November 2003
Causing a Stir
Three cookbooks guaranteed to make you reach for your apron
TRULY MADLY PASTA ****
by Ursula Ferrigno
Quadrille Publishing Limited, 2003
Whether they take ten minutes or three hours, Ursula Ferrigno’s delicious recipes will motivate all aspiring chefs to roll up their sleeves and get cooking. Cheap, nutritious, versatile and easy to find, pasta has been enjoyed in Europe since at least the fifth century AD. This cookbook begins with an explanation of what exactly pasta is, the numerous kinds that exist, what shape to use with which sauce and how to make it from scratch. Not only is the would-be cook afforded a view of the grand finale, but pictures also accompany the explanations, eliminating any confusion along the way. Chapters are given headings such as Instant (pasta shells with walnut and mushroom sauce), Light and Healthy (linguine with clams and turnip tops), Cook Ahead (Sardinian ravioli) and Pasta to Impress (tagliarini with white truffle), and each recipe includes clear instructions, metric and imperial measurements and a specification of how many people each dish will serve. All the standard recipes are featured, including such household favorites as lasagne and spaghetti and meatballs, but there are also more exotic, unusual dishes, such as pappardelle with rabbit sauce and squid ink pasta with ricotta and scallops. Helpful tips, such as how to shell broad beans or how much dried, fresh or filled pasta to cook per person, are included along the way. Without a doubt, this is the definitive cookbook for pasta enthusiasts.
THE EGG BOOK ****
Hamlyn, 2003
Flipping through this ingenious cookbook makes one marvel at how many recipes include eggs! From banana muffins to piroshki to layered cheese and tomato souffle, eggs can be the basis of a simple snack or a hearty winter meal. But this cookbook makes no assumptions: readers will learn how to choose, store and test eggs for freshness. Explanations on separating whites from yolks, folding in egg whites and how to cook a perfectly boiled egg are concise and informative. Basic recipes, such as those for pancakes, mayonnaise and meringue, are at the beginning of the book, but by the end the reader may find him- or herself dishing up panettone for breakfast, egg flower soup and deep fried gnocci with salsa rossa for lunch and hazelnut and gorgonzola quiche for dinner. And how could one leave out dessert? Eggs are the main ingredient of such delicacies as iced chocolate mousse, crème caramel and lime meringue pie. An essential book to have in the kitchen,
The Egg Book will enable cooks to perfect their omelets but also to try more extravagant recipes.
TARTS WITH TOPS ON ****
by Tamasin Day-Lewis
Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2003
Just like pasta, pies are a ubiquitous food. Dressed up or down, they make for terrific party dishes or wholesome family meals. Food writer and television chef Tamasin Day-Lewis celebrates this comfort food in her latest book and the beautiful hardback is filled with delightful creations. The photographs that accompany most of the recipes are stunning, full-page, glossy images that make the mouth water. From such savory dishes as Galician pork and sausage pie to rabbit pie to noisettes of lamb in vine leaves and filo pastry, there are many tempting recipes for the ambitious chef. The old-fashioned cook will discover a wide selection of such traditional English favorites as steak and kidney pie, mince pie and steamed gooseberry pudding, as well as such standard American recipes as pumpkin pie, Mississippi mud pie and key lime pie. The chapters cover savory, traditional, other people’s, apple, American and sweet pies, as well as pie pastry, where the explication of the various types of dough are given. Innumerable variations on such fillings as seafood, vegetables, custard and berries make for difficulty only in choosing which dish to prepare. From raised pies to Cornish pies to potato tourtes, there is a pie for every occasion and each recipe begins with a short anecdote, helpful explanation or useful tip. This book is for anyone feeling a little adventurous as well as for those who have hitherto been reluctant to tackle a homemade pie—the adage “easy as pie” didn’t come about on its own!
