Customer Reviews

The California Artichoke Cookbook: From the California Artichoke Advisory Board

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I got this as a gift and it has its good and bad points. First, its small (plam sized paperback) that is quite attractive. Front of an artichoke on the front cover, back of one on the back. It is put out by the California Artichoke Advisory Board...who knew there was even such a thing?) Because of that the beginning of the book is full of intersting artichoke history, arichoke lore, basics, prep tips,cooking techniques, eating hints and nutrition facts. More than I have seen in cook books of 1000 pages.

There are 21 recipes that run the gamut of sauces for the chokes to entrees where they are the main ingredient. There are good discriptions for the recipes, altho no pictures. Some cute line drawings of artichokes. None of which, thankfully, fall into the walking vegetable catagory.

Risotto with artichokes was very good, but risotto is a hard dish for me and i think it needed a bit more explaination. I tried it twice once it was too hard and once it was too gooey. The problem wasnt exactly the recipe, more my problem with correctly making a risotto but the directions didnt help all that much. The artichoke frittata was excellent.

The book is really a bit too small to to just lie flat on the counter and refer to comfortabley. It snaps shut and if you try to get it to lie flat the binding will break. On the other hand its very inexpensive so its really a minor design flaw for the price.

I can't really imagine having bought this myself. Its a bit too small to be practical for me..but as a gift, perhaps as part of a theme basket. Especially a gourmet or italian themed basket with olive oil, pasta, dried basil, garlic braids..etc. this would be an excellent and inexpensive addition

I bought this book as a gift for someone who likes artichokes, and they are very happy with it. It contains lots of recipes for different ways to incorporate artichokes into your cooking. The person liked it so much that they requested another copy to give to one of their friends.

The book is adorable also, it's cut in the shape of an artichoke. It's a paperback, but the front and back cover are very sturdy. It's a great gift idea, or a good buy if you love artichokes. You can't beat the price, give it a try.