I
once received the following love-life advice from a psychic (so you
can take it for what it’s worth). When you find someone you really
like, and want to be sure they return the sentiment, cook them a
stew. As you chop and assemble the ingredients, concentrate on
putting love into it, just like you do the meat and vegetables. If
it`s
meant to be, the other person will eat the meal and wham, bam, thank
you ma’am, true love is born. One part dinner, one part love
potion. While I can’t vouch for the efficacy of the technique in
landing a spouse, there is a little nugget of truth there.
Cooking
is more than just throwing ingredients into a pot. It is one part
art, one part passion. The act of chopping, stirring, and creating a
meal from scratch is deeply satisfying. In some ways a little bit of
love goes into every pot — especially when cooking with family and
friends. If you don’t feel a little passion for food when you
cook, maybe you need to find some
way to incorporate some. If you can’t muster any culinary love, do
yourself a favor and marry someone who does — you’ll eat much
better. :-)
What
brought to mind my unusual psychic encounter and the subsequent
contemplation of food and passion? I was trying to figure out why I
loved my favorite cookbooks. Have you ever read a cookbook cover to
cover? I have, but not very often. The cookbooks that I have
actually treated like a book rather than a recipe reference are the
ones I keep coming back to. What makes them so good? It’s the
passion for food. The zest for, well, zest, that differentiates the
ordinary cookbook compiler from the great cookbook writer.
Anyone
can throw together a book of recipes. Put a good index in it and if
someone needs to know how to bake a bundt cake, they’ll know where
to go. Add some good pictures and you may catch my attention a
little longer. Take the time to tell me why something works, what
you did wrong or really liked, why a specific recipe is special to
you — in short put yourself into it — and I know that those are
recipes I want to make. Those are the ones I always go back to. So
what are my current favorites? I’ll list three below. One I have
been using for over a year regularly. The other two are very new
for me, but I already love them.
This
is must have for anyone wanting to explore Indian cooking. You can
tell by the curled cover and random post-its sticking out, that it is
well-loved. The recipes are the author’s family recipes, friends’
family recipes, and old family recipes from random people he met
while creating the book. These are old school Indian recipes, but
the author makes them contemporary, and even includes a section of
fusion cooking —- mixing his Indian heritage with his very american
upbringing. The recipes are interspersed with personal anecdotes and
information on the origin of many of the recipes. The multitude of
spice blends in the beginning chapters alone is worth the cover
price. The smell of store-bought spices has nothing on a fresh
ground masala blend. I didn’t do an official count but I’d bet
at least half of the 660 recipes are paleo or could be easily
adjusted.
The
beginning chapters cover the basics of roasting and talk about the
different techniques for roasting and how and why each does what it
does. I learned more about roasting meat and veggies after a half
hour than I’ve learned in the last 38 years. It also includes
sections on roasting fish, vegetables, and fruit. The recipes are
fairly simple and let properly roasted food take the center stage.
The author’s passion for roasting (and good real food in general)
comes across. I wish there were photos for all of the recipes, but
the photos that are there are beautiful. I’ve used a couple of
techniques I’ve learned already and will definitely be pulling this
out a lot.
This
one is hot off the presses and just came out this month. Well Fed
has it all — great pictures, good recipes, and commentary that is
as entertaining as it is informative. Plus the layout is fabulous.
There is a “notes” section on each page (no more squeezing notes
in the margins) and references for which other dishes in the cookbook
go well with it. The cookbook features favorites from her website plus a few recipes that don’t seem to
be on her site.
The
chocolate chili recipe I reviewed yesterday was hers. I tried the
mayonnaise recipe (I’m still determined to find a good paleo
mayonnaise!). I had problems getting mine to thicken properly, but
the flavor was pretty good, so I’m going to work on my technique
some more. I already have a number of recipes bookmarked and on my
list of “must-makes” including the Moroccan meatballs and Jicama
“Potato” Salad.
You
can download a free 30 page pdf sampler of the cookbook on her
website. There aren’t many recipes in the sampler, but you get a
great sampling of her writing and the full table of contents. A
number of the recipes are available on her website if you want to
give them a try first. The cookbook includes alternate ways of
making things and suggested items to pair it with so its worth the
purchase if you like what you see.
There
is a pdf version available as well as athe print copy. When you buy
a print copy, you get a code to get the pdf copy for only $1 more.
Do your self a favor and get the print copy. I’m not super happy
with the pdf version because it shows two pages at a time and prints
out at 11×17. It’s nice because you can see facing pages as if
you are looking at the open book, but its hard to view on the screen
without increasing magnification and scrolling. If thats not a
problem for you, it may be a good option because it does cost half of
the print price. It drove me nuts though and I ended up printing
the whole thing on 11×17 paper and then cut the pages apart and
punched and assembled it in a binder. Its good enough for now, but I
may end up splurging and getting the shiny, pretty print version
eventually. And it really is a very pretty well laid out book.
Hard to believe it is self-published.