Customer Reviews

Indiana Cooks!: Great Restaurant Recipes for the Home Kitchen (Quarry Books)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've noticed that there seem to be 2 kinds of cookbooks; those that sit on the shelf for many years in largely the same condition in which they were acquired, and those that are dog-eared and have certain food-stained pages with the corners turned down.

The same goes for narrative books intended to be read for the content of their story (whereas cookbooks should usually be more properly thought of as manuals). Again, two types - they either get read once and forgotten or read and then passed around or lent, often never to be seen again (in my experience).

Here's a cookbook that will receive the latter treatment on both counts. I owned this book for no more than a single day when a fellow cook absconded with it. Luckily, I've recovered the book. However, I've noticed that people pick it up for a cursory glance and then, distracted, sit down and begin pouring through it. In order to retain this book so that it can achieve dog-eared food-stained status at my own hand, I'll be giving copies of it away as gifts (as opposed to replacing my own copies as they vanish).

Whether you're new to Slow Food or not, you'll find the creativity evident in these dishes inspiring. If you already participate in any sort of Slow Food gathering, this book will be de rigueur.

While I'm partial to desserts (I must, must round up some Shagbark Hickory Syrup, p.34), the layout of the recipes restaurant by restaurant and chef by chef, a full course from each, does a superior job of emphasizing the regional elements of the foods. This is a terrific book, and the LaSalle Grill's Apple Fritters with Caramel Sauce are underway in our kitchen this very evening. That page (p.53) already has a post-it stuck to it, doubtless a presage to dog-earedness.

I was given this book as a gift and at first I let it sit on my shelf and look pretty. But recently I began to make some of the recipes for friends and each one of them got rave reviews. The pictures are beautiful; the writing is superb and now I find that the recipes are outstanding. I am ordering a bunch to give as gifts for birthdays and when I am invited to someone's home. Buy it and ENJOY!

Ronnie Weston

Palm Harbor, Florida

This was a great find. The only thing I was disappointed about was the recipes that Bonge's Tavern chose to submit...I would have loved to have the recipe for their Sugar Cream Cake, Harger Duck, or the Sauteed Mushrooms they serve as an appetizer. Even so, this book is great. I've made several things from this book and haven't been disappointed!