Stuff every cook should know

'Wanting to cook is one of the best impulses that can wash over a person, but the path from desire to dinner is rarely a straight line'. As a novice cook - as I also used to be not that far away in time - I appreciated every single tip and idea, starting from how to cut an avocado or how to choose the best knife for meat. This book would not help you with the avocado part, but you will find plenty of advice about kitchen ware - knives included - cooking oils or how to conquer your fear of baking - seriously, is this issue properly addressed by serious therapists...if not, it should. You can use it as a 'crash course in fundamental home cooking' and even right now I consider myself on a higher cooking level - and no more under the spell of panic attacks when it comes to baking, I still discovered some inspiration. The naked truth is: 'every accomplished cook has many tales of recipes gone awry. Making mistakes is an integral part of the process of learning how to cook'.

There are many ideas that I liked and agreed with in this book. For instance, that you should not worry if your kitchen is small. How to keep in mind to check when looking for a cookbook if the recipes were tested before. Or when to use regular oil or virgin oil. How to choose the right meat or to properly master a weekly meal planning. Besides the cooking part, the aspects of cooking/kitchen management are brilliant too. One will learn about how to set up the home bar or to organise a party or how to plan your food budget without giving up quality.

Overall, a very useful book that you need to read it if you care about your kitchen knowledge. Strongly recommended!

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

In the back kitchen of the famous Poole's

Poole's and its chef Ashley Christensen are becoming one of the iconic successes of the new American cuisine. Often despised in Europe for its lack of sophistication, the chefs on the other side of the ponds worked hard and succeeded to change the stereotypes about the US food culture.

The book is attractive not only for the interesting recipes and the story behind them - mostly happy childhood tasty memories - but also for the mouth-watering pictures, here to prove that, indeed, you should give a try to the recipes. 

This foodie version of the American dream, Poole's in Raleigh, means also a different philosophy when it comes to creating new dishes: 'For each and every dish, we start by breaking it down, piece by piece and examining it, from the ingredients on up through every single step. We pay meticulous attention to the details to make sure every thing is in balance and the final product is absolutely delicious while still respecting its identity and original story'. 

Labeled mostly as 'Southern kitchen', the cuisine tasted at Poole's go beyond any geographical attribution. It uses an eclectic mix of spices and ingredients, it creates new food habits and explore new tastes. What do you think, for instance, about 'popcorn with Dijon, olive oil, and Parmigiano Reggiano'? Or 'thuna tartare with Piment d'Esplete and cucumber'? Or cornmeal fried okra with tabasco mayo? I am particularly tempted by the watermelon with avocado, goat cheese, basil and sweet onion, featured on the cover. The recipes presented cover all the usual meals, from the entrees to the cocktails and sweets. I must confess that maybe there are too much liver-based recipes for my poor taste, but this is my one and only problem. As for now, I wish I have the strength to test the challah bread pudding with whiskey, apples and sour cream. Because it is never too late to try something completely new in your life.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the published in exchange of an honest review

Adventures of Breakfast in America

I've read this food memoir as an adventure book. To be more precise, as a thriller of living and building the American dream in the beautiful Paris. Craig Carlson is not Henry Miller or Hemingway, but an American in love with French culture, as much as to call his pet Balzac, working hard throughout the intricated ways of the French bureaucracy for showing to the (French) world that America is more than hamburgers. By the way, finding a decent hamburger in Europe is not an easy search.

'Pancakes in Paris', to be released at the beginning of September, is especially a book about following your passion and making your dream come true, even with the price of a heart attack and a prison experience. It is also Craig's personal journey of finding himself and the love of his life.

Written with the same passion followed in pursuing his dream, this memoir also does a great work of cultural diplomacy of showing to Europe a different America, with sometimes a different but more efficient work culture and habits, with rich food choices and its culture of resilience. 'Breakfast in America' did a pioneering work in Paris, nowadays sharing delicious slices of American dreams for over 10 years, becoming a 'cultural crossroad between countries'.

With a background in screenwriting and experience in working with Disney studios, Craig Carlson was able to learn on the way and work hard to win the trust and checks of potential investors, set up business plans and, most importantly, not give up in the front of the intricacies of the French legislation. 

The book has also a collection of recipes, but unfortunately for me, no pancake recipe. It means I am left with the one and only option to check 'Breakfast in America' as soon as I will land in Paris.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.com in exchange of an honest review

Foodie Book Review: Hundred Foot Journey

With a new baby in town, reading and writing went were slowly lately. The cooking was not that brilliant either, without too many new recipes tested. But the couple of seconds of frustrations are soon replaced by some new occasions to happily enjoy the wonders - and challenges too - of motherhood.

However, I was able to finish a book that was already turned into a movie: The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais. 

I cannot say what exactly I was expecting from your book but for sure I was looking for some good writing. Which the book actually has (I read the book in a German translation), especially when it comes to sociological and historical parts - the journalistic profile of Morais may play a role in this. However, this is not a typical foodie book: you will not have recipes or extensive descriptions of meals. Instead, the main topic of the book is the career of Hassan Haji, as a famed Parisian chef starting with his upbringing in Mumbay. It enters the insular - and sometimes racist world -of the French cuisine as well as the complicated and not always fair Michelin star system. Expect a lot of details - and some inspiration - about the business of restaurants in France and abroad.

There are also some unforgettable foodie stories, as when it comes to recognizing the ingredients of a dish after tasting it, or vivid descriptions of French markets.

Overall, the book is more about successful imigrant stories than about food and its mysteries. The art of making a good food in France served as the main ingredient of success. Food can help this too and the positive message of the book is encouraging.

Strongly recommended as a good weekend or holiday read. Can't wait to watch the movie too!

Foodie Book Review: Christine France Cooking Hints and Tips

As someone who worked hard to learn properly how to cook, I highly appreciate the value of books who are teaching you not only how to properly mix the ingredients, but also how to organize your kitchen and your working space in general. This book by Christine France brought rapidly light into long years of darkness when it comes to coping with the usual kitchen challenges. 

The information is very well organized and suits someone without too much time, but a lot of curiosities about the hints and tips of cooking. It goes from the very simple time and space management details, till guidance about how you should design your kitchen as to have enough movement space and enjoy your cooking experience not only through tasting. It also outlines the ways in which one can chose the perfect electronic items helping to avoid energy consumption, and good cleaning tips. Last but not least, there are also interesting ideas for table settings and as we have at least once the week the Shabbes table there is never enough inspiration for surprising your guests.

At the beginning - it sounds like long time ago, but it is not that far away in time to be honest - I struggled with the mixture of different smells in the fridge. If I knew that a simple plastic coverage can avoid this, I would have avoid a lot of unpleasant minutes spent with the door of the fridge open - yes, I know it is wasting energy too...- trying to figure out the best solution. Another idea is to always have half apple in the kitchen and change it every week. 

Another practical tip is to clean copper with lemon juice or with a pasta made out of vinegar and flour.  

Once I attended a cooking class and some of the participants were using their own special knives carefully looked after. Such a high attention is due to the fact that the good ones are usually very expensive and hard to find. Thus, be careful not to use them for cutting paper or plastic - there is not only an idea children have, believe me. If you don't have a wooden support to keep them, you can protect the knife blade with a cork. For sharpening, a piece of ceramics can be helpful for keeping the blade at proper standards. 

The conservation of some fresh herbs might be problematic, especially in warmer climate. Dry them in the oven or the microwave and you can have them for long. Also, from the kosher point of view, this is a very good idea. My dear garlic can be kept for a longer time fresh if it's hidden in the dark and out of sources of heat. Fruits like lemons or oranges can be kept fresh for a longer time if covered in several layers of paper and in a dry place. 

Many utensils used in the kitchen can have various chemical interactions with the food, especially those made of metal. Thus, if you want to have a good and chemicals free purée, you better use wooden utensils - as I am doing as well. 

The book can be read easily and is strongly recommended to both beginner and advancer cooker. 

Foodie book review: The Back of the House, by Scott Haas

Did you ever ask how a restaurant is run on a daily basis? Not by reading a sophisticated management book, but through a daily memoir investigating every corner and moment of its daily life?

Psychologist by profession and restaurant customer Scott Haas spent 18 months knowing Craigie on Main, in Boston, coordinated by famous chef Tony Maws. His book, The Back of the House is the account of his interviews, observations and food tasting together with Maws or with his employees. Besides the idea to write such a book, I found interesting the ways in which after each new day on the ground he covered a new unknown side of the restaurant, including talking over a meal with Maws' parents. In addition, he also worked for a while in the restaurant, in order to take the real pulse of the real life.

For Haas, 'the best restaurants are, in addition to the food being cooked and served, the ones in which the chef tells you his or her story. The emotions that inspire theirs cooking are felt in the dining room and on the plate (...)'. Tony Maws has the following aim: 'Getting things accomplished. Feeding people, making them happy', there is no wonder that and why the two minds met. The relation between the writer and its main character is going through different stages, and Haas may play also from time to time the role of a consultant or even psychologist for some of employees. Maws' philosophy goes further on, as he considers those eating by him 'guests', not customers. Another definition brought by the author later in the book is the following: 'The best restaurants establish trust with their customers on the phone, at the door and throughout the meal'. 

Till reading the book, I was not aware of the terrible emotional burden involved by the work in a prestigious restaurant, besides the cooking part which is always a sensitive part. The author noticed: 'For the job to get done, the staff had to tamp down emotions from their work and absorb the emotional blows - in some ways, it was in part what made the job deeply frustrating and stressfull'. As a main cook and a restaurant owner, the responsibilities are even bigger, the prestige, financial stability and even survival being always at stage. In case that the cook has a family too, as usually in the case of successful careers, the loved ones should wait a lot and get used to enjoy their moments together, regardless of the limitations. Some families survive, some not. 

In the case of Craigie on Main, one of the main problems is the delegation of responsibilities. Being a good chef does not always involved being a good human resources manager and during the 18 months of the investigation, some will leave, many will fill the positions and leave even faster. I was tempted to compare a big restaurant with a big factory, but Haas goes a bit further: 'As with men and women in the military, the cook's individual personalities are flattened by their identical outfits, the virtual impossibility of being able to show spontaneity, emotion, or behavior in reaction to the environment they are in'. On the other hand, Tony will compare the job of being a chef, with the musician's work. Doing covers from other people's songs is different from interpreting its own melodies. A different musical settings was observed by Haas while looking at the cooks in a busy afternoon: 'They worked as an ensemble, and it reminded me enormously of watching jazz musicians play'. Being talented does not guarantee good leadership and managerial skills and very often, problems are arising in the restaurant. 'Running a restaurant starts with knowing how to cook, but the essence of the job, the skill that separates the best chefs from everyone else is managing the people: purveyors, cooks, floor staff, city health inspectors, immigration officers, electricians, plumbers, investors, the media and guests'. Hence, the author's conclusion and advice: 'I felt that by building teams, establishing layers of trust in people, and delegating authority, a chief could be a facet of a restaurant's success rather than its only reason for being in business'. 

As someone not born with natural cooking skills - not at all - when I read foodie-related books, I am curious about recipes for successful dishes. The recipe of success defined by a James Beard award winner is: 'Cooking well comes from doing'. The psychologist Haas says something more, and he is write too: 'Chefs also cook with someone in mind, and it is my opinion that Tony cooked and came up with new desires to please his mother'. 

The book is easy to read, entertaining and good to read while waiting for your meal or on the way to your restaurant. It has a lot of elements that may interest not only the guest of a restaurant or the foodie writer, but also anyone interested to have his or her own restaurant one day. 

I was offered a free copy of the book, but the opinions shared are, as always, my own.

Foodie books for the summer

As in the last 10 days I did a lot of trips - few of them food-related - I spent a lot of time commuting and changing or waiting for buses, the perfect time of then year to catch up with books. Food is getting more and more slices from my life and reading how to write about food is part of my newest writing games. In the last two months, my interests oscillated between spending time with my travel blogs or improving my cooking experience, including my ways to share my recipes, achievement and most likely, failures. 

Paris, my sweet

Because I was going to spend some time in my beautiful France, before arriving to Paris I tried to finish Amy Thomas' Paris my sweet. I am quite predictable, but I started to read it long before I decided to head to France for a couple of days. You can read the book from different perspectives: the history of sweets in France and America, the American expat life in Paris, good inspiration for food writing, a sweet travel guide to Paris. As for the last part, I saved some references for the next occasion when I plan to dedicate more time to the sweet delicacies of the French capital city. 

The delicious part of the book is the mouth watering description of the cakes: I rarely find in my foodie reading experiences so much precision in describing the right fragrance and dough consistency. Do not expect recipes and stories about how to prepare those miraculous - for me - cakes or pastry or chocolates. Most probably, for many of them, one do not need to try it at home, but in the proper ambiance and good smelling corner of a Parisian laboratory. 

My favourite quote, Marcel Pagnol's: 'I'm gonna make a bread like none other ever tasted before and, in this bread, I will put a lot of love and friendship'. Need to keep this in mind when experiencing my easy or complicated recipes.

What I did not appreciated: the insertion of personal stories that I've rather find clumsy.

Apron anxiety

This is not a book about me and my late entry in the kitchen. The writing is great, the recipes fantastic and a good sample of quality food writing, but what a pity that the most part of the book is taken by the love stories - not all of them with the food - and name dropping and celebrities' high-life. 'After all,  she writes, everyone cooks for matters of the heart. We're all in the kitchen because it fulfils a longing inside, whether it's for grave, survival, a renewed sense of self, or just of the thrill of it all - there are the stories that get us there, keep us there or sometimes take us away'. Similarly with love, cooking can be learned; all you need is an open heart and the curiosity to take the risk of the unexpected. 

PS. Stay away, there are a lot of reviews and tasting going on in the next days, nowhere else but here, on my delicious blog.