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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much more than a cookbook, January 17, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions, and the Joys of Thai Cooking (Paperback)
This beautiful book contains: About 30 high quality gourmet Thai recipies. (this amounts to about 30% of the book) Very detailed analysis of all the many flavors involved and information about each ingredients so that you gain a deep insight into the way Thai flavors come together. For example, she has sections titled: "Creating Harmonies with Primary Flavors" "The Hot Flavor and It's Sources" "The Sour Flavor and it's Sources" (this aspect of the book alone make the book worth buying) Lots of technique advice, including advice about shopping for ingredients. Anecdotes about the writers experience in Thailand as a child and recently. A spiritual, holistic approach to cooking. Beautiful artwork. ==== I really felt I was getting a very complete lesson in thai cooking from a master. The author's love and spirit and mastery just pours from the page. Even thought I bought an additional book to obtain more recipies, I'm still be able to do a better job preparing them because of the foundations taught in the book.
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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A feast for the eyes, the mind, and the palate, August 28, 2000
This review is from: It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions, and the Joys of Thai Cooking (Paperback)
First and foremost the book presents a series of recipes, easy to follow and in every instance a delight to prepare and to serve. The preparation of the ingredients, their traditional uses, and helpful information about potential combinations provide the reader with a banquet of information about the preparation of food in the traditional Thai style. Moreover, the book contains helpful suggestions on preparation techniques, for locating and purchasing ingredients, and for ultimate presentation of the dish. Loha-Unchit clearly strives to prepare the reader for the Thai cooking experience: providing basic instruction for those just beginning and important details to more experienced Thai cooks. The book also is visually beautiful. Numerous line drawings and beautiful images (apparently watercolors) provide the reader with beautiful images ranging from market scenes in Bangkok to illustrations of people working in the countryside. I found myself going back to the pictures and imagining myself observing the scenes they depicted. Finally, this book is a feast for the mind. Loha-unchit provides the reader with a history of the foods, their origins, and their place within the Thai cuisine. Loha-unchit guides us through a process that enables us to obtain and employ ingredients to produce authentic and traditional Thai cuisine with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of results. For example, although the book contains recipes for making your own curries from scratch it also provides suggestions for commercially available curries that provide the flavors closest to Thai home-made. This is not a cookbook for those who think you can label a dish Thai by adding a few peanuts and a bit of lemon grass. It is a book that provides the reader with a taste of the sensibility of Thai cuisine and Thai culture, a journey for both the mind and the palate. Experienced cooks will benefit from the insights Loha-unchit offers; inexperienced cooks will find their skills grow through use of the book. All will delight in the flavors, both visual and gustatory, that "It rains fishes" provides.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive., July 2, 2002
This review is from: It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions, and the Joys of Thai Cooking (Paperback)
The author of this cookbook goes out of her way to present not only traditional recipes, but enough knowledge and technique to help you achieve traditional taste. This is no mere recipe book, it's more of a guide to Thai cooking. From the very start, Loha-Unchit explains everything about the essential components of Thai cuisine and exactly what they do to each dish. Interspersed amongst her recipes are stories related to the dishes that may seem sappy to some, but generally help explain what the cook is trying to achieve with each recipe.
This book will definitely challenge and enhance your cooking skills. After preparing a few of the selections she presents, you won't just know how to whip up several dishes by rote- you'll have a very good understanding of the essentials of Thai cooking.
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