Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes (Hardcover)

by Tessa Kiros (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Falling Cloudberries arrived at our desk and we fell in love with every aspect of the book, from the delicious recipes to the poetic sensibility of its author, Tessa Kiros. We traveled through memory and around the world with Kiros, for this is a special book, one filled with international cooking and international family memories. --In Mamas Kitchen

Falling Cloudberries is not only a work of art, but also a really, really, REALLY good cookbook! Recipes are clearly written for the home cook and are very reproducible. The international flavors make the preparation entertaining and fresh. --Food Reference --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
Everyone loves a good book that transports them to the world it describes. But a cookbook that does that is a rare treat.

The very best cookbooks have the power to take you on a journey. Such is the case with this wide-ranging memoir featuring recipes from Finland, Greece, Cyprus, South Africa, and Italy. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 397 pages
• Publisher: Murdoch Books (October 1, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 1740453646
• ISBN-13: 978-1740453646
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #787,179 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're a cook, you'll fall for Falling Cloudberries, September 19, 2008

By	Baking Enthusiast "Liza" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes (Hardcover)

As someone who owns close to two hundred cookbooks (passion or sickness, your choice on what to call it) I've vowed not to purchase another one for the rest of my cooking days. When I first glimpsed "Falling Cloudberries" at a bookstore I had to will myself to walk away. Never again, I said.

Never say never.

First, a bit of background. Like most foodies and cooks, Tessa Kiros grew up scented by cooking smells and surrounded by people who're passionate about food. Her book is filled with recipes that represent her heritage: Greek, Finnish, Cypriot, South African, and Italian. As such, there are dishes here that challenge the American palate, especially those of pedestrian tastes, but what a delightful and tasty challenge it is.

I'll set aside the sheer beauty of this book for now and rate it on the essentials--the approachability and accuracy of its recipes, the reliance on fresh and obtainable ingredients, a balanced mix of easy, intermediate and advanced cooking methods, logical and sensible organization, practical tips to ensure success, satisfaction with the end product, and (always a consideration for me) a generous representation of everyday fare.

I've tried about a dozen from this thick book and it's, without doubt, a 5-star cookbook just basing it on the above:

(1) Finnish - Gravadlax with Dill Cucumbers; Potato Pancakes (of course, to go w/ the gravadlax); Fresh Salmon, Dill & Potato Soup; Finnish Meatballs; Stroganoff with Pickled Cucumbers and will later try the Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns

(2) Greek - Dolmades; Tzatziki; Chickpea, Feta & Coriander Salad; Calamari with Butter, Lemon & Garlic; Prawns with Peri-Peri; Lemon & Oregano Chicken; Stuffed Vegetables and will later attempt the Baklava

(3) Cypriot - Moussaka (if you can make lasagna, you can make this without batting an eyelash); Pork in Red Wine

(4) South African - Fried Chicken and Barbecue Ribs, if you can believe it!

That's it...that's as far as I got and tons to go. Everything I tried was simply delicious and none of them required tremendous labor, just the same amount of effort I put into everyday cooking. For those that are fussier, I plan to just make them in the weekends when I have more time.

The book is drop-dead gorgeous and I mean every part of it. From the spine to the flyleaf, to all the photos to the quality of bond, and it even came with a pretty ribbon bookmark (how thoughtful). It's peppered with tidbits on Tessa's family and her growing up cooking with them. There's even a penciled drawing of her family tree that I thought added an amusing and extra special touch to this very personal account of food and cooking over several generations. Really creatively executed and one can easily tell that it was a labor of love. It's too beautiful that I don't cook with this book lying as is on my counter. I photocopy the page I need or wrap it first in clear plastic before using. Even these precautions don't seem enough. Someday, when I can no longer grasp my chef's knife or intimidate a slab of pastry into submission with a whack or two, I want to look at this book and just lose myself in its pristine beauty. Ridiculous, I know, but there are cooks out there who know precisely what I mean--they're the same people who look longingly at gorgeous cookbooks and say `never again' without much conviction!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars inspiring, beautiful book, full of family recipes, January 3, 2007

By	katrinka "iowa" (kansas) - See all my reviews

The photos alone are worth the price of this book. Recipes are unusual and new to my tastebuds,well worth buying .

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful work (would have given it five stars except...) buyer beware, May 20, 2009

By	Carol Toscano (New York City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

So I loved this cookbook. It's a beautifully photographed, informative read with some gorgeous, appetizing recipes and some very interesting family and culinary histories (the historical bits could have been a separate book, actually). But I was pretty upset with this cookbook because the first thing I saw that I wanted to make (based upon the beautiful two-page photo spread on pages 144 and 145 entitled Cinnamon + Roses) is not included as a recipe in the actual cookbook. How can you have a cookbook with a beautiful two-page spread of a gorgeous treat and not supply the recipe? It feels like a bait and switch which seems to be happening a lot with cookbooks these days. Cookbook writers, listen up: if you show a dish in your book, give it a beautiful two-page color spread, you should consider publishing the recipe for the people who are paying upwards of $30 for it in a bad economy. I searched every page of this book looking for that recipe - even read the index to find the page numbers because I couldn't find it. Finally, I enlisted the help of a Greek friend who informed me that the item is something called "Loukoumi" which I then re-checked in the index. Not there. Very upsetting. Anyway, I was going to go through and check for this same situation with other items since I suspect that isn't the only place this occurs in this cookbook (so that others would know before buying it) but had already lost heart over it. I really don't like to see this type of thing in a work that is so well done otherwise. I think anyone who wants to purchase this might want to check it out in a bookstore or library first so that you aren't disappointed the way I was.