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Cookbooks
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I must admit that I am very lucky, you see, due to the fact that I talk about cookbooks during my radio segment, here on my web site and soon, on my new podcast, I get the opportunity to read some of the world’s finest. 
Now ever since I was a young child growing up in a military family, back when the military moved you around constantly, I have used reading as a way to escape for a little bit and relax even when everything was in turmoil around me.  I remember when one year that I went to school in Illinois, then Turkey and then Germany - what a busy third grade that was.  So I quickly learned that no matter where I was, I could read and for those moments the world settled down.
As I have gotten older I have started using this gift of reading to take me on mini adventures, from my comfortable chair I can visit a Beach Luau on Maui, or be cooking in the Hunan Province of China or BBQ on a ranch in Texas.  It is amazing because mix that imagination with real life experiences and I not only see myself in different cooking scenarios but I can imagine the aromas and the flavors.  Reading –a calorie free way to enjoy food.  Of course, after a good read, I become so hungry I have to try my hand at some of the recipes.
It is amazing how cookbooks have developed; they have gone from cut and dry volumes of recipes to History books that tell us the political and cultural climates that surround different types of cuisines or adventure tales about finding exotic spices and unique ingredients.  You will read stories of families and people, of their struggles, their victory and how food played a part.  It is now not enough to tell you how to prepare a meal, but why you prepare that meal and what it took for that meal to be.
So join me as I embark on this cookbook adventure:
Note: Please remember that I am not a fan of negative reviews.  This means that the books that I review, on this web site, on my weekly Radio segment and on my Podcasts are the cookbooks that I feel would be a valuable addition in anyone’s kitchen library. 
My wife, who is also a culinary professional (She is the executive chef for Retama Park and the Turf and Field Club) and I enjoy studying cookbooks and trying their recipes.  I hope that my simple reviews will help you choose that cookbook you have been looking for and that you will get as much pleasure as I do out of these wonderful works of culinary literature.   Please feel free to contact me if you ever have any question – sanantoniofoodie@yahoo.com.

Ron Smith
Living life like I cook – with SPICE!
My style of cooking is very much Pacific Rim, I enjoy working with exotic spices/ingredients and I love to study the regional cuisines across the World.  With that said, I almost have to believe that Nirmala Narine wrote this book for me, but since we had never talked to each other till after the Book I guess I was just lucky to get a copy of her book – “In Nirmala’s Kitchen”.
This is like a culinary travel guide with great little anecdote about locations and ingredients plus it is very well illustrated and Nirmala’s smile on the cover just lets you know that this is going to be fun.  I really enjoyed the breakdown by region/country and how she showcases the local cuisine.  It is also a nice touch that each region/country recipe is designed in menu form so that you can experience a full local meal from start to finish. Then Nirmala has also included a great guide to exotic and ethnic ingredients.  From start to finish this is a wonderful cookbook both to read and to take a culinary cooking journey in your own kitchen.
Melissa Guerra has delivered a cookbook that combines Texas Pride and Texas Taste.  Having spent a good part of my life here in San Antonio, I must confess that her book “Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert” strikes home with the recipes and ingredients that I have come to love.  With recipes covering the basics such as “How to render chile puree from dried chiles” to old favorites such as “Menudo” and “Barbacoa” this book allows the reader a glimpse inside the flavorful world of Tex-Mex cuisine and is a valuable guide to the world of South Texas and Mexican ingredients.  “Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert” also take a heroic leap in validating a regional cuisine that has been overshadowed by fast food and cheap imitations.  Texans are proud of their heritage, culture and food – and now there is a cookbook that embodies that. Melissa – Thank you.
Cat Cora’s book “Cat Cora’s Kitchen – Favorite Meals for Family and Friends” is not just a cookbook, it is a look into Cat’s passion concerning her Family, Friends and Food.  This is an enjoyable cookbook even if you don’t cook.  I am amazed at how this book made me feel the love that Cat has for the people around her, her heritage and just life in general.  The photographs of her and her food just come to life as you read the stories and the memories that she shares. It is even more exciting when you start reading the recipes and can imaging summer afternoon at a large family gathering or that meal for that special occasion with friends.  I cannot begin to describe the feeling of getting lost in a recipe, preparing it and then having a twinge of sadness because I don’t have a large Greek family and an Aunt Demetra to hug and share the meal with.
Thank you Cat, for sharing the recipes, the memories and most of all – yourself. 
Efharistoomay
Memories of dancing bears and spice laden markets came flooding back to me as I read Ana Sortun’s book – “SPICE- Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean”.  The pages of this book took me on a culinary journey back to my childhood when I spend about 7 months in this far away land of Meerschaum Pipes, figs and pistachios.  I remember the custodian of the building we lived in Husein, gathering with his wife and friends in the little courtyard drinking wine from a goatskin bladder, singing and dancing while of his friends played folksongs on a Baglama.  Then add to that visual, the fragrance of spices and lamb being grilled over an open flame and you have a memory from my childhood.
Ana’s cookbook brings those memories back and then adds such Eastern Mediterranean delectable recipes as “Roasted Crispy Duck with Tomato-Sesame Jam”, “Shrimp with Kasseri Cheese, Fennel and Fenugreek Wrapped in Shredded Phyllo” and “Fried Haloumi Cheese with Pear and Spiced Dates”.  This cookbook covers Eastern Mediterranean Flavors, some traditional and some update with the care of someone truly passionate about the cuisines and cultures of the ancient region.  After reading Chef Sortun’s cookbook I wonder if Hodja road his donkey backwards because he was still thinking of his last meal.
I have been asking myself - Which is more Intense – A 500 degree BBQ pit or Ted Reader’s Passion for “THE Q”?  Ted Reader is the man dubbed a King of the BBQ and his new book “King of the Q’s Blue Plate BBQ” will help even Doubting Thomas believe that this is Gospel.  I use the word gospel because to Pit and Smoke Masters across the world - BBQ is a religion and with his untamed hair and his Flaming Chef coats – Ted Reader is in the pulpit preaching the Gossip of fire, smoke and planks!
I was amazed while reading this cookbook and his  book on Planking – “The Art of the Plank- Licked by Fire, Kissed by Smoke” that nothing that can be cooked is exempt from the flame. Both books are very well illustrated and cover a wide of dishes and cuisines.
In his “King of the Q’s Blue Plate BBQ” cookbook, Chef Reader has interesting recipes such as “Mamajuana Smoked Ribs with a BBQ Praline Crust” or how about “Beef Tenderloin Injected with Cognac Butter”.  Not to be out done “The Art of the Plank- Licked by Fire, Kissed by Smoke” has equally impressive dishes like “Plank-Smoked Turkey A.K.A. Dead Bird in a Box” or one of my favorites “Planked-Roasted Marrow Bones”.  BBQ faithfuls - I have found the Sacred Scrolls of BBQ.
If you are a student of Asian Cuisine or just a fan of the exciting flavors, visually appealing plate presentation and aromas that conjure up visions of far way exotic lands right out of a Pearl S. Buck novel than this is a most opportune time to visit your local book seller.  With cookbooks from such Chinese and Asian cuisine icons such as Martin Yan, Fuchsia Dunlop, Kylie Kwon and others you can discover a doorway to the Middle Kingdom and discover the culinary wonders of this faraway culinary paradise.


Fuchsia Dunlop has written a cookbook that covers the cuisine of Hunan Province while at the same time tying in a lesson about the history and culture of this ancient yet little explored region.
The Hunan province has been the birthplace of political leaders and a rich, spicy cuisine.  Ms. Dunlop throws open the culinary borders with such dishes as “Numbing and Hot Chicken”, “Chairman Mao’s Red-Braised Pork” and “Steamed Fish with Chopped Salted Chiles”.  The photographs and commentaries keep you wanting to see what is on the next page.  The beginning of the book is a great resource and introduction into the world of Hunan Style cooking.  This cookbook has quickly made its way to my “Go To” shelf.  This is one of the books that anyone who is into Chinese cooking should have.
Martin Yan – when you read this man’s bio, you can be nothing less than amazed.  He is a person that has shaped his own destiny.  From the smile on his face, to the laughter in his voice, Martin Yan exudes a positive passion that is contiguous and he teaches in his books and on his shows with an attitude that says – “if you are not enjoying this, then you are doing it wrong”.
In his book “Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking – The Companion Cookbook to the Public Television Series” Chef Yan takes us on an around the world pilgrimage to Chinatowns across the globe.  You learn a little history of each of the different Chinatowns and also where and what to eat, if you do in fact get a chance to visit.  If you have had the opportunity to watch the PBS show then you will be delight to find all the exciting recipes that where on the show.  Some of my favorites are “Chrysanthemum Fish in Sweet Vinegar Sauce”, “Chinatown Deli Cha Siu”, “Salt-Baked Eight-flavor Chicken” and “Shrimp and Scallops with Chinese Twisted Doughnuts”.  As with all of Martin Yan’s book this will soon be we worn and a constant kitchen companion.
What an unbelievably gorgeous cookbook, almost reminiscent of a coffee table book but that would be a horrendous injustice.  This is first and foremost a cookbook that is beautifully illustrated with photographs that cause my stomach to have pangs of hunger.  I have been a fan of Chef  Kwong since the first time I saw her on television and after looking through her cookbook my respect just continues to grow.  The book is very well laid out, starting with the ingredients then moving to stocks and even covering “Eating Chinese Style”.  On certain recipe there are step by step black and white photograph covering the technique. Chef Kwong’s artistry and passion along with her pride in her heritage come out in all her dishes, from “Prawn Wonton Soup” to “Chilli-Salt Duck Breast with Lemon”, Chef Kwong show elegance in simplicity.  There are just so many extras in this book that I know it will be a strategic part of my Asian cooking repertoire.  I have been told that she will have another cookbook out this winter and judging from the Promotional materials I have received - there is no question what I want under the Christmas tree. Kylie Kwong’s “Simple Chinese Cooking”  is simply soigné.