Customer Reviews

Matthew Kenney's Mediterranean Cooking: Great Flavors for the American Kitchen

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

 

 

Not only is this book beautiful to look at and hold, with great pictures and graphics (some of the pictures are works of art in and of themselves!) and lovely paper, it also has really great recipes, with clear, easy to follow directions. The VERY best part about it for me, though, is the sections running along the edges of each page, where the chef talks about various ingredients in each recipe, and how that ingredient fits in with other things, and how to combine this dish with other dishes and flavors. This is not just a book of recipes, it is a guide to mediterranean cooking in general, and much of it reads like a good novel. You can sit down and just read it, for fun, and when you are finished, you will have an understanding of the flavors and textures of the food, and how to work with them on your own to create meals. It's a great gift (even for yourself!), both beautiful and informative. Even if you have never been to Matthew's restaurant in New York, you'll love this book!

This book offers a great combination of things: Excellent recipes, relative ease of cooking the dishes, beautifully graphic layout/design, and wonderful text.

Matthew has a good ability to cook these dishes, and an equally good ability to "teach" the reader how to do the same.

The recipes are really all over the place, drawing upon influences of all Mediterrean countries. Some dishes for instance, are really more common to Middle-Eastern countries, but all flow wonderfully together in this work.

A truly enjoyable, as well as informative, book.

This is a wonderful cookbook by famous chef Matthew Kenney. I love Morrocan and Mediterranean foods. I found the recipes not only delicious but very easy to make. Matthew describes his first interest in Mediterranean cooking and how he became a chef. Some of my favorite recipes are the carpaccio, the fennel salad, and the poek loin with apricot and pistachios. It's a great little book if you like cooking "exotic foods".

My husband bought me this book, and I love it! The recipes are easy to follow, and the pictures are great. It's a fun book to go through, and Kenney adds a lot of personal touches. It's one of my favorite mediterranean cookbooks. Try the Sicilian Rice Salad with Tuna and Mint. It's one of my favorites.

With recipes easy enough for beginners and interesting enough for seasoned (no pun intended) gourmands, this book is one I keep going back to time after time. This book also makes a great gift, as it is as attractive as it is usable. I'm here in the heart of America's Dairyland, but Matthew's Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes could almost make me give up butter!

I am not a fan of every dish in the book, but there are enough recipes to keep me busy. Beautiful photos. The book does not a lot about the region's culture or the cultural significance of the recipes (I prefer to have that info in a region-specific book.) However, each recipe does include brief observations by the author. What I particularly enjoy is that at the end of some recipes, there are suggestions about what else to serve with the dish. One of my favorite recipes is the fennel salad with clemembines and moroccan olives.