Customer Reviews

Morgan Freeman and Friends: Caribbean Cooking for a Cause

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The visuals are lovely and the recipes divine -- a great mix of easy-to-prepare dishes and great stories. All for a good cause, too. What more could you ask for!

This book was excellent. The recipes were varied, interesting, full of flavor, and easy to prepare. Also, each recipe was associated with a particular actor/actress and their story of their favorite island. Most importantly, the proceeds from this book were to help rebuild Grenada after a horrible hurricane. The authors did a phenomenal job and the culmination of recipes were diverse and delicious.

I am really enjoying this cook book! I love the look of the book - the beautiful photos of the islands, the food and the celebrities! I found that the recipes called for common items easily found in super markets, preparation was not too complicated and of the recipes I have tried so far, the dishes are delicious! I think anyone who loves to cook would thoroughly enjoy this cook book!

Morgan Freeman's desire to help the island nation of Grenada following multiple hurricane "hits" is not only understandable, it's extremely worthwhile, and one can only hope that direct contributions to the correct organizations continue. With that said, the book purporting to be island recipes includes offerings from distinctly American-based restaurants, which seems to defeat the purpose of highlighting "real" Caribbean island food. Further, many of the recipes seem very upscale in both inredients and presentation, and as visitors to the "real" Caribbean know (which means experiencing those island nations from the beyond the confines of an all-inclusive resort), regional dishes are both hearty, often somewhat spicy and substantial. To get a true taste of Caribbean food one must experience out-of-the-way "local" establishments rather than fancy resorts. For a better selection of regional recipes I'd recommend Virginia Burke's "Eat Caribbean: The Best of Caribbean Cookery."

Although the book was written for a good cause (The Grenada Relief Fund),I have to give it a mediocre review. I when I purchased the book, I thought that it would be authenic Caribbean Food, with a focus on Grenadian recipes. However, this was not the case. Each chapter begins with a story about one of Freeman's "Celebrity" friends and the particular island that they frequent often. The only celebrities that have any familial ties to the Caribbean is Michael Douglas who is Bahamian on his mother's side; and Daisy Fuentes, who is Cuban. All of the celebs, (with the execption of Fuentes, who cooks for herself with help from her family) have professional chefs that make food for them.
The reason that I gave it 3 stars is because some of the lesser known Islands like Nevis, Mustique, and St. John's have a chapter in this book. The book also get some points for appearance. All the pages are in full, glossy color. One thing that I was pleased to see was a small section on Ital food, something that is largely ignored even in authentic cookbooks. Ital food was Ben Vereen's contribution.
The book is broken up into sections by island, not by course, and there is a picture of each celebrity as well as some of the chefs. If you are looking for "down home" food, look elsewhere.

Purchased this book to help the people of Grenada, I do know one of the chef's who provided a recipe from Grenada. As a cook book most of the recipes require things only found in the Caribbean. However as a interesting read and a way to help others, all in all I would consider it a worth while purchase.

This is an enjoyable cookbook and a portion of the revenue goes to a good cause.

Just came back from Jamaica and stayed at Monzone where Ben Vereen stayed in this book....the chef Chris food was just as delicious now as Ben Vereen described in the book...I LOVE ALL OF THE DIFFERENT RECIPES THAT ARE IN THE BOOK..it is like a taste of travel without leaving the house.....tried a few recipes and OMG they are delicious

My husband and I both love Morgan Freeman, we sail and my husband is a great cook! So when I was making my Christmas list this cookbook seemed like the ideal gift. And he loves it. He reads it at night like a novel. The recipes are fabulous and the pictures are great! Makes us want to provision the galley of the boat and take off for parts unknown. With this book of course.

ENJOYED SEEING A LIFE OF MORGAN FREEMAN THAT I DID NOT KNOW, HIS LIFE ON HIS SAILBOAT WITH A LOVE OF FOODS OF THE ISLANDS. CAN'T WAIT TO TRY MANY OF THE RECIPES.