Secrets from a Chinese Kitchen

Rating:
Summary: Few Pictures and Too Many Ingredients
Review: Last weeekend, I read two cookery books. The first was "Secrets from a Chinese Kitchen". I found some of the tips helpful. But I found it strange that a book that supposedly adapted (and presumably, simplified - no disrespect intended) Chinese cooking to make it less daunting for the Western cooking enthusiasts has in many recipes such long list of ingredients that would put off even a Chinese cook!

But it was after I gone through the second book, "Secrets from an Indian Kitchen" by Mridula Baljekar (ISBN 1862051437) that I realised what many readers will miss in the Los' book. I do not know what most of the Indian dishes are like as few pictures were provided and I could not figure out the end-state just from reading. Baljekar's book had presumed that the readers know what he or she is cooking. This presumption may be true for an Indian or someone very familiar with Indian dishes. I had fewer problems with the Los' book because the names and end-states of many dishes were familiar, being a Chinese. But if you are not a Chinese or conversant with Chinese dishes, you will face the same problem as I did with Baljekar's book. The few pictures in both books are also not user-friendly as they are not located with the corresponding recipes.

I have always maintained that a user-friendly cookbook should have at least pictures of the end-state of a dish if not also pictures of the various stages of preparation and cooking. A good example of a very friendly cookbook is "Quick & Easy: Favorite Japanese Dishes" by te Editors of Joie, Inc. with Yukiko Moriyama, ISBN 4-915249-37-9.