Customer Reviews

One Pot Wonders

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

 

 

This is not a book for the home cook. Most of the recipes are exotic and use unheard-of ingredients. Despite that, the book jacket specifically claims that the recipes are easy to prepare (which may be true) and the ingredients are easily found in your kitchen cabinet. Not true. I doubt you would find 'trompettes de la mort' and 'hazelnut nougat' handy in your kitchen on any given night. You would need to plan and shop ahead before you attempt a recipe from this book.

Beware that the 'one pot' principle is adhered to only if you're willing to wash out the same pot several times to finish off the recipe. The photography is lovely, of course. And some recipes are 'normal' enough for the home cook. Just don't expect to find many chicken and potato recipes. You will find more squid, monkfish (which the author clearly states is an endangered species), foie gras, scallops, and kangaroo(!). I suppose you would find this book useful if you're into innovative cooking and have a lot of time to spare shopping at speciality shops.

I thought this book might be an upscale response to the crockpot revival. The food looks easy to prepare--if you can find (or can afford or really want to eat!) quail eggs, trompette de la mort, and kangaroo medallions. I'm selling my copy on eBay--just got it yesterday, never used it, never will.

The one pot rule is adhered to strictly. It is a fun cookbook that has some wild ingredients- kangaroo being one. However, you can certainly substitute and many times the substitutes are clearly given. I would say that some of these recipes can be made with ingredients on hand, others you will need to prepare ahead for. The few items I have made from this cookbook have turned out well and the directions were easy to follow. THe pictures are lovely and only add to the book.

This is not the book to buy if you are trying to prepare meals in a hurry and on the fly. There are a lot of books out there that will help you with that. THis is a good book to buy if you enjoy cooking and want something that is fairly simple to make (once you have all ingredients on hand) and yet have it turn out good.

Enjoy.

This is a lovely book on a number of levels. The food looks luscious, the recipes are innovative, if a bit exotic, and, if you're in the mood to experiment (and don't mind spending a lot of money on ingredients), this is the book for you. As much as I would like to rank this book highly, after trying out a few of the recipes, it's clear that some of the recipes are poorly written and the texts poorly edited. For example, I tried the marinated eggplant salad with baked chicken. Claiming that it serves four, in reality, it yielded enough food for 8 or 9. That aside, using two pots instead of one saved us a half hour in terms of preparation. Moreover, there's really nothing marinated here. If I were to make this again, I would increase the spices and cut the amount of chicken and eggplant in half. My sense is that if a few recipes are off in certain ways, this may be true for the bulk of the book's contents. At any rate, if you're looking for a book with well-written recipes and easy-to-make dishes, look elsewhere.

The problem with this book was lack of substance. The recipes seemed to simply be a fusion to different styles of cooking to try to create a new experience. I was unsatisfied quite boring.