Jeff Smith
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Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> International
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> U.S. Regional -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> U.S. Regional -> General AAS
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
Wow 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
I love this cookbook! I just pulled it out to look something up, noticed how torn up it has gotten, and thought I'd look online for a replacement copy. This is, hands down, my favorite and most used cookbook. Recipes are easy to follow and delicious. I've had "authentic" cooking from some of the countries included, so I can vouch for the fact that the recipes are right on target.
Neat concept for a cookbook! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
I never really watched The Frugal Gourmet when he was featured on Public TV. One of my Amazon Friends recently reviewed this book, and that review piqued my interest. I recently received my copy of Jeff Smith's "The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother." What a fascinating concept and what a nice set of recipes!
Smith begins by laying out the methodology of this book (Page 2): "We have traveled all over this great nation eating with immigrants, many of them grandmas, who know that it is terribly important to retain those characteristics of our immigrant ancestry, characteristics that will help us remember who we are." Hence, we have a cook book with a small set of recipes from many countries, from Armenia to the Basque region of Spain to Ethiopia to Jamaica to Ireland to Korea to Lebanon and through Yugoslavia (countries are in alphabetical order). I just received the book and have not had a chance to try out any recipes. But there are a number that I already find tempting and expect to begin trying these out soon!
The first part of the book is a standard discussion of cooking tools needed, a glossary of ingredients and condiments, and an essay on the immigrant experience. But it's the recipes that are the heart of this book. Let's take a look at a few examples.
Armenian Stuffed Meatballs. Ooh. This looks like some work, but it seems scrumptious! A meatball within a meatball. The inner meatball is made from ground lamb (or beef), onions, green bell paper, parsley, pine nuts, paprika, mint leaves, and a set of spices. After cooking these and rolling small meatballs, one makes the outer meatball, with a different set of ingredients.
From Ethiopia, Lamb and Cardamom. Some onions, a couple Ethiopian sauces (recipes included in this section), lamb, cumin, cardamom seeds, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper. Once one has assembled the ingredients this looks pretty straightforward--and tasty!
A Lebanese dish, Baked Lamb Kibbe. Boneless leg of lamb, butter, pine nuts, onion, cinnamon, allspice, salt and pepper. Sautee the lamb in butter, and then assemble Kibbe (recipe on the preceding page), and move ahead. Again, a recipe that really sounds delicious.
And so on. It's fun just to skim recipes from different countries and enjoy contemplating what each would taste like! The book ends with a quotation from the author (Page 574): "The point of this book is simple. If we do not understand our ancestral table, I doubt that we can understand our history." Maybe a bit overstated, but that sums up the author's philosophy in this volume. Worth taking a look at!
Editorial Review:
Television's well-known Frugal Gourmet presents a collection of authentic recipes brought to the United States from around the world, including dishes from Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Middle East, Asia, and others. Reprint.
