Customer Reviews

1,001 Foods To Die For

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I browse at cookbooks in bookstores as a hobby. I am the proud owner of some titles among the bestsellers' list of Amazon's food, cooking, and wine category but I have never encountered something like this before. I received an email from Amazon offering me to pre-order this item a few months ago. I am so glad that I had stuck it out since its release has been postponed again and again. When the book arrived, I didn't know what to expect besides its cover. I was amazed. This hefty book is the compendium of all delicious foods from all over the world. As I flipped through the pages, it felt like I was touring the world and experiencing the different exotic food each country has to offer. Majority of the foods are foreign sounding. However, there are some as basic as crab cakes, lemon chicken, short ribs, angel food cake, baked cheesecake, lentil soup, etc. The list is broken down into these food groups:
appetizers and small food
soups and salads
noodles and rice
fish and seafood
poultry and game
meats
beans, cheese, and vegetables
desserts
bread, cookies, and patries
beverages
I don't own the other book entitled "1001 Foods You Must Eat Before You Die", so I am curious if they contain more or less the same things. I am very satisfied with this one I have though and I intend to use it as a check list. I will try to taste as many of these foods as I can in my lifetime.

Now, a more critical perspective. I would like to have bigger and more number of photographs... but I suppose the book will be thicker than its 960 pages if that is the case.Hmmm! There are a few foods enlisted that don't have photographs to support them but overall, the book is fine for a visual person like me. It's hard to believe that this is the work of one single person. It's an encyclopedia for an adventurous foodie like me. Imagine how exciting it'll be to have some fantastic food for the first time in one's life and to be informed of its history. Each food has its story of how it came to be.

I found this book during my random search for spaghetti recipes - and what an entertaining culinary tour. I browsed briefly through the noodle and rice chapter, and was surprised by the collection. It has covered quite a lot Asian dishes, and to my amazement the recipes are pretty authentic.

A brief look at the cheese chapter made me decide to buy it immediately. The books talks about the origin of each kind of cheese in such a concise and elegant way that it was like a feast itself. This is really entertaining and handy for people who do not know which kinds of cheese to choose in Mediterranean markets or restaurants.

Maybe it is not THE book for those who are looking for detailed recipes for any certain dish, but it could be the perfect starting book for beginner gourmets or home-cooking reference. Although many of the ingredients will hardly appear at home kitchen, some knowledge of that may turn out to be helpful in a foreign restaurant.

This book, while chock full of interesting tidbits, is not a cookbook for the faint of heart. It is a fabulous reference for anyone who has seen or read about a food they are thinking about trying, but aren't sure exactly what it is. The author does a bang-up job of explaining what a dish is comprised of, where it originates, and in some cases - how to make it. I like the book and have used it to get acquainted with some esoteric foods on menus for new restaurants we have been trying.

This book contained far fewer actual recipes than I had anticipated. It mainly gave a brief informational overview of the foods, without providing instructions for how to use them in a recipe. It was not what I expected.

Not every one of the 1001 foods includes a recipe but many do; and many come from respected chefs. This book is a travel guide to world cuisine. You will find hundreds of dishes that you were previously unfamiliar with unless you are a scholar of food. This tome is suggestive rather than encyclopedic. It is a wonderful, heavy, well produced brick. It is not the kind of book you will read straight through but it is a reference guide that will lead you down untrodden pathways of gastronomy. It suggests. And I do not think it is the product of a single author.