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Monday, January 15, 2018

THE REISSUES, THE REPRINTS, AND THE NEWER EDITIONS...

 
...all reflect a boom in the cookbook publishing business. A paperback
 
reprint will lower the cost to the purchaser, and also give a publisher a
 
chance to correct egregious errors or add a postscript. Some will reissue a
 
book in paper covers with a new layout or photos. Others will rearrange
 
existing material to present it as more informative text while keeping the
 
focus tight. Some magazines will reissue popular or classic recipes in an
 
"easy" format. Here are some recent "re-editions"...
 
 
HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING VEGETARIAN; simple meatless recipes for
 
great food. 2D ed. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017; John Wiley, 2007, 832
 
pages, ISBN 978-1-118-45564-7, $35 USD hard covers) is by the
 
ubiquitous Mark Bittman, multiple award winning cookbook author (Julia
 
Child, IACP, Beard). Notable logrollers include Alice Waters and Yotam
 
Ottolenghi, although at this point (as I said 10 years ago), I don't think that
 
Bittman needs logrollers. This is the tenth anniversary edition "completely
 
revised" and tightened up, apparently, because it is 160 pages shorter.
 
Here, simple dishes are emphasized, along with tips, advice, cook's notes,
 
charts, sidebars, and lists. It has been updated with new information and
 
new photography, along with new recipes. The
database is over 1000 recipes and variations. It is all straightforward, from
 
apps through desserts, and he embraces meat substitutes such as tofu, and
 
eggs and dairy. There are special icons to identify recipes that can be
 
made in 30-minutes or less, recipes that can be prepped in advance, and
 
vegan recipes. There are also "how to" line drawing illustrations but the
 
menus are gone. US volume measurements are used, but there are tables
 
of metric equivalents. He concludes with notes on meal planning plus a
 
special index to appetizers and essential recipes. There is no indication of
 
which preps are new, and if you don't have his 2007 book, then this is the
 
one to get. Quality/Price Rating: 90.
 
 
SEAWEED (Grub Street, 2017, 184 pages, ISBN 978-1-910690-51-2
 
$36.95 CAD hardbound) is by Claudia Seifert, Zoe Christiansen, Lisa
 
Westgaard, and Hanne Martinsen. It was originally published in 2016 in
 
Norway as Tang & Tare Et Hav Av Mat. This is the English translation, and
 
the book is selling in the UK, USA and Canada. It is, of course, all about
 
seaweed. The four authors give us the primer of harvesting, drying, storing,
 
with discussions on texture and flavour and nutritional values. Seaweeds
 
can be oarweed, sea lettuce, winged kelp, sea spaghetti, thong weed,
 
dulse, laver, and seabelt. There are 130 pages of recipes plus a directory of
 
resources. It is also a well-photographed book and it is a unique ingredient
 
book. The book has mostly metric measurements with just a few
 
avoirdupois such as volumes in teaspoons and tablespoons. But it should
 
be easy to follow. One of my faves is the polenta sticks with paprika dip and
 
almond sticks, plus the black rice salad, some dim sum, and celeriac
 
potatoes with aioli and green salsa. I have found seaweed, such as sea
 
asparagus, to be extremely salty. So check first. Quality/price rating: 90.

Chimo! www.deantudor.com

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