Read it

The TASTE& TRAVEL library contains books, old and new, that we use to cook and read our way around tthe world. Here are some recent additions.

Everyday Seafood by Nathan Outlaw (Quadrille, 2016)

If your repertoire of fish dishes extends no further than salmon, shrimp or tinned tuna,

Everyday Seafood, by English (Port Isaac) chef Nathan Outlaw, will be a valuable addition to your cookbook shelf. It’s all here, the mullet, mackerel, herring, cod, sardines, lobster, turbot, oysters, crab and, yes, the salmon and tuna (all “… sustainable at the time of writing”). Barbecued, broiled, baked, raw, pickled, deep-fried — the hundred recipes cover the waterfront. With photos by David Loftus and a typically energetic foreword by Jamie Oliver.

Cucina Romana by Sara Manuelli (Imprint, 2005)

The food at the heart of Cucina Romana is tied to the essentials of history and geography, from the earliest Italian references to wine, to the stories of the Jews of Rome, the wars, the art, the revolutions. Sara Manuelli, native of the Campo dei Fiori, uses her stomping ground as the jumping off point for a tour of ten Roman neighbourhoods, their histories, landscapes, people, and cuisines. In the time of Roman emperors the city was famous for its decadent banquets of flamingo tongue and sow’s womb, we learn. Today (thank Jupiter!) Roman food is characterized by its back-to-basics ingredients and techniques — captured in dozens of recipes clearly drawn by Manuelli and photographed by Lisa Linder.

Taqueria by Paul Wilson (Hardie Grant, 2016)

The subtitle of Taqueria is ‘New-Style Fun and Friendly Mexican Cooking,’ which translates to a cookbook focused squarely on the round (Wilson dubs the tortilla “the knife, fork, serviette and plate of Mexico”) Here too are recipes for the “feel-good foods,” the tacos, salsas and cocktails — Tijuana Sunset, anyone? — followed with a collection of Mexican inspired salads and vegetable dishes.

S is for Sri Lankan / K is for Korean recipes by Rukmini Lyer (Quadrille, 2017)

Two volumes in the adorable series of ‘Alphabet Cooking’ by Quadrille Publishing. Each book is packaged prettily, and proposes fifty of the most definitive or reimagined recipes in a country’s gastronomy. Sri Lankan recipes include samosas, egg hoppers, dhal fritters, pumpkin curry, string hoppers, while the Korean cookbook covers the essential fermented foods plus bibimbap, bulgogi, japchae, and Korean Fried Chicken, or KFC.

Man’oushé by Barbara Abdeni Massaad (Interlink, 2014)

The national pie of Lebanon is traditionally topped with wild thyme, sumac, sesame seeds, salt and oil. Barbara Abdeni Massaad offers 70 more ways with this ancient flatbread. In gathering recipes from every region of Lebanon, she connects us to the rich culture and deep history of this “classless commodity” introducing the stories, faces and recipes of its bakers and the delighted faces of man’oushé eaters, from the very young to the ancient.

In Bread by Lucy Heaver & Aisling Coughlan (Smith Street, 2017)

This charming book was born from the authors’ cheap and cheery travels and a desire to document the very best fillings for all things bread from here there and everywhere. There are serious sandwiches (Croque Monsieur) and silly ones (Fried Elvis), a collection touted to cure hangovers, and sandwiches for dessert. The Torta, Tuna Melt, and Turkey Club are here, and so is the Banh Mi, the Turkish Balik Ekmek, The Cuban, The New England lobster roll, and the Lamb Shawarma. Even the vegan has a chapter. Just don’t expect a recipe for bread. That you buy. This book helps you fill it, top it, grill it, fry it, press it, toast it, and bake with it.

The Malaysian Kitchen by Christina Arokiasamy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016)

Arokiasamy’s mother was a spice merchant and her family’s home in Kuala Lumpur was surrounded with spice trees. “For me,” she writes, “cinnamon was not just a spice; it was a way of life, infused in our food, in our medicine cabinet, even arranged in vases as decoration.” Arokiasamy delivers the passion for homecooked meals infused with the spices of her native land, with chapters on Malaysian culinary history, its basic pantry, and spice chart, before launching into recipes for sambals, curries, noodle bowls, street foods, stir-fries and sweets, all aimed at the North American cook, for whom cinnamon is found in supermarkets stored in small glass jars.

Street Food Asia by Luke Nguyen (Hardie Grant, 2016)

Street food is everywhere. But there’s no doubt that it’s more interesting in some parts of the world than others. Luke Nguyen’s survey of this massive fastfood phenomenon (Nguyen tells us 2.5 billion people street-eat every day) focuses on Saigon, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. There are recipes, like Crazy Fried Rice (Jakarta) and Spicy Prawn Salad (Bangkok), and there are passages of prose guiding us through local traditions, but Street Food Asia is primarily a delivery system for Alan Benson’s spectacular photography.

Ducksoup by Clare Lattin and Tom Hill (Chronicle, 2017)

Ducksoup is a London restaurant, opened in 2011, devoted to simple food that makes you think “this sounds delicious.” Built around a basic sevenchapter structure (The Ducksoup Larder; Quick Things; From the Stove…), with a clear writing style and naturally lit photographs, Ducksoup makes simple, beautiful. The advice too is basic. “Taste, taste, taste…” and “let the pan smoke before adding your ingredient.” The guidance extends beyond food. A chapter On Music stands out.

Savage Salads by Davide del Gatto & Kristina Gustafsson (Gibbs Smith, 2016)

Salads, reads the introduction, “should taste amazing, look beautiful, and leave you full.” They will also inspire us to consider the salad as more that an after-thought. Or something we eat because we feel we must. The authors — who run a Soho market stall of the same name — have divided the book by seasons, and include a “Five Minute Salad” at the start of each chapter and a “Blitzed Salad” at the end (Sprouting broccoli, feta, grapefruit, watercress, almonds and mint, is the spring quickie salad, while Chilled watercress soup is the blender version.) Lots of meaty salads too, lest you think this book is savagely vegan. It is not. Not a bit.

Acquacotta by Emiko Davies (Hardie Grant, 2017)

The subtitle reads ‘Recipes and stories from Tuscany’s secret silver coast.’ There are stories, to be sure, but for the Tuscan-based writer for Food52, recipes rule, along with local techniques and ingredients. The chapters are organized to respect the sourcing of product, ‘The Woods,’ ‘The Sea and Lagoon,’ ‘Vegetable Patch’ and ‘Farmhouse.’ (There’s also, of course, ‘Sweets’ to finish the book and meal.) Davies warms her elegant text with references to the local chefs, restaurateurs and establishments she admires, from whom she has learned and gratefully borrows. There is also deference to the seasons: fast cool meals in the heat of a Tuscan summer, and slow dinners for the cooler months, when Davies enjoys, among other things, Acquacotta, the tomato and onion stew of the book’s title.

Provence to Pondicherry by Tessa Kiros (Quadrille, 2016)

Globalization is nothing new. The proof is in the pudding. Starting from her home base in Provence, Tessa Kiros traces the DNA of French cuisine from its home on the continent to Southeast Asia, the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and back to Normandy, tracing the flavours of these disparate food traditions (with recipes from each). Vietnam, Guadeloupe and La Reunion (off the east coast of Madagascar) offer a striking array of ‘essential flavours’ which Kiros identifies for each cuisine, all of them, she tells us in her introduction, “stitched together with French threads”.