Noodle soup Recipes, techniques, obsession

This is an informative and entertaining cookbook, written by a historian and professor of food studies who aims to spread enthusiasm for noodle soups. It includes recipes and discussions of the origins of certain dishes, as well as a chapter on noodle soups in the historical record (complete with footnotes), thoughtful meditations on the problems of "authenticity" in food cultures, and other topics that scholars of the humanities will appreciate. Recipes cover a wide range, from translations and re-creations of some of the earliest known texts describing noodle soups to modern inventions, such as noodles made with potato chips and cheese curls. Albala (Univ. of the Pacific) writes in a tone that is both engaging and informative. The book is well researched and filled with personal anecdotes and observations that demonstrate the author's passion for his subject. For Albala, making noodles from scratch is a meditative practice. Although anyone interested in food history or home cooking can find something useful in this book, the true target audience seems to be homemade noodle enthusiasts. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers.--Lawrence Kessler, Consortium for History of Science, Technology & Medicine

What could be simpler than noodle soup? But just like the phrase easy as pie, making a good noodle soup takes sound ingredients and a cook with good sense to produce the finest results. Albala has let his imagination run wild in this collection of soup recipes that propel the definition of noodle soup right into the surreal. Every good soup starts with good broth, and Albala gives helpful guidance for preparing basic broths, from familiar chicken to Japanese dashi. Inventorying the vast universe of noodles, Albala concocts noodles from a host of different grains, including wheat, spelt, buckwheat, millet, and many more. He explains how to make superior bowls of ramen and Vietnamese pho, now vastly popular in America. One intriguing idea produces a soup from chickpea noodles and tahini that can stand in for hummus. Obsessive Albala even manages to craft a cocktail by swirling udon noodles into a well-chilled manhattan.--Knoblauch, Mark Copyright 2017 Booklist