Customer Reviews

Savoring Spain & Portugal: Recipes and Reflections on Iberian Cooking (The Savoring Series)

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

 

 

"Savoring Spain and Portugal" is a must have. The book has wonderful dishes prepared from ingredients that most already have in their kitchen. The pictures are exquisite, and there is information on Spanish and Portuguese culture and geography as well. I have the other members of the savoring series to date, and this is my favorite. This is a book that you will browse again and again.

Though some of the most interesting food in Western Europe comes from the Iberian peninsula, relatively little is known in the U.S. With a broad mixing of flavors from northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, this cuisine is far more diverse in its attitude, ingredients, and textures than its European counterparts. I've tried several of the recipes almost all with good success. The one fatally flawed recipe: seafood fideo, which allowed a miniscule 10 minutes cooking time for raw artichoke hearts. On these your heart really will choke.

This cookbook contains by far the most wonderful recipes (and beautiful photos to match!) of Iberian cooking. I've prepared many of the recipes (not just one like a fellow reviewer) and have found the dishes to be absolutely delectable. I received rave reviews from friends and family. If you love this cuisine, this book is a wonderful investment!

An absoutely lush publication containing scads of authentic recipes from Portugal and Spain. Photography and lithography are top notch.
Aside from the great recipes, the book covers much of the regional culture, practices and history of the Iberian Penninsula. Perhaps I am a bit biased since I and my family lived in Portugal and traveled in Spain. I often re-visit the book for nostalgia (saudades) and the wonderful recipes.

Jack Ingvardsen
Penn Valley, CA

This book treats spanish and portuguese cuisine almost interchangeably when both really deserve more distinction from each other (the "iberian penninsula" is a rather broad umbrella for two countries that are quite different). I received this book for christmas and have since prepared several of the recipes for native-portuguese family members. The portugal inclusion feels like an after-thought on many occasions.

Overall points:

- every other page jumps to a different region in either Spain or Portugal and is labeled by that region. For people new to spanish/portuguese cooking this may not be very helpful. The recipes could be organized more clearly and logically.

- a book on portuguese cooking with no pasteis de nata? This is a PT staple up there with balinhos de bacalhau. Again, an afterthought.

- some of the portuguese history is off. The native PT family got a good laugh from reading it. I don't recall the things they said were wrong, but then again I'm not the editor for the book.

- on an up note, the piri piri sauce recipe to mimic the the one found at Bonjardein in Lisbon is actually pretty decent.

At the end of the day, look elsewhere for a book dedicated to portuguese cuisine if that's what you are interested in (I'm unable to recommend an alternative as I'm fortunate enough to get mine straight from family). This book seems to gloss over Portugal, but I'm not surprised as the author is from california.

I made the nourishing rice recipie on this book...I know, I know it may be unfair to judge a book by only trying one recipie but ...I would think the purpose of an cookbook author is to help the buyers to succeed not to just look at the pretty picture and be disappointed with the results.
Anyways, I tried the "Nourishing Rice" recipe and I was highly disappointed, for one, the end result was not only salty but also soggy, and with the inmense amount of meats versus the rice ratio, the recipie should have been called "Nourishing Pork" not rice.
I think this recipie will not only benefit from the addition of half chicken stock and half water if not the omission of the chicken stock altogether which in the end does not add flavor since it is overpowered by the strong pork/ham/chorizo flavors...and it would help control the salt problem.
I should have known better with the ratio presented but I gave it a try since a lot of people seem to believe she is an authority on the spanish cooking scene.(which makes me wonder how many of them exactly have tried her recipies)
I know I made no mistakes while preparing this recipe, I grew up on this cuisine, and I honestly think that if this is what the best has to offer with all their culinary schooling; I am better off skiping the schooling and putting the money towards publishing my own book!!!
What a waste of my money.
By the way I would take my case to any kitchen against the author and more than prove my point.

E.A. Fountain, CO USA