Monday, August 21, 2006

HELP NEEDED: RECOMMENDABLE COOKBOOKS

There are a few cookbooks that I'd like to acquire and I need you help as the book world is soooooo vast!...

Well, I'm somebody who likes cookbooks to be culturally rich and full of useful recipes. It's very important for me to learn about the background behind each recipe/dish because it is an aspect I can't forget, for each dish has a soul. To understand a country's cuisine, you have to understand it's customs, origins, habits, etc...

I want to read an in-depth and advanced (not for beginners or too simple, I like "complicated" recipes) cookery book that makes me travel, learn things and that will contain many interesting and AUTHENTIC recipes...

So, if you have any cookbook hints (in English, French or German) concerning the following countries/places/subjects, I'd be very happy:

. Malaysia
. Indonesia
. Thailand
. Turkey
. Middle East
. Morocco
. Tunisia
. Brazil
. Portugal
. Germany
. Austria
. Jewish
. Eastern Europe
. Balkans
. Mexico
. South America
. Baking
. Cookies
. Bread
. Nyonya kuihs/cuisine

Many thanks! Your help is much appreciated...

(Cookbooks -Pic by www.urbanfares.com)

13 comments:

  1. There is some very interesting books but there are in french! I don't know if you're interested in...

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  2. Yes, of course! Que ça soit en anglais, français ou allemand, j'attends tes conseilles...

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  3. si tu me donnes ton adresse je t'en envoie un sur le Brésil qui me plait bien , il est en français but you don't mind :-)
    pour la tarte glisse toi dans le fridge il en reste encore un peu :-)

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  4. On the english side of things there is The Practical Encyclopedia Of Eastern European Cooking, Contributing Editor Lesley Chamberlain from Lorenz Books - great pictures and the recipes are representative and interesting.

    Konemann Culinaria has a two book edition called European Specialties which would be right down your alley. Each chapter features a different country including Poland, The Czech Republic & Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Greece as well as Russia and other Member States of the Former Soviet Union. It goes into a bit of depth about the culture and traditions of each country as well as authentic recipes.

    Lastly there is Polish Heritage Cookery by Robert & Maria Stybel which is kind of the Polish version of The Joy of Cooking.

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  5. Rosa,
    Pour l'Italie un livre que j'aime beaucoup est Cuisine Toscane a Villa Gamberaia de C. Zalum, tres bien, mais cher, mieux vaut le trouver d'occasion.
    Pour la Chine, sans conteste, Yan Kit's classic Chinese Cookbook, tres technique, mais on y apprend beaucoup.
    Si je pense a autre chose, je rajouterai un commentaire.

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  6. Hi - thanks for stopping by our weekend cat blogging to say hello to Sinda - she loves company...

    We noticed that you were looking for good cookbooks and happened to see an entry about great new cookbooks on a blog called Sweetnicks (http://sweetnicks.blogspot.com/) that Susan @ Farmgirl Fare mentioned in the last day or so. Hope it's helpful - I personally love surrounding myself with all kinds of cookbooks. Good luck. Tina

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  7. Oops - guess I'd already thanked you for stopping by... T.

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  8. I heard Ozcan Ozan cooked for the annual American professional Cook of the year (Julia Child was there). He has written a Turkish cookbook in English and it's called "Sultan's Kitchen".

    Available from Amazon. I have cooked one recipe (very successful) from Sultan's kitchen but do not own the book.


    I bought Ayla Algar's "Classical Turkish Cooking". She talks about origins of some of the dishes. Only downside, there are no pictures which could be a problem If you are not familiar with Turkish food.

    For Mexican fare, there's Rick Bayless who is very knowledgeable about the cuisine and owns a highly popular Mexican restaurant (Frontera Grill) in US. I own his books.

    For Baking, I recommend Martha's last book called "MS's Baking Handbook". A quality book with many pictures and well tested recipes. Priced just right.

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  9. rosa ,Here is my list for you:
    1.The Mediterranean collection/Louise pickford
    2.The book of jewish food/Claudia roden.
    3.Mediterranean street food/Anissa helou
    4.Middle easten home cooking/Tess mallos
    Please tell me if you want any samples from above Cookbooks, so I'll send them to you by mail. ;)

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  10. NEIL: Thanks for your help and for passing by! I already know the Könemann series, but the other two books you recommended seem pretty interesting and thourough. I'll have to check them out and think...

    GRACIANNE: Merci pour ton aide! Le livre de C. Zalum me semble intéressant et celui de Yan Kit doit sûrement être très utile. De toute façon, il faut que je réfléchisse...

    TINAT-P: Yes, no problem...

    MINE: Thanks for the visit and the great recommendations! I already read about Ozcan Ozan's book and it sounds pretty good. Ayla Algar's books also seem to be interesting. In fact, I already own a book about Turkish cuisine by Nevin Halici and I don't know if those other above mentioned books would only repeat what I already have... What do you think? I didn't know Rick Bayless before and I must say that certain of his books have drawn my attention; to check out! Yes, Martha's baking book is already on my list of cookbooks to buy....

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  11. I have used this book on and off for years I don't even know if it is still available but it is called:

    The book of latin american cooking
    by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz

    and covers south america and mexico with history of the recipes as well and also variations per region
    good luck

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  12. LIZ: I think it still is... Thanks for recommending that book! It is now in my list of books to buy ;-P!

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  13. Un tres bon ouvrage de patisserie juive c'est celui de Marcy Goldman.

    Ca va te faire sans doute rire, mais je suis une adepte de Frau Betty Bossi !


    Aviva- Viviane
    Israel

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