyle advice, and healthful recipes. This is the guy who helped Oprah Winfrey shed a lot of weight. Here are any menus along with recipes for several weeks’ worth of eating. But don’t forget the exercise. He has metric conversion charts as well. Check out his website www.thebestlife.com for more material. Quality/Price rating: 89. * PASTA PASSION (Quadrille, 2007; distr. Ten Speed, 304 pages, ISBN 978-1-84400-449-2, $18.95US paper covers) is by Ursula Ferrigno, a chef, consultant, and food writer who specializes in Italian cuisine. It was originally published in 2003, and has now been revised and re- laid out. The hook here is that pasta is a) a staple, b)a five minute meal, and c)a source of energy complex carbohydrates. She data on pasta shapes (and which sauces are best matches for which shapes) and fresh pasta. 150 recipes range from the basic (spaghetti with red peppers and tomatoes) to the upscale (vincigrassi aperto: open lasagna with cep mushrooms and prosciutto). Topics include light and healthy recipes, make aheads, and everyday, as well as easy and impressive recipes. There are even some dessert recipes (e.g., Neapolitan ricotta tart) which use pasta. Quality/Price rating: 88. * SPICE; recipes to delight the senses (Periplus, 2005, 2007, 273 pages, ISBN 978-0-7946-0489-9, $39.95US hard covers) is by Christine Mansfield, an Australian chef now working in Covent Garden’s East@West. She is also a cookbook writer, and this is her fourth such book. It was originally published in 1999 and revised and updated in 2005. This is it’s first North American appearance. Aromatics are used from Sri Lanka, Japan, Singapore, Tunisia, China, Thailand and China. It now comes with an introduction by Charlie Trotter. There is an extensive glossary of the major spices in the world, followed by material on dry spice blends (garam masala, curry, berbere, five spice powder (although the Chinese version has six spices, two [anise and fennel] with the same flavour profile), wet spice pastes, condiments, oils, and sauces. The arrangement is apps to desserts. There is a 10 page discussion on matching wines to spices, and this is quite good and useful. She has an international list of spice suppliers and a bibliography; unfortunately, the book listings appear not to have been updated since the 1999 edition. Try pepper sourdough bread; chili cumin dal; eggplant masala; chicken livers with pickled lamb’s tongue, mustard spaghetti and garlic sauce. Quality/Price rating: 89. * THE GLOBAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WINE (Wine Appreciation Guild, 2000, 2001, 912 pages plus CD-ROM, ISBN 978-1-891267-38-3, $75US) has been edited by Peter Forrestal. Here are 36 wine experts who cover various regions; they are all named. Tony Aspler deals with Canada. The book was originally published in Australia and was reprinted by the WAG. I have no idea why I was sent a review copy, for the book is neither new nor up-to-date. Yet the book proclaims “Another feature of this massive book is that it is up to date...This book has run to a tight schedule without compromising its integrity.” There are two paragraphs detailing how they cracked the whip in order to keep the book current – but only as of 2000. Hey, there have been tremendous changes since 2000! Good pictures and maps, but shame about the text. To compound the matter, the book was apparently mailed to me at the end of October 2007, but sat in the San Francisco post office until the end of 2007. Ah, well. The one real redeeming value is the CD-ROM which allows for single word searches and contextualizing. Quality/Price ratio: unrated. * COCKTAILS; style recipes (Simon and Schuster, 2005, 2008, 96 pages, ISBN 978-1-4165-7101-8, $15.95US paper covers) is by food and drink writer-editor-author Norman Kolpas. It is a paperback reissue of his 2005 book. There are over 50 easy-to-make drinks, both contemporary and classic, plus tips and ideas for party planning. It has been organized by type of drink and type of occasion, featuring stunning photography. The book concludes with a glossary and an index. Quality/Price rating: 85. * THE INSULIN-RESISTANCE DIET. 2d ed. Rev. and exp. (McGraw-Hill, 2008, 240 pages, ISBN 978-0-07-149984-2, $16.95US soft covers) is by Cheryle Hart, M.D., and Mary Kay Grossman, R.D. This book originally came out in 2001, and since then it has sold 150,000 copies. The eating plan here is fully described: how to lose weight by linking carbs and proteins to control blood sugar. Or, as the authors state: “How to turn off your body’s fat-making machine”. The latest info is, of course, incorporated into the text. The authors claim that 95% of their patients successfully lose weight using their plan’s Link-and-Balance Eating Method, self-tests, and food lists. 45 recipes are included, as well as shopping and restaurant strategies. Quality/Price rating: 91. * THE RIVER COTTAGE MEAT BOOK (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004, 2007; distr. McArthur, 544 pages, ISBN 978-0-340-82638-6, $29.95 soft covers) is by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a UK writer and Channel Four broadcaster. He lives at “River Cottage” in Dorset, and fights for real food and meat in England. This is his third cookbook in the River Cottage series. It was published in 2004, and here gets a paperback reprint at a reduced price. The original edition sold 165,000 copies, so lots of people are eating lots of meat. This is a tightly researched, from a British perspective, book on meats such as beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and game. There is a side excursion into offal. 40% of the book is about meat; the rest is about recipes scattered amongst cooking techniques with their own chapters (roasting, slow cooking, fast cooking, barbecuing, preserving and processing, and using leftovers in soups and stocks. There is a bibliography and a British resources list of suppliers. He includes a small section on a dozen mood categories, with page references. So for “Sheer Comfort”, we can have cold roast beef open sandwich, rice pudding pork, daube, beef in stout, Irish stew, red flannel has, spaghetti bolognese, and others. All the dishes we associate with the UK are here, such as steak and kidney pie, jugged hare, roast belly of pork, roast grouse, oxtail stew, pork pie, and roast beef (the full monty, he says). Of course, his shepherd’s pie is made with lamb. Many more details are at www.rivercottage.net. Quality/Price rating: 89. ---------------------------------------------------- AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR DECEMBER 2007 ============================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: WARNING -- PRICE ALERT: All prices are as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. EYEWITNESS COMPANIONS: BEER (DK, 2007, 288 pages, ISBN 978-0-7566- 3155-0, $25 paper covers) has been edited by the late Michael Jackson (he died in August, 2007), the world’s leading writer on beer. He was a multiple-award winning specialist on barley, for he also wrote about whiskies. The book is an “illustrated portable guide to global beers”. Jackson only goes after the best beers and the top producers, and furnishes extensive tasting notes. There’s material on beer styles and history (lager, ale, porter, krieks, etc.), how to taste and enjoy a beer, beer and food matching, and a glossary of terms. That leaves 210 pages for beers of the world. The Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, and the UK get the most space. Beers are arranged alphabetically within countries. Each brewer gets a name entry, address, website, short history-description, and a tasting note for one or more beer styles. There are 18 breweries listed for Canada, from Amsterdam, Big Rock, Brick, McAuslan, Moosehead, and Wellington among others. Illustrations are colourful, and feature mainly bottles, labels, and adverts. Audience and level of use: beer drinkers who read. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: the TN for Bud – “sweet, grainy nose, with green apples, a light balanced body, but without distinct flavours”. The downside to this book: major producers include Budweiser and Miller, and they are here, adding nothing to the book. The upside to this book: comprehensive and illustrative. Quality/Price Rating: 90. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. THE BACON COOKBOOK; more than 150 recipes from around the world for everyone’s favorite food (John Wiley, 2007, 276 pages, ISBN 978-0-470- 04282-3, $41.99 hard covers) is by James Villas, who was the food and wine editor of “Town & Country” magazine for 27 years. He has won 2 Beards for journalism, and has authored innumerable cookbooks. Villas is a specialist in Southern cuisine. The first principle here is that bacon makes every meal better. 168 recipes are claimed here, and they are largely French Provencal, Japanese, and other regions of the world. All courses are covered, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts. Artisanal bacons are also covered, but there is nothing on Berkshire pigs, the latest hot hog in North America. Basics are covered, such as how bacon is produced and different international styles from Europe, North America and China (lop yuk). The preps are arranged by course, from apps to desserts. Most use bacon as a substantial ingredient, not just as a flavouring. Both mail order sources and measurements are US only. Audience and level of use: ham and bacon lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: zapallo calabaza; tarte a la flamme; tourtiere; adobo; Serbian bacon, bean, and cabbage soup; Santa Fe venison sausage and Canadian bacon stew; chocolate truffles and peameal bacon. The downside to this book: there are no conversion charts, nor any mention of Berkshire. The upside to this book: a single ingredient book is always welcomed. Quality/Price Rating: 90. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND WINE BOOKS 3. PURE DESSERT (Artisan Books, 2007; distr. T. Allen, 262 pages, ISBN 978-0-1-57965-211-1, $43.95 hard covers) is by Alice Medrich, who opened a dessert shop (Chocolat) in Berkeley thirty years ago. She has written five other books on sweets (three of them major award winners); they have been mainly about chocolate. Here, she broadens her appeal to include other desserts, but still manages to produce recipes for chocolate. She notes that the recipes are simple in tone, with no glazes or frostings, and few fillings. But they are not easy. Her specific instructions include using only whole grains in cookies, making a pound cake with olive oil and sherry, using different cheeses for souffle, using chestnut flour and walnuts for meringues, and generally employing honey and raw sugars to replace refined sugars. She concentrates on developing the flavours behind milk, grains, nuts and seeds, fruit, chocolate, and sugars. She even has a small chapter on alcohol, with beer ice cream, vin santo, kirsch gratin, beer granita, and wine granita. In her discussion on equipment, she compares silicone baking mats versus parchment paper, concluding that usage is “depending on type of batter involved.” Audience and level of use: interested cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: almond cake; ricotta and lace; bittersweet brownies; lemon tart; whole wheat sables. The downside to this book: resources list is all US. The upside to this book: most recipes are scaled for weights, in addition to volume measurements. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 4. LYN PETERSON’S REAL LIFE KITCHENS (Clarkson Potter, 2007, 260 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-35162-3, $50 hard covers) is the third book by the founder of Motif Designs. She has written two other books on decorating and on renovating. This book purports to be a total guide to renovations or a new building of a kitchen. She has sought and recorded advice from architects, designers, contractors, and families who made the changes. There are 26 case studies and photo shoots. The kitchen is, of course, the main room of the house. This is where the family and the guests (eventually) congregate in these days of super casual dining. And the kitchen is a big ticket item in its cost. Peterson covers the basics of scope, finding people, planning, layouts, selecting appliances, surfaces, cabinetry, lighting, and flooring. There are excellent photos and nifty floor plans. Audience and level of use: good reference book. Some interesting or unusual facts: The number of renos has increased by 50% in the past five years in the United States, and this is probably the same for Canada. The downside to this book: resources are all US-based, but many of them are large companies with offices in Canada. The upside to this book: efficient index. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 5. CRUST; bread to get your teeth into (Kyle Books, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 159 pages plus DVD, ISBN 978-1-904920-64-9, $29.95 hard covers) is by Richard Bertinet, a baker trained in Brittany. He had previously authored “Dough”, which cleaned up in the IACP, Julia Child and James Beard Awards; it too had a DVD. This DVD is about 30 minutes and it demonstrates some of the steps for some of the recipes. This is a sort of volume two, or and “Advanced Dough”. Here he covers thirty breads: bagels, pretzels, blinis, ciabatta, cabernet grape flour bread, sourdoughs, croissant, brioche, Japanese bread crackers, chestnut flour bread, Thai flat bread, gluten-free bread, spelt, and variations. Recipes are scaled and ingredients are expressed in both metric and Imperial measurements. Audience and level of use: those looking for a baking challenge. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: the first book sold 1200 copies in Canada, which is quite remarkable. The downside to this book: unfortunately, the DVD holder is dreadful, and the DVD can never be put back. You must store it independently of the book. This flaw happened with his first book too. The upside to this book: conversion tables are also included. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 6. PERFECT PARTIES; tips and advice from a New York party planner (Skyhorse Publishing, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 155 pages, ISBN 978-1-60239-116-1, $23.95 hard covers) is by Linnea Johansson, a NYC party planner. Noted logrollers are Bobby Flay, Marcus Samuelsson, and Laurent Tourondel. Here is “advice for planning a fabulous event”. This author once was the event planner for a party at the Central Park Zoo, for 4000 people. It took a year to organize it...The parties in this book are smaller in scale. The detail is in the planning, with guest lists, budgeting, invitations, dress code, floral arrangements, decorating – right down to napkin folds. Other advice concerns how to network at parties or how to mingle, and creating a book of party memories. Two dozen recipes cover the basics for dinners, buffets, brunches, and hors d’oeuvre. There is some slight material on wines and cocktails. Party themes are discussed, such as a cocktail party, New Year’s Eve, and birthday events. Audience and level of use: party pretenders who might be too inexperienced to try the recipes. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: 24 recipes touch the basics, but why bother cooking this upscale food at all? Get it catered... The downside to this book: no index. And there are too many photos of the author rushing about New York city. The upside to this book: swag bags are covered – in Manhattan, you must give out swag bags to all your guests. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 7. 10,000 DRINKS (Sterling, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 1096 pages, ISBN 978-1-4027-4287-3, $23.95 hard covers) is by Paul Knorr, a former bartender who has been collecting recipes for about 20 years. This enormous book should not be handled by the faint of heart, for it may cause you GBH if you dropped it on your foot, especially if you’ve had a few concoctions based on its contents. It is arranged by type; it includes non-alcoholic beverages as well (but only 12 pages worth). The 21 categories scroll through champagne and wine-based drinks, beer, liquor-infused coffees, and iced-teas. Spirits scroll through the flaming, the blenderized, the frozen approach, the coolers, the layered arrangement, and, of course, the classics. Despite 10 or 12 recipes on a page, the print is on the large size. There is the usual stuff about stocking, bar equipment, techniques, and the like. Audience and level of use: beginning bartenders. Some interesting or unusual facts: enticing names for cocktails certainly sell them: Jack Hammer, Tahiti Rainstorm, You Had Me at Hellos, Kiss Down Under. The downside to this book: it begs for a CD or a computerized database approach by keyword. The upside to this book: this big collection thankfully has an index by major ingredient. The binding looks impressive, but just don’t overspread the gutters. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 8. THE WORLD IN BITE SIZE; tapas, mezze and other tasty morsels (Kyle Cathie, 2007; distr. Raincoast, 192 pages, ISBN 978-1-85626-721-2, $29.95 paper covers) is by Paul Gayler, a British Executive Chef at The Lanesborough, recipe book author, and multiple TV show personality in the UK. And 9. THE EVERYTHING TAPAS AND SMALL PLATES COOKBOOK (Adams Media, 2007; dist. Canadian Manda Group, 293 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869-467-3, $17.95 paper covers) is by Lynette Roher Shirk, a qualified chef who has worked for Wolfgang Puck and has cooked at James Beard House. The number one trend in dining out has been “small plates”, and here two authors give preps for homemade or housemade foods. Gaylor’s book is the more upscale of the two, more on “small plates”. He also drops names such as “cichetti” from Italy, “stuzzicini”, and “botanas” (Mexico) – all meaning smaller sizes. His 130 recipes have coloured illustrations, and are arranged geographically through the Americas, on to Spain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, the Spice Route, and the Far East. The same ground is covered by Shirk, but she throws in “pub food” from the UK. There is chaat from India, amuses bouche from France, izakaya and sushi from Japan, dim sum, antojitos, tapas, and mezes. The arrangement is by type of food (cheeses, salads, stews, eggs, potatoes, etc.). Much of what she serves we can call “street foods”. But there are 300 recipes here, more than twice that of Gaynor’s, and there is a tasting menu by country with page references. She also manages to add in wine pairings, with four dishes for each variety of wine (sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, zinfandel, riesling, etc.). Audience and level of use: both books have their appeal to cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: from Gaylor, there is calamari with chorizo and salsa verde; monkfish skewers; Peruvian potato cakes; dukkah-crumbed drumsticks; ikra; and Stilton fritters. Shirk’s has potato omelet; taramosalata; pot stickers; shepherd’s pie with beef; curried banana soup; rum raisin meatballs. The downside to this book: Shirk’s book has no metric table of equivalents, while Gaylor manages to use both US (teaspoons) and grams. But he goes have a conversion chart. The upside to this book: Shirk has a tasting menu idea for an antipasto party and an antojito fiesta. Gaylor is more upscale. Quality/Price Rating: for the upscale, Gaynor gets a 88. For variety, Shirk gets an 87. 10. HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING VEGETARIAN; simple meatless recipes for great food (John Wiley, 2007, 996 pages, ISBN 978-0-7645-2483-7, $41.99 hard covers) is by the ubiquitous Mark Bittman, multiple award winning cookbook author (Julia Child, IACP, Beard). Notable logrollers include Bobby Flay and Mario Batali, although at this point I don’t think that Bittman needs logrollers. Here, simple dishes are emphasized, along with tips, advice, cook’s notes, charts, sidebars, and lists. The database is 2000 recipes and variations. It is all straightforward, from apps through desserts, and he embraces meat substitutes such as tofu, and eggs and dairy. There are special icons to identify recipes that can be made in 30-minutes or less, recipes that can be prepped in advance, and vegan recipes. There are also 250 “how to” line drawing illustrations, plus 40 menus (with page references) for every type of occasions. US volume measurements are used, but there is a table of metric equivalents. He concludes with notes on meal planning. Audience and level of use: vegetarian completists, beginners. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: frozen honey mousse; wintertime tomato soup; vegetable pancake; caramelized spiced nuts; bean burgers; chili paste eight ways. The downside to this book: he hedges on the value of organic food. He prefers buying local to buying organic. This does not work well in Canada. The upside to this book: there are indexes of recipes by icon; the end pages have useful charts and measurement equivalents, plus a listing of 20 essential vegetarian dishes and 20 essential charts. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 11. LAURA WERLIN’S CHEESE ESSENTIALS; an insider’s guide to buying and serving cheese (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2007, 272 pages, ISBN 978-1- 58479-627-5, $29.95 paper covers) is by a James Beard and IACP award- winning cookbook author. This is her fourth book about cheese; she also freelances cheese articles. This is an introductory guide book to the basics of cheese production (different milks used, info on rinds and mold, artisanal cheeses), who to look for when buying, tasting notes and mouthfeels, how to be “cheese-wise”, and raw milk cheeses. There are eight styles of cheese, from fresh and semi-soft through to washed rind and blues. She has 50 recipes, from apps to desserts, with some preps for each of the eight styles of cheese. Illustrations are available for most of the cheeses. Her resources list includes cheese information resources (but none from Canada), small cheese shops (all US), a metric conversion chart, and a glossary. Audience and level of use: interested cheese lovers, beginners. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: watermelon, ricotta salata and fresh herb salad; grilled semi-soft cheese and olive sandwich; brie toasts with chardonnay-soaked raisins; manchego, quince paste, and Serrano ham on olive bread; acorn squash with pecorino and Swiss chard. The downside to this book: nothing on Canada except for two from Quebec (e.g., Oka) The upside to this book: there are many lists, including cheese blogs on the Internet. There is a recipe index in addition to a general index. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 12. BREWING CLASSIC STYLES; 80 winning recipes anyone can brew (Brewer Publications, 2007; distr. National Book Network, 317 pages, ISBN 978- 0-937381-92-2, $21 paper covers) is by Jamil Zainasheff and John J. Palmer. Jamil has won almost every prize going in the American Homebrewers Association’s National Homebrew Competition; these are his recipes. Palmer contributes material about beer ingredients, tips on brewing, and recipe adjustments. The brews range from light lager to smoke-flavoured and wood-aged beers. There are some 22 categories plus specialty beers such as Black Forest stout, made with cherries and chocolate adjuncts. The techniques include proper yeast pitching and starters, steeping, partial mashing, and technical tables. There is even a table for those beer styles categorized according to the level of effort to brew them. Thus, for beginners, there are recipes for American-styled beers, brown porter, Scottish beers, and sweet stout. The advanced homebrewer gets to play with gueuze, IPA, schwarzbier, and Vienna lager. Audience and level of use: this is not for those who just use cans. The downside to this book: some glossary entries are not very helpful. For example, the definition of “brettanomyces” has no description of the flavours or aromas. The upside to this book: these are specific and precise recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 88. 13. THE LITTLE BLACK APRON; a single girl’s guide to cooking with style & grace (Polka Dot Press, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 246 pages, ISBN 978-1-59869-206-8, $17.95 paper covers) is by the trio of nutritionist Jodi Citrin, marketer Melissa Gibson, and chef Katie Nuanes. The book automatically wins the award for best food book title of 2007, riffing off as it does against the little black dress. This is a book for the beleaguered single (mostly female, but actually it could be male too) who needs a guide to how the kitchen operates. There are witty commentaries and anecdotes, as well as solutions to healthy and simple cooking. Their material covers essential utensils, pantry staples, grocery shopping, cooking techniques, and entertaining tips for both a crowd (brunches, dinners) and for dates. 35 menus and 100 recipes are presented for single servings for weeknights (Sunday through Thursday, although Thursday is fast becoming part of the weekend), covering mains, sides, salads and desserts, plus the inevitable variations. Recipes can be dressed up or dressed down, and both styles can be paired as in “mix and match.” This is basic chick food: no heavy sauces or thick meats, and with only one BBQ recipe for burgers. Each recipe has a list of nutrients and cooking accessories needed, and you are encouraged to fill yourself with antioxidants, calcium, fibre, folate, low-fat, whole grains, and omega 3-6-9s. US volume measurements are employed, but there is a table of metric equivalents. Audience and level of use: beginners, self-effacing cooks. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: tomato-avocado-corn salad; sesame baby bok choy; roasted golden beets with goat cheese and hazelnuts; pork chops with figs and honey; seared chicken breast with almond-olive relish; mushroom ragout and spinach frittata with goat cheese. The downside to this book: no wine recommendations, which I should think would be absolutely essential when entertaining or dating. Also, too much pink ink was used. Now really... The upside to this book: this is the KISS approach to timing, organizing and prep work. The book has both a recipe index and a topical index. Quality/Price Rating: 90. 14. THE DEFINITIVE CANADIAN WINE & CHEESE COOKBOOK (Whitecap, 2007, 240 pages, ISBN 978-1-55285-896-7, $35 paper covers) is by chef-writer Gurth Pretty and wine-writer Tony Aspler, both well-known to Canadian food and wine people. This is Pretty’s second book on cheese. And it delves into more international types. The basics are covered (types of milk, how produced, raw and pasteurized, styles, buying and storing, serving). He goes on to describe how to make a great cheese board. Aspler goes into the principles of wine and cheese matching. The wine and cheese charts have Canadian pairings (Canadian cheese and Canadian wine) and international pairings. There are two concepts going on here: the cheese board and cooking with cheese. The 100 recipes are arranged by course, such as brunch, lunch, hors d’oeuvre, appetizers, mains, sides, and desserts. Each has a suggested Canadian cheese and producer to use, with international variations. Both metric and Imperial measurements are employed for the ingredients. Pretty indicates prep times, coking times, and service numbers. Aspler makes both red and white table wine suggestions (including apple wine), but he also recommends fizzy stuff too where needed, such as sparkling wine and beer. Audience and level of use: cheese lovers who want to cook. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: roasted garlic and double cheddar bread (full-bodied white, Tavel, or Belgian beer); breakfast polenta with fresh cheese (full-bodied white, medium-bodied red, real ale); broccoli potage with soft bloomy rind cheese (medium-bodied white, dry sherry); St. Lawrence seafood fondue using soft, bloomy rind cheese (light white, Tavel, sparkler, fino sherry, Czech pilsner, or vodka). The downside to this book: I think that I would have been a lot happier if the title was simply “The Definitive Wine and Cheese Cookbook”. I am not sure what “swiss” cheese is, but apparently we make it in Quebec, and it is not gruyere or emmenthaler in style, according to the notes provided. The upside to this book: there are actual Canadian wine recommendations. Quality/Price Rating: 88. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESTAURANT COOKBOOKS... ...are one of the hottest trends in cookbooks. Actually, they’ve been around for many years, but never in such proliferation. They are automatic sellers, since the book can be flogged at the restaurant and since the chef ends up being a celebrity somewhere, doing guest cooking or catering or even turning up on the Food Network. Most of these books will certainly appeal to fans of the chef and/or the restaurant. Many of the recipes in these books actually come off the menus of the restaurants involved. Occasionally, there will be, in these books, special notes or preps, or recipes for items no longer on the menu. Stories or anecdotes will be related to the history of a dish. But because most of these books are American, they use only US volume measurements for the ingredients; sometimes there is a table of metric equivalents, but more often there is not. I’ll try to point this out. The usual schtick is “favourite recipes made easy for everyday cooks”. There is also PR copy on “demystifying ethnic ingredients”. PR bumpf also includes much use of the magic phrase “mouth-watering recipes” as if that is what it takes to sell such a book. I keep hearing from readers, users, and other food writers that some restaurant recipes (not necessarily from these books) don’t seem to work, but how could that be? They all claim to be kitchen tested for the home, and many books identify the food researcher by name. Most books are loaded with tips, techniques, and advice, as well as gregarious stories about life in the restaurant world. Photos abound, usually of the chef bounding about. But of course there are a lot of food shots, verging on gastroporn. The endorsements are from other celebrities in a magnificent case of logrolling. If resources are cited, they are usually American mail order firms, with websites. Some companies, though, will ship around the world, so don’t ignore them altogether. Here’s a rundown on the latest crop of such books – 15. DISH ENTERTAINS; everyday simple to special occasions (HarperCollins, 2007, 247 pages, ISBN 978-0-00-200772-6, $44.95 hard covers) is by Trish Magwood, owner of dish cooking school and Food Network chef. It comes with an endorsement by Linda Haynes, cofounder of ACE Bakery. This is basic stylish entertaining, with no sit down dinners. There are two categories – everyday simple weekday, and special occasions. The emphasis here is a collection of passarounds or buffets. She has a tapas and cocktail party (with guidelines for quantities) and a family- style dinner gathering from serving platters. She passes along many caterer’s tips and tricks, as well as time saving techniques. The range is from appetizers to desserts, and many preps have been on her “Party Dish” TV show. The 115 recipes call for special equipment that you may not need to use otherwise, but if you are in the catering game, then they are essential. Her dishes include balsamic pesto chicken, mocha tortoni mousse, smoked trout and avocado, and soup shooters. But one of her photos of pancetta looks suspiciously like prosciutto, and there is a consistent misspelling of “hors d’oeuvre” – it’s not pluralized. But there are both Imperial and metric measurements used in the ingredients listings, a plus. Her website is www.dishcookingstudio.com which has Magwood’s schedule and a bevy of other recipes. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 16. CRESCENT CITY COOKING; unforgettable recipes from Susan Spicer’s New Orleans (Knopf, 2007, 405 pages, ISBN 978-1-4000-4389-7, $44 hard covers) is from Chef Spicer who owns two restos in New Orleans: Bayona (in the French Quarter) and Herbsaint (on St.Charles). Paula Disbrowe, a chef and a food writer, is the focusing co-author. Notable log rollers include Lidia Bastianich (“dazzles the palate”), Mario Batali (“sense of place and tradition”), and Daniel Boulud (“exciting and original recipes”). This is Southern cooking meets Creole/Cajun, expressed through 175 recipes. Most dishes come from her restaurants. There is a sources list for mail orders (all US) and an extensive index, with initial letters highlighted in red. Typical dishes include pickled shrimp, Bayou chicken wings (actually, frog legs), Mexican green gazpacho with shellfish, crayfish pies, and gumbos. There are also quite a few “international dishes” (e.g. pork sate, Asian noodle salad, and the like) that seem a bit out of place in a New Orleans book. At the end, there is a large cocktail section. The recipes are printed on coloured paper, which makes it difficult to photocopy, and sometimes to even read. The ingredients are expressed in US volume measurements, but there are no tables of metric equivalents. Quality/Price Rating: 84. 17. ASIAN FLAVORS OF JEAN-GEORGES (Broadway Books, 2007, 290 pages, ISBN 978-0-7679-1273-0, $50 hard covers) is by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, founder of eponymous establishments such as JoJo and Vong, Jean-Georges, plus several others such as Spice Market, Rama (in London), more in Shanghai and Las Vegas. He spends most of his time developing recipes and overseeing his empire of 18 restaurants. For this book, to have more Asian credibility, log rollers include Asian chefs Nobu Matsuhisa (owner of restos Nobu and Matsuhisa, “ingenious combinations”) and Toronto’s own Susur Lee (owner of Susur and Lee, “unique and nuanced food palette of taste sensations”). Hmmm...There must be something about these chefs who name restos after all of their first, middle (if any), and last names! His book is pan-Asian, and reflects the recipes at Vong, 66, and Spice Market (the latter deals with Asiatic street food). The 175 recipes are arranged from apps to desserts: cold sesame noodles, lobster summer rolls, ribbons of tuna with ginger marinade, corn and crab soup, avocado and radish salad with onion tempura, squab with egg noodle pancake. The ingredients are expressed in US volume measurements, but there are no tables of metric equivalents. Quality/Price Rating: 86. 18. NIGELLA EXPRESS; good food fast (Knopf, 2007, 390 pages, ISBN 978- 0-676-97976-3, $50 hard covers) is by Nigella Lawson, a food goddess with a popular series of TV shows and books (“Nigella Bites”, “Feast”, “Forever Summer”). The bumpf alliteratively describes this book as “featuring fabulous fast foods”. There are the usual short cuts (expressed with flair) and time-saving ideas. The basic rule for speedy food is to make every single ingredient earn its place in the composition: “minimize effort by maximizing taste”. And, also, there is minimum stress for maximum enjoyment (also, just turn off your cell phone). The layout is superb, and thank God it has metric weights and measures for the listed ingredients. There is material on party presentations, speedy suppers, quick breakfasts, calming food, holiday quickies, pantry and larder storage items. Basic quality stuff includes only organic eggs, unsalted butter, fresh herbs, infused oils, and dark 70% chocolate. Try breakfast bruschetta, chopped ceviche, lamb shanks with beans, butternut and sweet potato soup, and lamb tagine. It is quality food in a quality book (it even comes with a ribbon bookmarker!) but the price is sticky for a “fast food” book. Quality/Price Rating: 83. 19. THE ART OF SIMPLE FOOD (Clarkson Potter, 2007, 406 pages, ISBN 978- 0-307-33679-8, $44 hard covers) is by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame. She shares co-authorship with Patricia Curtan, Kelsie Kerr, and Fritz Streiff, who are never actually identified in the book. Curtan is given two credits: one for the illustrations, and one for the design. There are 19 culinary “lessons” and foundation approaches for starting from scratch (how to make fresh pasta, do a risotto, sauteeing, grilling, making omelets, making custards, etc.). This is part one. The second part is a collection of 250 recipes for cooking everyday (sauces, salads, soup, pasta, breads, eggs, cheese, veggies, flesh, and desserts). Her principles are simple, and have been influenced by Richard Olney and Elizabeth David from the 1960s: eat locally, eat sustainably, eat seasonally, shop at farmers’ markets, plant a garden, compost and recycle, cook simply, and others. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 20. CIOPPINO’S MEDITERRANEAN GRILL; a lifetime of excellence in the kitchen (Douglas & McIntyre, 2007, 234 pages, ISBN 978-1-55365-251-9, $60 hard covers) is by Pino Posteraro, owner-chef since 1999 of this restaurant and Cioppino’s Enoteca, both in Vancouver. These high end restos emphasize Mediterranean fusion cuisine. The 100 recipes here come from the restaurant, adapted for the home cook. The reference section includes sauces, flavoured oils, pasta dough, confit vegetable preps, and the like. The oversize book is very heavy, and you might want to photocopy any recipes before rolling up your sleeves. There is a memoir section (with photos) and a strange page about sous-vide cooking (which he does in the restaurant), but then says no one should do it at home. Yet the book is meant for home cooking. The term is not indexed. Metric weights and measures are used throughout, which is an excellent sign of a careful cook. Instructions are explicit, with service and prep times. Suggested wines are mostly Pacific Northwest and Italian, although there are some French and Chilean picks. Unfortunately, he is quite explicit about label names and vintage years, and only gives one wine per dish instead of a range of choices to accommodate the reader’s local market. Quality/Price Rating: 87. 21. PACIFIC NORTHWEST WINING AND DINING; the people, places, food, and drink of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia (John Wiley & Sons, 2007, 270 pages, ISBN 978-0-471-74685-0, $41.99 hard covers) is by Braiden Rex-Johnson, a food editor who has been writing about Pacific Northwest food and wine for more than 15 years. Here, in this part travel part cookbook, she takes us to a variety of restaurants, arranged by region or state. The dedicated space is roughly a third each for Washington, Oregon, and BC, with 15 pages on Idaho. There is a listing of wine and food festivals in the area. The idea of Northwest cuisine is basically paired with the wine culture. Seafood, lamb and fruit play prominent roles. There is good material here on food and wine matching. Recipes are cited as to source, with the names and addresses and websites of the restos. The 113 recipes, even for BC, have US volume measurements and no metric tables of equivalents. There are really nice colour photos, including one of the dimples on the outside of a stainless-steel wine tank. From BC, we have recipes from Feenie’s, Araxi, C, Sooke Harbour House, Tinhorn Creek, and others. It’s about time we had a book like this for the Niagara Frontier-Finger Lakes regions. Quality/Price Rating: 89. AN ADDED VALUE FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS --- WINE AND FOOD BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS IN REVIEW FOR OCTOBER 2007 =================================================================== By Dean Tudor, Gothic Epicures Writing, dtudor@ryerson.ca Always available at www.deantudor.com But first, these words: WARNING -- PRICE ALERT: All prices are as printed on the cover. In these times of US-Canadian currency fluctuations AND online discounts, plus the addition of GST, prices will vary upwards or downwards. ALLEZ CUISINE !! * DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. GUINNESS; the 250-year quest for the perfect pint (John Wiley, 2007, 250 pages, ISBN 978-0-470-12052-1, $29.99 hard covers) is a business narrative written by Bill Yenne, a beer journalist living in San Francisco. He has written almost 40 books on a variety of historical topics. Plus six more on beer. This book was originally subtitled: “the story of the world’s greatest beer”, but better minds prevailed. But this book has been described as a perfectly poured history of the world’s most famous beer. And that’s 2 billion perfectly poured (one would hope) pints EACH YEAR. This is a mixture of Irish history and the biography of a family, compellingly told over a 250 year frame. Arthur Guinness became a brewer at age 30. His son and namesake came up with the winning formula. His son (grandson Benjamin) became the richest man in Ireland selling stout. It was Benjamin who built the family business into the beer juggernaut, the largest single brewery in the world. In addition to history and biography, this book is also the story of beer technology and craftsmanship. Yenne has drawn from two basic source documents, Patrick Lynch’s “Guinness Brewery in the Irish Economy, 1759-1876” and S.R. Dennison’s “Guinness 1886-1939”. Particularly useful is the story of the 1986 innovation to help form the characteristic smooth and creamy head, for an authentic Guinness every time; it is now used in every bottle and can sold. There is a copious bibliography and a very useful index. Audience and level of use: corporate history lovers, erudite beer drinkers. Some interesting or unusual facts: Guinness Extra Stout is the closest to the Guinness Porter originally brewed by Arthur Guinness now available. But it has less than five per cent of all Guinness sales worldwide. Guinness Draught has almost completely replaced it. The downside to this book: is “widget” the only name for the device that issues nitrogen to preserve the draught element? The upside to this book: there are some good black and white illustrations from the archives. Quality/Price Rating: 91. * FOOD BOOK OF THE MONTH ! * ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. THE OXFORD COMPANION TO ITALIAN FOOD (Oxford University Press, 2007, 637 pages, ISBN 978-0-19-860617-8, $39.95 hard covers) is by Gillian Riley, a food historian who makes major contributions to the Oxford Symposium on Food, and author of “Renaissance Recipes” and the National Gallery Cookbook. She’s assisted by five contributors, including Anna del Conte and Carol Field, but she’s done the bulk of the detail work, including the writing of all the unsigned articles. There are 900 articles here, in an A – Z setup for all of the entries (and no recipes). Major categories of topics include: history, society, culture, variety of cuisine, myths, dishes and prepared foods, ingredients (e.g., seafood, sweets, vegetables, herbs, meats, pasta), delicacies, cooking methods, culinary terms, implements, regional specialties (e.g. Emilia-Romagna), baked goods (amaretti, bruschetta, cornetto, panettone), cheeses. There are 75 biographies of important Italians, mainly chefs. She has some good clarifying notes on the differences between emmer wheat (farro) and spelt. Unfortunately, there is not much on wine or on other beverages – probably outside her scope. The index has large type; it is extensive with copious cross- references. And there are internal cross-references as well, where appropriate. Headwords stand out clearly. She provides a long and up- to-date bibliography. Basic question: why start with Italian food? Why not French food? Just asking... Audience and level of use: Italian food lovers, librarians, hospitality schools, food reference book collectors. Some interesting or unusual facts: Ciabatta is very recent. Its dough was described in 1985 by Carol Field as “utterly unfamiliar and probably a bit scary”. The downside to this book: not really a downside, but how far along is Oxford going with all of its Companion series? In Food and Drink alone they can mine the field with at least 100 titles. The one map of Italy is a puny black and white affair. And there are the occasional errors of pagination in the index (e.g., emmer wheat). The upside to this book: there are small, occasional black and white photos which are informative. She also manages to cover mediaeval cookbooks, and food in Renaissance paintings. Quality/Price Rating: 95 (great price, even cheaper on Amazon.Ca) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER FOOD AND WINE BOOKS 3. GOOD SPIRITS; recipes, revelations, refreshments, and romance, shaken and served with a twist (Harvard Common Press, 2007; distr. National Book Network, 484 pages, ISBN 978-1-55832-336-0, $35.95 hard covers) is by A.J. Rathbun, an author of party food and drink, and a poet. He currently runs the Kitchen and Housewares store at Amazon.com. The 450 recipes here have all the classics for the main spirit categories: martini (and variations), shooters, icy drinks, blender drinks, hot drinks. Reference data includes the basic bar setup, glassware, mixers, garnishes, and practical tips. He has good background data on such as different types of bitters, small batch bourbons, and the best cocktails. There are 24 of these: the alexander, the bloody mary, the champagne cocktail, the daiquiri, the gibson, the mai tai, gimlet, manhattan, margarita, mojito, old fashioned, mint julep, screwdriver, etc. He has lots of notes for each drink. And almost everything else is a variation. Audience and level of use: home mixologists. The downside to this book: a bit of redundancy with other cocktail books. The upside to this book: there are metric conversion charts and great pictures, almost gastroporn. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 4. SAUCES (Ryland Peters Small, 2007; distr. T. Allen, 96 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-483-1, $19.95 hard covers) is by Louise Pickford, a Brit food writer who now writes from Australia. She has authored 20 or so cookbooks. Here are 70 sweet and savoury recipes, of all the basic types of thickened, reduced, emulsified, pureed, and enriched. There are also dressings, salsas, aioli, dips and new twists on pasta sauces. She starts with the classics and then riffs to the variations. With some culinary knowledge and some imagination, you too can turn a sauce into a soup into a stew, and so forth. US volume measurements are used throughout. Audience and level of use: beginner. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: roasted bell pepper butter sauce, chile caramel sauce, agrodulce sauce, gorgonzola-pecan- mascarpone sauce. The downside to this book: recipe procedures are in a smaller type font than the rest of the book, and this looks out of place. The upside to this book: metric conversion charts. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 5. HIP TASTES; the fresh guide to wine (Viking Studio, 2007; distr. Penguin, 303 pages, ISBN 978-0-14-200519-4, $21.50 paper covers) is by Courtney Cochran, a certified sommelier working in San Francisco. She has the flair of Toronto’s own Zoltan Szabo. Hmmm....This is a quick review book, with lots to memorize if you want to be profound. The book is meant for a young audience. Hip vocabulary is used, and the style is anecdotal. Tips and advice abound: how not to get ripped off in restaurants, food and wine matches for simple flavours, label essentials, phonetics for difficult-to-pronounce wine terms, best wines for a party, hip producers in hip regions, and the like. You can check out hiptastes.com for more ideas. Her appendices present a list of Euro wines named for places (e.g. Bordeaux), a phonetic guide, a region and vintage guide (plus an indication of values), and a list of US retailers and wine festivals. Audience and level of use: new and young wine drinkers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: small pours and tastes in restaurants are all the rage, the ultimate booze grazing. You should be able to ask the restaurant to do this, from their open bottles. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 6. THE APPLE; a history of Canada’s perfect fruit (McArthur and Company, 2007, 161 pages, ISBN 978-1-55278-679-6, $24.95 paper covers) is by Carol Martin, a former publisher and editor, once with the Canada Council, and now a full-time gardener. She had previously authored books about rural Ontario, including “A History of Canadian Gardening”. This is a straight ahead account of the history of apples in Canada, beginning with Champlain and his saplings in Quebec City up through Sir George Simpson (HBC) and apple seeds out west. And then into the 20th century. Cultivated apples, she says, were a success in Canada because of their sweet and healthy addition to a boring diet. They were better than the native crabapples. They can be dried for year-long eating; they can be used for cider (both hard and soft) as a liquid refreshment. Any wastage could be composted. Canadian apples have long been exported to both the United States and Europe. Martin has provided great photos from the past, focusing on orchards, people, and named varieties. She has a dozen recipes from diverse named sources, but only a handful of apples are best for cooking (cortland, spy, mutsu, gravenstein, ida red). It is just too bad that the apple “industry” is tanking, especially so in the drink area (Chinese imports). There is a bibliography and some end notes. Audience and level of use: apple lovers everywhere, libraries. Some interesting or unusual facts: there are 2,000 named cultivars growing in Canada, but fewer than two dozen of these names are recognizable. The downside to this book: for a Canadian book, it needs a metric table of equivalents. The upside to this book: the illustrations are very good. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 7. THE SKI HOUSE COOKBOOK; warm winter dishes for cold weather fun (Clarkson Potter, 2007, 192 pages, ISBN 978-0-307-33998-0, $38 hard covers) is by Tina Anderson and Sarah Pinneo. Both are avid skiers. The 125 winter recipes are useful anywhere, but should be applicable to the ski runs. There is a technical section on high altitude cooking, which of course is needed since most runs are in the mountains, and a section on slow cooking (what to do while you are ON the slopes). Other reference matter concerns the stocking of the pantry and larder. The main schtick of the book is that each recipe is coded with a difficulty rating that corresponds to the slopes’ green dots, blue squares, and black diamonds. Their contents embrace apres-ski snacks, breakfasts, fast foods, lunches, hearty soups, pastas, and hot beverages. Audience and level of use: skiers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: fondues, French toast, granolas, muffins, ham and cheddar strata, turkey and brie sandwiches with apple, black bean quesadillas. The downside to this book: for a book which can be used in Europe and Canada, there are only US volume measurements here, with no metric tables of equivalents. The upside to this book: this situational cookbook is useful. Quality/Price Rating: 85. 8. CHOCOLATE; deliciously indulgent recipes for chocolate lovers (Ryland, Peters, & Small, 2007; distr. T. Allen, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1- 84597-463-3, $30.95 hard covers) is by prolific British food writer Maxine Clark. She covers the basics and the types of chocolates in 12 pages, with a couple of pages on the “future” (fair trade, organic, etc.). There are 90 recipes plus variations, all with excellent photography. Chapter headings include cakes, cookies, tarts and pies, hot desserts, chilled deserts, truffles and candy, and drinks. US volume measurements are used, but there is a table of metric equivalents. Clark also has a list of websites and mail order firms. Audience and level of use: chocolate lovers. Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: warm chocolate muffins, chocolate and banana bread, devil’s food cake, chocolate almond pithiviers. The upside to this book: this is an upscale book for classy preps. Quality/Price Rating: 89. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS... ...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the focus tight. Here are some recent “re-editions”... 9. THE COOK’S BOOK; concise edition. (DK, 2007, 496 pages, ISBN 978-0- 7566-3231-1 $36 hard covers) has been compiled by Jill Norman, renowned award-winning UK cookery author and editor (she did Elizabeth David’s classic cookbooks, and is now responsible for her Estate’s writings). It was originally published in 2005 at $65 for 648 pages. The concise edition is a bit smaller in physical size (only 7 5/8 inches by 9 ¼ inches) and the number of pages. It originally had 18 contributors, but now it is just 13. And there are no explanations either. Rick Bayless (Mexican food) is gone, as is Ferran Adria of El Bulli; he has taken his 12 pages of foams with him. This cooking resource details about 350 techniques through individual chapters crafted by cookbook authors Ken Hom (Chinese), Charlie Trotter (fish, vegetables), and 11 others in 19 chapters arranged by course and product and region. There is only one woman, Christine Mansfield, from Australia. 1600 colour photos accompany the text and the almost 600 recipes, and they take you step- by-step through the processes. Most of the food is Oriental, French, Italian, and Indian. Both US volume and metric measurements are employed in each recipe, a decided plus and a definite improvement on the original book. You can try pan-grilled mackerel with orange romanesco; chilled Moscato-pineapple zabaglione; hare in red wine; eggplant and zucchini and Parmigiano tortino. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 10. WINDOWS ON THE WORLD COMPLETE WINE COURSE, 2008 revision (Sterling, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 340 pages, ISBN 978-1-4027-5141-7, $29.95) is by Kevin Zraly, an award winning wine expert and long-time sommelier of that late, lamented restaurant atop the World Trade Center. This has been newly revised and expanded, with 16 pages of new material on how to taste wine. Indeed, it has even come down three dollars in price! It has frequently been revised since its first edition in 1985. Now it has been redesigned in layout, and with more recommendations in his tour of the latest vintages. Over 20,000 students have taken Zraly's courses and workshops. This is the text that comes with the courses, and as such, it serves as a suitable book for almost any introductory wine course. It certainly does address the needs of students and beginners: the style-format is "question and answer", on what wine is, tasting wine (how to taste wine over sixty seconds), wine service at home and in restaurants, storage and cellaring. He avoids the markup controversies in restaurants; however, one can compare a number of different sections and conclude that he favours 3 to 4 times the wholesale price. The bulk of the arrangement is by "classes", with ones for white wine, red wines, champagne, fortified, and wines from outside France and the United States -- still in the Q & A format, augmented by a continuous stream of sidebars and tidbits which extend the answers. Throughout, too, there are full- colour reproductions of wine labels. The book concludes with a glossary and a pronunciation key, as well as bibliographic notes for further reference reading. Quality/Price Rating: 90, 11. THE DEVIL IN THE KITCHEN; the autobiography (Orion Books, 2006, 2007; distr. McArthur, 309 pages, ISBN 978-0-7528-8161-4, $18.95 paper covers) is the life story of Marco Pierre White, the first of the bad boy chefs, and a virtual unknown in North America. There are claims that he made cooking sexy, he had a legendary temper in the kitchen, and some of his customers were thrown out of his restaurant. In general, he was described as “rude”. That’s putting it mildly. He was the first British chef to win three Michelin stars. A compelling point in his life was the death of his mother, when he was just six. There’s enough stress and toil in this book to avoid reading it while eating or trying to fall asleep. Certainly not while on the potty. You need to read what he has to say about restaurant reviewers and critics. There is, amazingly enough for this type of book, an index, a few black and white photos, but no recipes – just the kitchen stories. This is a good read. Quality/Price Rating: 89. 12. WORLD ATLAS OF WINE. Completely revised and updated, sixth edition (Mitchell Beazley, 2007; distr. Canadian Manda Group, 400 pages, ISBN 978-1-84533-301-0, $75 hard covers) is now by the team of Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. It first came out in 1971, and the latest edition in 2001 brought Robinson on board. Sales have exceeded four million copies, and it is available in 13 languages. It has been the most successful of all wine books of all time. The six years between editions have seen immense changes. There are now 48 extra pages, 17 new colour illustrations, 20 new maps, and – for the first time – double page spreads and full-page photos in the atlas section for “maximum visual impact”. New World coverage has been extended for both Australia and South America. BUT -- B.C. continues to get a couple of hundred words and a sketch map, and Ontario still gets its own page. Ontario was called “Canada” in the last edition, but the entry really only covered Ontario. B.C. was sited with the Pacific Northwest, where it still remains. So what are we, chopped liver? Icewine? What’s that?? Still, the book is a must buy. Quality/Price Rating: 92. 13. EASY BREAKFAST & BRUNCH; simple recipes for morning treats (Ryland, Peters & Small, 2007; distr. T. Allen, 240 pages, ISBN 978-1-84597-485- 5, $24.95 hard covers) is a collection of 124 recipes culled from various food writers in this publisher’s stable: Louise Pickford, Fran Warde, Linda Collister, Elsa Petersen-Schepelern, and 13 others. There are a slew of 23 photographers too. It is al