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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you're a cook, you'll fall for Falling Cloudberries,
By
This review is from: Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes (Hardcover)
As someone who owns close to two hundred cookbooks (passion or sickness, your choice on what to call it) I've vowed not to purchase another one for the rest of my cooking days. When I first glimpsed "Falling Cloudberries" at a bookstore I had to will myself to walk away. Never again, I said.
Never say never. First, a bit of background. Like most foodies and cooks, Tessa Kiros grew up scented by cooking smells and surrounded by people who're passionate about food. Her book is filled with recipes that represent her heritage: Greek, Finnish, Cypriot, South African, and Italian. As such, there are dishes here that challenge the American palate, especially those of pedestrian tastes, but what a delightful and tasty challenge it is. I'll set aside the sheer beauty of this book for now and rate it on the essentials--the approachability and accuracy of its recipes, the reliance on fresh and obtainable ingredients, a balanced mix of easy, intermediate and advanced cooking methods, logical and sensible organization, practical tips to ensure success, satisfaction with the end product, and (always a consideration for me) a generous representation of everyday fare. I've tried about a dozen from this thick book and it's, without doubt, a 5-star cookbook just basing it on the above: (1) Finnish - Gravadlax with Dill Cucumbers; Potato Pancakes (of course, to go w/ the gravadlax); Fresh Salmon, Dill & Potato Soup; Finnish Meatballs; Stroganoff with Pickled Cucumbers and will later try the Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns (2) Greek - Dolmades; Tzatziki; Chickpea, Feta & Coriander Salad; Calamari with Butter, Lemon & Garlic; Prawns with Peri-Peri; Lemon & Oregano Chicken; Stuffed Vegetables and will later attempt the Baklava (3) Cypriot - Moussaka (if you can make lasagna, you can make this without batting an eyelash); Pork in Red Wine (4) South African - Fried Chicken and Barbecue Ribs, if you can believe it! That's it...that's as far as I got and tons to go. Everything I tried was simply delicious and none of them required tremendous labor, just the same amount of effort I put into everyday cooking. For those that are fussier, I plan to just make them in the weekends when I have more time. The book is drop-dead gorgeous and I mean every part of it. From the spine to the flyleaf, to all the photos to the quality of bond, and it even came with a pretty ribbon bookmark (how thoughtful). It's peppered with tidbits on Tessa's family and her growing up cooking with them. There's even a penciled drawing of her family tree that I thought added an amusing and extra special touch to this very personal account of food and cooking over several generations. Really creatively executed and one can easily tell that it was a labor of love. It's too beautiful that I don't cook with this book lying as is on my counter. I photocopy the page I need or wrap it first in clear plastic before using. Even these precautions don't seem enough. Someday, when I can no longer grasp my chef's knife or intimidate a slab of pastry into submission with a whack or two, I want to look at this book and just lose myself in its pristine beauty. Ridiculous, I know, but there are cooks out there who know precisely what I mean--they're the same people who look longingly at gorgeous cookbooks and say `never again' without much conviction!
38 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful work (would have given it five stars except...) buyer beware,
By
This review is from: Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
So I loved this cookbook. It's a beautifully photographed, informative read with some gorgeous, appetizing recipes and some very interesting family and culinary histories (the historical bits could have been a separate book, actually). But I was pretty upset with this cookbook because the first thing I saw that I wanted to make (based upon the beautiful two-page photo spread on pages 144 and 145 entitled Cinnamon + Roses) is not included as a recipe in the actual cookbook. How can you have a cookbook with a beautiful two-page spread of a gorgeous treat and not supply the recipe? It feels like a bait and switch which seems to be happening a lot with cookbooks these days. Cookbook writers, listen up: if you show a dish in your book, give it a beautiful two-page color spread, you should consider publishing the recipe for the people who are paying upwards of $30 for it in a bad economy. I searched every page of this book looking for that recipe - even read the index to find the page numbers because I couldn't find it. Finally, I enlisted the help of a Greek friend who informed me that the item is something called "Loukoumi" which I then re-checked in the index. Not there. Very upsetting. Anyway, I was going to go through and check for this same situation with other items since I suspect that isn't the only place this occurs in this cookbook (so that others would know before buying it) but had already lost heart over it. I really don't like to see this type of thing in a work that is so well done otherwise. I think anyone who wants to purchase this might want to check it out in a bookstore or library first so that you aren't disappointed the way I was.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"A Lyrical Gem!",
By Hawkeyes (Lawrence, KS, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes (Hardcover)
How do you read a cookbook? My mother, retired and an avid reader, always has a cookbook next to her chair or bedside. She thoroughly "devours" each collection of recipes much as she does her literary works, page by page. My best friend always hones in on the Italian sections only. I, on the other hand, as a full-time professional, have been known to skip reading the cookbook entirely and resort to "index reading." This translates into searching an ingredient I have on hand in the index to come up with a recipe from the book. "Falling Cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros is a success in large part because it works with all of us! Organized into sections from all corners of the globe and related to Ms. Kiros' family, the cover invites the reader to travel through each region with splendiferous photography and artistic layouts. The pencil drawings and portraits of her family are endearing and touching. The introduction to each new country is poetic.
"Falling Cloudberries" is not only a work of art, but also a really, really, REALLY good cookbook! Recipes are clearly written for the home cook and are very reproducible. The international flavors make the preparation entertaining and fresh. My family traveled from an Italian salad of baby spinach, bresaola, apples and nuts to Finnish Hasselback potatoes (named after the Restaurant Hasselbacken in Stockholm) accompanied by a grilled steak and ended with a South African pineapple, cinnamon and allspice cake. The potatoes were gorgeous and I realized as we lifted our glasses in a toast to Ms. Kiros that my family had experienced the taste and beauty of this cookbook without ever cracking the cover themselves. "Falling Cloudberries", because of this broad appeal, would make a wonderful gift to any cook. My family is begging for more and I can't wait to work up our next culinary "itinerary!"
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