Customer Reviews

Seductions of Rice: A Cookbook

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My daughter tells me not everyone has at least four kinds of rice as pantry staples; I tell her they should - and this book gives them reason to.

This has the most comprehensive inventory of rice types that I have seen. For example, I have only recently found a source for red rice; this book distinguishes between Thai red rice, mahogany rice, Bhutanese red rice, Himalayan red rice, South Indian red rice, South Asian red rice, Vietnamese red cargo rice and Wehani. Reading the differences, even without knowledge of what red rice I bought, allows me to adjust the recipes conservatively so that I don't over-cook, over-power or otherwise mutilate my find.

The recipes are well chosen; many of the recipes are not rice recipes but dishes to accompany rice. This gives the book a greater range than its title might imply. The stories of learning the worldwide recipes on site add to the enjoyment of the recipes; they provide a travelogue of the search for new rices and rice uses. They are accompanied with excellent photographs of growing, harvesting, and cooking rice.

Recipes come from Italy, Mexico, Japan, Turkey, Thailand, India, China, USA, Senegal, Persia, Jamaica, Spain, Uighur (Russian-Chinese border). There is an index by the geographic region which allows the book to serve as an ethnic cookbook.

This is a cookbook to read and to use. I definately recommend it.

I enjoy cooking. Especially food that feeds the soul as well as the body. I also enjoy the look and feel of a beautifully designed book. Seductions in Rice feeds both of my passions. The text is interesting, something not usually true in a cookbook, and the photography is engrossing. Then I tried the recipes. I started with a chicken curry from India, then a Miso soup and sushi roll from Japan, and then my favorite, a Thai papaya salad. All filled my kitchen with rich exotic smells and tastes. This book now lives on my coffee table. It is a keeper.

Since I have a great love for Asian and Oriental food, I am no stranger to rice in many of its variations. But my knowledge is fragmentary, and I am guilty of thinking of it as a mechanism for delivering food to my mouth, when the exact opposite is really true. To be honest, I didn't even know how much I didn't know. So when a friend confided to me that he had acquired a copy of "Seductions of Rice" I was intrigued. His description of the book convinced me that I would have to read it and, after some arm twisting, he yielded it up - on temporary lone only.

For some reason I was expecting one of those thin lightweight essay books on rice and was amazed to discover this is a large, very well made volume with a great deal of narrative and an immense number of recipes. The book is full of countless black and white photographs taken by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid on their rice hunts across the globe. There are also some wonderful color photographs taken by several professionals of food that looks so appetizing I was gaining weight reading the book. It is sufficiently well made and protected to last several generations of rice hungry families

The narrative text provides many dissertations on the varieties of rice and the cooking thereof, as well as many pastiches about the authors' travels and the people they met. Often the recipes themselves contain even more narrative. Much effort has been put into making the book of value intellectually as well as gustatorially. For the most part it is arranged geographically, with chapters on Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Central Asian & Persian, Mediterranean, Senegalese, and North American rice cookery. The obligatory (but often left out) glossary, mail order, bibliography and index sections are also present. The book is clearly intended to be a working reference and the authors' have spared no effort to please.

The recipes are often quite unusual. The writers have a great love for village, local and family cooking. As such you will find few of the ornate banquet dinners that are often presented to us in the US. Instead this is about food cooked by the people who love it the most. The recipes are clearly printed, with ingredients and alternatives carefully spelled out. Instructions are easily written, and it is hard to get lost mid-recipe, which is always a concern for someone as nearsighted as myself. I was delighted with many of them and am inspired to go out and add many bags of rice to my larder. Of course, I will now have to buy my own copy of "Seductions of Rice."

This was one of those cookbooks that I glanced through at the bookstore, liked it, put down and then went on my way yet it never left my mind. I've found when I do that I might as well buy the thing the next time around. So I did and I was not disappointed.

As others have said its part cookbook, part travelouge organized by geography. I found this to be an interesting combination. I bought the thing for the reciepies but find myself enjoying the travelouges while search through it for my next meal. I don't know, it just seems like you get more out of the dish that way.

At the beginning of the book it tells a good chunk about history, cultivation, physiology and processing of rice. This was quite informative. Things like the advantages and disadvantages of hulled vs unhulled rice and rinsing rice before cooking. No perfect solution, just valuable information based on your needs.

The receipies are of course the meat of the book. When I first opened it up I figured it would be 300 ways to prepare rice or something like that. Far from it. Many (say half or more) of the dishes are not rice dishes at all but meals or snacks that you would eat with rice. So while it does have some rice specific dishes its really more of a cookbook that samples dishes from around the world. A good chunk of them are winners, far higher hit rate than I see in most cookbooks.

The receipeis themselves tend to be easy to moderate in complexity. Having its international focus does call for some ingredients that you just wont find at your local chain grocery store. There are some good mail order sources in the back for some of the more shelf stable items. For items that need to be fresh they often suggest substitutes.

Its a great book, I really recommend it and its on my short list of go to books when I ask myself "What do I want to cook for dinner"

I got to know about Jeffrey and Naomi from Julia Child's "Baking with Julia" PBS series. Bought their older book "Flatbread and Flavors" and found it to be totally delightful. Flatbreads and Flavors and Seductions of Rice have been written with thorough understanding of the different cultures and cuisines. I also love the travel stories that are told with cultural sensitivity and down-to-earth spirit. Here's two Americans who travel to some poorer parts of the world to learn from and mingle with the locals, not to act like they're superior than the rest of the world population just because they're from an affluent and influential country like the US (unlike many North Americans who have visited my country). I have never met Jeffrey or Naomi in person, but from their writings, I think they're two terrific people who also know how to cook!

The recipes are as authentic as you can expect. It's a breath of fresh air in the midst of this haute cuisine craze where chefs create foods to feed their egos, not their customers and obsess about putting together in the same dish all the unusual ingredients. This is real downhome stuff, not some Americanized versions of ethnic cuisine.

Well done! Keep up the great work!

How we feed ourselves is so much of what we call culture, and one of the great pleasures of travel. In this book, Jeffrey and Naomi lead us on journeys into other worlds through their photos, stories and recipes.

Even for a life-long rice eater, like me, the recipes provide new ideas. Sometimes I'm inspired to explore for new ingredients, an adventure within my own city. When I want comfort, I retreat to the familiar, maybe trying a new accompaniment. Other times, I use the book as a starting point, and do what cooks all over the world do, including the authors: work with what's on hand.

The crisp black and white photos entertain and educate as good photo journalism will. The colour photos are spectacular; many are exhibition-quality art shots. The authors have travelled places I'll never go: the stories and pictures remind me of my good fortune to be living as I do. This book feeds the spirit as well as the body.

The paperback version/publisher's closeout of this book has grainy black and white photos. From other reviews, I gather that the hardback version has stunning color photos. The same great recipes and travelogue are in both books. (I personally wish I had spent more for the book with the better photos.)

I'm fairly new to cooking rice other than Uncle Ben's in a pot on the stove. Recently I invested in a quality rice cooker, and decided to get a bit more serious. This book has been a tremendous help to me the novice, not only did I learn the basics of cooking rice well, but I also learned that I didn't know much about rice at all. I never realized that there were so many different kinds of rice, or basic things like the difference between long-grain, medium-grain, and short-grain, or how to recognize high-quality rice, or the idea of washing rice. Then there was information on how to find different kinds of rice (I discovered that locally here in Raleigh I can find dozens of kinds easily, cheaply, and wow, Uncle Ben's now has a lot of new cousins on my shelf!).
Then the recipes in this book are plentiful, and the pictures are great. The authors did a fantastic job, and if you like rice, or would like to learn to love rice and all of its varieties, GET THIS BOOK! It's really opened up a new 'rice' world for us! ;-)

Obviously, don't buy this book if you don't like rice or starch. But that being a given, this is a wonderful book to read and to cook from. I bought a paperback in a store for about twice this price, so this is a great value and would make a fabulous gift. One of the previous reviewers who noted that nowheres near all of the recipes in this book actually _include_ rice was correct--they don't. But the authors talk in their introduction about how their book is meant to be a cookbook for those who eat rice at every meal--how you go home, start cooking rice, and then decide what to eat with it. That said, there are many recipes here that make fast, tasty meals when combined with rice. Must-try recipes include Thai sweet rice cakes and Chinese-style summer stir-fry (to eat with rice).

This book is a combination of excellent travel narratives, photo-essays, and recipes. Most delicious are the fried rice recipes and the dipping sauces. Definitely a pleasure to peruse and also to utilize for simple dinner recipes with complex and authentic flavors. Some of the ingredients are difficult to find in typical grocery stores, but may be found in tiny international markets. A must for lovers of Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cuisines.