Customer Reviews

Hors d'Oeuvre at Home with The Culinary Institute of America

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Overall, I've been very pleased with the CIA books, and Hors d'Oeuvre at Home is no exception.

There's a nice mix of easy and more complex menus, most of which are more aimed at being great cocktail or tapas party food. Great section on tea sandwiches for the afternoon tea junkies among us. Enjoy!

I was hesitant about buying this book - thought it might be too fancy - I like making new and exotic things - but no one in my family likes raw oysters with lime chili something or the other...this I would say there are less than 5 recipes I wouldn't try because of family/friends dislikes - everything else looks incredible and works for "fancy" parties and having a few friends over for a movie.

Great, great book - I'm very happy with my purchase.

This is a very well written book by the culinary institute which can be an excellent help in comming up with some impressive ideas for your next party. The book is divided into 8 chapters starting with an introduction to hors d'oeuvres , basic principles, plating and serving guidelines etc. In the following chapters, the book covers dips (hummus, babba ganoush and more), salsas, toppings, stuffed, filled and rolled hors d'oeuvres, terrines, skewers, fondue, cheeses and a few hors d' oeuvres desserts. The recipes are well written and range from very easy to moderately difficult for the home cook, and most of the ingredients you will have no problem finding. Many but not all of the recipes are accompanied by nice photos.

I am charging the book with one star for it's lack of originality. I was a bit disappointed that few of the recipes within got me really excited finding most of them lacking in inspiration and imagination. Not much that I havn't seen before!

Interested in making hors d'oeuvres purchase - The Professional Chef's Art of Garde Manger. It was written by Chef Frederic Sonnenschmidt, CMC and Culinary Dean at the CIA, and John Nicolas. The 'Art' has a similar feel as the Joy of Cooking and has only a small glossy section of pictures but this book trumps the CIA Hors book three times over. Just because the book has a fancy backer doesn't always mean it is worth it. The pictures are very nice and appealing and I guess for a casual cook the book would be fine.

I expected so much more from this book! There are so few photos, and the ones they do have are duplicated! There is only one recipe on each page and some of them are so unbelievably basic, it's silly. There is no information on making ahead, which busy cooks are always interested.

When I first opened the box and looked at this book, I was very excited. As I read the opening chapter, I was very excited. When I started flipping through the recipes, I was more than a little disappointed. First of all there aren't nearly enough photos, only one every three pages in many circumstances. Secondly, and maybe I didn't read the reviews closely, this was a very basic book with recipes like Chicken Satays with Peanut Sauce, Hummus and Spanikopita, not exactly ground-breaking. For the most part, the entire chapter called 'Bowls & Platters' was a complete waste of space with recipes for Asian Noodle Salad, Buckwheat Salad and Marinated Vegetables, although the section on terrines was nice. I expected high-impact, composed hors d'oeuvre, not Chicken Satays and Noodle Salads. The recipes seem well-crafted and there are a lot of them, maybe it's my fault for expecting some different. I really expected something like MARTHA STEWART'S HORS D'OEUVRE HANDBOOK.

Really great recipes in this cookbook. Reliable CIA always gives great recipes, with a unique flair. Should buy this to have in your cookbook collection. Prices on Amazon much cheaper than going to the CIA website!

A comprehensive and interesting variety of reliable recipes, well presented and explained. A useful book to have.

If you are wanting to throw some great holiday parties or get togethers this is the book to have. You will be able to really give your guest the wow factor with a little work. The best thing is that it's homemade. Forget nasty, freezer burned, bland, items in the grocery store made with fillers and ingredients you can't pronounce. Stick to make it at home, have great flavor, style and presentation and use this book. All your guest will ask " did you make this?"

Book is great i am a sous chef and I use this book to help with ideas for my guests