The Ultimate Pressure Cooker Cookbook: More Than 75 Foolproof Irresistible Recipes Tested in All the Most Popular Models (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Streamlined and made essentially "explosion-proof," the lowly pressure cooker has become almost glamorous. In his fourth appliance cookbook (see, most recently, The Ultimate Espresso Machine Cookbook, LJ 12/95), LaCalamita offers 100 or so easy recipes. The collection could more accurately be called The Pressure Cooker-Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, for Mediterranean foods are what LaCalamita makes in his cooker, from Garlic Soup to Venetian-Style Artichokes. Lorna Sass's Cooking Under Pressure (LJ 11/15/89) remains one of the best books on the subject, but larger collections will want LaCalamita's, too.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Problems often associated with using a pressure cooker--food on the ceiling and other culinary atrocities--are, quite simply, outdated. According to Lacalamita, this handy cooking tool deserves more than just a modicum of respect, considering that it conserves food values and the home chef's time. Tips, advice, and counsel are featured upfront, with notes on proper use, care, and accident avoidance. (As he points out, new designs of the pressure cooker include so many safety devices and are so easy to use that even the clumsiest of cooks should be relieved.) Most of the more than 90 recipes are Mediterranean or, at least, inspired by the cuisines of the region; there is a strong emphasis on dried beans, legumes, grains, and vegetables. But the real draw of this book is the incredible time savings. Barbara Jacobs

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684824965
• ISBN-13: 978-0684824963
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #404,240 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you like one style cooking this books for you!, March 2, 1999

By A Customer

Having just bought my first pressure cooker, still filled with those childhood mental pixs of my mother's outraged cries, when the spinich hit the ceiling, I was looking for the beginner's guide. This book is not it.

Yes, it praises the wonders of pressure cookery, but says little as to how to prepare your first culinary attempts as you anxiously glance upwards. The author appears to be trying to reach two goals. The first, is to advance pressure cooking in the states, and second,to promote the healthy effects of mediterranean cooking.

In this reader's opinion, he fails on both counts. While there are several chapters on the nature of pressure cookery and the types of pressure cookware, these paragraphs are but glossy overviews interspaced with accounts of the author's life as student in Spain. In short, the book is light on specifics.

As to the recipes, the title says it all. They are in fact, selected items of mediterranean cooking. While they maybe the author's favorites and have a certain culinary curiosity about them, they should not be the cook's first few steps with the new pressure cooker. Recipe requirements are well setforth, but only terse paragraphs are given to preperation. This same paragraph is repeated and repeated in each new recipe. Conclusion, if didn't do it right the first time well....

Certainly, there are plenty of excellent mediterranean cookbooks out there. What we need is a good "how to" pressure cookbook. Then once the steam vessel is mastered, we will adapt those recipe favorites including mediterranean.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fast, savory, healthful Mediterranean cooking, September 14, 2004

By	Cat from Belmont (Belmont, MA USA) - See all my reviews

When I recently purchased a pressure cooker, a friend suggested this book and loaned me her copy. (I had already ordered copies of two of the Lorna Sass pressure cooking books, "Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure" and her new one, "Pressure Perfect.") I saw so many recipes I wanted to try that I am purchasing this book, too. My friend has made many of the recipes for her family and vouches for them. This book is clear, practical, and the author has had many years of perfecting the recipes for his favorite Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and North African dishes. I didn't find it intimidating at all.

By the way, after researching various models, I chose the Kuhn Rikon 7.25 liter pressure cooker. This Swiss line, which comes in a variety of sizes and shapes, has been called by the NY Times "The Mercedes of pressure cookers" and is renowned for quality and excellent customer service. For cooking grains and legumes, I also got an Ohsawa Pot, a lidded ceramic pot that fits inside.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easing the Pressure, September 1, 2002

By	I "I" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Tom LaCalamita is The Italian Pressure Gourmet. Some cookbooks are, as a friend, full of information and some are simply filled with dependable recipes that are easy to prepare and delicious; This cookbook is both.

I find the exact ingrediants are important to the final finish. When I don't know what a particular ingredient is, I ask GOOGLE. For instance: I found that Italian frying peppers are simply very special in themselves as such, but that you can substitute yellow sweet peppers and be very close.

I enjoy the book. It helps a great deal with simple, easy to follow directions, in making the pressure cooker a normal method of cooking without emotional pressure.