Customer Reviews

Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table: Recipes and Reminiscences from Vietnam's Best Market Kitchens, Street Cafes, and Home Cooks

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm Vietnamese, and I've been looking for an authentic Vietnamese cookbook for a long time. "Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table" contains deliciously authentic recipes that could be duplicated at home. This book also has lots of great background information regarding each recipe. Other people complain that this book has no pictures of the food, but I really don't need the pictures because I've grown up eating the same food, so I know what they should look like. If you need pictures of the food, then I suggest Nicole Routhier's "The Foods of Vietnam", which has beautiful pictures of the foods. I find that Nicole Routhier's recipes are just a little bit more elaborate than Mai Pham's recipes, so I prefer to cook using Mai Pham's book. If you know Vietnamese food well enough, you could leave some ingredients out of Nicole Routhier's recipes, and they will still taste delicious. For example, Nicole Routhier uses milk to make fresh coconut milk, but Mai Pham uses water instead. I think using water to make coconut milk is simpler and also more authentic. I recommend Mai Pham's "Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table" for anyone interested in cooking authentic Vietnamese food. I also recommend Nicole Routhier's "The Foods of Vietnam" for its beautiful photographs of the food and also for many of its recipes. You can't go wrong buying these two books, and I do think you need both books in order to have a complete understanding of Vietnamese cuisine.

This book is really great if you like truly authentic Vietnamese. I am Vietnamese and I really liked the cookbook. I found the recipes to be more authentic than her first book. Keep in mind that you have to have access to a Asian market in order to make some of the dishes, but what else would you expect? Her recipes call for common Vietnamese ingredients that may not be common in American kitchens. To make authentic Vietnamese food, you need Vietnamese ingredients. Most major cities will have some kind of Asian market.

Some of the recipes are time consuming but this is how it is done in Vietnam, women spent their entire day cooking. If you are trying to cook authentic Vietnamese, this is one of the best books to own. If you want an Americanize book, this may not be the one for you.

This book works best for those who have access to very good asian markets and previous experience with Asian cooking otherwise, some of the recipes may be difficult to carry out since substitution of ingredients is not a very good option.

Layout --
the layout is done on a matte textured paper. The ingredient list is done in an orange-brown ink while instructions and other text is done in black ink. There are informational inset boxes such as, "cooking with claypots" and "how to enjoy pho at a restaurant". Pictures are more decorative and done in a sepia kind of black and white . There are brushstroke paintings of certain ingredients.

I think it would have been better with color photos of ingredients and of the country but that is just my personal preference.

Information --
More detailed in its information of ingredients and it does a great service in that category. Now, if one is shopping for the various sald herbs listed in the book it may prove difficult since there are only brushstroke painting of said plants. A marked improvement is listing some brands of ingredients which makes shopping a whole lot easier. For even more detailed information on ingredients I highly recommendBruce Costs's book on Asian ingredients.

Recipes --
These recipes cannot be done without access to a good asian market and also a devotion of time. Pham has tried to provide recipes that will work in less time and with less fat but if you are going to do "down home" recipes you might as well devote the true amount of time needed otherwise it will taste not quite right. The recipes are in some instances more aggressive with the spicing than her previous book (5 spice chicken) and sometimes not (dipping sauces) . If you have her first book compare the recipes and see which one appeals to you more e.g., pho though there are many recipes that are not in her book it still behooves you to compare if possible.

Style --
The book is both a personal memoir and cookbook of recipes. It tries to provide both a pesonal and cultural context for the recipes. She did this previously in her last book but she goes to greater lengths in this one. For those who are not into personal information this is an annoying feature but for others it provides interesting reading.

Caution --
Many of the recipes listed are those found in markets and cafes and home so the quantity can be large or the amount of labor involved is more geared to a larger payoff of people helping and eating with you. Some recipes quite frankly, do not taste good unless cooked in quantity e.g., pho broth. If you live near good Vietnamese restauarants it might be better to buy the certain dishes than make them at home because of the time constraints. Also, if you are near Vietnamese stores you might have more convenience making some dishes with prepared items instead of making from scratch all the time.

Overall, I liked the book and thought it a good addition to my collection. My main fear was that the recipes would be recycled from her earlier book but that was not the case.
Get her first book if you are just starting on Vietnamese food and do not want too much robust or aggressive flavors and take this book for more background and experience.

Mai Pham's "Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table" is one of the best international cookbooks that are available today. Of all those cookbooks pertaining to Vietnamese cuisines, this is the most authentic so far. As a Vietnamese American, living within the spitting distance from Little Saigon (Westminster), I want to learn how to cook such delicate dishes as Bun Bo Hue (Hue spicy noodle) and Banh Beo (Rice cakes).
The recipes are quite easy to follow, contrary to those reviewers who claim that the directions are difficult to comprehend. I did several dishes from this book, such as Pho and Cha Gio (egg roll), they come out all right (not perfect).
I truly sympathize those who do not live near a Vietnamese supermarket. All the ingredients are readily available at most Vietnamese supermarkets (not Chinese, not Japanese, nor Thai, nor Cambodian, and so on). Vietnamese cooking is mostly based on improvisation. That means taste as you go. If you have not tasted some of the dishes that you try to cook, I strongly suggest that you should have some knowledge of those dishes. Be patient! First time never comes out exactly right. As you practice, it will get better.
Finally, I love those narratives of Mai's childhood with Vietnamese foods. Those are precious and rare, especially concerning Vietnamese culture. After all, food is a great part of one's culture.

What more can you ask for? The author went back to Vietnam and collected recipes from the best street-food vendors and home cooks, and she compiled them into this gem of a book. The recipes are authentic and delicious! No fancy restaurant dishes are included here. The techniques and recipes are easy to follow. This is hands down the best Vietnamese cookbook. Regular Vietnamese folks such as myself could actually cook from this book on a daily basis. I bought 4 copies and gave them as gifts.

I was skeptical when I saw this book but after reading the recipes and trying many of them, I can say that, as a Vietnamese person, the recipes are truly authentic. They're what you would expect to eat if you spent time in Vietnam. Also, the sections that give historical and culinary background information are great! If you only had one Vietnamese cookbook, this would be the one.

This book is great! The author describes the lifestyle in Vietnam when she was a little girl, and the lifestyle of Vietnam now. Although this has nothing to do with the recipes itself, it does allow the reader have a better understanding and appreciate the background and history of what they are making.

My mother-in-law is Vietnamese from Hue and cooks extremely well. There is a language barrier between the two of us, and because of the lack of communication, she judges me by how well I cook. There are quite a few dishes that she makes that I have not been able to find anywhere in my five other cookbooks that were surprisingly in this one, such has the Hue Chicken Salad. This book has a great variety of recipes that are familiar to her, and even has some recipes that she has eaten as a teenager in Vietnam but does not know how to make herself, like Bun Rieu (which are in many other cookbooks).

Even though there are lots of pictures of the country side and of the market stands, there are extremely limited pictures of what the food should look like. If the reader follows the recipe carefully, it does allow the reader to have a good idea of what it should look like.

I do appreciate the few pages in the front of the book with pictures of some of the herbs and spices that are used in Vietnamese cooking. It was extremely helpful and saved a lot of time when looking in the grocery story. Also the description of these herbs also gave quick details of what they taste like, so the cook can omit these garnishes if it is not to the liking of their palates.

I will not say that this cookbook is for just anyone. The reader should be willing to try something new and fresh. The author of this book does not just use the recipes just from her own family like all of the other books I have. She works with the different cooks around the country, both restaurantiers and street vendors, to create a vast variety of tastes. I do recommend this book for people not only enjoys cooking, but also wants to appreciate something different and familiar at the same time.

The Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table is an educational, touching, well-written book. I was born in Malaysia, grew up in Southern California and had my first bowl of pho in my early twenties. Ever since then, pho and bun (rick sticks with grilled pork) are two of my favorite vietnamese noodle dishes. In this book, Ms. Pham gives an encompassing historical, geographical, culinary background of Vietnamese cuisine. Her personal trips back to Vietnam reminds me so much of my own family in Malaysia. Her visits to special stalls known for only 1-3 famous dishes are like those of Malaysia too. For the reviewers that are "annoyed" by the personal and geographical information should be ashamed. Enjoying different ethnic cooking is much more than relishing the food. It is understanding some history, culture, and influences of the people that have created it. With this book, I have a greater understanding of the regional differences and also some interesting history of how/why pho has a beef broth base. I am disappointed with some of the illustrations in the book. The section on ingredients and especially herbs should be in photos. It was hard to see the differences in the herbs sometimes (although some are similar to Malaysian herbs-we call it by different names and a photo would clarify lots). I am eager to try some recipes that I am hankering for (hard to find a good Vietnamese restaurant in Michigan) and will share what I learn with readers in the future.

This is the only cookbook I've found with a recipe for Bun Bo Hue. Although in vietnamese version you often use pig feet, Mai Pham's version is delicious. My fiance is vietnamese and he was tickled as can be that I could make bannana coconut pudding, curried chicken and other of his childhood favorites. Mai Pham is must be a very wonderful person because her love of food and of Vietnam really comes through in her writing. Also she recommends dishes appropriate for certain occasions such as inviting the ancestors for Tet. The ingredients are also well explained for thoses who are unfamiliar with...enjoy, but also if you can, find a vietnamese friend to cook with because although the recipes are easy to follow it is difficult to achieve the authentic flavor. This book comes the closest to any of the ones I've purchased so far (which is quite a few).

Having traveled to Vietnam, I was so happy to pick up a copy of Pleasures of
the Vietnamese Table. I fell in love with the country and the food, and
this book provides a wonderful way to relive my experiences. I've only
cooked a few recipes but can tell you they're simple and utterly delicious -
just the way I remembered it! The author also gives great insight into the
recipes (check out her chapter on the Vietnamese beef noodle soup - pho) and
the stories she writes are heartwarming (especially the story about her
102-year-old grandmother). After reading this book cover to cover, I feel
like I can have a good grasp of the cuisine and even think I know the
author!

This is truly a special cookbook. If you're planning trip to Vietnam, or
just want to learn how to cook this fabulous cuisine, this book is
definitely a must.