friederike's Profile

From: Berlin,

Joined: September 25th, 2009

Website:
www.instagram.com/Path_of_Yeas


Latest review:

November 11th, 2018

Keralan Veggie Curry with Poppadoms, Rice & Minty Yoghurt from Jamie's 15-Minute Meals

The dish itself, the flavours, at least how I made it, that's a solid four star rating - it was delicious! Everything else - the time management, the style of writing, the layout, - oh, and did I mention... read more >


recipe reviews (1113)
book reviews (121)
useful review votes (554)

friederike's Reviews


Search Reviews:

Cookbook Reviews

121 books reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Rating | Title

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food

By Mark Bittman, Alan Witschonke
Wiley - 2007

March 24th, 2011

I'm going to make myself unpopular: I don't like this book, for the simple reason that more than half of the recipes I prepared (well, 3 out of 5) turned out badly. Sure, the book in itself is very informative, with all the information given on ingredients, techniques, etc., and I applaud the suggested variations - but given the vast amount or recipes and variations I doubt that they have been tested and revised properly.

How To Eat In

By Adam Byatt
Bantam Press - 2010

October 11th, 2012

A beautiful book with many classic British dishes, some with an impressive (and impressing) twist, aiming at home-style fine dining (as the title suggests). The recipes I've tested were generally easy to follow and reliable.

Ice Cream Handbook

By Vicky Smallwood
D&S Books - 2005

February 13th, 2011 (edited 18th August 2012)

I'm not too wild about this book. In all fairness, I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but it doesn't give any instructions for people don't own an ice cream machine (I can manage without specific instructions, but it just would have been nicer), but I especially dislike that most recipes require 'liquid glucose' without any explanation whatsoever what liquid glucose actually is (my bet is that if you dissolve sugar in a little water you will get, or at least come pretty close to liquid glucose). Add to that the amateurish quality photos...

On the plus side: it contains many interesting, more adventurous recipes. Buffalo Yoghurt Ice Cream with Brown Sugar, anyone? Liquorice Ice Cream? Caramallow Ice Cream, or Plum Pudding Ice Cream?

Edited to add:
It's summer and I looked through the book to see if I can make anything with all that ripe fruit we have at the moment. I was shocked to see that most recipes use canned fruit - canned peaches, canned plums, canned pears, dried and canned apricots - what about fresh fruit? I'm not making my own ice cream to have it contain industrially processed foods!

Ice Cream Ireland (Murphys Ice Cream)

By
-

February 27th, 2011 (edited 27th February 2011)

This blog by Murphys Ice Cream, a small family-run Irish ice cream maker is unbelievable for all the enthusiasm that just drips off the pages. And there are so many fascinating recipes blogged about! Now there's a challenge for this coming summer...

Ice Cream: The Perfect Weekend Treat

By Susanna Tee
Parragon Inc - 2004

February 13th, 2011

So far I am very happy with this little book. It doesn't contain a lot of recipes, but those I have tried were very good. Additionally, and I really enjoy the thoughtfulness of it, it always gives two sets of instructions: for people with an ice cream machine, and for people without one.

Ich helf dir kochen: das erfolgreiche Universalkochbuch mit großem Backteil

By Hedwig Maria Stuber
- 2000

November 17th, 2009 (edited 17th November 2009)

This is definitely the book I go to when I'm looking for a side dish, need to look up something or am just looking for a down-to-earth recipe. It leans heavily towards German cuisine, though not necessarily to the cliché dishes, and is probably one of the standard basic cookbooks in Germany.

It’s a direct rival to “German Cooking Today: The Original”, and in my opinion vastly superior to it – that is to say, I bought the latter years earlier, but never learnt to cook properly, until “Ich helf Dir kochen” came along. But that may just be me.

In a Persian Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from the Near East

By Maideh Mazda
Tuttle Publishing - 1989

October 17th, 2009 (edited 17th October 2009)

I've hadn't had the chance to cook anything from this book yet, but I skimmed it today and was very disappointed that it doesn't contain a recipe for Fesenjan - I thought that was one of the essential Persian dishes?
Other than that, it looks like a nice book. It includes several suggestions for typical menus, for summer and winter lunches and dinners, and I enjoy the tone of the narrative.

Indien. Küche und Kultur

By Tanja Dusy, Ronald Schenkel
Graefe Und Unzer Verlag - 2005

November 21st, 2012

It's a very beautiful book, no doubt, and it's one of few Indian cookbooks on the German market that's worth the read. Unfortunately, the recipes so far haven't been that impressive, and that seems to be due to lack of technique and little testing.

Jerusalem

By Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi
Ebury Press - 2012

November 3rd, 2012

So far, I have tested four recipes from this book. I noticed that all of these dishes were very delicious, none of them had that particular Ottolenghi genius. It's logical if you think about it - this is not a book about his own dishes, this is a book about the cuisine of Jerusalem. And it's very good at that, the dishes were lovely and the recipes were extremely reliable. It's just to say that you shouldn't approach 'Jerusalem' with wrong expectations, you'd be disappointed by a book that definitely does not deserve that. I'm very happy I have it.

Joy of Baking

By
-

February 27th, 2011

Huge database of baking recipes. The two I've tried were very good. Nice photos, but the overall layout of the website is less pleasing.

Kürbis

By Martin Kintrup, Stephanie Wenzel, Klaus-Maria Einwanger, Tanja Bischof, Harry Bischof, Jörn Rynio
Graefe Und Unzer Verlag - 2007

December 27th, 2011

A pity. It's a book published in a series by a well-known German publisher of cookbooks (actually the largest one, if I'm guessing right), it looks nice, it has a nice topic, but the recipes? Nope, not recommended. Can it be so difficult to come up with a few interesting dishes that actually work?

Kürbis, Kraut & Co.

By
Zabert Sandman - 2008

May 5th, 2011

I bought the books in this series because the recipes looked attractive and innovative, the dishes are beautifully presented and they just looked like a good deal (5 Euro a piece, 128 pages, ca. 70 recipes) - and they won the World Cookbook Award for best series, right?

Turns out the dishes look good, but taste bland and just don't work well, and are usually a lot of work. And there are at least ten series a year that win the World Cookbook Award for best series. Seriously.

I wasn't very enthousiast about the other books in this series (search for the tag "Zabert Sandmann series"). So far this book seems to be the best one, if you can judge from only two recipes. Let's hope it's different.

The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen

By Nigel Slater
Fourth Estate Ltd - 2007

November 9th, 2009

A beautiful book. Because it takes the form of a journal, it’s not very practical, but then again, it’s not supposed to; it’s rather one of those books you will read on a lazy Sunday afternoon (preferably after you’ve had your lunch), and marvel at the pictures and the sphere it creates.

Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cookery Techniques: With over 200 Basic Recipes from the World's Most Famous Culinary School

By Jeni Wright, Eric Treuille, Julia Alcock, David Murray
Cassell Illustrated - 2002

March 27th, 2010

Comparable to The Cook's Book, this book covers mainly cooking techniques (as the name implies) but also offers several recipes. Excellent choice!

marie claire - Snacks & Drinks.

By Michele Cranston
Komet Verlag GmbH - 2004

December 27th, 2011

This book has always scared me (why would I ever make so refined finger food for my student self?), and at the same time fascinated me (same reason). Now that I'm older and have some help in the kitchen, it's actually quite a good book for birthday parties. So far, most recipes have been interesting, reliable, not too difficult or work intensive (or not more than you'd expect them to be). There are a lot of recipes and styles to choose from, both food and drink, starting with morning tea/coffee parties and ending with cocktails.

Very similar to Donna Hay's New Entertaining - so similar, actually, that I always mix up the two.

Marie Claire Comfort

By Michele Cranston
Murdoch Books - 2006

March 19th, 2011

The appeal of this book lies mainly in its beautiful photos - a real coffee table book. It's not really that practically organised - the titles of the different chapters are 'spoon', 'table', 'pot' and 'oven' - how's that for consistency and logic? So far, however, the recipe's have been extremely nice, and I suppose that's what counts. Unfortunately, the binding has already begun to come apart, and I've only owned the book a few months (and I haven't been leafing through it daily).

Marie Claire Fresh + Fast

By Michele Cranston
Murdoch Books - 2009

June 10th, 2012

I expected I'd just make a few of the recipes in this book, and then turn away to greener pastures - but I found I come back surprisingly often. Most of the recipes are very simple, and yet original. Recommended for everyday use!

Mediterranean Seafood: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes

By Alan Davidson
Ten Speed Press - 2002

April 1st, 2011 (edited 14th May 2011)

What a great informative book! About two thirds of this 300 page book is more or less an excyclopedia of fish and seafood of the Mediterranean. For each fish/seafood some basic information (family, latin name, etc.) is given, as well as it's name in most of the Mediterranean languages (as well as, obviously, the English one). this is followed by a few remarks on appearance, habits and the like, an illustration (black and white drawing), and information on how the fish tastes and how it is used in Mediterranean cuisine, as well as, if applicable, in which recipes the fish is used.

About the last third of the book is filled with recipes, sorted by country, along with some details on the respective cuisine and some useful information on seafood in general (how to recognize if fish is fresh etc.). Until now, recipes have been quite reliable, though they tend to be on the complicated side of cooking, and not everything might be explicitly mentioned. Also, there are no pictures in this last part of the book.

The Middle Eastern Kitchen

By Ghillie Basan
Kyle Cathie - 2005

March 27th, 2010

I bought this book when I already owned two Middle Eastern cookbooks - yet, how could I resist a book with such an unusual set-up, especially since I've heard often enough what a big name Ghillie Basan is for Middle Eastern cooking?

This book is sorted by ingredient, not course. Every chapter (one per ingredient, or ingredient group), features an extensive description of the ingredients (taste, appearance, use, etc.) as well as a few recipes.

In a way, this makes the book comparable to the Grown in Britain cookbook.

Modern Moroccan

By Ghillie Bhasan
Hermes House - 2003

December 27th, 2011

A very good, very reliable cookbook on Moroccan food, with an interesting section on street food too. Looks very authentic. Absolutely recommended!

The Moro Cookbook

By Samantha Clark, Samuel Clark, Pia Tryde
Ebury Press - 2003

October 11th, 2012 (edited 11th October 2012)

For me, this book contains a lot of interesting, and generally reliable recipes, with a few real great hits. I'm glad I have it, and I know people who swear on it.

Moroccan: A Culinary Journey of Discovery (Food Lovers Collection)

By Ghillie Basan
Parragon Inc - 2007

May 28th, 2011 (edited 28th May 2011)

This was one of those cheap 5 Euro books you will find at magazine kiosks and the like; it contains quite e few very nice recipes, but it seems like its just a selection of recipes taken from other, previous published books, one of which is Modern Moroccan. It's a nice book if you don't think you'll cook a lot of Moroccan dishes; otherwise I would recommend that you rather get the real thing and buy Modern Moroccan, which provides more recipes than this one.

Muffins

By
Zabert Sandmann - 2005

March 27th, 2010 (edited 5th May 2011)

I bought this book (and actually all books of this series I own) because the recipes looked attractive and innovative, the dishes are beautifully presented and they just looked like a good deal (5 Euro a piece, 128 pages, ca. 70 recipes) - and they won the World Cookbook Award for best series, right?

Turns out the dishes look good, but taste bland and just don't work well, and are usually a lot of work. And there are at least ten series a year that win the World Cookbook Award for best series. Seriously.

I guess I'll continue to try a few recipes, there must be some good ideas in there. If not...

On this book specifically:
Nice little book with many varied recipes and (simple, not cupcake-style) decoration ideas. Unfortunately, the recipes aren't as impressive nor as reliable I had hoped they would be.

The New English Table: Over 200 Recipes That Will Not Cost The Earth

By Rose Prince
Fourth Estate Ltd - 2008

March 27th, 2011

Rose Prince's approach in this book is to present recipes for local foods, thereby rediscovering local ingredients and decreasing the ecological foot print. The book is organised by ingredient, each with a short introductory text and a section on how and where to buy. However, as seasonal eating is very important in this approach, I feel she should have included a table of when which ingredient is in season - it would have made looking up recipes so much easier!

New Entertaining

By Donna Hay
Murdoch Books - 1998

December 27th, 2011

This book has always scared me (why would I ever make so refined finger food for my student self?), and at the same time fascinated me (same reason). Now that I'm older and have some help in the kitchen, it's actually quite a good book for birthday parties. So far, most recipes have been interesting, reliable, not too difficult or work intensive (or not more than you'd expect them to be). There are a lot of recipes and styles to choose from, both food and drink, ranging from tea/coffee parties and up towards cocktails. Also includes menu suggestions for various different occasions.

Very similar to Marie Claire's Snacks + Drinks - so similar, actually, that I always mix up the two.

The New Vegetarian - Ottolenghi (Guardian)

By
-

February 27th, 2011

I've already raved about Ottolenghi's recipes elsewhere - if you like unexpected or middle-eastern cuisine, most of the recipes are just brilliant and well-worh the effort.

The New Vegetarian is Ottolenghi's weekly blog at the Guardian. Additionally, he (or should I say: they?) also have a blog on the restaurant website. However, blog-frequency isn't very high.

No Time to Cook

By Donna Hay
Harpercollins Canada - 2009

October 15th, 2013

Some recipes are very nice, others need some tweaking before they really work.

Nordljus

By
-

February 27th, 2011 (edited 27th February 2011)

Beautiful blog layout, gorgeous photos, surprising and challenging recipes - a pure joy to look at. Unfortunately, many of her recipes just look out of my league. I really should bookmark the easier ones...

North Atlantic Seafood: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes

By Alan Davidson
Ten Speed Press - 2003

May 26th, 2011

What a great informative book! About half of this 500 page book is more or less an excyclopedia of fish and seafood of the North Atlantic. For each fish/seafood some basic information (family, latin name, etc.) is given, as well as it's name in most of the languages of countries bordering on the North Atlantic (think Portugal up to Finland, Poland and 'the Soviet Union', as well as the US, Canada and Iceland). This is followed by a few remarks on appearance, habits and the like, an illustration (black and white drawing), and information on how the fish tastes and how it is used in North Atlantic cuisine, as well as, if applicable, in which recipes the fish is used.

The second half of the book is filled with recipes, sorted by country, along with some details on the respective cuisine and some useful information on seafood in general (how to recognize if fish is fresh etc.). Until now, recipes have been quite reliable, though they tend to be on the complicated side of cooking, and not everything might be explicitly mentioned. Also, there are no pictures in this last part of the book.

Noshe Djan: Afghan Food and Cookery

By Helen Saberi, Abdullah Breshna
Prospect Books - 2000

June 6th, 2011

The book is intriguiging. It seems to be quite authentic. The dishes appear to be a mix of influenced of Indian and Persian cooking, which sounds quite reasonable if you look at the geographic situation of Afghanistan and the influences it has probably experienced throughout history.

Lamb and chicken features a lot, as does rice and yoghurt. Most dishes are just variations of one another, though I don't find this particularly irritating. There are quite a few pasta dishes which make me wonder if this is were Marco Polo picked up the later Italianized pasta. Simple stews abound with again both Persian as well as Indian influences showing. Some of the dishes I made looked not only simple but even primitive, as if the recipes weren't too far removed yet from simple fire place cooking. But maybe my fantasy is being carried away now.

It has a longish section on Afghan food, cooking etc., though unfortunately it does not have a reasonable glossary - what is chapati flour? I found chapati bread, but no mention of chapati flour anywhere...

I'm not yet quite sure what to make of it in terms of quality of dishes and reliability, though I have noticed that I want to like it. It contains no photos, only few drawings.

The Olive and the Caper: Adventures in Greek Cooking

By Susanna Hoffman
Workman Publishing Company - 2004

September 22nd, 2013

I only bought this book after the challenge (ie. after reading all those enthusiast recipe reviews!), and I'm glad I bought it. Most recipes are really good, and very, very similar to the food we had in Greece, and some of them are already a fixed part of my repertoire. A great addition to my already overflowing shelf!

Olive: 101 Quick-fix Dishes (Olive Magazine)

By Janine Ratcliffe
BBC Books - 2007

May 8th, 2010

These series of BBC cookbooks contain normally good, reliable recipes that have previously been published in the Olive Magazine (BBC Good Food Magazine for most of the other books) and often on the BBC Good Food website, too. What makes them extremely practical is that you can easily put them in your bag (even your handbag!) on a busy day, and then just choose a recipe when you're actually in the supermarket, or perhaps during lunch break, or whenever.

This specific book has proven to be especially useful - quick fix dishes just perfectly fits what I like about the cookbook series...

Ottolenghi

By
-

February 27th, 2011 (edited 27th February 2011)

I've already raved about Ottolenghi's recipes elsewhere - if you like unexpected or middle-eastern cuisine, most of the recipes are just brilliant and well-worh the effort.

Blog-frequency isn't too high, though. You can also have a look at Ottolenghi's weekly column in the Guardian if you're looking for online recipes.

Ottolenghi: The Cookbook

By Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi
Ebury Press - 2010

February 27th, 2011

This is definitely my go-to-cookbook. Lot's of vegetarian dishes you can either serve as a side or a main dish, always with an interesting take on common or rarely-used ingredients. Some of them use slightly more exotic ingredients or are slightly complicated, but it's never more than 'slightly' complicated - some you can even whizz up in a few minutes! Brilliant book!

The Oxford Companion to Food 2nd Ed

By Alan Davidson, Tom Jaine, Jane Davidson, Helen Saberi
Oxford University Press, USA - 2006

March 27th, 2010

Not a cookbook but a food encyclopedia that I referred to in one of my reviews and that I consult once in a while. It usually answers my questions, although not always.

The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accessories

By David Lebovitz
Ten Speed Press,U.S. - 2007

January 1st, 2013

As the others said, this is a brilliant book for ice cream, and I would always recommend it!

Pie

By Angela Boggiano
Cassell Illustrated - 2006

September 22nd, 2013

A really nice book based on a topic that most cookbooks will only touch upon in passing. Most recipes were really good, specifically the Smoked Fish and Cider Pie and the Beef and Ale Pie, and I'm sure we'll keep on exploring. Definitely a book I will keep and use a lot.

Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi

By Yotam Ottolenghi, Jonathan Lovekin
Chronicle Books - 2011

June 23rd, 2012

As usual a new great book by Yotam Ottolenghi. This one contains excludingly vegetarian dishes, a few of which have already appeared in his column in the New Observer. I have the idea that in general, they are slightly more complicated than the dishes in his first cookbook.

Preserve: Over 100 Delicious Recipes (Cookery)

By
Hamlyn - 2005

October 15th, 2013

A small but good, reliable book over preserving, with many good ideas.

Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless Meals Every Day

By Diana Henry
Ten Speed Press - 2009

April 9th, 2012 (edited 26th November 2013)

Mostly good recipes, though not all of them. Nearly all are, indeed, very simple, in that aspect the book lives up to its promise. As sturlington mentioned, there are a few gems in here, you just need to find them.

Pure Vegetarian: Modern and Stylish Vegetarian Cooking

By Gayler
National Book Network - 2008

November 9th, 2009 (edited 27th March 2010)

Quite sophisticated cooking and quite a few flavour combinations that I would not have expected; however, most of it too sophisticated to really be of use for daily cooking.

Quiches and Pastries: Le Cordon Bleu : Home Collection

By
Murdoch Books - 1998

December 27th, 2011

Most recipes look like a lot of work, and the results of those I've tested so far weren't necessarily worth it. Not recommended.

Real Fast Food

By Nigel Slater
Penguin UK - 1993

September 11th, 2011

I agree with the others that many of these recipes are rather ideas than true recipes, but sometimes, especially when in a rush, that's all I need anyway. It definitely serves it's purpose. Most of the recipes are successes, a few less so.

Ripailles

By Stephane Reynaud
Murdoch Books - 2008

November 28th, 2011

It's a beautiful book with a lot of very witty illustrations about anything French - but unfortunately, to date most recipes have been disappointing.

River Cottage Everyday

By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - 2009

December 27th, 2011

I might have had bad luck with the recipes I chose, but they definitely weren't a success, and the instructions weren't that good either...

Roast Figs, Sugar Snow: Food to Warm the Soul

By Diana Henry
Mitchell Beazley - 2008

March 26th, 2011

Cold-weather recipes - a very interesting concept. This book collects a number of recipes you would eat when snow falls outside - so that means seasonal dishes, and dishes from mainly northern countries. Additionally, these are sorted by main ingredient - there's a chapter on cheese, on nuts, on pumkins, squashes, beans and lentils, on smoked food, etc. Most of the recipes I've tried until now were very nice, and there are certainly a lot more recipes I'm eager to try next winter. Definitely recommended!

The Scandinavian Cookbook

By Trina Hahnemann
Andrews McMeel Publishing - 2009

December 27th, 2011

A really nice book, both visually and culinary, on a cuisine that isn't much in the spotlights. It's ordered by month, which makes chosing a recipe so much easier and also takes us on a trip through the Scandinavian year. The recipes I've tested so far were reliable and very delicious. Really recommmended.

Schnell - Rezepte mit Tempo

By Sebastian Dickhaut
GU - 2000

October 11th, 2012

Small book aiming at young people and trying really hard to be hip. Unfortunately, the recipes are everything but hip.

Schnelle Gerichte

By
Parragon Publishing - 2004

July 20th, 2011

This was one of those cheap books for five Euros I picked up years ago. I made one dish that went horribly wrong, blamed the book, and moved on, burying the book deep down in some boxes. Now, on second sight, it might just not be soo bad after all. It still looks like a cheap book, and the recipes might not be flawless, but so far they were better than I had expected.

Seafood of South-East Asia: A Comprehensive Guide with Recipes

By Alan Davidson
Ten Speed Press - 2004

May 14th, 2011

What a great informative book! About two thirds of this nearly 400 page book is more or less an excyclopedia of fish and seafood of Southe-East Asia. For each fish/seafood some basic information (family, latin name, etc.) is given, as well as it's name in most of the Asian languages (as well as, obviously, the English one). this is followed by a few remarks on appearance, habits and the like, an illustration (black and white drawing), and information on how the seafood tastes and how it is used in Asian cuisine, as well as, if applicable, in which recipes the seafood is used.

Given that eating habits differ somewhat from what we in the West are used, Davidson also included descriptions of several animals we would find exotic as food, such as several kinds of shark (hammerhead shark, sawfish), sea urchins, sea cucumbers and sea cow, without including recipes.

About the last third of the book is filled with recipes, sorted by country, along with some details on the respective cuisine and some useful information on seafood in general (how to recognize if fish is fresh etc.). Until now, recipes have been quite reliable, though they tend to be on the complicated side of cooking, and not everything might be explicitly mentioned. Also, there are no pictures of the dishes in this last part of the book.