This book looked right up my alley, but after perusing the recipes, it's not for me. Some of the ingredient substitutions in recipes are odd choices aThis book looked right up my alley, but after perusing the recipes, it's not for me. Some of the ingredient substitutions in recipes are odd choices and I question the reasoning behind it.
I'm not one of those people who care about recipes being super authentic to the region or whatever (most of the time), considering I hardly ever follow recipes anyway, but I do care that dishes should taste like what they're known for. I can't speak to the Indian recipes here, but for some of the Chinese and Vietnamese recipes, the omission or substitution of some ingredients would change the flavor profile completely.
For example, in the recipe for dan dan mian (which she calls ben ben noodles because she based the recipe off of a chef friend -- who is *not* Chinese BTW), she lists amongst the ingredients Sichuan peppercorn and Shaoxing rice wine, which is good! But then for the sauce, she lists tahini, and *not* Chinese sesame paste. I would imagine someone who has Sichuan peppercorn and Shaoxing wine in their kitchen would probably care to have Chinese sesame paste. It actually tastes quite different than tahini and is a pretty important element to the sauce.
My biggest problem is in the titling of the book, which may be more the fault of the publisher than the author, but if the book is "recipes from Bangalore to Beijing" then I would expect the recipes to come from there, and not be an altered or second-hand version coming from a restaurant in the UK that serves that type of food....more
Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty good at cooking brassicas already, so I didn't find any new information in this book. Nonetheless, a decent coNot to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty good at cooking brassicas already, so I didn't find any new information in this book. Nonetheless, a decent cookbook and introduction to people who want to learn about cooking kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, etc....more
I try not to buy too many cookbooks because I rarely follow recipes, but I was immediately drawn to this one. I am more likely to cook something out oI try not to buy too many cookbooks because I rarely follow recipes, but I was immediately drawn to this one. I am more likely to cook something out of The Family Meal than something out of the El Bulli cookbooks, that's for sure. The Family Meal's conceit is that all the recipes are grouped into different meals, so you have one meal of an appetizer, a main, and a dessert. And the ingredients are usually easy to find, affordable, or pantry items. There are parts of the book where it diverges from this and some specialized equipment (blowtorch?? foamer??) is recommended, but overall, the book sticks to its goal.
The main thing that drew me to this book were all the pictures. Instead of a list of ingredients and steps, each step had an accompanying picture. It's almost like watching a video of someone cooking. I thought that was a great way of laying out the steps....more
I'm one to never read a cookbook and I practically read this cover to cover. I love Thai food and I'm still too intimidated or lazy to actually try maI'm one to never read a cookbook and I practically read this cover to cover. I love Thai food and I'm still too intimidated or lazy to actually try making it, but that didn't stop me from reading this book. I really loved all the anecdotes and backstory of each recipe....more
Loading...
