JUNE Book Reviews: THE RESTAURANT/CELEBRITY COOKBOOKS...
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,...
Cookbooks Latin American Recipes Archives
'Kitchen Diva' aims to encourage healthier eating WRAL.com, NC - "When the slaves came from Africa to South America and then to North America, they changed recipes and techniques for cooking. |
 ABC News | Best Cookbooks of 2008 ABC News - She has made a name for herself as a chef in Miami, with a fresh new take on Latin cuisine. Her recipes are a blend of her mother's home cooking and her |
Women cook up new way to raise money for charity North Brunswick Sentinel, USA - "It's a lovely cookbook. I'm very proud of it, and we've had lots of nice compliments." The cookbook includes recipes for a variety of soups and salads as |
Chez Panisse Chef Designs Your Dinner Party: Holiday Cookbooks Bloomberg - There are four sections here: American Steak, Bistro Steak, Latin Steak and Far East Steak, as well as recipes for side dishes such as summer succotash and |
A savory mélange Louisiana Life Magazine, LA - An early American recipe for a chicken jambalaya without tomatoes cited by Sigal appeared in American Agriculturist in 1849, but it was from Alabama and was |
