beXnlog

Cookbooks

Some of you know that be and i have a 2-shelf collection of cookbooks. Before i met him i had already accumulated a good deal of them, but ever since his short stint as a temp at Random House back in 2001, the collection has doubled. He used to lug garbage bags full of free books home, and out of the piles we kept the ones that looked interesting. I also know a handful of people in the book or cookbook business, and they always supply me with nice titles too! I have so many new cookbooks to read and try recipes from, but for now here are some that i've enjoyed reading and/or cooking from so far:

Distinctive Snacks of Hong Kong by Hui Chan Fan-Yuk (ISBN: 962-14-1518-7). I picked up this bilingual cookbook at a Hong Kong bookshop. I have yet to actually make anything; i just love drooling at the pictures of all the snack/street/dim sum foods i had growing up. Shit, there is even a chapter entitled, "Deep Fried Snacks!"

Flavors of India: Vegetarian Indian Cuisine by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff (Book Publishing Company). I learned how to make good Indian dishes from this book back in college. I really like the dal and potato recipes.

Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf). This is overall my most favorite cookbook. You just can't go wrong with vegetarian food from Asia. I've tried many of the recipes and they have all been excellent. When i got the chance to meet Madhur Jaffrey a few years ago i was so nervous!

Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts by The Moosewood Collective (Clarkson Potter Publishers). This book was a great gift; i love desserts! I think i've made the Six-Minute Chocolate Cake over 20 times since 1994.

The Vegetarian Bistro: 250 Authentic French Regional Recipes by Marlena Spieler (Chronicle Books). I got this book only a few months ago. Everything we've tried so far has been very flavorful and rich. The beets with dijon vinaigrette is yummy!

The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing by Grace Young (Simon & Schuster). I really like the memoir-like quality of the chapter intros and her food descriptions. It's not all vegetarian but most recipes can be adapted.

If you're interested in checking them out, be sure to support an independent bookstore.

posted by beXn @ 1:41 AM