Discovering Global Cuisines: Traditional Flavors and Techniques 1st Edition

Discovering Global Cuisines might well be called Nancy Allen's Opus, for it represents five years worth of creative effort that took the author around the globe in search of authentic cuisines. The result is a comprehensive publication that is no mere flavor-of-the-month cookbook, but rather a rich work of reference with a long shelf life that can accompany professional cooks throughout their careers.Targeted to culinary professionals, the book has much to offer the home cook. I love the "Partnerships" introductory essay where Allen outlines combinations of foods that always go together and can save the day when cooking "hits a rut." Some of my favorites include: Beans, bacon, and molasses; Cheddar cheese, beer, and mustard; and Apple cider, butternut squash, and apples.I love cooking, but I am not a professional so I'm proceeding slowly. My first foray into global cuisine was Tempering, one of the signature recipes of India. Allen's instructions for quickly heating a series of spices over hot oil have yielded fragrant concoctions that spice up lentils or rice. I've learned to soak basamati grains before cooking and never--NEVER--to lift the lid on a pot of simmering rice.The book everywhere shows signs of loving care and attention to detail. Despite its wide arc, the reader can easily find her way thanks to descriptive headers that anchor the text. Each chapter opens with a colorful map of the region, which helps to connect the cuisine to a geographic locale. And the overview essays provide helpful background information on demographics that have influenced the food.There is a comprehensive index, hundreds of rich, color photos, a comprehensive list of recipes as well as an appendix and glossary. Even the creamy paper on which the book is printed reflects its high quality. The only disappointment is that my copy, ordered shortly after publication, did not include CIP cataloguing information, which may make the subject indexing challenging for librarians. However, future printings will hopefully include that important data.Kudos to Nancy Allen for a masterpiece. And Bon Appétit!

Love this book, I have to get it for culinary arts. Have this book from 2014 and I still use it.

While we've been really enjoying the recipes, ideas and discussion, the physical book itself has sadly been a let-down. It arrived warped as if it had been damp and then dried out, with multiple pages inside folded over and the colors in many pages slightly misaligned. Not a great experience for a quite expensive book, despite great content.

This book we used in my International cooking class for college. I ask you to try the Chicken Korma in the India section of the book - especially if you like coconut. I would just suggest letting the 'soup' cook longer than written.

Great book

Most amazing Cookbook ever! It is a text book covering history of food. Recipes have been obviously tested.

Nancy Allen’s cookbook, Global Cuisines, may have been intended as a textbook for culinary students, but it’s so much more than that I don’t know where to begin. I read cookbooks for the pleasure of it, for ideas and the wonder of how food is made. I am a pretty good cook, but I am by no means a pro. For me it’s about language and the story of the food as much as the recipe. So I opened Global Cuisine with some trepidation because I thought it might be too technical for my taste. What a surprise: here is a food book in the true sense. It’s not just about recipes, but how cultures shaped cuisines and then are defined by them, right down to the tricks from the grandmothers and the stories of ingredients. This book not only contains the clearest methodology I have ever read, but a sense of history, coupled with the social and physical environment that contextualizes the cuisine. Nancy’s book is abundant with encyclopedic knowledge written in clear and graceful prose: she loves the food she writes about, and she knows food is an act of community—she recreates that in the extensive introductions. The recipes look outstanding, but this book is readable as sociology, humanities, and even chemistry. It’s a book to compel the human spirit toward better understanding of peoples through the way they prepare their food. This may be the best food book in the world. I can’t wait for volume two.

I rarely approve anything 100%. It is just hard to be perfect. This book is as close to perfect as it can be. It is a compilation of history, traditions, cultural elements and of course, amazing recipes from around the world. It is also hard to please a person who speaks multiple languages and has lived in many countries. This book is not a library research, this is put together by someone who really knows things, has travelled a lot and has an incredible understanding of food, spices and cooking techniques.I find myself just grabbing the book when I have time and reading a page at a time hoping to sync in a few pieces of info and learn yet another trick.What amazes me most about this book is that it has everything from cultural background to tid-bits about techniques, to spices used and to ways to alternate a recipe without appearing like it is too much. It just flows. It flows linguistically (a great read), it makes sense, it is easy to follow, well organized. For those of us who did not forget how to use a book in the kitchen, this is a must. It is adventurous and has more than you can possibly cook in a long time.Thank you so much for putting effort in creating! I am in awe...