Review
Don Hubbard's Neptune's Table is an impressive collection of unusual and exotic seafood information including over 200 exciting, innovative, delicious recipes, plus preparation instructions that deal with such diverse subjects as cooking and serving octopus; extracting and preparing sea urchin roe; preparing calamari in unexpected ways (and a simple calamari cleaning method); using the shells of shrimp in cooking; cleaning, cooking, and dining on exotics like sea snails, abalone and limpets. Neptune's Table features chapters and recipes for scallops, oysters, crab, lobster, mussels, and most other sea creatures (except fish). Each chapter is introduced by a full-color original gyotaku (nature print) of the subject special created by Hubbard. From Smoked Oysters Wrapped in Bacon, Scallops and Leeks on Linguine, and Baked Potato Stuffed with Avocado and Shrimp to Abalone Rellenos, Crawfish Court Bouillon, and Sea Urchin Roe Omelet, Neptune's Table is a "must" for every seafood lover's culinary reference shelf! -- Midwest Book Review
From the waters of Western Long Island Sound, near City Island, New York where the author spent his summers as a youth, to sea urchin roe spread served in Greece, is quite a distance. Along the way are limpets, abalone, crawfish, sea snails, and the more commonly encountered clams, crab, and lobster. Don Hubbard has been there and done that, and presents his seafood cooking and preparation experience to the reader in this handsome softcover cookbook. The recipes are accessible even to novice cooks, and the book's square format helps it to lie flat. Heavy coated stock gives the book a solid feel. Strikingly appealing four color gyotaku (nature prints) of various sea faunae illustrate each chapter head. Every print has been taken from an actual catch, which was consumed after the print was made! A nice touch is a chapter on sauces, dips, and marinades at the end of the book, and the incorporation of an appendix that provides nutrients and calorie counts. This is a fine cookbook for the seafood lover, and a worthy addition to any cookbook library. -- From Independent Publisher
From the waters of Western Long Island Sound, near City Island, New York where the author spent his summers as a youth, to sea urchin roe spread served in Greece, is quite a distance. Along the way are limpets, abalone, crawfish, sea snails, and the more commonly encountered clams, crab, and lobster. Don Hubbard has been there and done that, and presents his seafood cooking and preparation experience to the reader in this handsome softcover cookbook. The recipes are accessible even to novice cooks, and the book's square format helps it to lie flat. Heavy coated stock gives the book a solid feel. Strikingly appealing four color gyotaku (nature prints) of various sea faunae illustrate each chapter head. Every print has been taken from an actual catch, which was consumed after the print was made! A nice touch is a chapter on sauces, dips, and marinades at the end of the book, and the incorporation of an appendix that provides nutrients and calorie counts. This is a fine cookbook for the seafood lover, and a worthy addition to any cookbook library. -- From Independent Publisher
