Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5 EAN: 9780307336798 ISBN: 0307336794 Label: Clarkson Potter Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 416 Publication Date: October 02, 2007 Publisher: Clarkson Potter Release Date: October 02, 2007 Sales Rank: 452 Studio: Clarkson Potter
Much more than I expected!
To begin with, I live in Thailand, and so almost all of the "seasonal" advice in The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution is useless --- except for the general idea, which is all-important: buy high-quality ingredients when they are in season. In Thailand, that would translate to "wait for the hot season before gorging yourself on mangoes, or mango-with-sticky-rice." Most Thai fruits have seasons when they are at their best, so pay attention.
This includes the basic idea of "don't just go to the market and buy an onion." Some folks see an onion and grab it instantly, checking off that chore. Others inspect the onions carefully, waiting until they see a really gorgeous (and delicious-looking) batch. If all the onions look like junk, it might be time to put ... Read More
Very little that is useful for non-meat eaters
As someone who loves simple food and local food, I love the concept behind The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution. As someone who is trying to eat less meat, I have hardly used The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution because there are very few recipes that are not meat-centric. I have learned that just roast vegies taste fantastic, but was disappointed that so much of the rest of the book relies on meat as the major part of a meal.
Primer for those starting out
I greatly admire Alice Waters and her leadership in the American food tradition. Her emphasis on fresh foods, cooking from scratch, eating family dinners, and buying from local growers and dairy/meat farms is helping to make this world a better place. These values and the desire to help everyone find a way to live this way infuse "The Art of Simple Food," a primer for beginners.
"The Art of Simple Food" is half how-to, with a few recipes illustrating fundamental techniques like braising, roasting, steaming, etc., in the first section. The other half is more of a standard cookbook that offers recipes organized according to appetizers, soups, entrees, etc. It is meant to be read from beginning to end because of the emphasis on building ... Read More
Wonderful book- excellent education on cooking for a family
I bought The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution looking for new ideas for cooking for my family of 4, especially on weekends when we have time to slow cook a great meal. The recipes in The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution are phenomenal- we love the short ribs, the beef stew, and the roast beef. Each chapter covers a different type of food and preparation method. As is expected from a food expert like Alice Waters, the recipes are simply delicious. The thing I like most is that as an amateur cook I can actually cook special meals that everyone in my family loves. This is truly a great cookbook!
Nice book for a beginner
I bought The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution after seeing it on Martha Stewart's show and being very impressed by the appearance of Alice Waters. At the time I was not familiar with her or any of her books. It was nice to read and I enjoyed learning about CSAs and local, sustainable food. Unfortunately it wasn't really useful to me beyond that. After I read through it the first time I put it on the shelf, and I never cooked from it. When I decided recently to cull some books from my cookbook library, I decided that this one needed to go. There was nothing I needed from it that I couldn't find in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian or Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I got rid of it to make room on my bookshelf for one of Ms. Waters' more inspiring books. The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution might make a good ... Read More
