African country cooking
588401
I've used and enjoyed this cookbook for years and just bought a second copy as a gift for someone who recently returned from Africa and wanted to recreate some of the dishes.
3159893
Great cookbook with many of the recipes that I grew up with in the South. This is one of the most used in our home.
3778179
Black dinner!  I bought this to make some of the recipes my mom used to make.  While I enjoyed the taste of home with some of the traditional flavors, I also appreciated the newer take on some classic recipes.

Great book!  Well worth the purchase!  Buy it today and Belize in yourself!
2530662
Such a TREASURE! I remember my Mama or some other older relative fixing most of these dishes (or talking about having eaten them). If you love "down home" cooking or remember growing up hearing about it, then snatch up a copy of this book.

Some of the recipes are variations of what I remember my mother cooking and some are really nothing like what she cooked. For example, the Hoe Cakes are made with cornmeal like most recipes call for & I have been looking forever for one that uses only flour. Other than that, I only have good things to say about this cookbook.

PROS:
1. A keepsake to pass along to your children.
2. There are stories and anecdotes included that might be lost if we don't share them. (You will learn how the Hoe Cake got its name.)
3. You can modify and update these with healthier options, but it's nice to see how and why these ingredients are used.
4. In addition to the recipes and stories, there are a lot of photos that are mini history lessons in themselves

Please, please, PLEASE do NOT let the title fool you. Yes, this is an African-American Heritage book, but it's not just for African Americans. The reason I love cooking and learning about dishes new to me is that it teaches me about other cultures.

Quick story: I am black and I have a white and Polish sister-in-law. When she lived here in the states some years ago, she and my mother would cook together. Iza is a great cook, as was my mother. They would sometimes try showing off for each other. My mother thought she was really showing Iza something when she cooked up some "chitlins" (chitterlings). When she unveiled the dish, Iza knew not only knew what they were, but had another recipe for cooking them. My mother liked Iza's chitlins better and she also learned to make and love a stew called Bigos.

This cookbook is a walk through memories of the kitchens of my mother, grandmother, aunts and cousins.
2592003
International Cuisine by
The International Culinary Schools at
The Art Institutes

(Pub. Wiley, Hard Cover)

A review by Marty Martindale

All travelers will like the fact this book explores the different cultures and cuisines of the whole world including regional and area influences. Stops in each country detail special ingredients, kitchen tools and cooking methods. This is followed by recipes menus presented. All 415 recipes have been tested and include tips when necessary. The book's 855 pages contain 80 photographs. The Art Institutes of North America are a system of 40 educational institutions spread across the land. Their culinary programs, conducted in 30 of these locations, train more than 6000 students in Escoffier, Asian and Latin culinary techniques.

Here is an overview of a few regions covered:

In the Caribbean section, for example, after lining out the people and their land's history, goes into an in-depth description of regional foods the people make. In Cuba, their foods include liberal amounts of black beans, white rice, yellow rice, citrus marinades, garlic and plantains. Their diet lacks dairy products, including cheeses. Jamaica's national dish is ackee fruit and saltfish, and their Blue Mountain coffee is renowned. On St. Vincent, roasted breadfruit and abundant fish dominate the diet. The Dominican Republic raises fine cattle, and they dine heavily on meat, rice, beans, plantains, bacon, cheese frequently contained in their culture's Taino indian cassava fritters. Barbados holds to its flying fish and coo-coo dinners, while Antigua's big dish is fungi and pepperpot, Curasao revels in its stuffed Edam and Gouda cheeses and Trinidad, to the deep south, prizes its roti pastry, frequently stuffed with goat meat.

A general look at Southwest Asia's foods shows Indonesia cooking many satays of meat, poultry and seafood, another is Gado-gado, mixed vegetables with tofu, tempeh and peanut sauce. Cambodia and Laos rely on cooked meat or fish, with banana leaves, rice, coconut and jackfruit. The people of Singapore enjoy chile-spiced pork, fish and crab  noodle dishes. In Thailand, they lean toward rice, coconut milk, black beans, herbs, eggs, shrimp and bean sprouts. Vietnamese cuisine favors herbs, pickled vegetables, grilled meat, fried spring rolls. Fish sauce overrules rules soy sauce and fruits rank highly.

Middle Eastern foods all have rice, wheat, stuffed vegetables, pies wrapped in paper-thin pastry, meatballs, thick omelets, fritters soaked in syrup, eggplant, peppers, yogurt and cheeses.

In this review, we'll compare Italy's landlocked Umbria and Sicily, an island surrounded by water. Umbrians enjoy pork, said to be the best in Italy, and all its organic components. This is heavily supplemented with beans, peas, truffles, unique pastas, some great wines and chocolate. The foods of Sicily accent fish, seafood, anchovies, eggplant, tomatoes, beans, many cheeses, figs, capers, olives almonds, pine nuts, fennel and citrus.

Below is a menu and recipes picked to represent a Tapas Menu in Spain:

Green Olives Filled with Piquillo Peppers and Anchovy
Cheese with Fresh Herbs
Tomato Toast
Squid with Caramelized Onions
Black Olive, Anchovy and Caper Spread
Serrano Ham Fritters
Bacalao Hash
Potato Omelet
Sizzling Garlic Shrimp

The Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes have taken a remarkable  look at the exciting foods in all countries which surround North America. You might want to store this book with your travel books.

See also:
[...]
[...]
[...]

Marty Martindale's website is:  FOOD SITE OF THE DAY.
3635190
You've been told that when you travel, you should eat like a local. But if you don't get the chance to travel, then you don't get to eat like a local. So Canadian food bloggers and cookbook authors Randy and Darcy Shore did it for us, and they brought back recipes from diners, bistros, and cafes from around the world and made them workable in the home kitchen.

Home and Away is filled with over 100 recipes for comfort food from all corners of the world. With the recipes are tons of helpful tips and tricks, from where to find some of the more obscure ingredients to possible substitutions or ideas on what to freeze or change up in the recipe. There are also several moments with well-known chefs, where food personalities such as Anito Lo, Edward Lee, and Brad Miller talk about their inspirations [Note: most of these chefs are from Canada, as are the Shores, and they also have a blurb from Mario Batali, who has fallen out of favor lately. I thought I'd mention in case that matters to anyone].

Home and Away starts with East Asia and Australia. Recipes include Easy Asian Spring Rolls, White Miso Ramen, Lemongrass Chicken Curry, Pad Thai with Prawns, Soy and Honey Braised Chicken, and Beef Chow Fun. From there, it's off to Africa, India, and West Asia. These recipes encourage you to make classics such as Lahmacun, Haloumi Salad, Red Pepper Chicken Wings, Turkish White Beans, Moroccan Lamb Breast with Lemon Couscous, Sweet Potato Tagine, and Spatchcocked Chicken with Chickpeas. They eve include a recipe for the spice blend Ras el Hanout.

Next is a tour of Europe, where the recipes include Crispy Potato Latkes with Caviar, Gazpacho, Smoked Tomato and Sausage Ragu, Fish en Papillote, Paella, Chicken Provencal, Irish Boiled Dinner (Corned Beef and Cabbage, of course), Venison and Stout Stew, Spaetzle, and a Cinnamon Apple Dutch Baby. And then it's off to the Americas. These diner classics include Hot Chicken and Waffles, Southern Fried Chicken with Gravy, West Coast Smoked Salmon, Jerk Chicken with Grilled Romaine Salad, Duck Poutine, Peruvian Hen Soup, Chicago-Style Beef Brisket Sandwich with Giardiniera, Pork Tomatillo Tacos with Onion Pico, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, New Orleans Fried Fish Po'Boy with Smoky Remoulade, and Mexican Chocolate Flan.

Home and Away is the perfect introduction to world cuisine for those who can't afford to travel (like me) or who want to try out some new food before heading out to the airport. It's a great way to build a bridge to other cultures. And all the beautiful photos and stories of the authors' travel experiences offer a lot of insight into traveling and eating in countries where you don't know the language or the customs. It's a great cookbook for those who get around and for those of us who are mostly stuck at home, as it gives us a glimpse of the rest of the world to try at home and share with friends and family.

Galleys for Home and Away were provided by Arsenal Pulp Press through Edelweiss, with many thanks.
2043160
Recipes look scrumptious, can't wait to try them, lots of authentic ingredients too. I like the fact that the recipes appear to come from a variety of African countries.  A great collection.
1077161
I like cooking to this album, listening to it on long drives, and studying with it playing in the background. Excellent assortment of African music.
1112873
If you are purchasing this book because you want to try some rare international cuisine, try a different culture.  If you are going to be going to Madagascar for a long period of time, or have been there and just want some of those recipes that you miss...then this is an excellent book.  Madagascar isn't known for their wonderful style of cooking, things are either boiled or fried, and are generally pretty bland tasting.  But nonetheless, if you are looking for a real Malagasy cookbook, this is the best you will find outside of a Peace Corps cookbook directly from Mada.
2729495
I will preface my review by saying this.  Though Nirmala's recipes are South American, this book isn't a South American cookbook per se, filled with recipes for standard and ubiquitous dishes.  (For a cookbook like that, try the excellent The Art of South American Cooking by Felipe Rojas-Lombar.)  Rather, it seems she included tasty and interesting little recipes that she found while on her extensive travels, quirky yet delicious dishes that appealed to her.  Not the recipes an American might typically think of as South American.  And in choosing these recipes, Nirmala showcases the truly varied cuisine of the continent, which is influenced by many other regions of the world (including Asia).  This collection of recipes is one of the more interesting, unusual, and yet simple that I have perused in quite a while.

I have cooked several of the recipes, and have found each to be delicious.  I plan to try many more in the future.  As a whole, the recipes are quite quick and easy for an average cook.  And nearly all (if not all) of the ingredients can be found in the local grocery store.  If you like fun and unexpected recipes, then this book will suit you well.

A minor quibble.  Very few photos of the food are included.  There are other beautiful pictures, of people, of live chickens, etc.  But it would have been very nice to see what the finished dishes are supposed to look like.  All of us cooks love our food porn!  Other than that, this is a fun book.
3519027
I was a lucky recipe tester for Teff Love and I can tell you the dishes are gorgeous and delicious. I've tried at least 15 of the recipes and love them all. I happen to be a big fan of Ethiopian food, and have dined in many different restaurants in several cities, and the dishes I've make from Teff Love are at least as good or better than anything I've had in a restaurant. The recipes are clear and uncomplicated, though they do require certain Ethiopian seasonings like Berbere and koseret. Once you've collected your spices and made some seasoned oil, you're set for creating a terrific collection of Ethiopian delights. I'm lucky to live in a city with lots of places to buy injira, the Ethiopian flatbread on which the food is served and with which it's eaten, but Kittee provides recipes for injira if you don't have access to store-bought. Everything you need to know about the spices, ingredients and cooking methods is clearly described, and the recipes are easy to follow. I recommend Teff Love if you want to cook delicious Ethiopian food.
274701
I bought this book in South Africa more or less for the pretty pictures, but it has become my favorite and most used cookbook.  As most cookbooks are, this cookbook is broken into sections for different parts of the meal: Soups and Salads, Side dishes, Poultry, Fish, Meat, Sambals and Preserves, Breads and homebakes.  It also includes a section on making your own spice mixtures (like garam masala and roasted masala) and basic condiments (like mayonnaise).  Favorite recipes among my friends and family include the Cape Brandy Pudding and Chicken biryani.  In between each section are descriptions of the different regions of South Africa, replete with crisp and glittering photographs of flora, fauna, and scenery.  Rainbow Cuisine it ultimately true to its name: it has a wide variety of recipes, reflecting the wide variety of cultures of South Africa, from Cape Malay to English and from Afrikaner to Ndebele.  Although some of the dishes are pretty much impossible to make in the US (Roast loin of kudu, for example), those dishes are in the minority and, other than meats, it uses ingredients that are widely available (though some translation might need to be involved: like naartje = tangerine and sodium bicarbonate = baking soda).  The only semi-inconvenient issue the book has is that all of the measurements in the recipes are given in metric units and temperatures are given in Celsius.  There is a very useful conversion table in the back of the book, and if you're less forgetful than I am, you should have no problem, but I inevitably forget to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit and then wonder why it takes so long for everything to cook.  That said, I love this book.  It's perfect as a gift - I take any excuse to buy it for my friends and family (birthdays, holidays, or just because I found it on sale), and everyone who uses it loves it.
4005280
The cuisinart Multicooker was a Valintine's Day gift for my wife, who is an excellent cook.  She has enjoyed using the cooker to roast and slow cook several meals.  They, as expected have been delicious.

A breast of turkey was roasted and was excellent although the cook book that came with the Cuisinart had a time frame that was too long and we adjusted to slow cook (simmer) at the end and all worked out.

Corn beef and cabbage and pea soup from our own recipies worked quite well.

WRL
3362073
My husband and I went to Curacao as part of our honeymoon. We went there for Shabbat and were determined to find a shul (synagogue) for the Shabbat services. The orthodox shul was so far off the beaten path that we couldn't find it. We did find Mikve Israel and were so amazed at what we learned there! This cookbook is such a monumental work in that it preserves the cooking, traditions and culture of the Jews who came to Curacao. I recommend it highly, even though some of the recipes may not be what you are used to.
589291
Growing up in trinidad and tobago is a unique experience and the foods there are definitely #1 compared to a lot of other islands. When I first moved to the USA, I was not all that concerned with trying to find the foods since there was a place for roti near our house, and you can find most of those ingredients in Miami. It was not until after college when i moved to the Northwest States that I felt "homesick" for dahlpuri and callaloo and other such things. I have purchased and tested several books that are a generalized Caribbean cookbook, as well as hunted down the Naparima Girls Guide to Cooking. It was not until I found Sweet Hands and read through it that I found what I needed.

The pictures of Trinidad and the stories bring that element of history and home and passion to the recipes. And I LOVE that she offers substitutions for some of the ingredients. I made a callaloo stew with swiss chard and spinach as suggested, and while the taste was slightly less sweet, it carried such a good flavour that I felt I was home again. Those other cookbooks maybe going to the second hand store.
1497415
When i heard that this cookbook was by a Ghanaian I was excited. I was expecting more Ghanaian recipes throughout. There are a few and then the rest are from other countries in Africa. I was a little disappointed.
667313
I really love this cookbok! Contains recipes that my Mom and The Aunts made that I always wished they had written down.  Delicious Southern cooking!