Cooking the French way

Gr 5-8-These three titles are, for the most part, worthy successors to the originals. (Cooking the East African Way was originally called Cooking the African Way [Lerner, 1988].) Each well-organized and well-written book now has a greater emphasis on low-fat and vegetarian recipes. An introductory section contains information on the culture, geography, food, holidays, and festivals of the country or region. This is followed by safety tips; glossaries of cooking utensils, terms, and special ingredients; healthy and low-fat cooking tips; and a metric conversion chart. A short discussion on eating customs is followed by sample menus complete with shopping lists. The clearly written recipes that follow are organized by type of meal. Brief introductory notes, suggestions for substitute ingredients, and cooking tips are included in many of the recipes. Preparation time and serving size are indicated. The books are visually appealing with many full-page, full-color photographs (frequently adjacent to the recipes they refer to). A couple of minor quibbles are the lack of pronunciation guides (present in the previous editions) and the lack of a nutritional breakdown for each recipe. Carole L. Albyn and Lois S. Webb's The Multicultural Cookbook for Students (Oryx, 1993) would be a good companion to any of these volumes. Fran Osseo-Asare's A Good Soup Attracts Chairs (Pelican, 1993; o.p.) introduces West African cuisine. These new titles will be useful for cultural and heritage school projects as well as fun reads for intermediate cooks.-Janice Greenberg, formerly at Brooklyn Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

After an introduction to each countryÆs food-related customs and festivals, each cookbook in this series presents recipes and cooking instructions for representative ethnic fare, accompanied by large-size and appetizing-looking color photos. The clearly laid out recipes are kept simple but will probably still be challenging for intermediate cooks. A list of safety rules and a glossary of cooking terms are included. Ind. [Review covers these Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks titles: [cf2]Cooking the Italian Way, Cooking the Spanish Way, Cooking the Mexican Way, Cooking the East African Way, Cooking the French Way, Cooking the Japanese Way, Cooking the Chinese Way.[cf1].] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.