Customer Reviews

Eat Smart in Indonesia: How to Decipher the Menu Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure (Eat Smart Series, No. 3)

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This little book is essential for travelers to a country where food is riotously varied, delicious and, to most of us, utterly unfamiliar. It begins with a brief historical survey of the cuisine, citing the contributions of successive immigrant or colonial groups, then slices the other way, with sections on Indonesia's major culinary regions and their specialties and characteristics. Recipes, a listing of US sources for ingredients, then phrases in Indonesian all follow. Two alphabetical listings are the heart of the book: One is of menu items, with brief descriptions and notations; the other is of "foods and flavors" (and utensils, cooking methods and so on), in Indonesian, with English translations or explanations. The whole is thorough, information-packed and mouthwatering.

The authors have written a series of Eat Smart books that no traveler to foreign countries should be without. Each book covers a separate country--Eat Smart in Turkey, Eat Smart in Brazil, Eat Smart in Indonesia and Eat Smart in Mexico--and is chock full of information that you won't find elsewhere within the covers of one easy-to-carry paperback. Individual chapters cover such topics as the history of the country's cuisine, regional foods, how to shop in the local markets, mail-order sources for suppliers of ingredients, and a collection of recipes for typical dishes found in that country. Especially useful is each book's extensive menu guide, listing menu terms alphabetically in the language of the foreign country, with a description of the dish in English. That section is followed by a chapter titled "Foods & Flavors"--listing the foreign terms for foods, spices, kitchen utensils and cooking techniques, with an English translation/description. These books are well researched, accurate and very informative. Highly recommended. --Sharon Hudgins, editor, Chile Pepper magazine

For a country of 17,000 islands and 670 dialects, and complex traditions, religion and culture, no one-including Indonesians-can claim to know more about Indonesia's traditional food tastes than the authors of Eat Smart in Indonesia. Their guide is the first ever published with in-depth information about the unique and diverse food of Indonesia. -William W. Wongso, culinary educator, president of William F & B Management, Jakarta, Java

This is a lovely book, full of knowledge and wisdom, a pleasure to read, an indispensable companion for travellers who care about what they're eating. If you are only thinking of going, cook some of these Indonesian recipes and taste the islands for yourself. I only wish there were a guidebook like this for every country where people still know how to eat well. -Sri Owen, author, Indonesian Regional Cooking

Soundly researched, clearly written, artistically illustrated, "Eat Smart in Indonesia" is the most comprehensive and readable survey of the whole scope of Indonesian gastronomy I have ever come across. It is equally valuable as a solid reference work for the scholar and as exotic inspiration for the chef or home entertainer. Bill Dalton, founder, Moon Travel Guides; author, "Indonesian Handbook"

Invaluable for those traveling to Indonesia, especially for vegetarians! Very helpful in deciphering menus; also has Indonesian recipies.

I have borrowed this book twice and came here now to buy my own copy that I can write in. [Edit: I must have loaned that book to someone. I'm here again a year later, buying another copy.] My Indonesian vocabulary is mostly names of fruits and food dishes. "Eat Smart" taught me how to ask for lawar without blood in it--that alone is worth the price of the book. In Indonesia, I'll be toting this next to my dictionary at all times. At home, I'll keep it in the kitchen to have the recipes handy.