http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com collaborative book reviews about all things food and wine Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:32:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7688_iron-chef-chens-knockout-chinese-chen-kenichi-2009-us http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7688_iron-chef-chens-knockout-chinese-chen-kenichi-2009-us#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:32:31 +0000 Mark Manguerra http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=7688 Iron Chef Chen's Knockout Chinese is a charming, lightweight book from a Japanese master of Sichuan cooking, and one of the original Iron Chefs. For better or for worse, this first translated work skips the traditional, authentic fare and goes straight for the innovative and personal recipes (with a few classics thrown in). The organization is strange and some things are lost in translation, but the recipes are often simple and inviting enough for most people to pick up immediately.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7688_iron-chef-chens-knockout-chinese-chen-kenichi-2009-us/feed 0 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7500_molto-gusto-mario-batali-2010-us http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7500_molto-gusto-mario-batali-2010-us#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:47:49 +0000 Mark Manguerra http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=7500 Patterned after Mario Batali's New York pizzeria Otto, Molto Gusto takes the focus away from complicated "meat-and-potatoes" Italian dishes and towards simple, easy-to-prepare everyday fare (or as limited by your budget for the deli). The recipes are all approachable and the photographs are inviting, but some readers might be turned off by some extremely simple recipes and the dependence on a specific brand of tomato product.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7500_molto-gusto-mario-batali-2010-us/feed 1 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7159_the-craft-of-baking-karen-demasco-2009-us http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7159_the-craft-of-baking-karen-demasco-2009-us#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 18:17:36 +0000 Duncan Markham http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=7159 Karen DeMasco's The Craft of Baking aims to inspire the home baker to try new variations of homely desserts and sweets, and is successful at encouraging creativity to some degree. There is a wide range of recipes and some modest but interesting suggestions. However, it is lacking in helpful explanations and is too narrow in its selection of ingredients and special brands, and the use of US-centric measures and terminology may be frustrating to international readers.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/7159_the-craft-of-baking-karen-demasco-2009-us/feed 0 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6783_the-italian-cookery-course-katie-caldesi-2009-uk http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6783_the-italian-cookery-course-katie-caldesi-2009-uk#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 12:30:19 +0000 Duncan Markham http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=6783 Katie Caldesi's Italian Cookery Course (published as Cook Italy in the USA) is in equal measure an exceedingly attractive and enjoyable exploration of Italian cooking, and a mild disappointment as a "cookery course". Caldesi, co-owner of the UK restaurants Caffè Caldesi, Caldesi in Campagna, and an Italian cooking school, seemed to embark on a voyage of discovery in order to find the knowledge to write this book. The result is an enormous range of recipes with many personal preferences, sometimes deviating from what a reader might expect of recipes in a course in Italian cooking. In the end, the book could have been titled "Katie goes to Italy". Many people will enjoy this attractive, well written book, forgiving or overlooking the weakness of many of the "masterclasses" and occasional gaps in information.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6783_the-italian-cookery-course-katie-caldesi-2009-uk/feed 0 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6403_okashi-keiko-ishida-2009-sg http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6403_okashi-keiko-ishida-2009-sg#comments Sun, 04 Apr 2010 04:53:59 +0000 Lemonpi http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=6403 At first glance, you may wonder what the fuss over Okashi is all about. A fairly simple book with attractive photographs, it presents appealing recipes that showcase author Ishida's particular style, incorporating numerous Japanese flavours into many familiar baked goods and dessert items. Creative and suitable for a broad audience, this book should delight many bakers.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6403_okashi-keiko-ishida-2009-sg/feed 1 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6332_field-guide-to-candy-anita-chu-2009-us http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6332_field-guide-to-candy-anita-chu-2009-us#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:48:02 +0000 Jason S http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=6332 Field Guide to Candy packs a lot of recipes for homemade candy from around the world in a compact volume. It manages to include several lesser-known recipes from outside the US, UK and France, even though there are a few glaring omissions and curious inclusions. However, the lack of detail in the recipes make this more suitable as a reference book for more experienced candy-makers.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/6332_field-guide-to-candy-anita-chu-2009-us/feed 2 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/5685_the-visual-food-lovers-guide-qa-international-2009-us http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/5685_the-visual-food-lovers-guide-qa-international-2009-us#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:57:49 +0000 Duncan Markham http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=5685 An enjoyable book containing an impressive range of information about common and exotic ingredients, including many pictures and nutritional information. It's suitable for people who already know a bit about ingredients, although the organisation of the book can be quite frustrating. For beginners, this would only be suitable for US readers, with some reservations.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/5685_the-visual-food-lovers-guide-qa-international-2009-us/feed 0 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/5169_three-star-chef-gordon-ramsay-2007-uk http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/5169_three-star-chef-gordon-ramsay-2007-uk#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:16:34 +0000 Daniel Chan http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=5169 Once upon a time, the marking point of a chef’s success was the awarding of a Michelin star or equivalent. The professional recognition and a dining room full of satisfied diners was all that was needed to make your mark on the culinary landscape. But chefs and restaurants have now evolved to a stage where global brand recognition has become a part of the game. Cookbooks featuring the flagship restaurant are a part of that marketing strategy. Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road is the flagship of Ramsay’s empire, and “Three Star Chef” is his homage to it. As you’d expect, it is a beautiful book that will draw attention whether you keep it in the kitchen or on the coffee table. The photography is of a high quality and the dishes presented are remarkable in terms of the skills behind them and their presentation. Given the time, skill, and ingredients, this is food that would impress at a dinner party. Ramsay’s words display his customary bluntness when discussing restaurant life in the first half of the book, but change to a more encouraging tone in the recipe section. Does this book, like the restaurant, stand alongside corresponding works by the likes of Thomas Keller, Heston Blumenthal, and Michel Bras? While the Ramsay book matches these others in terms of recipe content and production values, it falls short in that you never truly get a sense of what drives him, his food, and his restaurant. ]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/5169_three-star-chef-gordon-ramsay-2007-uk/feed 0 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/4641_roses-heavenly-cakes-rose-levy-beranbaum-2009-us http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/4641_roses-heavenly-cakes-rose-levy-beranbaum-2009-us#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:20:18 +0000 Mark Manguerra http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=4641 Rose's Heavenly Cakes is Rose Levy Beranbaum's follow-up to the acclaimed The Cake Bible, with almost 100 cakes that aim to please a wide variety of tastes. Beranbaum's meticulous style may please some well-equipped home bakers in a temperate climate, but others might find them too fastidious, controlling, limiting, and overly complicated for what are really supposed to be simple cakes. Frustratingly, even following the recipe to the letter can give results that still leave something to be desired.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/4641_roses-heavenly-cakes-rose-levy-beranbaum-2009-us/feed 6 http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/4065_the-dessert-architect-robert-wemischner-2010-us http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/4065_the-dessert-architect-robert-wemischner-2010-us#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:29:29 +0000 Mark Manguerra http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/?p=4065 The Dessert Architect gives plenty of inspiration for a student of pastry arts to create his or her own impressive creations through 50 creative recipes. It also provides a few guidelines in creating your own plated desserts and what factors must be put into consideration in a professional kitchen. However, the photography needs some improvement in showing off the desserts. Also, the lack of instructions for specific plating techniques and the exclusion of newer methods in plating and construction keep the book from becoming an authority on plating in the modern pastry chef's bookshelf.]]> http://www.thegastronomersbookshelf.com/4065_the-dessert-architect-robert-wemischner-2010-us/feed 5