Customer Reviews

Cooking Around the World: Romanian, Bulgarian & Balkan

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Odd to serve up a review on an out-of-print item, but I have relied on this book for so long that I owe it to the author... wherever they may be.

This is a tour of South-Eastern and Eastern European cuisine, and each chapter covers a different country. A few pages introduce the reader to the place -- history, influences, geography, people, as well as to how that cuisine relates to its neighbors. The recipes are concise, easy to create, and surprisingly well captured. The chapters are inherently short (maybe 10-15 recipes each), but check out the neighboring countries, and most times the image is complete. I am Romanian, and I scoop up recipes from the Bulgarian, Hungarian and even Polish chapters when I'm looking for something specific.

What's even better, is getting a sense of place for each country, and correlating food with history... When I was a newcomer to the US, a university colleague's wife copied of this book for me, to remind me of home. I have accumulated by now a number of cookbooks, in both English *and* Romanian, yet 20 years later, I still prefer to use this copy, and I've been looking for ways to buy it and recommend it to others. Now I have it here!

Highly recommended for anyone interested in exploring their Southern or Eastern European roots!

I love the "Cooking Around the World Series" and this edition does not disappoint. If you're interested in regional specialties described in an accessable manner, this book is for you. I'm an experience cook, but not in Balkan cuisine, so I found it helpful when the book gives background and explains foods and cooking processes unique to the region. It also didn't go overboard. I've seen some cookbooks for this region that include many recipes with parts I don't want to deal with - I'm never interested in a lamb's whole head. Thankfully, this book focusing on authentic recipes made from ingredients you could find in your local supermarket (and still want to purchase.)