Customer Reviews

Culinaria: European Specialties

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This two volume series is a fantastic collection of European speciality recipes. If you are looking for a "how to" cooking course or information on techniques, this book is not for you. However, if you would like to explore the culinary specialities of the countries of Europe, I have not found a better book.

Visually, the book is very impressive. The surrounding pictures and text describe the country and some of the culture, putting the recipies in context. It is this extra material that makes trying out these recipies so much fun. The Europa series does not have the same breadth as the individual country books in the remainder of the Culinaria series, however, it does hit the highlights of each country.

The recipies themselves vary in the level of difficulty, preparation and practicality. Again, pick your experiment and get started as you have time. My biggest frustration is that some of the ingredients are hard to find if you are outside of Europe - obviously not the book's fault.

I found this two volume set to be the best buy in the Culinaria series. This book was well worth the investment and is an interesting read.

While I completely agree with all of the other reviewers (in that this is an excellent book), I do want to take the time to point out that this is not just a cookbook. Within each chapter (each dedicated to a certain country), there is history, education and just so much to learn. For example, the book tells you about the cheeses, wines, beers and other specialties of each country and special holiday meals and snacks. The traditions of the peoples are spelled out and almost makes you feel like you are there experiencing them. And, of course, great recipes of each country as well. This may be the BEST book I've ever owned. I highly recommend it. Unlike most cookbooks, you can just read this one and have a ball.

I dithered for months whether to spend such a lot of money on 'just another cookery book', but I'm glad I did - it is definitely NOT 'just another cookery book' ... I've just spent most of my day off totally absorbed in these 2 books.
There is plenty of interesting information, with superb photography and illustrations; well-researched commentaries on the various industries; snippets of little-known historical info (did you know that Britain's King Edward VII gave the name Crepe Suzette to a spoiled dessert?) and well-chosen recipes which highlight the particular country's culinary strong points.

These are 2 weighty tomes (6lb/3kg each!), but only in the physical sense - they are very readable. With a chapter devoted to each of the European countries, the authors give an introduction, an overview of the country's specialities and an in-depth look at each speciality:- how it is grown/made; different varieties; anecdotes from the area; useful snippets of information, as well as some wonderful recipes (not all of them well-known).

Obviously some countries get more coverage than others; France Spain & Italy each get far more attention than, say, Russia - but deservedly so, given their gastronomic heritage (although the wines of France are over-played, to my mind).

While I would not recommend this as a working cookery book, it is certainly a valuable addition to anyone's culinary library - an ideal present for that friend of yours who has a love of food and cooking; anyone would be over the moon to receive such a present!

I must first confess that I do not own this book (yet), but have looked through it pretty closely at a local bookstore. What I liked best about this cookbook is (a) the photography, which is superb, and (b) I believe it to be very authentic. I lived in Spain for over 20 years, and I can certainly vouch for the authenticity of the Spanish part. The recipes given were very typical of real Spanish meals, not necessarily what one might assume. This book would appeal to someone who had travelled or lived inEurope, and also to anyone interested in world-class cuisine.

I thought that this was a really wonderful book. All books of this type have to show the really traditional dishes but often that is all they do. This book showed a lot of dishes that are still popular in the different countries and it showed part of the modern influences. It is an informative book and really interesting to read even if you never intend to actually cook something from it.

This must be one of the best European cookbooks around. But not only does it do an excellent job of explaining the various foods and dishes of Europe, it is also an excellent guide to European culinary culture. Moving from country to country, it is like taking a tour of Europe, explaining the various national dishes and how to prepare them, as well as the history and cultural background of all the dishes and foods.

The pictures are excellent too - one can be forgiven for buying this book simply because you like the pictures and illustrations - excellent coffee table book.

This book is especially helpful to those of us who lives in other parts of the world from Europe and who do not always have the experience or background of the European way of doing things when it comes to cooking and eating.

I had been eyeing this title at a local store and I finally purchased it. This 2 volume set has swiftly moved to the top of my collection. The information provided is very insightful and details not only the recipes, but the ingredients and people from which they come from. The photography is beautiful and every dish I have made has been a real crowd pleaser!

This set of 2 books is an exceptionally splendid and easy to read catalogue of european foods. However, a France/Belgium are grossly overrepresented (yes, I am not enthusiastic about the popular belief of Gallic culinary superiority), while smaller nations got the boot...some pan-european foods seem to have simply been tucked into the first convenient section...the section on Russia is somewhat lacking and the dishes are misspelled. Still, a very lovely and useful set.

This book is a steal at twenty bucks but you'll need a wheelbarrow to lug it around -- it's big and heavy! The book is 12 1/2" x 11" and 1 7/8 inches thick. It's 640 pages in length and there's a nice index to steer readers to where they need to go.

The product description says that this book weighs just under eight pounds but it feels more like twelve to me. The paper is of excellent-quality stock, very thick and heavy. This volume is what we used to call a "coffee table book".

Here's what the book is about:

1. It details individual and exotic ingredients which serve to make traditional European ethnic dishes.

2. It features, specifically, European recipes and dishes.

3. It provides hundreds of beautiful color photographs and detailed descriptions which insure that the reader will know precisely what these regional products look like and how they fit in to particular dishes.

Here is a list of the countries whose food and beverages are featured in this fine work:

1. England

2. Scotland

3. Ireland

4. Denmark

5. Norway

6. Sweden

7. Finland

8. Russia and other member states of the former Soviet Union

9. Poland

10. The Czech Republic and Slovakia

11. Hungary

12. Austria

13. Switzerland

14. Germany

15. The Netherlands

16. Belgium

17. France

18. Spain

19. Portugal

20. Italy

21. Greece

22. Turkey

The book is bulging with tips, (e.g., how to cook crayfish, how to make tortellini, etc.) These recipes are not for the beginner, many are even difficult but they're the real deal. For that reason, it's not actually what I would term "a cookbook". Still, newbies can benefit from learning all about basic ingedients and the ethnic origins of our own American cookery.

There's no use to say more. This book gets my highest recommendation.

This book left me breathless. The photos are so beautiful and are the closest thing to the real thing (food). I use it as an encyclopedia for european food whenever I need one.