June 4, 2003

Cookbook Reviews:
My Pick of the Last Decade, Part II

Category: Born Again (Reprinted, Revised or Not)Cookbooks
“The American Table” by Ronald Johnson
Price $16.95

However did this book escape me, being first published in 1984, the heyday of my cookbook buying? Mr. Johnson, who died in 1998, called himself a “home cook” and described his cooking as putting twists on classic recipes rather than following trends. Coincidentally, this is a definition of my favorite kind of cooking.

After reading only a few pages of this book, I was scrambling for post-it notes to mark the most tempting recipes. After about fifty markers the book got rather thick, so I did what I do with all my favorite cookbooks: type a list of the most intriguing, print two copies and file one in the book itself. The other copy goes in a notebook as it’s much easier to get inspiration from reading the lists than hauling heavy books to the dining table or sofa.

As for “twists”, the author stirs potted shrimp into grits, bakes acorn squash soufflés in the shells and substitutes homemade orange syrup for Karo in his pecan pie. He turns Yorkshire pudding into Bacon (or Sausage) and Parsley Pudding and suggests serving this versatile dish with a green salad and wine for dinner, or with fresh fruit and coffee for breakfast or brunch.

When first released, this book was named winner of a Tastemaker Award. True to its time period, it contains no unwanted warnings about fat and other food phobias. From New England to New Orleans, from Capitol Hill to Russian Hill, here is a sampling of America’s best—and most imaginative—offerings.

Postscript: I purchased several of Mr. Johnson’s other cookbooks and did not find them nearly as interesting.

Category: Television Chef Cookbooks
“Sara Moulton Cooks at Home” by Sara Moulton
Price: $29.95

First, understand that I don’t buy many cookbooks written by TV Chefs. The few recipes you like can be mostly found on the net, and the rest of them you don’t want anyway. These books are also subject to the “coffee table syndrome”, sporting dozens of color photographs of the chef, his buddies, a Tuscany hillside, a bowl of apples and a wine bottle. None of these are particularly helpful in picturing his “tower of lemongrass rice pudding with banana wafers and chocolate gastrique” or some such nonsense.

Sara’s book has only a few pictures and they are of the actual food, although I wish they appeared opposite the corresponding recipes instead of in two clumps near the middle of the book. Each recipe includes a wine recommendation, if that’s important to you. Sara is her chatty self, calling small vegetables “little guys”, proselytizing chili peppers and salads, liberally sprinkling her recipes with friend and family anecdotes.

As a matter of fact, it’s these tales that make me rate the book so highly. The recipes are a mixed bag. There are trendy types from her latest TV show (Sara’s Secrets), lots of fish and greenery and Asian seasoning, mixed in with handed down recipes and Sara’s own family’s favorites. I’ve tried three recipes and two turned out fairly well. For Ants in a Tree Sara suggests using angel hair pasta (which was on hand) instead of cellophane noodles (which weren’t) with ground pork, cabbage and those Asian seasonings. My family includes a cabbage hater, so I used snow peas instead of cabbage and everyone enjoyed the dish.

Another dish I tested was Chocolate Bits Pudding, her grandmother’s recipe for sort of a pot de crème made in a double boiler. The pudding wasn’t deep enough for my thermometer to register the temperature, so I overcooked it the first time. The second time the flavor was better than the texture, but I’ll make it again. The third recipe came from the Two Hot Tamales, Quick Sautéed Shredded Brussels Sprouts. The cooking method is supposed to remove the bitterness but mine were terribly bitter. Possibly the sprouts were over the hill, but don’t think I’ll try it again to find out.

Other recipes on my list to try include Spring Spaetzle, a main dish with asparagus, cream, peas, parmesan and herbs; an overnight version of preserved lemons; Sara’s favorite cookies, Mocha Cookies “The Bakery”; and Easy Eggnog, melted ice cream with rum and nutmeg.

If you like Sara Moulton, you’ll probably like her book.

Category: Health Books
Tie: “The Good Fat Cookbook” by Fran McCullough
Price: $25.00
“Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon
Price: $25.00

I don’t normally buy “health” cookbooks. Many of them are diet books, low-fat cookbooks or books specifically for a certain disease or health condition. Most of the others are simply looking to cash in on the ubiquitous fear of food/fat in America.

These two books are the exception. Both point to the way the American public has been duped with false information about the kind of fats that are good/bad for you, the role of diet in regulating cholesterol and soy foods being so good for you. In “The Good Fat Cookbook” Ms. McCullough prints a list of “good” fats on the back cover containing such no-no’s as butter, bacon and real ice cream. Her “bad” list contains margarine, vegetable oil, canola oil, and animal crackers(!).

Here are two interesting facts Ms. McCullough reveals about coconut: (1) coconut oil is the fat most closely resembling that in breast milk, and (2) coconut oil was banned because a “single sad cow” failed to thrive on a diet of coconut oil. The soy industry saw their chance and rammed through legislation banning it. She lists baker’s dozen reasons why coconut—and coconut oil—are good for you. A little more than half the book is low carb recipes.

“Nourishing Traditions” is a large book of over 650 pages, and contains some unusual features. Scattered throughout in the wide margins are facts, myths, menus, testing results, proverbs and quotes from medical authorities. She cites test findings which indicated the following:

(1) Vegetarians have just as much atherosclerosis as meat eaters.

(2) Lowfat diets do not prevent breast cancer.

(3) Lowfat diets are associated with increased rates of depression, psychological problems, fatigue, violence and suicide.

One of the most fascinating margin features is called “Know Your Ingredients, Name This Product”. Each of almost fifty of these names the ingredients off the labels of manufactured foods, and you have to guess what it is. I loved this, but probably because I guessed almost all of them.

You may use some of the recipes in these books, maybe not. Their main value to me is proving that if it’s food, it’s good for you UNLESS some chemist has been messing about with it.

Honorable Mention:
Categories: Science and TV Chef
“I’m Just Here for the Food” by Alton Brown
$32.50

While Alton Brown of the Food Network’s “Good Eats” does a fantastic job of educating readers about methods of cooking, I have several main gripes with the book. One, the design of the book is scattered and cutesy, somewhat like Alton himself.

Two, once you find your recipe, it’s printed in small type on a deep olive brown background. Ironically, the book contains a four-page section entitled, “How to Read a Recipe.” The answer should be: with a strong light and perfect eyesight.

Three, some of the recipes strike me as not just unusual but also distinctly weird, such as a hot melon salad with onion, and calamari deep-fried in a Rice Krispies batter. For $32.50, we deserve better, Alton, but I’ll keep your book for its science lessons.

©Copyright 2003 - All Rights Reserved