Taste of the Sea [Paperback]

Rick Stein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1998

Based on a 14-part PBS series, this cookbook features fresh seafood recipes that bring the exquisite tastes of fine dining to the home kitchen.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Going only by the enthusiasm bursting out of this cookbook, the easy money says that Rick Stein, author of Taste of the Sea (and star of a British TV cooking show of the same title), is to seafood cookery what Richard Simmons is to weight loss. Stein opened a seafood restaurant in 1975 and has witnessed the rise in popularity of fish and shellfish in Great Britain in the intervening years. The same rising arc is true for the United States.

Stein breaks his cookbook into sections dedicated to choosing, prepping, and cooking techniques as well as basic recipes for stocks, sauces, flavored butters, and dressings. The fish and shellfish recipes he divides into oily fish, Mediterranean fish, round fish, flat fish, large fish, crustaceans, shellfish, and then a collection of soups, stews, and pies. He includes a list of fish alternatives for the American and Australian markets, where some of the British and European fish won't be available.

Take equal measures of passion for seafood and delight in brilliant flavors from Asia, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and North Africa, and you'll have a sense of how Stein enlivens his seafood recipes. Sure, you'll find salmon in sorrel sauce, or seafood thermidor, but that's just the comfort food side of this book. Look also for a Thai seafood salad, a Goan shark curry, and a Dover sole with cilantro, cumin, and chiles. This book is a good place to start for those who need a little extra nudge in the seafood direction. --Schuyler Ingle

Review

The greatest food writers, Elizabeth David and M. F. K. Fisher, give a euphoric sense that food is part of life, one pleasure among a whole bundle that includes love and the smell of rain and so forth. Stein does exactly this. -- Stephen Pile, The Daily Telegraph

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bay Books; first edition (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912333561
• ISBN-13: 978-0912333564
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,261,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passion yet simplicity, February 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rick Stein's Fruits of the Sea (Pbs Series) (Paperback)

Ideal for anyone who wants to cook fish but is either worried about how difficult it might be - or bored with the same old same old.Rick's passion and enthisiasm is contageous.

If you are like me - love seafood, and always eat it in restaurants, but not sure about tackling it at home - this is ideal.

Its a good read even if you dont want to cook!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthusiastic, simple and delicious., October 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Taste of the Sea (Paperback)

Rick Stein is not only a superb chef but his writing is clear, simple and enthusiastic - like his food. He gives plenty of tips from what utensils to buy, to how to store fish and how to make excellant stocks. All the way through the book he carries you along with his passion and almost cooly, simplistic aproach. If you like fish - or even if you don't - I am sure you will find this book rewarding, not only for the food but also the interesting little tit bits he incorporates.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Simple, October 1, 2005

By 

White Crane - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rick Stein's Fruits of the Sea: Over 150 Seafood Recipes for Every Occasion (Paperback)

I rate cookbooks not on how they look, or even on how difficult they are to follow, but on how good the recipes taste. In this category, Mr. Stein excells. The food is delicious. His recipe for Tom Yam Gung is one of the easiest and best tasting recipes for this classic Thai soup that I have ever tasted. The wonderful blend of fresh seafood and asian spice is unbeatable. Highly recommended.