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Summary: World Fusion
Review: "As I travel around the world I see that we seem to be heading towards a softening of boundaries between all cuisines. There is no nation that has not absorbed...new produce and cooking from other worlds. Mixing and matching, borrowing and lending, we are constantly enriching our cuisines." So begins a comprehensive and exciting, yet amazingly simple trip around the world with Madhur Jaffrey. Jaffrey's passion is evident throughout this beautiful and wondrous cookbook. She remarks that in her travels she greets all fresh, young vegetables she encounters as if they were "long lost siblings."And if nothing else, reading this book just for the sheer pleasure of the stories she reminisces about when growing up in Calcutta should be considered. Ingeniously, each section of the book is subdivided into the different countries of the world where Madhur Jaffrey describes in great detail and with much affection the regional and cultural variances and as well as their similarities. At first glance, the Stuffed Baby Eggplants (Imam Bayeldi from Turkey) seemed intimidating, but were both easy and elegant. Likewise, Black Tuscan Kale (Cavolo Nero) with Raisins was another simple, but delicious dish. In addition, Madhur Jaffrey provides easy to find substitutions. Can't find the Colocasia Leaves for the Kallaloo needed for the Trinidadian soup-stew? Don't worry! You can use the green section of chard leaves. Want to know how to cook eggplant without having it soak up all that oil? Jaffrey offers a culinary tip for that too. This cookbook is a must for anyone that has a passion for cooking and learning about our global neighbors! Madhur Jaffrey's descriptions are beautiful, almost poetic, and are sure to inspire anyone who reads them.
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Summary: Great cookbook
Review: After I checked this out of the library and used it, I decided it was a must have so I bought it. The recipes are easy, the food is delicious. I love her comments about when she makes the recipe or where she first had the dish. I love the explanations of ingredients.
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Summary: The first cookbook I turn to.
Review: An absolutely wonderful cookbook--after a year of using it, I find myself turning to it first almost every time I cook, simply because almost everything I've ever made from it has been delicious and relatively easy. It's true that some of the recipes call for spices that take a little digging to find, but Jaffrey almost never lists an unusual ingredient without suggesting a common alternative. I love her enthusiastic little notes on every recipe (with a bit of history and, often, serving suggestions), I love her pan-cultural hybrids (the Indian-inspired hash browns are a great idea), and I especially love her simple recipes for things I'd never have encountered otherwise. Her sweet-and-sour lemon chutney is almost scarily intense and good. A terrific book, and a terrific gift.
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Summary: This book is wonderful!
Review: As a vegetarian, one of the hardest things to find is a wonderful cookbook that really shows how to eat foods from cultures that aren't necessarily vegetarian cultures. A successful cookbook like this will make you feel as though you've immersed yourself in a foreign culture every time you cook something from it. (Even if the standard fare in that culture is curried lamb). This book is a beautiful book with tons of useful recipes that you will won't to use over and over again.
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Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: I am a vegan who loves to cook and this book is one I turn to often. The way she writes is interesting and informative, including lots of information about how the cuisines of different regions has developed, and the recipes are *excellent*. Designing menus is easy with this book, as it is simple to look up a type of cooking in the back (such as 'Moroccan' or 'Italian' of 'Middle Eastern') and just go from there. It is just as easy to turn to the section of the book that deals with the ingredients you already have on hand - so if you've got chickpeas, spinach and potatoes in the cupboard you can just look them up and find lots of delicious options. I continue to use and peruse this book all the time, and can't say enough good things about it.
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Summary: Great Tasting Food with Easy to Follow Recipes
Review: I bought this book a week ago and it has quickly become a favorite. Even my husband who is a meat lover said that if I keep making such delicious vegetarian foods, even he might become a vegetarian. Last night we dined on Nigerian Kidney Bean Stew and the night before we had Saag Paneer. Both were wonderful and easy to make. Her explanations were clear and the directions were straightforward. I cannot wait to try the other recipes in the book.
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Summary: Easy to use and the recipes are awesome
Review: I bought this book based on a recommendation from my sister and am so glad that I did. First, the book is well laid out. There have been many times when I've looked at the veggies in my fridge and wondered what to do with them. This book is organized by vegetable so I can pop right to the relevant set of pages and quickly whip up a hot meal. Second, the recipes are easy, no fancy spices that you won't find in the US (although I have to admit that I have a huge array of spices). Third, it allows you to use the entire range of vegetables that you get in the US. If you are a vegetarian here, you're options are fairly limited in terms of the veggies you get (compared to asia). Jaffrey has also cleverly modified recipes so substitutes can be used without any loss in taste.
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Summary: I agree with Aaaarrrggh from Seattle
Review: I have to say 2 things first...I love Indian food and have several Madhur Jaffrey books and love them...I also enjoy vegetarian dishes, though I am not a vegetarian...sounded wonderful!!! What even sounds more wonderful is looking over the book (very well laid out, I must say though) and reading the recipes...they sound wonderful and you want to make all of them. The problem is they don't taste at all as good as they sound..they just don't work. I wonder if there was any test tasting done or they were just simply complied on the basis of the author and the way the recipes sound. Save your $$$$$
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Summary: the indian recipes take me back to india
Review: i love indian food, have been to india and have cooked from the book. i have made a few of the recipes in the short time i've had it. i live near a nice indian grocery store that sells all the herbs in quart size bags for 2 or 3 bucks. everyday the indians eat dal - a lentil or bean dish. A couple that i love are - Hulled and Split Mung Beans with Spinach, and Red Lentils with Zucchini. The red lentil recipe is fabulous i could eat it everyday. The best recipe so far - and it is so fabulous i don't think another can match it - is Potatoes Cooked with Fennel Seeds. it is so indian it takes me back to some of the best i had in india (I am not a good cook - but this came out as good as any indian restaurant you are likely to go in the U.S.). I use sunflower seed oil or canola - any subtle oil. Maybe it is the Nigella seeds (which only cost about 2 bucks for 2 oz.) that make the difference. I also skip the red chili peppers. I also use a pressure cooker and skip the soaking altogether - with no loss of flavor - red lentils take about 10 minutes after coming to pressure. You also can make the lentils first and put in fridge then fry the herbs and zuchinni just before serving, that method of making the tarka comes from the book and is used in the other dal recipes as well.
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Summary: padded chuck wagon
Review: I ordered this book, since I've admired the author's Indian recipes. Madhur Jaffrey's hefty, overpriced WORLD VEGETARIAN has suprisingly little genuine content, and isn't what it should be. Most of the recipes are the same thing, with only the spices changed--something an imaginative cook ought to figure out without a cookbook. The spices lack variety. While there are recipes from many different cultures, they're organized according to their main ingredient, not the way one would look for them. An overview of those world cuisines that are primarily vegetarian, with recipes grouped under the culture where they originate would have been more interesting and more useful.
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