Customer Reviews

Taste: One Palate's Journey Through the World's Greatest Dishes

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A great book for many reasons - foremost is that Rosengarten is not afraid to express a definite opinion whether it is fashionable or not! His wine and beer chapters are gems, echoing my husband and my sentiments regarding big, oaky wines NOT going well with many foods. Rosengarten introduces you to many wine varieties that go well with different flavors of food, and his intuitive method of pairing food with wine is helpful. He sees food and wine as partners - each helping the other to taste their best. It's realistic!

His recipes are very good and there are definitely some gems in here, but the real value of them is that each one is really a course in itself, discussing traditional preparations and variations, then giving his version of the recipe. He tells what ingredients impart what qualities, so you feel that you have more control over the end product. After you read about and make his version of a classic dish, you gain the knowledge to judge other recipes and preparations of the dish, and develop your own opinion of how YOU want it to look, taste, feel.

The book really is what it advertises - about devoloping your sensitivity toward food, i.e. Taste. Though quite a "foodie" myself, I found I learned more than I expected from this book.

In an improvement on the current influx of cookbooks that promise the perfect, culturally and culinarily correct recipe, David Rosengarten has offered us the truth. He shows us in TASTE, that even the most historically correct food is personalized by the cook. It is easy to miss this detail, when it would seem that his words suggest that only purists should cook!! He is, however, quick to remind us in his examinations of his favourite meals, that the (strong!) opinions stated are his own.Rosengarten passionately wants people to be as excited by food as he is, and invites us to think about ingredients and where and WHY they belong. His forceful words (how often he exclaims, "Do NOT, under any circumstances...") are not intimidating because of the wealth of his knowledge. So much can be learned from Rosengarten about enjoying the food we eat. But he does not stop there - the most accessible, unpretentious introduction to wine awaits you at the end of the book. He starts with a terrific outline of the the components of flavour (salty, sweet etc.) and clearly shows how to match wine with food. But not any wine, no - inexpensive, easily found wine types. This section alone is worth the cost of the book.

Every base is covered in Taste for you to have an enjoyable, educational read (and cooking experience - the Crab Cakes are sublime!). Rosengarten is the friend who doesn't care which of the Seven Wonders of the World you saw on your vacation, he wants to know what you ate when you were there!

I have absolutely loved everything I have tried from this cookbook. It is also fun and enjoyable to read. The reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is that many of the recipes are quite complex. Once I started experimenting, I discovered that it is often possible to simplify the recipes without losing anything. For example, the stir-fried shrimp recipe calls for deep-frying the shrimp first, which is a hassle. I had wonderful results just stir-frying them. To give him credit, Rosengarten carefully explains the reasons for each unusual step. While I chose not to follow his instructions precisely, I did learn a good deal from reading his explanations. This is a great book for anyone who is confident in the kitchen. It can also be very educational for someone just learning to cook, but beginners may find the recipes dauntingly complex.

This is a cookbook to read, not just flip through. David Rosengarten takes us on his idea of the perfect cultural culinary tour... and I was very happy to 'tag along.' I've tried several of the recipes - all delicious - but his commentaries are what makes this book special. He describes the food (or drink) in its own cultural context, then discusses his favorites, gives his opinions, and tells us why. His 'criteria for quality' make it easier to try out and evaluate a new recipe, and his wine suggestions for each dish round out the meal. By the way, his recipe for Molten Chocolate Cake is better than any I've tried in restaurants!

David Rosengarten's FoodTV show, Taste, beautifully illustrated how good the food network *used* to be. Instead of trying to cover several dishes during his half hour allotment, Rosengarten focused on one item in particular -- and then told you everything about it. He showed what could go wrong with, say, a reuben sandwich or creme brulee, and then demonstrated how to do it right. You knew what his standards were and how to achieve them. Oh -- and he did it all with humor.

I think his book, Taste, came out at about the same time. It has the same premise: individual dishes in great depth, rather than a whole cuisine or a collection of random beef (or whatever) recipes. So you get five or more pages about paella or BBQ ribs or the "ordinary" fruit salad. The result is that you learn EVERYTHING about that one subject: his criteria for quality, the variation in methods (for example, Rosengarten compares the difference in gumbo when the dish is thickened with roux, okra, and filé powder), and sometimes its history.

It's always informative, and I have NEVER had a recipe failure. It isn't always the simplest choice, but he explains why you should bother with the extra effort. (His explanation of charcoute garnie causes me to pick a Parisian restaurant that specialized in it, so I could understand exactly why he made such a big deal about it. I'm spoiled for life, now, because I can't find the right kind of saurkraut to make it myself.)

The result is that I don't flip through Taste when I'm looking for an "I'm in the mood for Italian" dinner. It does mean that, when we're thinking about making crab cakes, we're guaranteed to say, "Does Rosengarten have a recipe? Let's see what he does."

David Rosengarten thoroughly researches and reports on ingredients and recipes. The information helps me to make beouf bourgingone to be as delicious as it possibly can be! I know that the recipes in the book are the best of their kind, so it saves me a lot of trouble comparing recipe versions.

Besides his penultimate recipes, they are created for the home cook. You won't need special tart pans or an industrial stove to create your own demi-glace. His instructions are logical, and he explains why certain steps are included. I've made 8 recipes from the book (so far...) and they have all been terrific.

After reading "Taste" I am less interested in trying the recipes than embarking on a culinary journey to Europe and Asia. I learned much about dishes that I have enjoyed (and evidently should not have) and dishes that I wish to try, but need to buy an airline ticket to truly appreciate.

Rosengarten offers the reader tempting descriptions of world cuisine, travel essays, and guidelines for appreciating food. Yet I feel despondent about trying the recipes. Because quality ingredients are so hard to find in the United States, according to the author, I could never hope to create a facsimile of some of the tantalizing dishes he describes.

"Taste" is a worthwhile purchase because it fosters the appreciation of world cuisine, engenders a desire to travel, and describes the development of Rosengarten's own career. But a cookbook? I'm less worried about my cooking abilities than my grocer's ability to provide suitable ingredients.

David Rosengarten writes this book not only to impart favorite recipes of his but also his reflections about food. Part travelogue, part cooking book, he ably imparts a love for not only food but also gastronomy, or the lifestyle of food and partaking of the pleasures of the table.

Don't buy this cookbook if you don't want to expand your culinary horizons, don't buy this if you aren't a little fussy about your food, and don't buy this book if you are looking for quick and dirty recipes with the ingredients you already have in your kitchen. This book is essential for everyone else.

Unlike the reviewer who found this book impractical, I have found this to be the best books on food that I have read. There is a chpater on wine which explains simply and clearly how to identify good food-wine pairings: excellent advice that has helped me on more than one occasion. Additionally, he explains enough about several wines from around the world that you can go and choose a bottle in confidence that your money will not be wasted.

Some of the recipes are complex, but others are very simple such as marinara sauce and dried pasta. Even if you don't use the recipes, the knowlege about food that you'll gain from this book is worth the purchase price several times over.

This book was one of the most interesting peices of literature I have ever read. Each recipe has a history behind it and a full detailed explination of not only how to make it, but what it should come out like when you are done, and what you should pair it with. All the recipes I have tried so far have turned out amazing. I have no cons to this book, or any of David's works so far. He is an absolute genuis.