Customer Reviews

The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook

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The San Francisco Examiner--
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Patricia Unterman

Worth taking the time

Wolfert's new book celebrates art of cooking.

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Patricia Unterman
Special To The Examiner
Published on Wednesday, October 29, 2003

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Every season a new batch of cookbooks calibrated to the trend of the moment, like tapas or a miracle diet or a hot new chef, mount on bookstore tables. Yet every once in a while an inevitable classic like "The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen" by Paula Wolfert (Wiley, 2003, $30) appears. The difference between this expert's meticulous, intriguing, ground-breaking work and the facility of so many of the others is a little like the qualitative divide between novelists Jhumpa Lahiri and Danielle Steel.
Should they share the same table?

Wolfert's books change the way people cook. They appeal to those who get equal pleasure from both cooking and eating, those who love bones, big aroma and depth of flavor, and enjoy producing great, comforting meals in their own kitchens. Her books teach technique at the level of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and they excite and broaden taste by making accessible traditional flavors from a broad swath of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

If you need convincing, leaf through the four sections of seductive color photographs by Christopher Hirsheimer, the magician behind the natural, unstyled Saveur magazine food shot. Wolfert's dishes look crusty, saucy, golden, deep. You want to eat them, now, and by following Wolfert's instructions, you can, later.

This is food meant to be cooked at home, though these recipes do take time, not so much in active or fussy preparation, but in long cooking, refrigerating, skimming, and finishing over several days. The cook can't pick up this book two hours before dinner to find an idea. These recipes require shopping and patience -- finding good-looking short ribs or oxtails at the meat counter and accepting that you won't be eating them for two days. However, the rewards of deferred gratification in this case outweigh the frustration of smelling the slowly bubbling pot and having to make do with a dinner of salad and scrambled eggs while the dish cooks.

Some of the recipes in this book qualify as slow only because they call for soaking chickpeas overnight, as is the case with Maghrebi Veal Meatballs with Spinach and Chickpeas, a lush casserole full of aromatic spices that is a complete meal in itself. I substituted ground round steak instead of veal and went the whole nine yards by making my own "Le Tabil Spice Mix," a blend of ground coriander, caraway, cayenne, fennel, cumin, black pepper, tumeric and cloves to season the meatballs. (Wolfert offers the substitute of ground coriander mixed with a pinch of ground caraway.)

The resulting casserole of creamy chickpeas, bright green spinach and spicy meatballs in a lusty gravy that conveniently uses the chickpea cooking water as a base -- very little stock is required in Wolfert's recipes, a tip-off that they truly come from home kitchens -- tasted authentically and thrillingly Tunisian. It looked as sexy and green as its photograph right after I finished cooking it, but it tasted better and better for two more days as I ate it cold, or reheated and garnished with yogurt. You get as many days of pleasurable eating as days of preparation for Wolfert's slow Mediterranean dishes.

The development of flavor between the just-completed dish, and the same dish after it has rested overnight, is almost startling to those of us used to eating quickly prepared foods. Taking the time to build a fire and roast whole eggplant (which are so good now) over it until they become charred on the outside and creamy inside, and then chopping it with ricotta, walnuts, a little vinegar, parsley, olive oil and a roasted green pepper creates a dish that evolves dramatically the longer it sits in the refrigerator. The flavors marry and mellow. The smokiness adds dimension. The effort it took to make the dish more than pays you back at the other end.

Maybe my favorite recipe of all (among those I've tried) is the one for oxtails. I've cooked oxtails quite a bit, using Judy Roger's recipe in her fine new book, and my grandmother's. But Wolfert's Stop-and-Go Braised Oxtails with Oyster Mushrooms creates the ultimate oxtail. The meat maintains enormous character and a velvety texture while still easily coming off the bone, and the sauce packs layers of flavor without an ounce of fat. You'll have to buy the book to get this recipe, and the one for the Golden Potato Gratin that Wolfert recommends as the accompaniment.

I feel that I personally owe Wolfert a debt of gratitude for putting so much work into every recipe, for curating and translating recipes that reflect a lifetime of travel, research and experience in the kitchens of the world. When I cook and eat these dishes I think about the places they come from and the women, and men, who have made them over generations. Wolfert's work deserves a prize that goes beyond the arc of food -- a Nobel for cultural understanding, a Mac-Arthur for culinary anthropology.

In a word, this book is astounding! I had a dinner party last week, and started searching for recipes for some comfort food. I decided upon the 'fall apart lambshanks' as the main course. From there, I went through other cooks for other courses, and kept comming back to this one. All in all I chose three recipes to make from this book outta the four dishes I prepared. Pretty risky considering I hadnt cooked anything from this book yet. I chose the aforementined shanks, slow braised leeks, and the avocado sardine toasts as an appetizer. Everything turned out wonderfully, and even surprised me. The sardine toasts, while simple, were very very good. (basically sardines, thinly sliced avocado, scallions, and a vinnagrette dressing on toast). The leeks were absolutely fabulous.. probably my favorite thing.. and will defintaley be what I bring to my next dinner party if I am assigned to bring a vegetable. .. They are firm/crisp on the outside, while the insides just melt in your mouth. They are also very attractive on the plate. The fall apart lamb shanks did just that.. fell right off the bone.. while the recipe was not that complicated, when she says slow cooking she means it. This were a two day endeavor. The night before you marinate them, and then the proceed to cook the next day for about 6 hours.. with about 30 mins to brown them before, and 30/45 mins after you take them outta the oven after to prepare a sauce and cook them in the sauce. My only qualm with any of the recipes is for the sauce for the lambshank... It said to blanch then toast the almonds for the sauce. . but didnt say to peel them or not. I assumed that since I blanched them, the next step was to peel them so I did... but to know for sure would have been nice. The end results of the recipes I made were so good though.. anyone who loves comfort food, and to have something in the oven all day cooking slowly, making their house smell like something wonderous is cooking in the oven, then you owe it to yourself to get this book. Thanks Paula!

I approach a review of this Paula Wolfert work with much humility and trepidation. Wolfert is one of the most distinguished cookbook writers of the last 50 years, certainly of the era which began with the publication of Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' in 1962. Wolfert is easily in the very select group which includes Diana Kennedy, Marcella Hazan, and Richard Olney, and only slightly less stellar than Child and Elizabeth David. That said, my focus in the review is to find anything which would detract from giving this new book five (5) stars and be done with it.

Wolfert's primary objective in her books is to give recipes true to their ethnic roots and methods, yet present them in a way so that they may be recreated in American kitchens with ingredients available from the local megamart. This involves some compromises, mostly with the selection of equipment. One does not need a fire pit or a tangine to do these recipes, but one does need several ingredients which may not be available locally. The book, of course, provides internet sources for such ingredients.

The author's focus in this volume is to present recipes from her area of specialization, the Mediterranian, including Spanish, Provencal, Italian, Slavic, Greek, Turkish, Levantine, and Moroccan dishes, devoting all her space to recipes which require a substantial amount of time to prepare, cook, or `age'. She presents at least three rationales for this focus. The first is that she, and presumably her audience, find it very relaxing and pleasurable to participate in this type of cooking. The second is a tie-in to the Slow Food movement centered in Europe. This is specifically a reaction to American fast food sources and specifically to the opening of a MacDonald's at the base of the Spanish Steps in Rome. More information on this can certainly be found on related web sites. A third reason is the large tolerances of slow cooking methods. There is a much larger margin for error when doing a 3 hour braize than when doing a 3 minute saute. This means that less experienced chefs who simply cannot manage a crepe or a scallopine can shine with a vegetable stew or a poached fish.

Slow cooking does not always mean a long time on the fire. For fish or fowl, it can mean a long time marinading. For salads, it can mean a long time after mixing for flavors to mix.

I made several recipes from this book and found them all perfectly satisfactory and delicious. Of the many recipes I read, I found very few confusing instructions. At one time, I would have been willing to withhold a star for poor recipe directions until I started finding at least one occurrence in practically every cookbook I read, including some from some very promenant authors. Based on my very limited knowledge of Mediterranian cuisines, I can only say I found Paula Wolfert as true to her sources as she has always been. It should be mentioned that Wolfert is not limiting herself to traditional dishes. Many of her dishes have been created by contemporary Mediterranian chefs. Her primary allegiance is to location, methods, and ingredients, not to history.

Note that this is definitely not California Cuisine. Vegetable dishes especially are cooked to the point where soft vegetables literally disintegrate into a background sauce. The result is still delicious.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook new things; has the time to devote to finding the ingredients and making the preparations; and has a love for the flavors of the Mediterranian outside the well worn Italian and Provencal cuisines. I also recommend the price. Full retail price is very reasonable by today's standards

I never thought I would consider a cook book to be transforming, but that has been my experience with The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. It has changed my cooking habits more than any cookbook I own (some 40 - 50 at this point, and still growing).

Cooking has been a long haul for me. I used to not like it at all, and considered anything that took longer than 10 minutes to prepare from start to finish as being way too involved! But by the time I have reached Wolfert's Mediterranean masterpiece, maybe I was ready to be picked. I absolutely savored Wolfert's long leisurely approach to preparing food. Now I'm somewhat disappointed if a dish doesn't take at least a whole day to prepare (cutting the amount of time one can enjoy making the dish.) Cooking a complicated recipe (not that these recipes are all that comlicated) now seems like an invigorating puzzle, the challenge being to get the pieces to go together just right.

I've learned so much from this book. First, how to roast a perfect chicken! That in itself is worth kajillions. Second, the very best way to roast rack of lamb. Also, one recipe involved a two hour preparation of carmelized onions. I always wanted to know how to properly do that. I guess, in the final analysis, this book has contributed more than any other book in making me a passionate cook, or at least pointing me in that direction. Introducing me to a very interesting cuisine is frosting on the cake.

It can be no mistake that this book is addressed to the passionate cook. As others have stated, most recipes are labors of love, requiring hours and often days to complete. This passionate cook states emphatically that they are worth it.

Those who dislike or are not willing to devote the time and patience and sometimes lengthy ingredient lists needed to create her dishes should look elsewhere for cooking inspiration - this book is not for them. If, however, you have the time, passion, and slower outlook and lifestyle which are the hallmarks of Mediterranean cooks, then this book is a jewel.

I will single out a few recipes of the many I have made and the one I come back to time and again is the Gazpacho With Melon. I have never tasted a more beautifully complex cold soup. Both light and deep, it sings on the tongue and will dazzle anyone lucky enough to taste it. Spicy Mussels with Herbs and Feta Cheese and eaten like a soup are the only way I serve mussels now. Greek and Moroccan lamb stews, braised veal, slow-cooked duck and chicken - every recipe delights.

This book takes me back to time spent around the Mediterranean, time that was slower, more fully experienced, and far better flavoured than anywhere else. Time filled with passion :)

I have tried three recipes from this book so far. One was good and the other two was great. The Corsican pork chop recipe was especially good.

This book is not aimed at slow cookers, but some of the recipes are well suited to that cooking method.

I didn't see any major typos or missing steps, but I have the hardcover edition purchased used.

Not a cookbook for whipping up something in 5 minutes. However, some of the slow cooked recipes can be done overnight. Out of the many cookbooks that I have, this one is a staple in my menu planning. Every recipe I have tried has been outstanding and some of the cooking principles I have been able to apply to other dishes.

I have a bone to pick with Ms Wolfert. Her books and her infectious enthusiasm for cooking have caused a severe strain on my budget. I'm several hundred dollars into buying various kitchen gadgets just this month. An army of claypots is converging on my house as I'm writing this. These acquisitions are mainly due to her latest book (Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking). However, my comments below concern a recipe I picked from "The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen" book.

Over the last couple of days I made "Fall-Apart Lamb Shanks with Almond Chocolate Picada." I only cook as a hobby, so this dish was no trivial adventure for me. But I stuck with it and took apart the whole three page recipe so that I could manage it without panicking. It worked. My wife and I had one of the best lamb dishes ever. Making the sauce kicked my butt, but in the end each drop of the it was treasured. I used good bread to soak up the sauce. The meat was truly "fall-apart." Nothing about this dish disappointed me. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised at all. How can a dish be bad when the recipe calls for a whole bottle of full-bodied red wine to start with. :-)

If there's any doubt in your mind how passionate Paula is about cooking, head to eGullet and look for her postings. You'll open a door to a whole new world and before you know it, your credit card companies will be calling you regarding bizarre purchases from exotic sounding Internet shops.

...but both were disappointing. The "Fall-Apart Lamb Shanks" were good--but after marinating overnight and more than seven hours of careful prep and cooking (to say nothing of the expense), they should have been grrrreatt! The "Golden Potato Gratin" was bland. The recipe suggested using one of three cheeses; I used Buffalo mozzarella because I couldn't find either of the other two suggestions. Maybe if I'd used one of them, the flavor would have been brighter--but the third cheese suggestion WAS mozzarella! I am glad I tried this on my patient, forgiving husband first rather than serving it to company.

I have enjoyed just sitting down and reading this cookbook. I look forward to trying many of the recipes included in the book.