The New York Times Seafood Cookbook: More than 250 Recipes Collected from the Pages of The New York Times (Hardcover)

by Florence Fabricant (Editor) "That anchovies could be anything but dark, salty, oily canned little strips of fish, either flat or rolled around a caper, might come as a..." (more)
Key Phrases: white king salmon, teaspoon red chili flakes, cups fish broth, New York City, Florence Fabricant, Molly O'Neill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Over the years, New York Times cookbooks have won fans for their wide and winning recipe range. The New York Times Seafood Cookbook, edited by New York Times food writer Florence Fabricant, upholds the tradition, offering more than 250 recipes for nearly 100 kinds of fish and shellfish, presented alphabetically, from anchovies and barnacles to squid and yellowtail tuna. Additional chapters treat caviar and smoked fish and mixed seafood dishes, such as bouillabaisse, gumbos, and noodle preparations. The recipes come from contributors including chefs Mario Batali, Tom Colicchio, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, and Fabricant herself.

From a vast recipe selection, dishes like Malaysian-Style Ginger Crab with Chile Sauce, Saucy Scallops with Spicy Bacon Corn Relish, and Roasted Cod with Niçoise Vinaigrette typify the "modern" dishes, while Corn and Lobster Chowder, Southern Fried Catfish and Hushpuppies, and a particularly nice seafood paella, exemplify more traditional fare. This is food that works for many occasions and that most readers can prepare pleasurably. Particularly useful, however, is the book's introductory material, which presents a wide range of topics--on today's expanded seafood market, environmental concerns, and acquaculture, among them--in concise, up-to-the-minute form. The usual rules concerning shopping, portion size, cooking techniques and the like are here too, but receive particularly sensible attention. (The wise shopper, says Fabricant, knows how to substitute one species for another when the market lacks a planned-on choice, finding substitutes that behave similarly in the pan to unavailable types.) The book's alphabetical organization (each entry also features a species "profile") allows readers to find specific information without hunting. Illustrated with color photos, the book offers truly useful information as well as that wide recipe range, as welcome now as ever. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
As Fabricant, a longtime writer for the dining section of the New York Times, notes in her introduction, the way Americans buy, cook and eat seafood has changed drastically over the last 50 or so years. Indeed, the recipes in this collection make use of a wide range of fish types and suggest numerous useful preparation methods. It's a shame, though, that the recipes have not been dated, as that might have made the book more useful in terms of culinary history. The recipes themselves, however, are streamlined and reliable. Within each chapter (fish, shellfish, caviar and smoked fish and mixed seafood preparations), recipes are grouped by the type of fish they feature, which are arranged in alphabetical order, so that the largest chapter, the one on fin fish, begins with anchovies (including a recipe for Puntarelle with Anchovies) and ends with yellowtail (Grilled Yellowtail with Mexican Marinade). Most fish types are introduced with an overview of the various types and possible substitutes, as in the explanation of flounder nomenclature. Some of the recipes come from famous-name chefs, such as a Croque-Monsieur with Salmon and Caviar from Eric Ripert of New York's fish temple Le Bernardin, and a Bean and Calamari Soup from Cesare Casella of the Tuscan restaurant Beppe. Other recipes, such as Alaskan Halibut and Salmon Gefilte Fish Terrine, illustrate a melting-pot cuisine particular to New York. A solid introduction provides tips for purchasing seafood and judging doneness and makes this generally excellent volume even more useful.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (July 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312312318
• ISBN-13: 978-0312312312
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #386,678 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breath-taking delicious book of recipes and hints, March 12, 2005

By	Janet Pole "Canuckie Cookie" (London, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has some of the best recipes and hints for seafood and fish that I have run across in years. I am no expert in the kitchen (yet .. but this book may change that, at least when it comes to fish and seafood!) but I found the recipes to be simple, straight forward and easy to follow. (and their tips for what wines to serve were a bonus!)

Accompanied by articles and tidbits about the seafood or fish the book was a fascinating and informative read.. I first took it out of the library and by the time I was half-way through the book I was ready to go to this site and buy it ... which I did immediately.

Any novie or expert cook will find this a MUST HAVE on their shelf of cookbooks ... it will make you want to east fish daily (as I already do... but now in a more tasty fashion!)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why did I leave this book on my sehfl for so long?, September 28, 2005

By	E. Trent Vernon (los angeles, ca USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I dont remember when I purchased this book... but I guess when I did, its lack of pictures didnt pull me in and it collected dust on my bookshelf.

Two days ago, I was going through my books and decided to thumb through it. I have since read it word for word cover to cover. The recipes all sound accessible, and wonderful. I have yet to make any, but can tell already that most will turn out wonderfully. (My first will be a salmon and beet tartar).

It has a nice introduction to each type of fish, followed by a couple of recipes for that type of fish. A couple of photos of a few of the finished dishes would have been nice, hence the 4 star rating instead of five.

There are some recent releases along the same vein as this book.. ie fish encyclopedia and what not, with lush photographs etc... but the New York Times recipes really seem to shine even without photos. But, if a photo heavy book is to your liking, then you should look elsewhere.

One other note I should point out, is that this book does tend to be 'East Coast' centric.. which would make sense considering its source. It is only noticeable because I live in los angeles, and you cant be further away from that side of the country than me. With the vast array of fishes in the book, you are sure to find a fish you would want to try.


So this book is a must buy for a person who loves different ways of fish cookery!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good source of lots of standard fish recipes., March 2, 2007

By	B. Marold (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

`The New York Times Seafood Cookbook', edited by Florence Fabricant, is easy to dismiss, as I was about to do when I saw the absence of any photographs and the thin material on general technique. This is especially true since there are so many excellent fish cookbooks available today, ranging from the concise, such as Mark Bittman's `Fish' and `James Beard's New Fish Cookery' to the profusely illustrated `Rick Stein's Complete Seafood' and the authoritative `Fish & Shellfish' from James Peterson, not to mention Alan Davidson's encyclopedic three volumes on fish of the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic, and Southeast Asia.

In spite of all this competition, our trusty newspaper of record has given us a very nice reference for many of the world's standard fish dishes. The book is comprised almost entirely of recipes published in `The New York Times' culinary columns over the last 40 years, with Times staffer contributions from the likes of Craig Claiborne, Pierre Franey, Mark Bittman, Amanda Hesser, Marian Borros, and a great many from Ms. Fabricant herself. There is also a special treat in the form of sidebar articles by the Times reporter extraordinare, R. W. Appel who, like so many other mainstream newspaper writers, most famously including H. L. Mencken, wrote more than a few articles on culinary matters.

The remaining recipes and articles have been contributed by a long list of famous chefs and culinary writers. One surprise is to find so many done by the team of Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, most famous for their books on cooking meat, especially on the grill. Behind these, there several from Jacques Pepin, plus a smattering (one or two each) of recipes from Mario Batali, Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert, Thomas Keller, Dave Pasternack, Mark Militello, and Nobu Matsuhisa.

As with so many books of this type, it is first divided into fin fish and shellfish chapters, further divided by species (or genus) of critter. Added to the recipes about particular beasts, there are very nice summary articles on fish cooking technique. These general articles tend to be oriented toward the experienced cook, due to the total absence of photographs. The whole tone of the book is addressed to someone who knows their way around the kitchen, as when the description of a `buerre blanc' takes just a few sentences, while the recipe fills over two pages in James Patterson's great text, `Sauces'.

While there are several very nice sidebars, the book is not overly chatty. The headnotes, when they appear, tend to be pretty terse.

One may think that the book may be just a bit dated, as it obviously contains material going back close to 30 years. And, some sidebars are dated, such as when the article on salmon says that farmed salmon has depressed the price of wild salmon. This is certainly no longer true, and it may have been wise for a copy editor to footnote these out of date statements. On the other hand, virtually all cooking advice is quite reliable. For example, while James Beard proclaimed the well-publicized Canadian research findings of cooking all fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, this book warns us that this is quite unreliable, and can lead to overcooked fish. Of course, it accurately points out that the entire American culinary world is especially careful to not overcook fish these days.

As I cited above, the primary virtue of the book is that it includes articles for many standard fish dishes, such as bouillabaisse, cioppino, blackened catfish, shrimp cocktail, clam chowder, gravlax, frutti de mare, Cobb salad, and nine (9) variations on mayonnaise as used in seafood dishes. In fact, the book has such an authoritative feel about it that it makes me feel much more at home with seemingly autre ingredients such as eels and bottarga.

Even though there are lots of standards, there are also lots of less common dishes, which prompt us to work with seafood in many more interesting ways. Of course, the very best thing about fish dishes is that they are almost generally quick and relatively easy, even the ones with the very long ingredient lists, such as bouillabaisse and cioppino.

If one wants a good general fish cookbook, one could do much worse than relying on this one, especially if you know your way around the kitchen. What is especially nice is the fact that it devotes itself exclusively to what you are most likely to find in your better fish stores and supermarkets. It does not spend much time on, for example scaling, gutting and butchering whole fish. For that, you can go to Rick Stein's book.