Beautifully produced. Mostly healthy, intelligent recipes. Lovely "food porn" illustrations. I like that several ingredients recur in several recipes so there is an implicit nudge in the direction of good pantry management. This looks like a good "browser" book for anyone who cooks and a possibly quite good book for someone just getting started.
The discussions at the end about equipment and pantry could be expanded, although they fit the recipes given.
I feel like it could use more discussion of technique although writing about technique (rather than teaching through demonstration) is always tricky.
Perhaps I'm just reacting to current fads but I wish it included some discussion of sourcing of ingredients and had less emphasis on canned beans, canned tuna, etc. Canned lentils - seriously? Sheesh.
A quote that bugs me: "The tricky thing with this salad is that a whole tin of chickpeas can be quite a big eat. If you’re not super hungry feel free to ditch some of the chickpeas."
Every kitchen has waste and nearly every kitchen compromises on ingredients but that quote makes me shudder. I suppose if you're moving from heating up frozen french bread pizzas to a cuisine as in this book that's a large positive step so I shouldn't find too much fault here. Still, a little discussion of buying dried legumes and cooking up batches ahead for use in several dishes would be nice.
As a single and not so young hacker that does not cook, I found it refreshing. Most cookbooks suggest food that takes a lot of prep, is bad for you, and or is just bland. This looks like a great jumping off point to actually cooking more than I eat out even though I can afford to eat out.
Sometimes i envisage writing something similar, targeted to single cooks(or better techies), with some optimization tips and sold solely in ebook format.
Could this kind of books have a market? HN what do you think?
Cooking for Engineers ( http://www.cookingforengineers.com ) is pretty targeted at techies. They have an innovative graphical recipe format that shows a horizontal timeline with ingredients in rows and instructions occupying combined cells on the graph.
As a young person in a shared house, I'd really like to find something that included pantry management for people like me. Perhaps it is not possible to eat well from a single cabinet of ingredients that don't spoil quickly and are easy to prepare. If I need to compromise on something, it would probably be price. It just has to be cheaper that eating out.
Sure you can, if you amortize your time (the concept of making components ahead, in batches). Your point is well taken, of course. It's just that I would hate to see a new born self-feeding foodie get "stuck" in the rut of using needlessly expensive and environmentally dubious canned goods.
The discussions at the end about equipment and pantry could be expanded, although they fit the recipes given.
I feel like it could use more discussion of technique although writing about technique (rather than teaching through demonstration) is always tricky.
Perhaps I'm just reacting to current fads but I wish it included some discussion of sourcing of ingredients and had less emphasis on canned beans, canned tuna, etc. Canned lentils - seriously? Sheesh.
A quote that bugs me: "The tricky thing with this salad is that a whole tin of chickpeas can be quite a big eat. If you’re not super hungry feel free to ditch some of the chickpeas."
Every kitchen has waste and nearly every kitchen compromises on ingredients but that quote makes me shudder. I suppose if you're moving from heating up frozen french bread pizzas to a cuisine as in this book that's a large positive step so I shouldn't find too much fault here. Still, a little discussion of buying dried legumes and cooking up batches ahead for use in several dishes would be nice.
Perhaps it needs a sequel :-)