Customer Reviews

Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen: Bold Cooking from Seattle's Anchovies & Olives, How to Cook A Wolf, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, and Tavoląta

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Yes, I love to cook. I love to try new things and experiment with ingredients I've never used before. I like to `wow' myself and others with food. Oh, and I love Italian food, which is the primary reason why I snatched this up. Upon opening this book though, I realized that this was far more than I anticipated. This isn't your mom and dads Italian food. This is experimental, interesting and unique takes on Italian cuisine.

My heart skipped a beat.

Now, unlike others, I am not one who is going to knock this down a peg because the ingredients used are not familiar to all grocery stores. This is not for the `I just need something quick and easy to feed my family' type chef, so if that is what you are looking for...walk away. This cookbook is for the chef who wants to be something more than he (or she) already is. This is for the person who wants to try new things and learn how to expand their culinary skills.

It's funny because my mother and I were just talking about getting together and making fresh pasta, and then I get this book complete with recipes on FRESH PASTA! I couldn't believe it. That right there is further proof that this is not your average cookbook.

The recipes, despite containing complicated ingredients and despite relying on a certain level of skill to execute (you won't be able to handle all of these recipes the first day in), they are easy to follow and contain nice illustrations that showcase the richness of the food.

In the end, I'm all head over heals in love with this book. Be forewarned, this book contains recipes that use Ox Tail and Urchin Roe, but if want to tap into your culinary wild side, this book is the perfect complement to your impending journey!

Bon appetit.

As noted in other reviews, many of the recipes in Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen: Bold Cooking from Seattle's Anchovies & Olives, How to Cook A Wolf, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, and Tavolàta call for exotic ingredients and unusual meats not likely to be found in the average supermarket. Quite a few dishes feature seafood which could be a draw or a drawback, depending on your palate and budget.

There is a brief introduction to each recipe with preparation tips and serving suggestions. The author sometimes suggests substitutions (such as other types of oysters which could work for the Baked Stellar Oysters).

The author encourages readers to feature many small plates to give their guests exposure to a wide variety of dishes, and to aim to have those guests sated rather than stuffed at the end of the meal.

As a vegetarian, I didn't see many recipes I could eat (even the risotto calls for chicken stock). And when I ate meat, I didn't eat the "delicacies" featured in this book - from lamb tongue and oxtail to rabbit paws and sea urchin roe to veal cheeks and tripe (which I had to look up - it is the stomach tissue of a ruminant such as oxen, sheep and goats). You may notice that the only chicken recipe in the book is for chicken livers. The author correctly points out that there are thousands of chicken recipes in other cookbooks so he focused on duck and smaller birds such as duck and quail.

I've listed the recipes below so you can judge for yourself whether they appeal to you. After all, taste varies by person and by culture. Vegetarian recipes are noted by an asterisk (*).

The first chapter, "Nibbles and Bits," includes recipes for:

* Baked Stellar Bay Kusshi Oysters with Garlic Breadcrumbs and Oregano

* Bruschetta with Smashed Chickpeas and Grilled Lamb's Tongue

* Crispy Young Favas with Green Garlic Mayonnaise*

* Beef Carpaccio with Preserved Pecorino Sardo and Arugula

* Carne Cruda with Anchovy and Garlic

* Fried Artichokes Pangratatto*

* Fried Ipswich Clams with Sorrel Aioli

* Geoduck Crudo with Fennel and Radish

* Geoduck Scramble with Crème Fraiche

* Manila Clams on the Half Shell with Fennel, Lemon and Chiles

* Sardine Crudo with Celery Hearts, Pine Nuts and Lemon

* Marinated Octopus

* Pickled Vegetables*

* Sea Bass Crudo with Vanilla Oil, English Peas and Mint

* Soft-Shell Crab Bruschetta with Spring Garlic Aioli

* Spot Prawn Crudo with Chile and Mint

* Frittata with Morels and Savory*

* Bruschetta with Fresh Ricotta and Pine Nut Salsa Verde*

* Soft-Boiled Eggs with Anchovy Mayonnaise

* Shigoku Oysters on the Half Shell with Accompaniments

* Uni Spoons (uni is sea urchin roe)

The next chapter is "The Measure of a Cook: Soups" and includes recipes for:

* Essence of Artichoke*

* Farro and Artichoke Soup*

* Mediterranean Mussel and Chickpea Soup with Fennel and Lemon

* Clam Brodetto

* Parmesan Brodo*

* Oxtail Soup with Farro and Root Vegetables

* Farmers' Market Soup*

* English Pea Soup with Poached Duck Egg*

* Kabocha and Porcini Soup*

* Corn and Chanterelle Soup*

* Heirloom Tomato Soup with Garlic Croutons*

* Sorrel and Yogurt Soup*

The third chapter is entitled, "Starches to Grow On: Gnocchi, Polenta, Risotto, and Farrotto" and includes recipes for:

* Basic Potato Gnocchi*

* Gnocchi with Morels and Fried Duck Egg*

* Ricotta Gnocchi with Beef Short Rib Ragu

* Soft Polenta*

* Firm Polenta (for grilling or sautéing)*

* Sauteed Chicken Livers with Mushrooms and Onions on Soft Polenta

* Grilled Polenta with Heirloom Tomatoes and Pounded Anchovy Sauce

* Sauteed Polenta with Hedgehog Mushrooms and Aged Provolone*

* Spring Garlic Risotto

* Ramp Risotto with Shaved Porcini

* Artichoke Risotto

* Clam Risotto with Lemon

* Butternut Squash Risotto with Hazelnut Oil

* Farrotto with English Peas and Morels

* Dug Leg Farrotto with Pearl Onions and Bloomsdale Spinach

The next chapter, "Wheat's Highest Calling: Pasta," includes the following recipes:

* Egg Pasta*

* Semolina Pasta*

* Braised Rabbit Paws with Radiatore

* Linguine with Shrimp

* Cavatelli with Cuttlefish, Spring Onion, and Lemon

* Fava Bean Agnolotti with Snails and Herbed Butter

* Gnocchetti with Pancetta, Chanterelles, and Mint

* Tagliarini with Totten Viginica Oysters, Prosecco, Chives and Cream

* Maloreddus with Squid, Tomato Sauce and Lemon

* Spaghetti with Garlic, Chile, and Sea Urchin

* Trofie with Nettle Pesto*

* Pappardelle with Tomato Sauce and Marinated Pecorino Sardo*

* Bigoli with Grilled Sardines and Fennel

* Duck Egg Ravoli with Ricotta and Swiss Chard*

* Switch-Hitting Clams with Ramps

* Cannelloni with Braised Pork Cheeks and Sweet Cicely

The fifth chapter is entitled, "Something Foraged, Something Green: Salads, Vegetables, and Sides" and features recipes for:

* Baby Beet Salad with Fresh Ricotta*

* Endive Salad with Creamy Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette*

* Seared Rabbit Loin with Frisee and Pancetta

* Lentils with Pancetta

* Fried Cauliflower with Ham Hock

* Lobster Mushrooms with Preserved Garlic, Parsley, and Oregano

* Shaved Artichoke and Wild Watercress Salad*

* Blood Orange Salad with Shallot and Taggiasca Olives*

* Rapini with Garlic, Chile, and Lemon*

* Delicata Squash with Chestnut Honey*

* Puntarelle with Anchovy, Garlic, and Parsley Dressing

* Pickled Mackerel Salad with Watercress, Radish, and Pistachio

* Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Artichokes with Garlic and Thyme*

* Company Alligator Pear*

* Miner's Lettuce, Fava Beans, English Peas, and Spring Garlic with White Balsamic Vinaigrette*

* Panzanella with Crispy Pig's Ear

* Potato and Asparagus Salad with Home-Cured Bacon and Egg

* Thumbelina Carrots with Orange and Mint*

* Pheromone Salad (Shaved Porcini Salad)*

* Swiss Chard with Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins*

The next chapter, entitled "Beasties of the Land...," focuses on meat and includes the following recipes:

* Braised Pork Jowls with the Maligned Melange

* Home-Cured Bacon

* Lamb Chops with Finger Favas

* Venison Loin with Cipollini Agrodolce

* Veal Sweetbreads with Parsley, Capers, and Lemon

* Seared Duck Breast with Sugared Figs and Arugula

* Braised Veal Cheeks with Grilled Ramps and Porcini

* Skillet-Roasted Rabbit with Pancetta-Basted Fingerlings

* Roast Quail Stuffed with Pancetta, Lacinato Kale, and Sage

* Pan-Roasted Squab with Spring Garlic Compote

* Party Tripe on Soft Polents

* Zatar-Rubbed Leg of Goat with Fresh Chickpeas, Spring Onion, and Sorrel

* Grilled T-Bone with Garlic, Lemon, and Controne Beans

* Italian "Tacos" (using lamb shoulder)

The seventh chapter is entitled, "...and Sea" and includes recipes for:

* Grilled Sardines with Baby Fennel, Capers, and Taggiasca Olives

* Mob-Hit Squid

* Fluke with Radish and Citrus Relish

* Ode to the Northwest (with a Nod to Cincinnati) (using halibut)

* Roasted Skate Wing with Brown Butter and Potatoes

* Black Bass with Thyme, Lemon, and Garlic

* Poached Black Bass with Spring Garlic and Mint

* Seared Scallops with Chanterelles and Parsnip and Pear Puree

* Steamed Clams with Guanciale and Sorrel

* Prosciutto-Wrapped Soft-Shell Crab Cigars with Shaved Radish and Arugula Salad

* Grilled Mackerel with Crispy Potatoes and Caper and Preserved Lemon Sauce

The next chapter is entitled, "Cheese for the Civilized and Desserts for the Rest of You" and features recipes for:

* Goat Cheese with Chestnut Honey & Hazelnut Dust*

* Ginepro with Gin-Soaked Pear*

* La Tur with Oven-Roasted Tomato Petals*

* Lemon Verbena Panna Cotta with Poached Peaches*

* Robiola with Gooseberry Compote*

* Cacio Faenum with Baked Apricot and Almond Puree*

* Rhubarb Soup with Prosecco*

* Roasted Figs with Chocolate-Espresso Ganache*

* Chocolate Ice Cream*

* Toasted Walnut Ice Cream*

* Pear-Star Anise Ice Cream*

* Melon Sorbet*

* Campari-Blood Orange Sorbet*

* Blueberry-Basil Sorbet*

* Zabaglione with Mixed Berries*

* Espresso Granita with Grappa Cream*

* Pie Cookies*

* Cardamom Sables*

* Almond Cake with Bay-Poached Queen Anne Cherries*

* Pine Nut Crumbles*

* Chocolate Pumpkin Tart*

The final chapter contains recipes for "Building Blocks: Condiments, Sauces, and Staples" such as:

* Basic Tomato Sauce*

* Mayonnaise*

* Preserved Garlic*

* Preserved Lemons*

* Preserved Pecorino Sardo*

* Salsa Verde

* Garlic Breadcrumbs*

* Basic Chickpeas*

The book also includes a comprehensive index so you can search by ingredient (berries, rabbit, veal, etc.) as well as by finished dish (soup, cookies, sauces, etc.).

Although I find only a few of the recipes to be appealing to me, I am giving Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen: Bold Cooking from Seattle's Anchovies & Olives, How to Cook A Wolf, Staple & Fancy Mercantile, and Tavolàta four stars. The instructions are clear, there are many photos, and the recipes are not like those found in my other Italian cookbooks. If you are looking for a cookbook of recipes for exotic meats, this could be the right choice for you.

I have been a serious amateur cook for a couple of decades now and I have made friends with others that share my passion. When I entertain my foodie friends they are always polite and complimentary, but I can tell when my dish has fallen short of their expectations (especially when some of them are professional chefs). More than anything, what we are looking for is unique flavor combinations, dishes that make you say, "Wow, I had no idea that those ingredients could work together like that!" However, coming up with truly new and innovative recipes is not always easy. This book has given me the confidence that I will aways be able to blow my guests away with exciting culinary creations.

Although the recipes in Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen are not what anyone would call traditional Italian cuisine, many of the main ingredients show a definite European influence. The use of rabbit, lamb, duck and goat is common in much of the world and is a welcomed change from the overused chicken, beef and pork that we find in many US cookbooks. The seafood shows an urban-coastal prospective with the use of various clams, geoduck, octopus, Shigoku Oysters and Uni. Finally, the wonderful trend towards shopping for exciting and unusual vegetables and greens at local Farmer's Markets is represented here in all of it's diversity and glory.

It usually takes me a while to review a cookbook like this because I insist on preparing as many of the dishes as possible. Here are the dishes that I've made so far and my thoughts about them:

* Soft-Boiled Eggs with Anchovy Mayonnaise - This was one of the easiest recipes in the book so I tackled it first. I loved soft-boiled eggs and often make my own mayonnaise so this dish appealed to me right off the bat. I had never thought of serving soft-boiled eggs in a deviled-egg style and it was a big hit. It took a little effort to keep the yolk from running out as I cut the egg, but I got it done with minimal effort. Combining anchovies with fresh mayonnaise is not in itself unique, but topping the fresh, runny eggs with it was brilliant.

* Bruschetta with Smashed Chickpeas and Grilled Lamb's Tongue - Many medium to large cities have Middle Eastern butcher shops operating in their boundaries. Lamb is common in these shops and are often butchered right there in the Halal tradition. I live in South-Central Texas and made a quick call to a local Halal store that is known for their fresh lambs. Although they don't usually consume the tongue, he had no problem in saving a few for me. The bruschetta was very well received and I was asked for the recipe by several of my chef friends.

* Corn and Chanterelle Soup - I tried several of the soup recipes and this was my favorite. As mentioned in the book, this dish is all about seasonality. Late August is a perfect month for fresh corn, Walla Walla Onions and fresh Chanterlle Mushrooms. I couldn't help but add some fine Sherry to the simmering soup. Incredible!

* Butternut Squash Risotto with Hazelnut Oil - An inspired recipe but at a price, this dish cost me more to make than some of the main courses. I can't think of a better fall dish; the sweetness of squash, the starchiness of the creamy risotto rice and the richness, savoriness of the hazelnut oil makes for a memorable evening.

* Beasties of the Land... - So many of these dishes called out to my carnivorous nature. So far I have tried the Lamb Chops with Fava and the Seared Duck Breast with Sugared Figs and Arugula. One of my closest friends said that if I served these dishes at a restaurant, she would live there. Although I have served duck with figs before, both dishes were inspired and I plan on making many more of the recipes in this book. By the way, the much mentioned recipe for "Braised Rabbit Paws with Radiatore" actually calls for four rabbit legs (which are fairly easy to find in most gourmet grocery stores), the author was just being playful with the recipe's name.

Ethan Stowell knocked it out of the park with this, his first book. I like his sense of humor, his style and his brassy creativity. I received an advanced, black and white copy of the book and plan on buying the finished edition. I look forward to more from this young chef.

"Bold Cooking" is code for adventurous and unusual. Many of these recipes have unusual ingredients, such as lamb's tongue, geoduck, anchovy mayonnaise, sea urchin, oxtail, duck eggs, chicken livers, and rabbit paws (Oh my!).

The title and description sound enticing "refined yet unfussy" but, although there are some excellent recipes, many of them seemed to either have shock value or unusual ingredients that one would need to go to a specialty store to obtain. This made the recipes generally more complicate than we are up for, so this is relegated to the shelf until such time we can plan meals a week in advance in order to locate the required ingredients.

I love cookbooks and I am a fairly accomplished home cook so I was really looking forward to this book.

There are some nice recipes in here and the instructions are good but it will be more of an occasional 'go to' book for me.

There are some nice recipes here, that I have tried like Baby Beet Salad with homemade Ricotta - I love to make fresh cheese from wonderful raw milk - and there's a great recipe for Pie Cookies. There's also a nice basic recipe for pasta and gnocchi.

But there are a number of recipes that have very season and/or unusual ingredients like Pig Ears, Geoduck, Lambs Tongue, Oxtail (which I have used to make beef broth:) and Goat Leg.

I have a pretty well stocked pantry and I consider myself adventurous but some of these ingredients are not things I have around or can easily buy.

So, I'd rate this book 3 1/2 stars if I could. There are some nice recipes here but many more that I don't think most people would be able to find the ingredients to try.

The recipes in this cookbook are scrumptious looking and fantasy inspiring. They range from risottos to sweetbreads, with just about everything in between. There's a nice section on small plates.

I don't do much cooking out of cookbooks, but enjoy them for inspiration. This is good for inspiration, but so many of the recipes use obscure or hard to find ingredients -- and very specific ingredients -- that there are probably only a handful of recipes I'd actually ever really want to tackle. But even the ones I'd never make are fun to look at. There are also a fair number of simpler recipes, but some of them are so simple that I'd think anyone with the skill to make the not-so-simple recipes would already know that you can put onions and tomato in a pot to make tomato sauce.

I did make Stowell's Butternut Squash Risotto, and it was mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. It was also a little too rich, thanks to the addition of a cup of parmesan at the end -- a step I wouldn't repeat, since risotto is already so "cheesy" even without the addition of cheese. I think, though, that I could have just as easily used the Joy of Cooking risotto recipe and just added squash, and it would have turned out just as well. But! I did get the idea from Stowell, even though I already had the squash on hand (or ground, since it came from my garden).

All in all, if you're a cookbook collector and love cookbooks for the ideas, more than for the recipes, I think this is a good buy. It would also probably be a good bet for anyone who loves Italian cooking but wants to get a little more adventurous. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a beginning cook, or anyone with an aversion to seeking out very specific ingredients.

I had eaten at some of Stowell's restaurants before, and I'll admit that I picked up this book just as much from curiosity as from an actual desire to cook the foods myself. My experience eating in those restaurants (and in others like them) has repeatedly taught me that foods that don't sound appealing to me "on paper" are often mind-blowingly amazing. As a result, I'd always wondered -- was that serious foody happiness the result of inhuman skills in the kitchen? Or an artistic attitude towards recipe creation that combined unexpected elements together in ways that anyone could learn?

Now, I am *not* someone with much in the way of cooking skills. Many of the cookbooks in my home go unused, because all of their recipes assume pre-requisite skills and knowledge that I just don't have. But as "fancy" as the foods in this book are, they were all broken out into steps that I had no problem following along with, and most only required tools I already have on hand. As some of the other reviewers have mentioned, there are indeed some unusual ingredients -- but for me, that was probably the best thing about the book. They were all ingredients I had seen in stores around town, I'd just always been too scared to buy them, having no idea what to do with them. And so more than anything, I valued this book not so much because it taught me how to cook these specific recipes (few of which I would probably use again), but because of what I learned about ways to play around with unexpected elements in the process.

Odd things happen when a Swede has delusions of being Italian. He wants you to have whole wheat bigoli with your sardines. And then he goes and pickles your mackerel on you. But there is something compelling about this slightly off-kilter cookbook. Chef Stowell leaves his trail of Swedish cardamom in his Sandies cookies. He calls them Cardamom Sables, but we know better.

Like many a Swedish Italophile, this fine book hails from Berkeley. The good people at 10 Speed Press have come out with another winner. Yet I do not find Chef Stowell's "New Italian Kitchen" to be much Italian or even very new. There are lots of old goodies in here from allover presented in efficient effective recipes.

Steak Tartare is good old fashioned food. I am happy to read he argues against the lazy and sloppy reliance on the food processor. Too pasty. Too mushy. Learn to use a razor sharp knife, or better, one in each hand (Is this how chop steak became hamburger?) to slice, then cross cut and finally dice - two knives removes the steps. I am happier still how he makes it clear that your careful technique in trimming and chopping matter only if you use the best ingredients. Make the dish and love it or don't. Just do not go half way and hate it for a bad reason. I disagree only in that I do not find tenderloin is as suitable in flavor as it is in texture -- unless you are talking dry aged.

Chef Stowell is generous in his use of pictures. More importantly, He eschews glossy porno type that relies on well slicked fakery to get the juices flowing. He gives you basic black and white, un-posed shots to focus on technique. Do as you are shown and the rest shall follow.

Of course nothing sings "Italy" like fried Ipswich clams, rolled in newspaper. Well, Chef serves it up with aioli because, after all Seattle is really Genoa West. But it is only mayonnaise! I know he knows it is garlic that aioli from mayonnaise makes. Oh well, at least he makes use of canola oil for both high heat frying and for clean dressing. Just make sure it is not the cheap canola that is processed using cancer causing heavy metal. Go with an organic, such as Spectrum.

Chef Stowell Americanizes his Giardiniera by swapping out pepperoncini for jalapeno, but that is for you to choose. Oddly, aioli turns up a few pages hence, this time for soft shelled crab. This time, when referring to aioli, the book refers to a different page from where the aioli recipe had previously appeared. This one is a couple of hundred pages later and this time it says garlic aioli in the reference. So when I go to the back of the book to look, the page is entitled "Mayonnaise". Porca Miseria! At least, this time there is a little box on the page that indicates putting garlic in. Can somebody find me an editor?

But small matters as these cannot remove a single star. These are winning recipes. You get plenty of important advice. He knows his scallions, or should that be green onions. Ever the Swede he takes you through a whole sections of "Nibbles and Bits" sounding more like the dog food. But they make wonderful starters. On to soups, which he rightly calls the measure of a cook. Except summers, I make a lot of stock. Chef Stowell gives us soups that are suited to water to bring out the essence of things like artichoke. Farmer's Market soup is perfect for summer. Some faro and fava. And the sorrel and yoghurt. He recommends a good Greek yoghurt to stand up to the soup.

I use a lot of hard grating cheeses. I leave the last half inch to the rind and save it for soup. He does the same, as shown in the Parmesan Brodo, which takes near a pound of these end pieces.

On to the starches, Chef Stowell has the most useful photo sequence forming potato gnocchi I have seen. From the ricer on, he shows you every step. He even gives the fine points of using a gnocchi paddle or a fork. Do yourself a favor and make your ricotta at home, especially if you have access to high quality milk. Take his Seattle locality to heart. There is ample seafood included in this volume. He does not neglect what he calls his big meat dishes either.

Sure he has a duck egg fascination, and a touch of the now obligatory macho chef such as nettles, rabbit paws and goat. You might find the chance to do one. But he gives you six ways to do artichoke and knows real capers come in salt. I will be keeping this off the shelf for a while, and right in the kitchen heavy use pile. There are a number of complaints in the reviews about either the level of cooking experience or the availability of the ingredients. To be sure this is not a cookbook for a novice. If you are in the intermediate range, you will be able to do most of these as intended. Again, his illustrations fill in most gaps. As for the ingredients, I reviewed this book in Fort Worth, Texas. I was able to find two-thirds of them. Some others were just seasonally unavailable. For half of the rest we are given specified substitutes. When he calls for a Yukon Gold potato and not a baking potato it is because they cook differently. So that leaves perhaps a dozen or so exotic ingredients, including several types of mushrooms I had to go to Dallas to get. I hope that gives some context. The objections are real, just not worth three or four stars in demerit.

The table of contents is spread out over four pages. The first page only has two sections on it, one for appetizers, and the other called the measure of a cook. That measure is soups. There are only 12 soups. A mere dozen. But I like soup, and I like what these soups look like, so I'd be happy enough if the cookbook just stopped here.

There's a good salad section too, and I'm very picky about salads. I've taken a vow in fact: a vow not to make insidious salads out of green leafy vegetables. My vow is poorly phrased, for really I'm only against flavorless and nutritionally derelict lettuce. And here in this book I find a lot of salad recipes that cater to my feelings with things like a blood orange, olive, and shallot salad. No lettuce there!

There are other sections too, including pasta, seafood, and a cheese and dessert section. And to be honest, I'm not really a fan of Italian food beyond homemade red sauce and good pasta (which, as a child, I ate once a week while watching Hogan's Heros), so all I can say is that the non-soup recipes all look like things that are probably good, but that I'll probably never make.

This is a foodie's cookbook. "Cheese of the Civilized and Desserts for the Rest of You" should give you an indication of the culinary tone of the book. It's by no means pretentious, but the ingredients can be characterized as exotic (sea urchin, geoduck, etc.) and, surprisingly, rustic (oxtails, rabbit, duck, etc.) depending on your location. The preparation methods are simple and the recipes use a only few ingredients; it's about highlighting key flavors with a small supporting cast.

For my palette, the best sections of the book are "Starches to Grow On..." and "Something Foraged..." A great bonus for me are the sauces and dressing recipes. I don't think this is what the author intended. If you are a foodie with access to geoduck, this is a great book. For those of us with more mainstream grocery options and palettes, I don't recommend the book.