Saveur Cooks Authentic American: Celibrating the Recipes and Diverse Traditions of Our Rich Heritage [Hardcover]

Colman Andrews (Author), Dorothy Kalins (Author), Christopher Hirsheimer (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

Authentic recipes, excellent stories, and fantastic photographs have made Saveur magazine a sensation. In just three award-winning years, it has established itself among those with discriminating tastes, enjoying a circulation of over 330,000. Chronicle Books is proud to present Saveur's first cookbook, a glorious look at food traditions and innovations throughout America. In 175 recipes and more than 400 color photographs, we visit kitchens across the country in search of great food: Old World Italian cooking in San Francisco's North Beach, original fusion cuisine in Hawaii, fiery specialties from Louisiana's Acadians, succulent spit-roasted lamb at a Greek Orthodox Easter in New York. In-depth and wonderfully varied, this is American cuisine in all its diverse flavors. Featuring outstanding food writing and recipes as well as luscious on-site photography and food and technique shots, Saveur Cooks Authentic American is a fascinating gastronomic journey. This colorful celebration of eating well is a sumptuous addition to any cook's library.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What is American cooking? Fried chicken and apple pie are part of it--but what about sweet and sour pork or gnocchi with basil? Saveur Cooks Authentic American, created by the editors of the like-named food magazine, includes just such recipes, true examples of our all-embracing, melting-pot cuisine. Readers interested in exploring traditional and contemporary American food--from neighborhood Italian to Hawaiian fusion, from Louisiana Arcadian to California wine country, and more--will want the book.

Organized by courses or food types, the book offers more than 150 accessible recipes, lavishly illustrated by over 400 color photos. Readers will find exemplary versions of favorite dishes, such as Carter Rochelle's Real Texas Chili, Aunt Gillie's Matzo Ball Soup, and a particularly tempting Lemon Meringue Pie from Alaska, but will also discover Warm Chanterelle and Pancetta Salad from the Napa Valley, Lamb's Neck Stew with Polenta, and chef Michael Robert's Corn Risotto. A chapter on breads offers such diverse specialties as New Mexican Corn Tortillas and Swedish Coffee Bread, a cardamom-flavored wonder. With notes on food traditions and techniques, and a final chapter devoted to that most American drink, the cocktail (recipes for drink-accompanying hors d'oeuvres are also provided), the book is a trove of good cooking American style, as well as a tribute to its enduring newness. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly

What we think of as down-home American cuisine, for the most part, has been flavored by the immigrants who brought with them their tastes and cultures. More than 400 full-color photos in Saveur magazine's typically lush and intimate mode celebrate over 150 finished dishes, as well as the people and ingredients that made them. Sidebars and headnotes add historical context to such stalwarts as Beef Borscht, brought over by Mennonites exiled from Russia, and Roast Lamb with Potatoes, a favorite from Greece. There's also "Chow Mein," a dish based on an authentic Cantonese fried noodle cake but adopted and altered in America. Chefs and cookbook writers assert pride in domestic dishes as well, as when Marion Cunningham attempts to restore an American icon like Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese Dressing to a place of pride. Entr?es are as comfortable as Country Ham in Redeye Gravy and Meat Loaf; vegetables are as classic as Creamed Spinach and as familiar as French Fries. And what other place than home can be evoked by Sweet Potato Casserole topped with miniature marshmallows baked until golden? This is luxurious treatment of unassuming food.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811821609
• ISBN-13: 978-0811821605
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Colman Andrews' first cookbook, "Catalan Cuisine", originally published in 1988, was recently named one of the "50 Best Cookbooks of All Time" by the Observer Food Monthly; his most recent one, "The Country Cooking of Ireland", was honored as Best International Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation in 2010 and beat out all other entries in all categories as foundation's Cookbook of the Year, and won the 2011 Best International Cookbook prize from the International Association of Cooking Professionals. Andrews was a co-founder of Saveur, and its editor-in-chief from 2002 to 2006. After leaving the magazine, he became the restaurant columnist for Gourmet, serving in that capacity until its untimely demise. A native of Los Angeles with degrees in history and philosophy from UCLA, he was a restaurant reviewer and restaurant news columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and for three years edited "Traveling in Style", the Times travel magazine. Throughout the 1980s, he was wine and spirits columnist for Los Angeles Magazine, and published widely as a freelance writer, covering food, wine, travel, music, art, architecture, design, and the entertainment industry. The recipient of eight James Beard awards, Andrews is the co-author and co-editor of three Saveur cookbooks and five of his own books on food: "Everything on the Table"; "Flavors of the Riviera"; "Catalan Cuisine" (which introduced the now-trendy cooking of Spain's Catalonia region to America); "The Country Cooking of Ireland"; "Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food" (a biography of Catalan superchef Ferran Adrià, also available in Spanish, French, and Italian translations); and "The Country Cooking of Italy". Andrews is now editorial director of The Daily Meal, a food and wine mega-site (www.thedailymeal.com). Adds Andrews, "Judicis argutum labor hic formidat acumen."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doubles as a coffee table book!, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Saveur Cooks Authentic American: Celibrating the Recipes and Diverse Traditions of Our Rich Heritage (Hardcover)

The pictures and interesting stories make this cookbook not only a delightful addition to my cookbook collection, but also makes a very interesting coffee table book. As a long time subscriber of Saveur, I was thrilled to find all my favorite recipes from the magazine. The magazine and this fine cookbook can be described as the "national geographic" for foodies. I've made several of the recipes and have loved everyone. The barbequed ribs were perfect for July 4th, and the recipe for "Monte's Ham" is the best I've ever made (and easy!).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good to eat as it is to look at!, October 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Saveur Cooks Authentic American: Celibrating the Recipes and Diverse Traditions of Our Rich Heritage (Hardcover)

Hearing an interview with the authors, I bought this for a friends who love to cook and peeking at it before wrapping it up, I went back to Amazon and got another for myself and my wife.

We have made about half the dishes and every one has been spectacular. Our friends said it is their favorite cookbook as well. (We sent the Saveur Cooks French the next year).

This is a coffee table quality book. Oversized with photos that make you drool! Nothing is overly complicated either nor is it too spicy. Among our favorites - the Macroni and Cheese.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wealth of information on American cooking, June 19, 2000

By 

wskrz "wskrz" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saveur Cooks Authentic American: Celibrating the Recipes and Diverse Traditions of Our Rich Heritage (Hardcover)

Rich in pictures and in facts, "Saveur Cooks..." is a wealth of information on American cooking. Over 150 detailed recipes ranging from salads and soups to desserts and cocktails draw out a culinary map from sea to shining sea. It's lush pictures throughout the book make the cookbook worth browsing through over and over again.

The pictures are drool-inducing and inspire you to become more interested in the recipes. Recipe instructions are simple and easy to follow along with and the little tidbits of information scattered throughout the book are really interesting and lend a readable tone to the book.

Make sure you try the recipe for Bierocks. It's excellent!