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Books: CookBooks: Chinese Cooking
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbellyby Anthony Bourdain List Price: $14.00 Available from Amazon $10.78 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review Most diners believe that their sublime sliver of seared foie gras, topped with an ethereal buckwheat blini and a drizzle of piquant huckleberry sauce, was created by a culinary artist of the highest order, a sensitive, highly refined executive chef. The truth is more brutal. More likely, writes Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts, and psychopaths," in all likelihood pierced or tattooed and incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive or a foreign phrase. Such is the muscular view of the culinary trenches from one who's been groveling in them, with obvious sadomasochistic pleasure, for more than 20 years. CIA-trained Bourdain, currently the executive chef of the celebrated Les Halles, wrote two culinary mysteries before his first (and infamous) New Yorker essay launched this frank confessional about the lusty and larcenous real lives of cooks and restaurateurs. He is obscenely eloquent, unapologetically opinionated, and a damn fine storyteller--a Jack Kerouac of the kitchen. Those without the stomach for this kind of joyride should note his opening caveat: "There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn't order fish on a Monday, why those who favor well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection. But I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I've seen it." --Sumi Hahn From Publishers Weekly Chef at New York's Les Halles and author of Bone in the Throat, Bourdain pulls no punches in this memoir of his years in the restaurant business. His fast-lane personality and glee in recounting sophomoric kitchen pranks might be unbearable were it not for two things: Bourdain is as unsparingly acerbic with himself as he is with others, and he exhibits a sincere and profound love of good food. The latter was born on a family trip to France when young Bourdain tasted his first oyster, and his love has only grown since. He has attended culinary school, fallen prey to a drug habit and even established a restaurant in Tokyo, discovering along the way that the crazy, dirty, sometimes frightening world of the restaurant kitchen sustains him. Bourdain is no presentable TV version of a chef; he talks tough and dirty. His advice to aspiring chefs: "Show up at work on time six months in a row and we'll talk about red curry paste and lemon grass. Until then, I have four words for you: 'Shut the fuck up.' " He disdains vegetarians, warns against ordering food well done and cautions that restaurant brunches are a crapshoot. Gossipy chapters discuss the many restaurants where Bourdain has worked, while a single chapter on how to cook like a professional at home exhorts readers to buy a few simple gadgets, such as a metal ring for tall food. Most of the book, however, deals with Bourdain's own maturation as a chef, and the culmination, a litany describing the many scars and oddities that he has developed on his hands, is surprisingly beautiful. He'd probably hate to hear it, but Bourdain has a tender side, and when it peeks through his rough exterior and the wall of four-letter words he constructs, it elevates this book to something more than blustery memoir. (May) Copyright 2000 Reed business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2006 (Birnbaum's Walt Disney World)by Birnbaum List Price: $16.95 Available from Amazon $11.02 On 7-22-2006 
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The Low GI Diet Cookbook: 100 Simple, Delicious Smart-Carb Recipes-The Proven Way to Lose Weight and Eat for Lifelong Health (New Glucose...by Jennie Brand-Miller, Kaye Foster-Powell, and Joanna McMillan-Price List Price: $19.95 Available from Amazon $12.97 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Forget about low fat, low cal and low carb, say the authors, join the New Glucose Revolution, a weight-loss plan based on the "glycemic index," (GI for short) which ranks foods by their affect on blood-sugar levels. Low GI cuisine produces "only gentle rises in your blood glucose and insulin levels," which supposedly keeps hunger down and energy up. The authors don't produce any studies to back up these claims, but the diet seems reasonable, as it's high in fiber, low in fat and encourages exercise. But the true test of any cookbook is in the kitchen, and based on this criterion, the book is only a qualified success. The recipes are admittedly superior: they're clearly written, with accurate preparation times and scrupulous nutritional information. The wide spectrum of dishes (chickpea burgers, meat and fish entrees, French toast) will appeal to many tastes, and the food is tasty. The problem is a low-GI diet just doesn't seem easy to follow. The authors do include a section on what to keep in your kitchen, as well as a brief passage about food labeling, but it's difficult to imagine how anyone with a job will have time to keep track of all this information. And, although the authors assert that there are "no special foods to buy," it seems unlikely that you'll find quinoa or chermoula at the Piggly-Wiggly. Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Book Description Based on the healthy low-GI eating principles established in The Low GI Diet Revolution, New York Times bestselling authors Jennie Brand-Miller and Kaye Foster-Powell, along with Joanna McMillan-Price, offer readers a companion cookbook packed with 100 delicious recipes that incorporate the top 100 low-GI foods. The New Glucose Revolution Cookbook covers everything from breakfast, snacks, and juices to dinner, dessert, and smoothies and features a special section on cooking essentials. Complete with important information on food shopping the low-GI way, kids meals, menu plans to suit our busy lifestyles, and gorgeous four-color photographs throughout, The New Glucose Revolution Cookbook makes sticking to a low-GI diet easy and enjoyable. |
Smoke and Spice: Cooking with Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecueby Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison List Price: $16.95 Available from Amazon $11.02 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page Product Review Barbecue is not about grilling food fast over high heat. That's something else, delicious in its own right, but something else entirely. Barbecue is about marginal cuts of meat (for the most part), about smoke, about fires burning so low and slow you hardly ever see the flicker of a flame. Barbecue is about succulent pork ribs as dark as sin just falling off the bone and dripping with glorious sweet pork godliness. Or enjoying the effects that 12 to 18 hours of smoking has on beef brisket. The trick is, how do you do it? How do you master a cooking technique all but ignored in favor of fast and hot? The answer lies in Smoke & Spice. authors Jamison and Jamison provide all the information you're ever going to need to run a real barbecue. Tips and techniques abound on every page--accompanied with countless recipes that stretch the barbecue imagination. And seeing that one cannot live on barbecue alone (though that's a challenge well worth considering) there are just as many recipes included for all the good food that accompanies barbecue--from Scalloped Green Chile Potatoes to South-of-the-Border Garlic Soup to Buttermilk Onion Rings and even Bourbon Peaches. If smoke in your eyes makes your mouth water, this is the primer for you! --Schuyler Ingle
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Chinese Business Etiquette: A Guide to Protocol, Manners, and Culture in the People's Republic of China (A Revised and Updated Edition of...by Scott D. Seligman List Price: $14.99 Available from Amazon $9.74 On 7-22-2006
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Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbookby Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann List Price: $16.95 Available from Amazon $11.02 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly According to the authors, 80% of American households own a slow cooker. This whopping collection of 350 recipes is reason enough to unearth that Crock-Pot from the attic or invest in one of the new high-tech models. The title, however, is a misnomer, and not just because the book includes a recipe for "Mom's Beef Stew." Much of what Hensperger (The Bread Bible) and Kaufmann (coauthor, with Hensperger, of The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook) present is exactly the kind of comfort food typically associated with childhood snow days or family gatherings. To use the word "hearty" in describing these recipes is to state the obvious. There are more than a dozen oatmeals and porridges, ranging from Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal to Creamy Cornmeal Porridge. Soups include Vegetarian Split Pea, French Onion, and White Bean with Bacon. Twenty-four types of baked beans are mere prelude for the 14 chili options, including "Senator Barry Goldwater's Arizona Chili" (which gives new meaning to the phrase "bowl of red"). Other recipes are for poultry, meat and fish dishes, and New and Old World dishes are plentiful. The only letdown is the "Not-from-the-Slow Cooker Accompaniments" chapter, with its uninspired choices like Baked Rice, and Mixed Green Salad. But the concluding pages, full of puddings and fruit desserts, atone with sinful treats like Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake and Rum-Butterscotch Bananas. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Library Bookwatch A treasure trove exploring all the potential available in a slow cooker pot. |
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchenby Harold McGee List Price: $40.00 Available from Amazon $25.20 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review A classic tome of gastronomic science and lore, On Food and Cooking delivers an erudite discussion of table ingredients and their interactions with our bodies. Following the historical, literary, scientific and practical treatment of foodstuffs from dairy to meat to vegetables, McGee explains the nature of digestion and hunger before tackling basic ingredient components, cooking methods and utensils. He explains what happens when food spoils, why eggs are so nutritious and how alcohol makes us drunk. As fascinating as it is comprehensive, this is as practical, interesting and necessary for the cook as for the scholar. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Before antioxidants, extra-virgin olive oil and supermarket sushi commanded public obsession, the first edition of this book swept readers and cooks into the everyday magic of the kitchen: it became an overnight classic. Now, 20 years later, McGee has taken his slightly outdated volume and turned it into a stunning masterpiece that combines science, linguistics, history, poetry and, of course, gastronomy. He dances from the spicy flavor of Hawaiian seaweed to the scientific method of creating no-stir peanut butter, quoting Chinese poet Shu Xi and biblical proverbs along the way. McGee's conversational style—rich with exclamation points and everyday examples—allows him to explain complex chemical reactions, like caramelization, without dumbing them down. His book will also be hailed as groundbreaking in its breakdown of taste and flavor. Though several cookbooks have begun to answer the questions of why certain foods go well together, McGee draws on recent agricultural research, neuroscience Reviews and chemical publications to chart the different flavor chemicals in herbs and spices, fruits and vegetables. Odd synergies appear, like the creation of fruity esters in dry-cured ham—the same that occur naturally in melons! McGee also corrects the European bias of the first edition, moving beyond the Mediterranean to discuss the foods of Asia and Mexico. Almost every single page of this edition has been rewritten, but the book retains the same light touch as the original. McGee has successfully revised the bible of food science—and produced a fascinating, charming text. Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Salt: A World Historyby Mark Kurlansky List Price: $16.00 Available from Amazon $10.40 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page Los Angeles Times Book Review Kurlansky continues to prove himself remarkably adept at taking a most unlikely candidate and telling its tale with epic grandeur. Book Description Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque history of the World, here turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Kurlansky's kaleidoscopic history is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece. |
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