Secondly, the book is a long overdue portrait of the real Mario Batali and of the real Marco Pierre White--two complicated and brilliant chefs whose coverage in the press--while appropriately fawning--has never described them in their fully debauched, delightful glory. Buford has--for the first time--managed to explain White's peculiar--almost freakish brilliance--while humanizing a man known for terrorizing cooks, customers (and Batali). As for Mario--he is finally revealed for the Falstaffian, larger than life, mercurial, frighteningly intelligent chef/enterpreneur he really is. No small accomplishment. Other cooks, chefs, butchers, artisans and restaurant lifers are described with similar insight.
Thirdly, Heat reveals a dead-on understanding--rare among non-chef writers--of the pleasures of "making" food; the real human cost, the real requirements and the real adrenelin-rush-inducing pleasures of cranking out hundreds of high quality meals. One is left with a truly unique appreciation of not only what is truly good about food--but as importantly, who cooks--and why. I can't think of another book which takes such an unsparing, uncompromising and ultimately thrilling look at the quest for culinary excellence. Heat brims with fascinating observations on cooking, incredible characters, useful discourse and argument-ending arcania. I read my copy and immediately started reading it again. It's going right in between Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London and Zola's The Belly of Paris on my bookshelf. --Anthony Bourdain
Book Description
Bill Buford—author of the highly acclaimed best-selling Among the Thugs—had long thought of himself as a reasonably comfortable cook when in 2002 he finally decided to answer a question that had nagged him every time he prepared a meal: What kind of cook could he be if he worked in a professional kitchen? When the opportunity arose to train in the kitchen of Mario Batali’s three-star New York restaurant, Babbo, Buford grabbed it. Heat is the chronicle—sharp, funny, wonderfully exuberant—of his time spent as Batali’s “slave” and of his far-flung apprenticeships with culinary masters in Italy.
In a fast-paced, candid narrative, Buford describes the frenetic experience of working in Babbo’s kitchen: the trials and errors (and more errors), humiliations and hopes, disappointments and triumphs as he worked his way up the ladder from slave to cook. He talks about his relationships with his kitchen colleagues and with the larger-than-life, hard-living Batali, whose story he learns as their friendship grows through (and sometimes despite) kitchen encounters and after-work all-nighters.
Buford takes us to the restaurant in a remote Appennine village where Batali first apprenticed in Italy and where Buford learns the intricacies of handmade pasta . . . the hill town in Chianti where he is tutored in the art of butchery by Italy’s most famous butcher, a man who insists that his meat is an expression of the Italian soul . . . to London, where he is instructed in the preparation of game by Marco Pierre White, one of England’s most celebrated (or perhaps notorious) chefs. And throughout, we follow the thread of Buford’s fascinating reflections on food as a bearer of culture, on the history and development of a few special dishes (Is the shape of tortellini really based on a woman’s navel? And just what is a short rib?), and on the what and why of the foods we eat today.
Heat is a marvelous hybrid: a richly evocative memoir of Buford’s kitchen adventure, the story of Batali’s amazing rise to culinary (and extra-culinary) fame, a dazzling behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a famous restaurant, and an illuminating exploration of why food matters.
It is a book to delight in—and to savor.
Customer Reviews:
Fun, fun fun in the bowels of the kitchen.......2007-10-12
I read Bourdain's book and loved it. I also liked this one. Raw, honest talk from someone who has been there.
The autobiography part was fascinating (can such characters really populate elite restaurants!?) and the lowdown on furiously making food night after night was priceless. The last section was too blah blah about Mario Batali, although the scenes of Italy were intriguing. A must read for real food lovers.
A humorous read that made me hungry!.......2007-10-07
Who wouldn't want to go on Buford's journey? He's a great tour guide on his gasto-tour of the kitchens of the Mario Batali and Pierre Marco White. He shows that kitchens can be places that are filled with potential dangers and loads of passion. It took me awhile to get through this book, in part because I kept getting hungry and had to go make something to eat! I'm ready to go clamp the pasta machine to the counter and whip up some fresh pasta.
It's a pretty dense book to get through, and the author wanders away from the main story often. Most of the time, it's to an interesting place, but sometimes, it's just a tangent. But aside from a few of those as a distraction, I thought this was a great book.
Interesting but not what I thought it was going to be.......2007-09-19
I got this book because my husband heard an interview on the radio and thought I would like it since I love to cook. It was interesting but spent too much time, for me, on the politics of working in a restaurant kitchen and not enough on the workings of food in a restaurant. I bored with the personalities and gave up trying to figure out who was who.
I think I made the pages soggy..........2007-09-17
This guy, Bill Buford, is pretty amazing. Despite the danger of slicing off his hands entirely (an accident that he somehow manages to repeat) under various huge, sharp, professional knives, he insisted going (back again and again) to Italy to learn about things so obscure even professional chefs wouldn't have much idea about.
If you're looking for a book about Batali, this isn't the most comprehensive one, but it's scathingly honest and if you really live and breathe food, you'll gain a whole lot more than goss about the inner workings of Batali's businesses. It gets a bit soppy at times - a bit too "Tuscany is beautiful, and Provence is the ultimate foodie heaven", but only fleetingly, and all can be forgiven once you read about the author's hilarious effort to cook a whole pig...
ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......2007-09-11
The chapters on Mario Batali and the dynamics of his kitchen were really interesting and engaging. I was intrigud by the sections on Marco Pierre White as I had just read Gordon Ramsey's autobiography in which his tempestuous relationship with White plays a significant role. The rest of Buford's book is just too tediously, self-indulgently written to the point where it killed my interest in the underlying subjects of pasta making and butchery (I ended up skimming page after page as I just couldn't take it). It reminded me of a computer spitting forth every bit of information in its memory regardless of relevance or interest. Just too many tedious, boorish details.
Book Description
In On Top of Spaghetti, Johanne Killeen and George Germon, owners of the legendary restaurant Al Forno in Providence, R.I., and authors of Cucina Simpatica, offer up 100 new recipes for everyone's favorite tried–and–true dish –– pasta.
Pasta is the culinary equivalent of the little black dress. It's simple and elegant, you can dress it up or down, and it never goes out of style. In On Top of Spaghetti, Johanne Killeen and George Germon present a collection of 100 pasta recipes, including new and old favorites such as Pasta Shells with Spicy Sausage Red Sauce, Fusilli with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto, and Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Cinnamon, and Mint. In Cucina Simpatica, Johanne and George introduced Americans to grilled pizza. With On Top of Spaghetti they will reintroduce home cooks to the joys of pasta. Classic recipes are elevated to new heights, and innovative new dishes are sure to be returned to again and again.
Customer Reviews:
Time for Pasta.......2007-09-19
This book from owners of the Al Forno Restaurant in Providence, is a must for pasta lovers. Recipes are straight forward and easy to prepare. Ingredients are listed in shadow boxes and each recipe is prefaced with anecdotes, explanations and other comments that make it seem the authors are talking to you in your kitchen. There are sections on preparing pasta with various ingredients, such as with seafood, vegetables, and various meats. This book truly does cover all you ever need to know about pasta.
Better cooking.......2007-09-14
I saw the authers Johanne Killeen and George Germon on the Food network Emeril Lagasse live show. They made some dishes it looked so good I order the book. I had a question and wrote the author they quickly returned with the answer. I have made several of their recipes and they came out GREAT. Everyone enjoyed it. I highly recommed this book.
Never Received the Book.......2007-09-13
I never received the book. I was tracking it with the courier...it was destined for the correct address, but was sent back to you as undeliverable. My debit card was credited with the purchase....small consolation. In the future I will try to find my purchases elsewhere.
Rick Thornton
Great Cookbook.......2007-06-13
In spite of what I consider to be an unfortunate name, this is truly a great cookbook. The recipes are simple and fast, yet sophisticated and delicious. Nearly every recipe appeals to me as something I would want to make and eat. I have made four of the recipes and loved each one: penne with easy norma (eggplant cooked until nearly melted), spaghetti with fresh spinach and gorgonzola, orichiette with chickpeas, and linguine with bitter greens and pancetta. So far my favorite has been the linguine with bitter greens and pancetta. From my name you must know that I have an over-abundance of cookbooks but if I had to choose 10 to keep this would be one. Why do I say the title is unfortunate? Because when I think of a sauce "on top of" spaghetti I think of the tendency in this country to load a bunch of sauce of top of spaghetti. However in the cookbook, the authors take the Italian approach of incorporating the sauce into the pasta and if some of the recipes are not truly Italian they are all in the spirit of true Italian pasta. Each of the recipes I have tried so far reminded me of pasta I have eaten and loved in Italy. Oh and one more thing - the authors use fats judiciously so that while the recipes are delicious you will find that you will not be consuming an entire days calories in one serving of pasta.
YUM.......2007-02-28
this is the best pasta cook book ever. these guys sure know how to make you fall head of heels in love with pasta, and as a dieter, i have to say I have finally realised that pasta is NOT the demon.
Average customer rating:
- Good Service ....
- Great gift for college students
- everything using ramen m=noddles
- Great for Couples on a Budget, too
- 101 Things to Do with Ramen Noodles
|
101 Things to Do with Ramen Noodles
Toni Patrick
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
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101 Things to Do with a Tortilla
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Everybody Loves Ramen: Recipes, Stories, Games, & Fun Facts About the Noodles You Love
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101 Things to Do with a Slow Cooker
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101 Things to Do with a Casserole (101)
ASIN: 1586857355 |
Book Description
Expand your ramen repertoire with an amazingly inventive and unique addition to the million-copy-selling "101" series-101 Things to do with Ramen Noodles.
Customer Reviews:
Good Service ...........2007-10-01
The seller provided great service, but the book wasn't all that amazon advertized, great basic, but not amazing for those of us who have worked with the noodles before.
Great gift for college students.......2007-09-10
I bought this book for my 18 year old college bound niece. She is a freshman at Loyola Marymount in L.A. and is on her own for the first time. I sent this book and a case of Ramen through Amazon to her at school. She loved the book and said 99% of the recipes are really simple and actually taste great. There is Parmesean Noodles, Alfredo noodles, mexican spaghetti and a chocolate crunchy noodle recipe. This is a definite buy for any college student or anyone looking for affordable ways to make meals, considering Ramen is like 10 cents a bag.
everything using ramen m=noddles.......2007-08-12
I always loved the soup that you made with the ramin noddle packages but I never dreamed that you could make so many delicious things with the noodles. So glad I bought the cook book.
Great for Couples on a Budget, too.......2007-04-05
At first glance, one might think this book is geared solely toward the college crowd. While it is certainly useful for them, its also very useful in our house of 30-somethings on a budget. Many of the recipes don't use the seasoning packet, so those with sodium concerns can relax. Most of the recipes are very easy and simple with cheap things you're likely to have on hand (i.e. hamburger, cheese, onion, sour cream, soup) and a lot of variety (soups, salads, beef, chicken, pork, etc.). Most of the recipes are for 2 servings, making it nice for couples, though certainly you could double it for a larger household. The book even has a plastic cover (to protect from splatters) and is spiral bound so you can lay it flat on the counter and read the recipes while you cook. There is plenty of space on each page to make notes (i.e. "next time add more onions"). The only negative thing is that most of these recipes use several pans -- you need one to boil the noodles in (why are there no microwave directions for Ramen Noodles?) while you're making the bulk of the recipe in another pan, then you have to drain the noodles with the strainer ... you get the idea. Totally worth 10 bucks, though.
101 Things to Do with Ramen Noodles.......2007-03-24
Received this item in a timely manner and am anxious to give to our daughter for birthday....she LOVES Ramen Noodles!
Amazon.com
A born teacher, Hazan gives clear and easy to follow instructions for making pasta and for cooking more than 100 pasta dishes. Luscious color photos in this large-format book lavishly show all about Italian pasta, from making fresh egg pasta to why particular shapes pair best with certain kinds of sauces. Published in 1993, The Classic Pasta Cookbook remains an ideal way to develop and perfect your pasta repertoire. There are classic recipes, plus dishes like Spaghetti with Leeks, Shallots and Red Onions, and Puttanesca Bianca.
Book Description
Features more than 100 recipes from all regions of Italy.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best cookbooks EVER.......2005-11-28
Ever wonder why the food in Italy is so good when it seems so simple? The secret is good technique combined with locally-fresh ingredients. I love to cook, I love French food the best and I love complicated food, but I love a simple pasta just as well. I am also very visually oriented. Thus, the illustrations of the mise en place is perfect for me. I usually only need to glance at the actual instructions for the classics, which include visuals of all your ingredients. If you appreciate Eyewitness Guides (also published by DK) you'll appreciate the visual approach to cooking. The Carbonara is my favorite - although I always add a little chicken broth to pull it all together, and take the pancetta out of the pan till the last minute then toss it in (so it does not get soggy) and the Puttanesca ROCKS! I've tried at least 3/4ths of these and they are great. The only one I've tried that isn't awesome is the zucchini & shrimp pasta. A great pasta book and a great cookbook overall. It's in the canon if cookbooks - right up there with Joy of Cooking.
One of the best.......2004-12-08
I got this book while living with my sister in florence, italy. at first glance it looks like a step-by-step "idiots guide to pasta" but once you jump past the children's book exterior, it really is a great resource. The recipes make the best use of easily accessible fresh and imported canned ingredients. The sauces are straightforward and simple both in preparation and taste. I personally like the huge quantity of vegetarian or easily-adjusted-to-be-veg recipes. Having access to the florence markets made everything taste like heaven!!! Don't miss the recipe whose introduction begins something like: "If I were sentenced to death and allowed to choose a last meal, this pasta with white truffles would be it."
Must Have!.......2003-12-16
If you like pasta this book is a must have. I am Italian, and learned to cook because I appreciate good food, and I like to eat! Eating is essential to life, why not eat the best foods, you only live once! I learned from watching my mother and grandmother cook and I can tell you the recipes in this book are the real thing; after all my mother bought this book for me. In my opinion(and my mother's) Marcella Hazan wrote the bible of Italian cookbooks with "Essentials of Italian Cooking"(also a must have), and this book is written by her son, so it is natural that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I have used this book countless times over the years, it is my reference for any pasta dish. It is easy to understand and follow, and after a while you will realize all these dishes are easy to prepare. Great illustrations on how to make fresh pasta and excellent sauce suggestions for different types of pastas. Lots of pictures so it makes it easy to understand what the dish is meant to look like, and what the ingredients should look like...I may have had a head start being of the Italian culture, but this book should make it easy for anyone to understand. Italian cooking is not centered around spaghetti and stewed tomatoes over tons of burned garlic, Italian cooking is colorful, diverse and subtle. This book will give you some insight into true Italian pastas, and the importance of fresh ingredients. Buy it, read it and eat in good health Per Cent' Ani!
GREAT Book.......2003-08-16
But why on EARTH are people selling it for 60 BUCKS when it's 24.95? LMAO
Great book, every recipe to die for. Yummy!
Best receipie book I have.......2003-03-18
I love it. It's easy to read and follow, has tons of illustrations, easy receipies. I use it a lot.
Average customer rating:
- California Pizza Chicken Recipe a Disappointment
- Good Choice!
- recipes that are healthy and tasty
- Excellent
- CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN PASTA, SALADS, SOUPS, AND SIDES
|
California Pizza Kitchen Pasta, Salads, Soups, And Sides
Larry Flax , and
Rick Rosenfield
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook
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ASIN: 0688164668 |
Book Description
At California Pizza Kitchen restaurants across the country, many of the favorite dishes (and most-requested recipes) are not the pizzas! Customers keep coming back for the boldly flavored pastas, soups, salads, and side dishes. The follow-up to the bestselling California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook, this new cookbook serves CPK customers just what they ordered -- secret restaurant recipes, never available before. With gorgeous color photographs of the finished dishes throughout the book, CPK fans will be tempted by recipes for Oriental Chicken Salad, Spinach Artichoke Dip, and Kung Pao Spaghetti, to name just a few.
The new cookbook will include stories and anecdotes from CPK employees from around the country about favorite recipes, customers, and more. In the generous spirit they're best known for, CPK owners Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield will donate all royalties and proceeds from sales of the book in the restaurants to children's charities.
Just like the first CPK cookbook, expect Pasta, Salads, Soups, and Sides to be one of the hottest cookbooks of the year. The CPK chain of restaurants is bigger than ever, and thi5 new hook will be published in the cool California style that has made the first book and the restaurants themselves so popular.
Customer Reviews:
California Pizza Chicken Recipe a Disappointment.......2007-10-09
I bought this book for only for the jambalya recipe. It tasted NOTHING like the dish at the restaurant. I haven't tried any of the other recipes.
Good Choice!.......2007-09-27
This cookbook, California Pizza Kitchen Pasta, Salads, Soups, and Sides, will make a perfect Christmas gift for someone who introduced me to their appetizers at one of their restaurants last year. The salads, soups, and sides should compliment their healthy eating habits. This hard-covered book arrived in a timely manner and in good condition. I can not wait to give this special gift of delicious-sounding recipes.
recipes that are healthy and tasty.......2007-09-20
Very nice job of presenting unusal healthy recipes. Good photos which help a lot
Excellent.......2007-02-21
It is definitely worth buying it! I bought it because of the Spinach & Artichoke dip, at first I was little intimidated but as I read the instructions there was nothing to it. I've made a full course meal out of this book and everybody raved about it. I can't wait to try more recipes, this is definetly a keeper!
CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN PASTA, SALADS, SOUPS, AND SIDES.......2007-01-09
WONDERFUL RECIPES. ESPECIALLY LOVE THE JAMBALAYA WHICH I HAD PREVIOUSLY SAVOURED IN ONE OF THEIR RESTAURANTS. WELL WRITTEN, WELL ILLUSTRATED. EASY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. I DEFINITELY PLAN TO PURCHASE THEIR NEXT BOOK.
Customer Reviews:
Great Italian Cookbook.......2007-01-15
This cookbook is incredible! It has very straightforward directions for mixing and rolling your own homemade pasta, as well as a number of dishes that use fresh and dried pasta, as well as gnocci. The recipes are somewhat laborious, but I have yet to make anything I didn't like from this book.
Great Pasta!.......2003-11-05
This book is wonderful! It explains almost everything you want to know about countless numbers of pastas, the different types of equipment you may need, and has great colourful photos as well. The gallery of pasta, as in every gallery section of the DK books, makes your mouth water. I also enjoy the fact the measurements are also listed in both the metric system and U.S. measurements. One thing I must admit is that many of these recipes are labour intensive, but absolutely well worth it. Every recipe I have tried has had rave reviews. I have really enjoyed this book and hope you will too!
Average customer rating:
- Great book
- A home cook's go-to book
- Highly Recommened Time-Saver!
- very thorough collection, inviting and approachable
- Extremely broad collection of recipes. Weak writing.
|
Get Saucy: Make Dinner a New Way Every Day with Simple Sauces, Marinades, Glazes, Dressings, Pestos, Pasta Sauces, Salsas, and More
Grace Parisi
Manufacturer: Harvard Common Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes
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Product Features:
- Get Saucy by Grace Parisi
- HARVARD COMMON PRESS
ASIN: 155832237X |
Product Description
Get Saucy is bursting with 500 simple and flavorful sauce recipes to help you inject variety into dinner every night of the week. If you can your own fresh fruits and vegetables, you'll now have even more sumptuous ways to use them. This comprehensive and contemporary collection covers them all, from Alfredo to zabaglione, from Asian dipping sauces to Southwestern salsas. What's more, these sauces are a healthful yet convenient alternative to preservative-and sodium-laden commercial sauces and dressings.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-05-13
the book covers every kind of sauce you could imagine, so it's a great reference as well as a "recipe" book. I love to make my own sauces to that I can control the additives, and this book takes the guesswork out of figuring out quantity as well as quality.
A home cook's go-to book.......2006-06-22
Quite frankly, having no more than 30-45 min. after work to fix dinner for a family everyday, I will invariably go for the dish with the least amount of work. As such, roasting, quick sauteeing, grilling, etc. are what meats, poulty and seafood are subjected to nightly in my kitchen.
Having "Get Saucy" is of tremendous help to me. I'm able to vary and improve the tastes of our everyday fare. I'm not making the same spaghetti sauces or the same gravies week in and week out. I've made about a dozen sauces, pestos, marinades, etc. from this book and each one has been simply delicious. I will usually prepare the sauce the night before, stick it in the fridge and warm it up or incorporate it with what's cooking for dinner next day.
As to whether the sauces in this book are authentic or not hardly concerns me. If it's quick to prepare, reasonable in cost, tasty and complementary to the main dishes and sides I cook, then it's a keeper for me.
Highly Recommened Time-Saver!.......2006-01-22
This gem threw itself at me in my local cooking store and I have been very happily "saucing!" Sure, there are many wonderful books on sauces already, some very sophisticated and some not. This book is a mix of both worlds. It is like someone has gone through all my cookbooks (and there are many...) and pulled out most of the sauces, from classic to fusion. It is well organized, directions are clear, ingredients are easily obtained (and if you are a card-carrying foodie like me, you already have almost ALL the ingredients already...) and it has a great pairing section for easy, no-brainer combinations of sauces for salads, pork, fish, beef, desserts, etc. This book helps spiff up whatever you are serving from salad to dessert.
My very first experience with the book successfully hooked me. Having scored a counter-top, electric roaster for Christmas, I have been experimenting with the cooker to see what it can and cannot do by using larger roasts, chickens, etc. Granted my 16 year-old is 6'1" and eats eight meals a day, but left-overs are not his cup of tea. After you slice off lovely large pieces of a six-pound pork roast for Sunday dinner, what the heck do you do with the rest to make it interesting and different and creative without a degree from the CIA? Grab this book: Sunday, I roasted the six-pound roast and served it with the "Creamy Sherry Vinegar Pan Sauce"; Monday, I cubed some of the meat and served it over rice with the "Sweet-And-Sour Stir-Fry Sauce", pineapple and some green peppers; Wednesday, the rest of the roast got shredded and mixed with "Smoky Texas-Style BBQ Sauce" and was served with coleslaw on hamburger rolls to my son and two of his friends. The plates were clean.
Now, THAT's economical, and fun! Three meals for the cost of one pork roast (on special, by the way) all very different and very tasty. This is not gourmet cooking, I know, I know...but at 5:30 pm on a week-night when my creative juices are well, not as "juicy" as I'd like, this is just fine by me.
My only complaint was that my book is a paperback. But Amazon has again saved the day: Just ordered the hardcover for myself and my daughter will get this one.
very thorough collection, inviting and approachable.......2005-06-08
I've been a subscriber to Food and Wine magazine for years and have really come
to depend on Parisi's recipes. So when I read about her book Get Saucy
recently, I was very excited for its release.
I found the collection of recipes to be thorough and the recipes themselves
concise and totally approachable. I've nearly made my way through the pesto
chapter and particularly loved the Wild Mushroom and Herb pesto, Scallion
Macadamia Nut pesto, Green Chile Scallion pesto and Romesco. The fact that
these are not included in the pasta sauce chapter was initially a little odd,
but upon closer reading, the reason becomes clear. Pestos have multiple uses
that most of us wouldn't ordinarily think of. To put that to the test, I tried
the Green Chile pesto worked into meatballs and inside quesadillas and it was
super!My only quibble is that I wanted more than the recipe made. Next time
I'll double it.
I also liked how the author begins a chapter with a standard type of recipe and
then makes numerous variations. If my pantry lacked a certain ingredient, I
always felt like there was something else I could make or find some
approximation since she offers lots of alternatives to harder to find
ingredients.
Based on my level of cooking, I'm sort of glad Parisi didn't include the dozens
of classic French sauces she could have. Though interesting historically, I'd
never make most of them anyway. She makes a good point that the ones she did
include probably have the most universal appeal or at least are the most
indicative of the technique.
I quite enjoy reading the informative, quirky and anecdotal headnotes. They
make good reading and spark my interest. One issue I have with the organization
of the book however, is that the side bars, recipes contained in boxes and
other tips aren't included in the index. You have to read through a chapter to
find that information. It would be helpful to have those recipes at least
included in the index. I tried the Stir-Fried Beef with Scallions and Mushroom,
a recipe that shows you how to use a stir-fry sauce and it was delicious. There
is a page at the back that lists all those recipes, but it should be easier to
find them. The index otherwise is so overwhelmingly complete. The Sauce Index
by Suggested Use breaks down the food groups and pairs food with them.
Brilliant.
It seems fitting (though maybe a bit contrived) to end the book with dessert
sauces. But I'm never too full at the end of a meal to have something sweet and
I guess the same could be said of reading and using this book.
Extremely broad collection of recipes. Weak writing........2005-05-28
`Get Saucy' by food writer Grace Parisi is based on a really terrific idea and it has a great value as a multiplier of diversity in familiar dishes with relatively little effort spent learning new recipes. The biggest problem with the book is that this general subject of sauces has already been addressed by James Peterson's classic, award winning book `Sauces' which was so good and so popular, it warranted a second edition, something very uncommon in the world of cookbooks.
Ms. Parisi's book would not suffer much in comparison with Peterson's work if Parisi had not gone too far in simplifying great classic recipes, possibly in the interests of making recipes easier for the amateur cook. But then, this means that you think you are getting a pedigreed dog when you are actually getting a half-breed. The best example I found of this is in the comparison of Parisi and Peterson's recipes for `beurre blanc', French for `white butter', a relatively simple, extremely useful sauce of butter flavored with shallots, wine, and vinegar. The great value of this sauce is that it is a relatively crude emulsion similar to a vinaigrette which can be whipped back into shape easily instead of going through a lot of high maintenance procedures to bring back mayonnaise or hollandaise. It is most notable in being the darling of `nouvelle cuisine' because it was much lighter than bechamel or veloute. I say all this to emphasize that cutting corners in the presentation of this sauce is a more serious shortcoming of this book than one may think.
One can argue that while Peterson's book was written for professional cooks and Parisi's book has been written `for the rest of us', I will only recommend Parisi to those who simply want a quick and easy reference book for lots of common sauces which appear day in and day out in magazines, newspaper columns, and TV cooking shows. Having all these recipes in a single place with the added value of lots of cross references telling us what sauces are good for what dishes and ingredients. If you are a foodie or simply a serious amateur cook of any stripe, get James Peterson's book instead of this one.
For example, Peterson spends four pages discussing `beurre blanc' versus Parisi's half page column. Where Parisi gives an abbreviated (incomplete) recipe, Peterson, after giving us the historical perspective on the sauce, gives the full recipe in six steps (versus three in Parisi) and detailed instructions on how to store leftover sauce, including tips on how leftovers can be used in future hollandaise or béarnaise sauces. In the twice as long procedure for preparing the sauce, Peterson adds tips on what to look for to prevent bad things from happening, adds the butter over high heat rather than low for quicker incorporation, and adds checkpoints to taste the sauce for any needed adjustments. The most important step that Parisi leaves out entirely is the suggestion to strain the sauce before using. I have used `buerre blanc' both strained and unstrained and I am certain the strained version is superior, especially when entertaining. The bits of shallot remind one far too much of a vinaigrette and add little to the taste. Parisi would have done well to add this step as an option.
Now such differences in a single recipe may seem a bit trivial for lowering the rating of a 440-page book that has genuine value and lots of high-powered blurbs on the back cover from Jacques Pepin and Bobby Flay. But I find minor annoying things on every other page. For example, I think the organization of chapters is poorly done. Why have a chapter for pasta sauces when you have separate chapters on tomato sauces and pestos?
Other annoyances are based simply on the lack of skill used in the writing. In one sidebar on how to fix a broken hollandaise, I found two or three redundant expressions within two sentences. In another recipe, I was puzzled when the instructions had me putting butter in a microwave safe dish, with no instruction to put the dish in a microwave.
I also found other recipes that are not as good as ones available in standard texts. Ms. Parisi's recipe for Puttanesca sauce takes 17 minutes of cooking time while what is essentially the same ingredients are cooked up within 10 minutes in the `Cooks illustrated' version in their `Italian Classics' book. Aside from being outrageously flavorful, Puttanesca's main claim to fame is the speed with which it can be made. So, Ms. Parisi certainly does not have `the best recipe'.
In the long run, I think Ms. Parisi did an excellent job of collecting an amazingly comprehensive selection of sauce recipes that perform exactly the function she intends. That is, it multiplies the amateur cook's ability to vary dishes far beyond what can be offered by just another book of recipes. My only reservation is that the amateur needs to apply just a little critical judgment in applying sauces to dishes, and Ms. Parisi does provide the material with which to make good choices. I suspect Ms. Parisi and especially her copy editors may have been just a bit less careful than they should have in checking out English usage and recipe pedigrees. The very best thing this book could have included would have been a reference to each and every recipe to books that give more information and alternatives to Parisi's material.
I will still recommend this book to people who just want a fast reference to sauces, dressings, stocks, and salsas. But, I would recommend Peterson's `Sauces' to the serious amateur.
Average customer rating:
- The Good Eating Bible
- WHEN THE VERY BEST MAKES SENSE
- Proves There's Always Room For Another Book
- Simply delicious read!
- Good eating
|
Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating: How to Choose the Best Bread, Cheeses, Olive Oil, Pasta, Chocolate, and Much More
Ari Weinzweig
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0395926165 |
Amazon.com
Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Zingerman's is a food emporium specializing in top-quality products. One of the store's founding partners, Ari Weinzweig, is also the author of Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating, a key to the pleasures of the best breads, cheeses, olive oil, chocolate, and more, complete with 130 recipes. Like his store (whose name is a fanciful evocation of old-world delis), Weinzweig is committed to the best. Why? "Ultimately, I could care less whether food is fancy," he writes. "I just want it to taste good." The better food tastes," he says, "the more zing [in your] daily routine." A too modest claim for the pleasures of getting to know your food
Beginning with an exploration of the why and how of better ingredients (if you think you can't recognize them, Weinzweig offers "eating experiments," such as trying supermarket Swiss cheese versus a well-aged Gruyère), and other help (like "Saffron Superstitions Skewered"). He then presents food profiles--such as those for oils, olives, and vinegars, and grains and rices--with notes on production and exemplary types, brand information and other what-to-look for info, plus suggestions for use. For example, readers learn about Italian rices such as arborio and carnaroli; discover how to recognize their impostors (look for the seal of the rice growers consortium); take a visit to a venerable rice grower; then receive thorough advice on risotto making. Simple, flavorful recipes that highlight food items, such as Roquefort and Potato Salad, Pasta with Pepper and Pecorino, and Buckwheat Honey Cake, follow. In addition, Weinzweig also offers timelines like that for chocolate, plus technical tips such as those for brewing tea successfully. As sensible as it's informative, the book's a true blueprint for discovery. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
Hailed by the New York Times, Esquire, and the Atlantic Monthly as one of the best delicatessens in the country, Zingerman's is a trusted source for superior ingredients and an equally dependable supplier of information about food. Now, Ari Weinzweig, the founder of Zingerman's, shares two decades of knowledge gained in his pursuit of the world's finest food products: oils, vinegar, and olives; bread, pasta, and rice; cheeses and cured meats; seasonings like salt, pepper, and saffron; vanilla, chocolate, and tea.
Customer Reviews:
The Good Eating Bible.......2007-02-12
When it comes to food and cooking, this is one of my top 3 favorite and most used books. Though this has recipes, that is not where its value lies. This book is a guide to understanding and appreciating quality in your food. Some of the foods covered are olive oils, vinegars (balsamic and others), cheese, bread, pasta, chocolate, etc. Each section tells you what makes for quality and recommends brands to try. If you love good food, this is a MUST HAVE!
WHEN THE VERY BEST MAKES SENSE.......2004-07-15
Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating:
A Zinger from Zingerman
(When the very best makes sense)
"How to choose the best bread, cheeses, olive oil, pasta, chocolate and much more ..."
By Marty Martindale
Illustrations by Ian Nagy and colleagues
This book is a foodie's joy and a hoot! It's also a very quick catchup if you have been totally out of the kitchen for the last decade or two. It's the Mediterranean scene, not the Asian scene, however. The book contains many recipes, great ones, too.
Author, Ari Weinzweig, no not Ari Zingerman, taught himself to be very food savvy, and he's graciously willing to share his self-taught connoisseurship methods through this book. Though a Chicago native, Ari went to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan where he had to decide on a major and stumbled into the food business at a the lowest end. Finally he and a partner thought the Ann Arbor area could support another deli, for who doesn't hate to leave their college town!
Many think the original delicatessens were markets selling Jewish/Kosher foods, the loxes, earliest sour creams, delightful pickles and to-die-for hot pastrami. Not so. It seems Germans, not Eastern European Jews, opened New York's earliest deli. Actually, the dictionary definition of a deli is: "a small shop that sells high quality foods, such as types of cheese and cold cooked meat, which come from many countries."
Naming the new Ann Arbor deli was a challenge for the new partners. Ari knew "Weinzweig" would be difficult for customers to pronounce much less remember. After a fashion, they agreed on "Zingerman's" for their Jewish-sounding store name, vendor of Mediterranean delights. They laughed, because the name had, "Zing," and they opened their new market in 1982.
When Weinzweig works to make you a greater discerning connoisseur, he calms you with, "How to overcome your fear of the guy behind the counter." Most of this means, "feel entitled to the sample you are offered," or downright ask for one (else how will you ever learn?). Then he gets scientific and devotes sections to:
1. Introduce yourself to the new food (this can be done silently)
2. Look at it, describe its color (privately).
3. Smell it, "The nose knows what it's doing," he claims.
4. Taste it. Move it around in your mouth, discover how it tastes differently in different part of your mouth. (think like a wine taster ... Legs? Woody? Bold?)
5. Next he admonishes, Afford the best"," (he's not paying).
Weinzweig winds up his connoisseur training with, "Go wild. Taste early, taste often, and above all, have fun!" He then gets serious and confesses, "I'm convinced that smaller quantities of better-tasting raw materials will buy you more satisfaction for the same, or even less, outlay."
Ari devotes 23 pages to olive oils opening with a Greek proverb: "Without oil, without vinegar, how can we take a trip?" His quick olive history is a world adventure. Nut oils are also in, and he gives careful particulars for Pumpkin Seed Oil "Green Gold from the Austrian Alps." His recipes for Tuscan Pecorino Salad with Pears and Provencal Mashed Potatoes are only two of the recipes in this chapter.
When it comes to breads, Ari Weinzweig waxes almost romatically. Crusts are a big thing with him, and he's totally opposed to plastic bags for bread. He even lines out all the basics and fixin's for a fun bruschetta party. His defense of anchovies (two pages) is noble. He offers his Bread and Tomato Salad recipe. It calls for pine nuts, sea salt, Banyuls wine vinegar, toasted almonds, piquillo peppers and other delicious ingredients. Of the special vinegar from French Pyrenees, he states, "It's subtly sweet, softly spicy with a touch of almond, almost a whisper of dark chocolate and a hint of aged sherry."
Ari's section on pasta is as entertaining as it is informative. He ponders your choices between dried pasta and fresh pasta. All pasta shapes have a reason, and he helps you decide what you need for a particular dish. His visual glossary is handy, too. He explains pasta's cousin, polenta, and his recipes take the mystery out of it. No lesser cousin is risotto, or Spanish rices, and he detours a bit for Minnesota's Ojibway wild, wild rice compared with latter-day paddy rice.
Cheeses run the gambit from parmigiano-regiano, cheddar, mountain, blue and goat cheeses. He looks at "Cows and Curds," and the knotty area of aging. He explains Mountain cheeses as "... were created out of a common struggle to deal with the difficulty of life at high altitudes, ... huge snowfalls in Switzerland, Italy eastern and western France and Greece." He expounds on their personality and character. He also answers that thorney question, "What makes blue cheese blue?" He defines many blues from many countries.
Ari's big on Prosciutto de Parma and Spanish Serrano Ham. Besides these and Salamis, he addresses salmon, both of farmed and non-farmed origins. He defines Lox and smoked salmon, as well.
When it comes to seasonings, Zingerman's gets very basic: Pepper-milled pepper, sea salt and that very expensive stuff, Saffron. That's it. Ari makes Saffron read lore like an Italian fairy tale: "Seeing the Saffron harvest..." "Field of Dreams, From Bulb to Stigma, Culling the Crocus, At Home with the Strippers, Toasting" and finally, "Lunch With the Man Of Lamancha."
Vanilla and chocolate get their due. The book includes a very interesting two-and one-half-page chocolate timeline and a section, "Turning Beans into Bars: How Chocolate is Made." Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating gives us much to digest. At the end Ari Weinzweig teases the teas he mentions with three trendy Chai recipes. The recipes in the Guide are excellent and earn their own index.
Zingerman's: www.Zingermans.com
You can contact Marty Martindale at www.FoodSiteoftheDay.com.
Proves There's Always Room For Another Book.......2004-07-06
As a buff who hunts down ingredients and luxury foods in order to get out of the house, Ari Weinzweig's compendium of product lore is an invaluable asset. It is true that the availability of high-end, interesting prepared foods and ingredients is exploding in the United States, and Ari goes a long way toward making sense of them. There is nothing like treatment in depth when it comes to the foods that make our lives so much richer. We need that kind of detail in order to fill both our larders and our bellies with the best.
Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com
Simply delicious read!.......2004-05-20
When you are bought up on packaged mac and cheese, Wonderbread and Twinkies it's hard to know what good food really is.
But after you have experienced a balsamic vinaigrette salad with pine nuts and smoked chicken or a pan seared tuna glazed in fresh orange and basil you realize that there is a wealth of delicious food out there once you start looking past the boxes of Hamburger Helper and Lucky Charms.
That's where Ari Weinzweig author of Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating comes in. Ari doesn't care about fancy food. He cares about simple, good tasting food. And the best food begins with the freshest ingredients.
In this book Ari shares his wealth of knowledge about food. He teaches you how to select the best food items and how to really experience your food by learning how to taste.
Yes he teaches you how to taste. You will fine tune your palate.
But think about it, many of us gobble our food so quickly we don't taste it. So we eat more. We eat processed foods rats would turn away from. And some of us become fat and unhealthy.
In this book Ari educates us. You will learn how to select the best bread, cheese, olive oil, pasta, chocolate and more. Take chocolate for example. Ari explains how to check the sheen of the bon bon, the sound of it breaking, the texture of it and the ingredients to look for, so your selection is a delicious choice. He goes on to give the history of cocoa and describes how chocolate bars are made. He also names specific brands to look for like Valrhona, Scharffen Berger and Michel Cluizel. He even details how to taste chocolate so you can truly assess the flavors. Yum. Ari, I think I will try to figure that one out myself!
The book also includes a number of tasty recipes such pasta with pepper and percorino, mashed sweet potatoes with vanilla, dark chocolate granita and miguel's mother's macaroni.
Other tidbits in the book include brewing tea for the best cuppa, when to buy certain cheeses , spotting a good wine vinegar, and much more.
A fabulous read, one you will savor and learn from.
Lee Mellott
Good eating.......2004-04-21
Nestled in one of the cooler parts of Ann Arbor, on a brick-covered road near some little shops and slightly peeling houses, is deli/restaurant Zingerman's, known for its amazingly high-quality food. Now in "Zingerman's Guide To Good Eating," Ari Weinzweig offers a glimpse into the best foods available.
"Guide" is half cookbook, half gourmet bible. Weinzweig offers some good recipes (like gazpacho with sherry vinegar, or grilled Tuscan pecorino cheese), but the core of this book is what goes into those. And it's enough to drive a devoted foodie insane -- olive oils, vinegars and oils; pasta and grains; meats; cheeses, and seasonings.
And Weinzweig doesn't skimp on the details either. Within every chapter, he describes the different kinds of... whatever he's talking about. For cheeses, he provides a buying guide, then the different kinds: Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheddar, mountain, blue, et cetera. For deli meat, it's salami, Serrano ham, prosciutto, and smoked salmon. As a bonus, he describes the history and making-of each product.
Warning: Do not read this book on an empty stomach. The descriptions of food will make you drool -- especially the people who have tasted Zingermans' food before. Even the less savory ideas (salmon anemia) can't kill the response this book will provoke. (And a certain feeling of confidence is inspired by the radio hosts and cookbook authors quoted on the back, as well as restauranteur Mario Batali of "Babbo")
A lot of food books can be condescending to the non-gourmet. But Weinzweig avoids that. His style is almost conversational, like having a chat with a gourmet chef. He talks about his own experiences, his own likes, and descriptions of his chats with people who know best. (Including a conversation that compares selecting prosciutto-pigs to dating)
So for those who can't experience Zingerman's itself, the "Zingerman's Guide To Good Eating" is a must-have -- both for recipes and info about fine food in general. Just don't read through on an empty stomach.
Customer Reviews:
Pocketbook Pasta.......2000-12-22
This is the perfect travel sized pasta book. It comes with many yummy recipes for making the pasta as well as many recipes involving the pasta. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. This would make the perfect book to bring with you when cooking at someone elses, if you know what I mean!
A Great Small Cookbook.......2000-06-29
This cookbook packs everything you wanted to know about pasta into pocketbook size. Learn to make linguinni, macaroni and faracetti in minutes.
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