Posts Tagged ‘food’

Book: Ratio

Sunday, June 21st, 2009


Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
by Michael Ruhlman.
Scribner, 2009.

Ruhlman gives readers the ratios behind many basic recipes, and tells you when you should follow them and when you may need to make adjustments or what variations you might want to try. Most of the ratios are related to baking, but also included are some meat-based ratios, stocks and sauces. Knowing and understanding these ratios will ultimately give you great flexibility in the kitchen.

Rating: 8/10

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Book: Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper

Sunday, June 21st, 2009


Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
by Fuchsia Dunlop.
W. W. Norton & Company, 2008.

Fuchsia Dunlop gives us an entertaining account of how she fell in love with Chinese food and cooking, as well as the surrounding culture and history.

Rating: 9/10

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A Chili Sauce to Crow About – The Origins of Sriracha Sauce

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Good article in the New York Times on where Sriracha sauce comes from.

The lure of Asian authenticity is part of the appeal. Some American consumers believe sriracha (properly pronounced SIR-rotch-ah) to be a Thai sauce. Others think it is Vietnamese. The truth is that sriracha, as manufactured by Huy Fong Foods, may be best understood as an American sauce, a polyglot purée with roots in different places and peoples.

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Book: Heat

Friday, March 28th, 2008


Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
by Bill Buford.
Anchor Canada, 2007

In Heat, Bill Buford, a writer for The New Yorker, leaves his job to become a cook at Babbo, a top Italian restaurant in Manhanttan. Buford has written a clear and interesting account of his struggles to learn his way in a fast-paced and demanding kitchen as a professional cook, and really brings to life the environment and the personalities of the people that he works with. Eventually, as he becomes more confident in his abilities and his passion for cooking grows, he is drawn to Italy by the desire to learn authentic Italian cooking techniques, including the butchering of meat. As he studies under some of Italy’s masters, we are also treated to a sentimental overview of the history and traditions of Italian cuisine. Bill Buford’s memoir is a well-written, fascinating book and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 8/10

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