So many cookbooks leave us in the dark wondering why do we have to add salt here or why does this need to sit overnight.
Not this one!
This is a cookbook for the people. It's written with the Splendid Table's characteristic wit and down-home language, which is always inviting and never offended when you have a question.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift, hosts of public radio's Splendid Table, have crafted a cookbook that mirrors their radio show so perfectly in form and voice that we can practically hear them speaking from the page.
Read on for our full review!
The recipes seem solid, combining straight forward preparations with fresh, mouth-watering ingredients. We're given recipes from across the culinary spectrum, from Vietnamese noodle dishes to Italian peasant food. These recipes build and cross-reference each other, creating a sense of how interconnected the world cuisines really are.
Interspersed between, around, and within the recipes are all the extras! On one page you'll find a guide to buying olive oils. Tucked into the margin on another page will be some advice on cooking with vinegar. These "oh-by-the-way" tidbits tossed nonchalantly into the conversation are where you'll find the real teaching moments in the book.
One negative note: There's a lot of information packed between these covers--good information!--but we felt a bit overwhelmed at times. As we turned the pages, our eyes were constantly pulled from picture to recipe to tip to quote to story. Maybe we just have short attention spans, but we found it hard to focus and really absorb everything on the page.
The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper is a meandering conversation of recipes, friendly advice, insider's scoops, and cooking tips you don't know how you lived without. You can learn a lot from this book and still come back for more!
Curious to try a few recipes from this book? Those for iced cantaloupe soup, tart of red onions, greens, and grapes, and Sally's coconut macaroons are available courtesy of Leite's Culinaria.
The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift is available for $23.10 on Amazon.com.
Related: Store Review: Bonnie Slotnick's Cookbooks
(Image: Amazon.com)
Did you try any of the recipes? Just curious.
view brittanykate's profile
I've made a couple so far, and both were delicious. A lot of the recipes come with variations, while using the same basic ingredients. I've made one dish (A Pan-Roasted Salmon Salad) from the main entry, and one (Turkey Kofta Balls) off a variation.
You can check them out >> here <<.
view WeHeartFood's profile
I love the radio show, and want the book! But I'm going to check it out of the library first to make sure there is enough good stuff in there. Does it have enough vegetarian recipes, or is it very meat/fish oriented?
view Susmita's profile
My sweetie and I have this book and have been very pleased with it so far. (I do agree about the multi-font overload, though.) The recipes are straightforward but also pleasantly inventive, like the layered potato dish with turmeric that's on the cover. We're vegetarian and think there's plenty of worthwhile meals. So far we've tried and loved the turmeric potato, green beans with lemon zest, and pesto risotto.
view Katie in Berkeley's profile
I was very excited to see that you had the opportunity to review this book; my husband and I have been looking out for reviews, as we're quite curious. But I'm sorry/disappointed to say that this is not a book review. I have seen this many times on ATK. I recall one review of 1080 recipes that dwelled almost entirely on the book's design ("The photos are rather oddly interspersed in the book, printed on smaller paper than the rest of the book. Clearly, Phaidon, the publisher, was trying to keep their costs down.")
A proper cookbook review should include background on the author(s), a detailed analysis of the tips/narrative portion (including, in this case, an evaluation of how easy or difficult it is to find the helpful tips throughout the book--do you have to get lucky, or are they well indexed?), comparisons to similar books (how does this differ from The Art of Simple Food, for example?) and results after testing several recipes that represent the breadth of the book.
AT is a web site, which means you are lucky enough not to be limited by space in the way of print publications. These books are being sent to you because you have thousands of readers in the target market; you owe your readers a summary that goes beyond the same first impressions anyone can get by flipping through said book at B&N.
view ricestein's profile
I adore Lynne Rossetto Kasper the Splendid Table. I always enjoy listening to her -- she has such an inspirational way of talking about food.
Lynne came through town a few months back as part of the book tour for this cookbook. While I was waiting in line to purchase this book, prior to the start of the event, she walked up to me and introduced herself -- she is a complete doll. We had a lovely little chat afterwards when she was signing copies, I'll always treasure mine :o)
view stlellen's profile