Prior to listening to the book I hadn't heard of Samin but right from the first chapter I loved it and found it to be a fantastically informative book with many great take outs.
The information on the use of Salt, in particular the early seasoning of meats prior to cooking is changing my approach to food preparation. Without giving away all the take outs in the book Samin talks about how when cooking at Chez Panisse the day prior to cooking or even longer with larger cuts, the meat was generously salted to give a more tender and flavourful end product.
Samin's parents emigrated to the United States from Iran in the 1970's and the influence of her heritage is seen in her explanations on the uses of acid in cooking and in particular lightening foods. She talks about the use of acidic yoghurt from her Iranian background but also how when she visited chef friends for Thanksgiving dinner they improved the meal with more subtle uses of acidic ingredients to lighten the usually heavy European influenced heavy foods. Examples of this were the use of red wine vinegar in the gravy and the use of sour cream in mashed potato.
The book when listening came in at under 6 hours and had me eager to continue listening throughout for the next culinary pearl. I really enjoy this kind of cookery book as they are a great source of learning. Whilst there is still great value in cookbooks especially covering specific regional cuisines I love a book that gives the reader knowledge that they can implement each time they head into the kitchen.
In 2017 the book was awarded food book of the year by The Times of London. Clearly I am not the only one who thinks it wasn't a bad book. This style of book has so much value for the cook aspiring to learn to cook in a way that takes them to the next level.
All in all a great read I would give it 8 out of 10. I guess I could have gone higher but as this is my first review I would then have nowhere to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment