Thursday, December 25, 2008

Delicioso or Feeding Baby

Delicioso!: The Regional Cooking of Spain

Author: Penelope Casas

Bursting with the enticing and varied flavors of the seven culinary regions of Spain, this new cookbook by Penelope Casas, the most knowledgeable American expert on Spanish cuisine, takes us on a gastronomic journey full of new discoveries. By digging into old Spanish cookbooks and family recipe collections, by observing local cooks at home and chefs at work, Penelope Casas has unearthed all the essential cooking techniques and the subtle flavor secrets that make authentic Spanish food so appealing. Year after year, she and her Spanish husband have shepherded groups of American tourists, exploring the remotest corners of Spain as well as the more traveled areas, discovering extraordinary new eating experiences. She knows exactly what appeals to American tastes and what we yearn to reproduce at home. Now she has translated all of her findings into recipes that will be every bit as delicious prepared in your own kitchen as on their native soil.

Publishers Weekly

Casas (Discovering Spain; Tapas) continues her thorough exploration of Spanish cooking with this superbly organized and definitive cookbook. For each region of the country she chooses a specialty. For example, labeling the Southeastern coast as the "Region of the Rices," she includes a history of rice growing in Spain and of the area, as well as brief overviews on such related topics as paella and saffron. Chatty, engaging and full of detail, the book could easily double as a travel (or at least restaurant) guide. The recipes are outstanding. In that same chapter there are 14 rice dishes, none repetitive and all tempting, from a simple and classic Rice with Greens to the more complex Vegetable Paella with Mint-Scented Meatballs. Each regional section contains "Notes on Regional Wines." Casas does not hesitate to challenge the home cook with unusual fare, such as Black Sausage with Raisins and Pine Nuts, or with unfamiliar techniques, such as soaking bacalao in cold water for two to three days in the recipe for Dried Cod in Onion and Red Pepper Pure. The rewards, however, are rich and varied. (Apr.)

Library Journal

Casas, the author of Tapas (LJ 9/15/85) and two other books about Spain, is an authority on Spanish cuisine. Here she explores the traditional cooking of the country's diverse regions, including the Canary Islands. She devotes a separate chapter to tapas before turning to northern Spain, "Region of the Sauces," Catalunya, "Region of the Casseroles," and the rest of the country, providing more than 400 recipes in all. There are notes on regional wines, boxes on such topics as cooking with salt cod, and thoughtful, informative headnotes accompanying the mouth-watering recipes. "Mediterranean cooking" has been wildly popular for several years, but it is only recently that the term has really come to refer to cuisines beyond those of Italy and southern France, making Casas's cookbook, one of the few on Spain, particularly timely. An essential purchase.

BookList

Spain might seem like neighboring suburbs thanks to this author's wonderful culinary introduction to each of Spain's seven regions. Sidebars delight and inform about such topics as the saltiness of salt cod, the anonymity of Spanish sherry wine vinegar, the diversity of gazpacho, and the versatility of the tortilla-cum-potato omelet. Readers will find more than 400 simple but authentic dishes to re-create.



Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1Spain: The Country of Tapas3
2Northern Coastal Spain: Region of the Sauces61
3Northeastern Interior Spain: Region of the Peppers123
4Catalunya and the Baleares: Region of the Casseroles164
5The Central Plains: Region of the Roasts227
6Southeastern Coastal Spain (El Levante): Region of the Rices283
7Andalucia: Region of Fried Foods and Gazpachos328
8Canary Islands: Region of the Mojos397
Marketing Sources428
Index429

Book about:

Feeding Baby: Everyday Recipes for Healthy Infants and Toddlers

Author: Joachim Splichal

For parents who want to start their babies off eating fresh, nutritious foods, Feeding Baby offers easy-to-prepare tastes, nibbles, bites, and meals that retain the vitamins and minerals missing from conventional bottled and heat-treated baby food. Delightfully simple yet nuanced flavors of recipes like Roasted Acorn Squash Puree and Banana Peach Compote introduce children's impressionable palates to the myriad tastes and pleasures of food, setting them on a path of healthy eating for a lifetime.

"I wish that this informative and nutritionally sound cookbook had been around when my daughter was born. The recipes are so delicious, I wish it had been around when I was a baby! Anyone brought up on the food from this book is sure to become an adult with an instinctive knowledge of what healthy food is all about."
-Daniel Boulud, author of Cafe Boulud Cookbook



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