Reviews Cooking, Food And Wine Book

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Customer Reviews

Great Book
I really enjoyed this book. I'm not so sure I like how it is organized as it is broken down into regions for recipes. I think it would be better to group by marinades, rubs, etc. vs. spreading them out by region. Otherwise, you will love this book. It hasn't failed me yet. Lots of applications.

barbeque bible
This is a well thought out and complete guide.I like the idea that it has a section that tells you everything you need to have in your pantry in order to make good use of the many recipes.

Fills a niche in your cookbook library
In my pilgrimage from menu designer to food photographer to gourmet cook (not there yet), I recently found myself in audience with a restaurateur in Bay St. Louis, Miss., who is passionate about marinades, and I realized my ignorance on the subject. I have been buying bottled marinades, following the directions on the bottle, and cooking easy meals.
So I ordered Tarantino's book. I now see my ignorance is vaster than previously suspected. This book won't fix it all, but it is an essential text.
Read the early "Tools & Techniques" chapter before tackling any of the hundreds of recipes. I didn't, and paid a salty-tasting price for impatiently putting pork in brine at 55 degrees rather than the recommended 40 degrees. The author points out that it takes as long for the brine to cool as it does to prepare, and explains the reason for the recommended temperature. Plan your timeline. You may need to start preparations Friday night for a Saturday supper.
The recipes are grouped into six sections:
Basic Recipes & Ingredient Themes
The American South & Southwest
Latin America & the Caribbean
The Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, & North Africa
Asia
Tarantino introduces each section with a "Pantry" list of ingredients it is hand to have on hand, and a "Special Ingredients" glossary, describing some items with such details as source, preparation, use, taste and storage.
There is a good bibliography and index.
Here's something I didn't find:
After I soaked the pork loin in "Basic Brine for Pork and Poultry" for six to eight hours, how do I cook it?
The recipes get you through the cold prep part of the process, but then you're on your own.
This is an inexpensively produced book with no photos or illustrations, but plenty of room to write notes in the margins. I uploaded a photo I made of Smoked Salmon with Tangerine-Pink Peppercorn Marinade. There were strong flavors--quite tasty.