wester's Reviews
Cookbook Reviews
74 books reviewed. Showing 51 to 74Sort by: Rating 
| Title
99 x Austrian Cooking
By Verlag Johannes Heyn, Helga Setz
- 1989
Austrian country cooking. Not very elaborate, a bit coarse, but very good if you're in the mood.
Jane Grigson's Fruit Book (Penguin Cookery Library)
By Jane Grigson
Penguin - 2000
Not as indispensable as the vegetable book, but still nice if you are at a loss as to what to do with a particular fruit.
New Food Fast
By Donna Hay
Murdoch Books - 1999
There are some lovely ideas here, but the layout is a bit too fancy for my taste.
Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco
By Paula Wolfert
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1987
Very authentic, to the point where it gets very fussy and you start to wonder what is the point. Definitely not for beginners.
Het grote vegetarische kookboek
By Susan Tomnay
Könemann - 1996
A good book for starting vegetarians, or vegetarians in need of inspiration. A great choice of recipes. Most are easy to make, and if not, they will warn you.
Book of Middle Eastern Food
By Claudia Roden
Vintage - 1974
Some of the recipes are really good, but many are not too exciting. They look quite authentic.
Almost Vegetarian: A Primer for Cooks Who Are Eating Vegetarian Most of the Time, Chicken & Fish Some of the Time, & Altogether Well All of the Time
By Diana Shaw
Three Rivers Press - 1994
A book for people who are (almost) vegetarian for health reasons, and possibly for those with both vegetarians and meat eaters in the family. Also for people who try to eat low-fat.
I'm not convinced yet that the taste survives all this healthiness.
The Balti Cookbook: Fast, Simple and Delicious Stir-fry Curries (Creative Cooking Library)
By Shehzad Husain
Lorenz Books - 1994
I sometimes wonder why I haven't cooked from this book yet. Lovely instructive photos, and it all looks tasty.
And then I look closer and I know again. One, it is very much centered on meat and fish and my cooking usually isn't. Two, it often uses many different ingredients, and that is not even counting the spices, so I have to go shopping before I can make anything.
The Cookware Cookbook: Great Recipes for Broiling, Steaming, Boiling, Poaching, Braising, Deglazing, Frying, Simmering, and sauteing
By Jamee Ruth, Leigh Beisch
Chronicle Books - 2005
The recipe names here are a bit overdone (fearless flapjacks, plentiful paella). Most of the recipes are quite straightforward, although there are a couple of interesting ideas.
The Vegetable Bible
By Christian Teubner
Chartwell Books - 2009
This more a reference for different vegetables than a cookbook. Of course you can use wikipedia instead, but it is nice to browse in. There are some recipes in here as well, but no indispensable ones.
Moosewood Cookbook
By Mollie Katzen
Ten Speed Press - 1992
I definitely wish I had had this book when I was a vegetarian student who was just learning to cook. It would have improved the quality of my food no end.
But now I am over forty and on a low-carb diet, and especially now I know so much more about cooking, it just does not have that much to offer that I don't know yet.
I will probably give it to my vegetarian sister - she will probably enjoy it.
Bread tomato garlic
By Jill Dupleix
Conran Octopus Limited - 1999
Some nice ideas, but that's basically all. The book doesn't really add anything to the titles of the recipes.
Fresh at Home
By Ruth Brown
Penguin Global - 2005
A bit too vegetarian for my taste, as in: all tofu/beans/grains, and more attention paid to healthiness than to taste. Also, a lot of difficult ingredients (wheat grass, spirulina, protein powder).
Masterchef 1996
By Loyd Grossman
Ebury Press - 1996
Some Ok ideas, but often overly elaborate.
Lyndey Milans Fabulous Food
By Lyndey Milan, Michael Cook
New Holland Publishers Ltd - 1999
The book looks good (nice photos etc.), but so far I haven't been inspired to actually make any of the recipes.
Antonio Carluccio's Italian Feast
By Antonio Carluccio, Harry Green, Graham Kirk
BBC Books - 1996
I don't seem to use this book much - maybe I'm not authentically Italian enough. The recipes seem a bit fussy.
Fresh Start: Great Low-fat Recipes, Day-by-day Menus - The Savvy Way to Cook, Eat and Live! (The great good food series)
By Julee Rosso
Random House Value Publications - 1996
I don't like diet cookbooks, but sometimes they're necessary. And this one isn't too bad. At least it talks about flavor and not about the "naughtiness" of eating too fat. The book is very American, as far as the eating style is concerned.
Great Good Food: Luscious Lower-Fat Cooking
By Julee Rosso
Three Rivers Press - 1993
If you really want to lower your fat intake, you can do worse than this book. The recipes are still reasonably tasty and quite easy to make with normal ingredients - all the dairy is nonfat but you won't have to fill your pantry with diet food.
If you are not interested in your fat intake, don't bother.
Mesa Mexicana
By Mary S. Milliken
William Morrow Cookbooks - 1994
I have not found many recipes in here that look inspiring, and the one recipe I made was not much good. Maybe I'll have better luck with the next recipes.
Book of Tofu
By Zelazny
- 1978
I would have liked a few more recipes on how to cook tofu, not on how to make it, and I would like an occasional recipe without miso. If that's no problem for you, by all means get this book, but it's not my cup of tea.
Farm Vegetarian Cook Book
By Louise Hagler
Book Publishing Company (TN) - 1982
This is not so much a cookbook as it is a guide on how to survive on beans, soy beans especially. It includes how to make your own tofu and tempeh. Very seventies.
The Complete Around The World Cookbook (The Speedy Gourmet Library Series)
By Johna Blinn, Tom Dorsey, Arthur Friedman
Playmore Publishers and Waldman Publishing - 1987
This one is a bit dated. It tries to use foods that were easy to acquire when it was written, resulting in recipes that make you wonder what ingredients would make this taste best.
Spices of Life: Piquant Recipes from Africa, Asia and Latin America for Western Kitchens
By Troth Wells
New Internationalist Publications Ltd - 1996
The (non)organization of the book makes it almost impossible to find recipes.
The index only lists the main ingredients (such as potatoes) or the sort of dish (such as soup), not the spices, and the original names only behind the main ingredient, not alphabetically. The order of the book is first the course, then within that the country, so Asian starters are in a completely different part of the book than Asian main courses.
So if you are looking for a particular recipe, or if you want to use a particular spice, or even want to try the kitchen of a particular country, it's near impossible to find it.
I'll review the recipes if I find any.
The Seafood Cookbook: Classic to Contemporary
By Pierre Franey, Bryan Miller, Lauren Jarrett
Times Books, a division of Random House Inc. - 1986
I made two recipes from this cookbook, both disappointing. It's getting one more chance, but three strikes and it's going out.