Customer Reviews

The Improvisational Cook

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`the improvisational cook' by notable cookbook author, Sally Schneider is an inspired approach to a fascinating aspect of cooking. It is notably superior to the one other book I have reviewed on this subject, `How to Cook Without a Book' by Pam Anderson. Unlike Ms. Anderson, Madame Schneider is aiming at high end cooking rather than quick or easy cooking.

Ms. Schneider's precepts are not original. Her suggestions have appeared here and there in hundreds of other books, most notably in `How to Think Like a Chef' by Tom Colicchio' and in several different books by the Brits, Nigel Slater (`Appetite', `the Kitchen Diaries') and Nigella Lawson (`How to Eat'). Even if you do not consult these books or other similar books, you will acquire an understanding of Ms. Schneider's principles by simply cooking on a regular basis, working with a wide variety of recipes from at least two or three different cuisines, preferably including one native (such as Italian, Mexican, Polish, Jewish, Southern, Pennsylvania Dutch, or whatever) to cooks in your immediate family. This is due to my belief that learning how to cook well is very much like learning how to play chess. All good chess instruction books are little more than collections of games with commentaries on the techniques used in each game.

What Ms. Schneider has is a great way with presenting her principles. Her basic approach is an odd admixture of the `Julia Child' model of master recipes with the `Elizabeth David' approach (especially in her earliest books) of minimal information on precise measurements. Surrounding this is a special emphasis on paying attention to and thinking about the taste and smell of ingredients. If you don't think this is important, watch the combatants on `Iron Chef America'. The moment the theme ingredient is unveiled, you will see Bobby or Mario or Masaharu or Cat taking a piece of the mound of goodies and giving it a taste. This is followed by constant tasting as the dishes progress throughout the course of the hour's competition. Thus, one of Ms. Schneider's main principles of improvisation is to smell and taste the goodies and reflect on the various flavors and aromas, and what they have in common with the flavors and aromas of other foods.

A second major principle is that of `terroir', commonly expressed as `what grows together, goes together'. Three of the most famous examples may be strawberries and rhubarb in America, the apples and butter or Normandy, France and the vanilla and chocolate of Mexico and Central America. The most common mode of using this principle is in combining wines with food, but it obviously has wider application, as wines are only really important in the cuisines of Western Europe.

The heart of the book lies in 51 master recipes, all relatively simple, and from three to eight `improvisations which are primarily variations of the technique or uses of the results of the technique. A simple example of variations is the recipe for herbal salt. An example of where the improvisations use the result of the master recipe is the roasted tomato. This master recipe is an excellent example in that the author does not stipulate a single type of tomato (although I suspect Roma or `plum' tomatoes are the best in the off-season). She gives instructions for how to use several different sizes. The technique is also excellent in that it is the perfect way to `improve' off-season' tomatoes, which tend to be a bit flavorless when they have been shipped in from sunny Florida or sunny California or sunny Chile. Since Ms. Schneider emphasizes improvisation, sometimes she may be just a bit light on some of the finer points. While her roasted tomato recipes do use a blender or food processor to whiz up some of the tougher parts of tomatoes, two excellent recent recipes for roasted tomato soup by Ina Garten and Alton Brown both suggest running the tomatoes through a food mill before adding to other ingredients in a soup. I have made it both ways and removing the skins with the food mill makes a BIG improvement.

One excellent result of Ms. Schneider's approach is that her book gives her reader several superb general techniques that are directly applicable to many common cooking situations. One of the more useful master recipes may be the one for macaroni and cheese. If there were ever a recipe you want to know without the aid of a cookbook, this is one. The improvisations reveal that as well as being a classic pasta and sauce dish, it is also at the heart of the technique for making gratins. I almost regret she did not add that the technique also has a strong family resemblance to creamed dishes such as creamed chipped beef, creamed eggs, and creamed chicken.

Ms. Schneider has given us an excellent book and I have no problem giving her five stars; however, if one does cook a lot and already has many cookbooks (and is limited shelf space or money), you may not need to jump to the top of this page and order yourself a copy. The book's design makes it a much better armchair cookbook than one that plays well in the kitchen. It is pretty and well laid out, but it has a rather stiff spine and will not nicely lie flat on the kitchen table. It has an excellent listing of all master recipes and improvisations in the back of the book, which I think would have better gone in the front. The short appendices on kitchen tools would have also been better in the front rather than the back. I think the biggest single lapse in the book is that it does not have a good bibliography of cookbooks and other references that are superior sources for the improvisational cook. I would start with the `Larousse Gastronomique', `The Silver Spoon', and Shirley Corriher's `Cookwise'.

An excellent foodie read!

This is a book on improvisational cooking only inasmuch as Schneider's own improvisations. If you, like me, bought this book thinking that it would provide the basis for your own improvisations, you'll be disappointed. Schneider 15-odd pages on mixing flavors will only enlighten if you haven't figured out by now that ginger mixes well with oriental dishes, that thyme goes well with poultry, and that salt and pepper are seasoning staples. What follows after these no-brainers is a typical recipe book with Schneider's own "improvisations."

Her recipes look interesting, but this is not at all the book that the title would seem to imply.

For much deeper and helpful insights into improvisational cooking, pick up instead Shirley Corriher's Cookwise.

Break free from recipes by learning techniques and then how to expand them to additional dishes. For example, leeks with hazelnut oil expanded to leek noodles with creme fraiche and hazelnut oil to steamed asparagus with hazelnut oil, creamed swiss chard with hazelnut oil, roasted potatoes with hazelnut oil and hazelnut dipping sauce for steamed artichokes.

This aids in the matching of techniques with different ingredients, combining of ingredients and flavors, extension of basic recipe, etc. The improv is an experimental and learned thing, which takes willingness to fail/succeed. This book is an aid in all that, providing some attempts of the author which one can springboard from.

This is nothing new in cookbook world however. Ming Tsai for one has been ahead of the curve here, coming out with his wonderful version of this three years ago: Simply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-West Meals.

Schneider's efforts though are not to be bypassed, as she provides her creative approaches and encouraging examples to take the home chef to the next level of learning to reach out on one's own in creating recipes from scratch building on previous utilized dishes/techniques.

"The Improvisational Cook" is my favorite cookbook. The style appeals to me because I learned to cook using what was in the larder, which forces improvisation. And it fills a vacuum which has often bothered me: all the great cooks eventually talk about going into the market to see what looks good and cooking from there, but almost none close the loop on how to take advantage of that great-looking salsify, or those gorgeous tomatoes, or the perfect melon.

Author Sally Schneider takes unrehearsed cooking to a new level, by engaging the reader in a conversation about the process of improvisation, with plenty of examples (including exact recipes for those who aren't quite ready to let go of the safety net of the tried and true -- and variations for those who are). It is marvelously freeing to connect with a cook who loves the moment of discovery as much as the moment of delivery. One example is her garlic and fried sage infused oil, which led me to the discovery that I too, can make infused oils (and even vodkas!) that work.

But the star example is her base recipe for Chocolate Wonders, which is almost guaranteed to provoke the response, "These are the best cookies I've ever had!" Duly tested, duly proven by actual responses from recipients of our Christmas cookie packages. These ARE the best chocolate cookies in the world. That recipe and the improvisational alternatives she provides is alone worth the price of admission.

But to me, the lasting value of the book is the empowerment she provides by giving us a way of thinking about cooking, that allows us to cook in the moment.

This is a gorgeous book. It is beautifully produced, has stylish photographs, and the author writes gracefully and eloquently about food. I immediately fell in love with it, I was attracted to the concept of improvisational cooking, and I couldn't wait to try out the recipes.

So far, however, they have been a real disappointment. The rustic root vegetable soup tasted like dishwater; the improvisational meat loaf without ground beef was anemic and unappetizing; the raspberry cake was heavy and flavorless (I consider myself a fairly experienced baker, and virtually all the cakes I make from Nigella Lawson's recipes, for example, turn out fine). Even the "chocolate wonders", aka "the best cookies I've ever had", were at best a B+ (the others so far have been a C)

Not only is the book beautiful to look at, the ideas are great too. I especially liked the herb/spice pairing pages, and the "Understanding" sections in each food group. This is how I've liked to cook for years, and always thought I was cheating when I improvised on a recipe. I have been validated by this lovely author/chef and couldnt be happier about it

I am astonished by the reviewer who disliked several of the recipes in The Improvisational Cook. It is my current favorite cookbook and I don't say this lightly; I'm a serious cook with an extensive library of cookbooks. Over the past few months I have pretty much cooked my way through the book and have yet to find a recipe that did not live up to it's promise and delight my family and guests. Guests have asked for recipes and the the book has become my favorite gift to give to friends. I have learned so much from this book, it has provided me with many inspiring tools and ideas for improvising. I can only imagine that the reviewer just didn't "get" Schneider's sensibility. I think this book is a must have for both novice as well as experienced cooks!

This may well become my new favorite cookbook. The author challenges the reader to think outside the recipe box for creative ways to combine food into delicious meals using what is in season, what is on hand in the pantry and refrigerator, what is leftover from last night, and perhaps try a new way of cooking something such as pan-frying macaroni and cheese instead of baking it. She asks us to look at something like parmesan cheese and consider how else we can use it beyond sprinkling it on spaghetti, such as making parmesan crisps and then, how about serving them with roasted pears?

The book starts with a basic recipe then is followed with several "improvisations" to inspire the cook to experiment with other ingredients. Taking inspiration from the cookbook's cover and a recipe in the book, I steamed asparagus, sprinkled shredded parmesan cheese over it, then topped it with a fried an egg followed by a little more parmesan and some freshly grated black pepper for a different and very tasty lunch. This dish could have been made using potatoes, roasted tomatoes and/or peppers, pasta, or any number of foods instead of asparagus. The book is filled with real food recipes to get the cook started, followed by suggestions for changing it up.

The introduction to the book was helpful as Schneider discusses how to develop a creative cooking mindset, how to salvage accidents and the unexpected when cooking, understanding flavor, learning what goes with what and how to bring flavor to life using seasonings. She talks about the philosophy of "what grows together, stays together" when combining things like vegetables in a dish. I like that she isn't an equipment snob and although she has some suggestions for tools that can make cooking easier, she admits that no one needs all the kitchen bells and whistles to turn out good food and there's always a way to improvise in that area as well.

The recipe chapters include sauces, condiments, and seasonings; appetizers, soups and salads; vegetables and beans; fish and shellfish; poultry, meat, and game; breads, grains, and pasta; and desserts. There is also a resource section that includes a master recipe list. The only negative is that there aren't very many photos and the book doesn't stay open very well when using the recipes.

I read this cookbook three years ago, when i was going through some tough times, and it lifted my spirits. I came home, bought it on Amazon, and have had some GREAT culinary times because of it. I am not an exact recipe follower, and Sally writes for me. Everything I have made has been amazing, and it encourages MORE creativity. Great cookbook!

Phenomenal! I bought this unseen as I really like her ideas on the radio program, "Splendid Table". This book is fabulous if you are already a pretty good cook and want to take it up another notch, definitely not for beginners. Fab ideas really utilizing variations on a theme- my favorite! Clear and detailed information. Gigantic book with soooo much info to keep me busy for a long time! Just wish it had a more photos.