World Food Cafe [Hardcover]

Chris Caldicott (Author), Carolyn Caldicott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 1999

One of the greatest pleasures derived from travel is the opportunity to try new foods and experience new flavors. Chris and Carolyn Caldicott have spent a great portion of their lives traveling the globe, and in World Food Caf they share a savory and eclectic collection of their favorite vegetarian dishes gathered from their journeys.

The recipes are organized in five sections, according to region - The Middle East, Africa, India, Southeast Asia and China, and Latin America. Each section begins with an introduction to the food of the region based on the firsthand experience of the authors. Each recipe is enhanced with suggestions for variations, advice on how to plan menus, beautiful food and location photos, and, often, the Caldicotts' own story of how and where they first encountered the dish.

Recipes include Rice with Rosewater, Dates, and Almonds (The Middle East); Hindu Roast Spice Curry (India); Red Jungle Curry of Vegetables in Fresh Ginger (Thailand); and Spicy Vegetable, Potato, and Cheese Empanadas (Peru).

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1991, the Caldicotts opened World Food Caf? in London, where they serve their favorite vegetarian dishes from extensive travels to some rather exotic locales. Chris is Photographer in Residence at the Royal Geographic Society, and his gorgeous photographsAfrom city scenes like the night market in Marrakesh to a mist-covered mountain range in Southeast AsiaAthreaten to overwhelm the recipes. Some of these (hummus, tabbouleh, etc.) appear in almost any vegetarian cookbook but, on the other hand, few cookbooks include recipes discovered at a highway truck stop in the Oman desert, during a stay in the Borneo rain forest, or at a guest house on La Digue, a tiny island paradise that is part of the Seychelles. For larger collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Traveling the world for 10 years, the Caldicotts collected vegetarian recipes, which they have admirably adapted for American kitchens. These recipes shun the typical meat substitutes that so many vegetarian cookbooks offer; instead, the authors discovered, in the course of their journeys, what ordinary people living without meat enjoy. As the Caldicotts found out, vegetarian cooking isn't always a matter of choice. In the less industrialized world, people have no meat or cannot afford it. Recipe ingredients may not be thoroughly authentic, but the Caldicotts strive to make their recipes useful to anyone with access to even the most basic international markets. Middle Eastern and African dishes stand out, and many of those betray the influence of Indian traders who have emigrated from the subcontinent. Buddhist cooking from Southeast Asia features the full palette of the region's spices. Colorful accompanying photographs display the foods to advantage and provide unique views of lands off the beaten path. Mark Knoblauch

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Soma Books (September 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579590608
• ISBN-13: 978-1579590604
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,444,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marriage of kitchen ordinary with culinary divine!, March 4, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Food Cafe (Hardcover)

Absolutely breathtaking color photos of exotic locales and foods emblazon every page and corner of this vibrant cookbook. Contents are grouped by location from Middle East/Africa to Asia, India, and Americas. Incredibly delicious healthful vegetarian recipes with authentic origins are presented from all cuisines along with fascinating stories of the Caldicotts' travels and adventures finding the recipes. These recipes are served in the World Food Cafe, which the Caldicotts operate in London. For those of us not lucky enough to visit their restaurant, here are some tasty entrees to whip up at home: Caribbean Vegetables in Mustard Coconut and Rum Sauce (from Costa Rica), Saag Paneer (from India), Sweet Apple Salad (from the Seychelles), Cardamom Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pepper Relish (from Tanzania) and many more. There are low spice suggestions and special adaptations for the home chef. Exotic and homely, World Food Cafe marries the ordinary and the divine, the fabulous and the mundane. What a beautiful response to the global village experience!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book, February 18, 2004

By 

"astrosweetgirl" (Hawaii United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Food Cafe: Global Vegetarian Cooking (Paperback)

I loved this book. Illustrated with beautiful photos, this is a mixture of a travel and a recipe book, covering Asia, Africa and South America. Whilst some of the recipes have an (authentic) array of ingredients, there are few difficult techniques involved. You do sometimes have to persevere with surprising instructions though, in the belief that it will all be good in the end! And so far, it always has been.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what I call a cookbook, March 3, 2000

By 

Elise Nonnet - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Food Cafe (Hardcover)

This book is of great quality, mixing beautiful photography, with exotic foods, and mouth-watering descriptions. The authors also explain well about all the places they stayed in, with humour. This cookbook is no ordinary cookbook, it wraps up the journeys of two people who know the value and pleaure of eating, and by reading the book you don't only find out about some delicious recipes but it also makes you dream about the places they went to. Next time I'm in London, I will be definetly making a stop at the World Food Cafe!