|
| The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution | 
 enlarge | Author: Alice Waters
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $20.00
You Save: $15.00 (43%)
New (42) Used (27) Collectible (2) from $18.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  63 reviews
Sales Rank: 959
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 7.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0307336794
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5
EAN: 9780307336798
ASIN: 0307336794
Publication Date: October 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A Great Basic but Holistic Approach to Cooking October 17, 2007
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
After our trip to Italy this summer, we decided to take a more simplistic approach to cooking--better ingredients, fewer flourishes--inspired by italian cooking. I read a review of this book and a story on its author Alice Waters in the NYTimes just before it was released and I knew I wanted to get it immediately to help in our transition to easier cooking. This is not a traditional cookbook, it has no glossy pictures and builds on themes instead of just listing recipies alphabetically. It's good for mastering the basics, and has some good foundation recipies that it offers variations to (i've tried a few of the deserts and they are all very good). A lot of the recipies in this book are not geared towards people who are working on a limited time frame or budget. Simple food for Waters does not equal fast or cheap food. But the food is good, and you feel like its good for you. It is great for my husband and I though, since we live in an urban area and have access to lots of the things needed.
But if you're looking for fast easy recipies, or even recipies that you won't have to visit a nicer grocery store to make well, this isn't the book for you.
 This Is It! November 7, 2007
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
I looked forward to this book with eager anticipation. I was not disappointed. I have followed Alice Waters' life and career for more than 20 years and have always looked to her for inspiration. I have all of her other books, and while "Pat's Biscotti" from her first book, The Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook, has been a staple from my kitchen, this new collection far outshines the rest.
I have been cooking exclusively from this book for the past two weeks. Everything, absolutely everything I have made has been stellar! First, there was the minestrone, which included homemade chicken stock and beans cooked from scratch. I have made both for years, but was never really satisfied, and more recently have relied on boxed broths and canned beans. No longer. The chicken stock was not over-powered by too many vegetables as recommended in other recipes, the beans were tender and held together, and they were seasoned to perfection with Alice's direction to taste and salt along the way. This resulted in a minstrone that was as near to perfection as I have ever tasted. I added kale to mine, which added great color.
As I write this review, I am eating my lunch, which is the Polenta Torta, which I made two days ago. It is still as fabulous as it was then. First, Alice directs us to cook the polenta for one hour - yes, one hour. I thought to myself, oh, I don't need to do that; 30 minutes will suffice. I had the time, so I let the polenta cook quietly on the back burner for the entire hour. What a difference! Unbelievable taste and consistency! I layered this goodness with the Simple Tomato Sauce and added a layer of sauteed mushrooms and a separate layer of sauteed zucchini. This is comfort food at its best!
In addition, I've made the scones - light, sweet, but not cloying; the Bean Gratin, which I served alongside plain ploenta - great taste and texture combination; and the peach crisp - a juxtaposition of texture, with the soft peaches and raspberries contrasted with the crunchy topping (I used slivered almonds, which I chopped and toasted in a dry skillet. I also added the zest of an orange - an Ina Garten trick.)
Tonight, I can't wait to get home to cook the Braised Chicken Legs with Tomato and Garlic. I've been cooking avidly and passionately for a long time, and I haven't been this inspired by a single cookbook for a while. It's great to get the spark back. Thank you, Alice.
I've eaten in the Chez Panisse Cafe and Cafe Fanny (the breakfast bar) every time I get to Berkely. Someday, I will get to eat Downstairs. Until then, I'll just have to be content with this most treasured tome.
 a good looking book, but the recipes are on the bland side... January 11, 2008
26 out of 31 found this review helpful
I am so sorry to give your cookbook such a low review Ms. Waters, but I was very disappointed with it. At first read, the book seemed very informative with a clean, new layout. But when you read the text closely, you will find that the information is not that groundbreaking and the organization of the book is a bit confusing.
But more importantly, I was underwhelmed with the recipes in this book. I have so far cooked 3 recipes and they both needed a bit more zing. The author has at least stuck to the title of the book and provided us with recipes for "simple food", with very few ingredients and steps (a big contrast to the other Chez Panisse book I own) but the results of the recipes really needed a lot of help from sharp spices. I just read through the first few 5-star reviews and it didn't seem to me that any of those reviewers had actually cooked out of the book.
A gem of a cookbook October 13, 2007
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
I agree with some of the other reviewers that this is a very special cookbook, and I don't say that lightly. I am an avid reader and user of cookbooks and have a collection of over 100 volumes. I have learned to discern the quality of a recipe by reading it and I am very keen on simple cooking techniques. At first blush the book may not appear to be so special, but a careful reading of the recipes proves otherwise. While I have always admired Alice Waters for her philosophy about food I am not an especial fan and have never bought one of her cookbooks before. From reading this book I can see that Alice Waters excels at using the simplest methods with the freshest ingredients to let the food's natural goodness shine through, and she is also a master at how to use just the right amount of subtle tweaking with herbs and spices or a special little technique that really makes the difference between a good dish and a great dish, but not a contrived dish. I especially liked her novel ideas about "shallow poaching" and "slow roasting" of salmon, two unique methods that require the minimum effort for maximum results. Many cookbooks claim to save time and effort or maximize creativity, but they usually result in mediocre food in my experience. Like any great artist Alice has mastered the foundation techniques such that she knows when to go beyond them and when to retain them for the best results. I also was impressed with her pared down lists of "pantry" and "perishable" staples (which has been done before, but not so well), which contain the most important ingredients upon which to build all recipes. With these staples in the cupboard & fridge all you need do is shop for the "ultra-perishables" such as fresh seafood, poulty, meat, fruit, vegetables and herbs. There isn't a recipe in this book that I am not eager to try.
Brave New World October 5, 2007
22 out of 25 found this review helpful
I've barely owned this book a few days now, but its importance too me has skyrocketed in that time. I bought it because Alice Waters wrote it, and I have all her other books, so I might as well own this one too. By the second glance inside I was certain that isn't just another book to add to the collection. This is a powerhouse of a cookbook
Alice knows what she is talking about it and she gets right too it. The recipes are direct and have some of the most relevant text I've ever seen in a cookbook. She talks about what you need to do, and gives some fabulous instructions on how go about cooking what you want. She lacks a bit of the why you need to do things, but you can read Alton Brown or people like him to find that out.
I especially like the binding. It feels like a real book, in addition to looking like a real book. It isn't plagued with color photographs either, which helps to give it credibility as a legitimate cooking text. Looking at pictures is great if you want to look at pictures, but cooking isn't about looking at nice pictures of food; content about cooking is far more useful than pictures of things that have been cooked.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
