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Cuisines
When we sail to a new area and try the local food, we often hunt up a new cookbook that shows us how to cook with local ingredients and replicate some of the dishes we have tasted ashore. At the same time, many tropical cuisines share ingredients, so adding Caribbean, or Greek, or Polynesian, or Japanese recipes, for example, to our menus aboard makes cooking -- and eating -- more varied and fun. We eat freshest, healthiest, and most economically when we cook with local foods.
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Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz
Amazon description
"Mrs. Ortiz can always be trusted to treat her subjects accurately because she has lived and cooked in the countries she writes about." -- Associated Press
"An eye-opener for people who are unaware of the diversity of that region's cooking, which draws on European, African and Asian influences. Caribbean cuisine is documented in 450 recipes organized in 14 chapters. The region's distinctive ingredients, cooking methods and utensils are thoroughly explained by Mrs. Ortiz." -- Kansas City Star
"Scores of recipes that will convince you that, yes, there is something new under the gastronomic sun . . . . I wish space permitted me to tell you about the lamb stew with red kidney beans from Guadeloupe, a marvelous recipe for a large Edam cheese stuffed with beef from Curacao, skewered beef kabobs with pineapple, tomatoes, onions and peppers from Anguilla, a pork and spinach dish from St. Lucia and a Camaguey meat salad from Cuba, but I'll have to refer you to the book for those items." -- Josef Mossman, Des Moines Register
Women and Cruising contributors say
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I usually have some sort of regional cookbook for the area I am cruising in. [...] In the Caribbean, I have an old copy of Complete Book of Caribbean Cooking by Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz. It has helped me understand a lot of the local foods and how to use some of the local spices.
— Kathy Parsons |
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Ann Vanderhoof
Amazon description
Under the Tuscan Sun meets the wide-open sea . . . An Embarrassment of Mangoes is a delicious chronicle of leaving the type-A lifestyle behind -- and discovering the seductive secrets of life in the Caribbean.
Who hasn't fantasized about chucking the job, saying goodbye to the rat race, and escaping to some exotic destination in search of sun, sand, and a different way of life? Canadians Ann Vanderhoof and her husband, Steve did just that.
In the mid 1990s, they were driven, forty-something professionals who were desperate for a break from their deadline-dominated, career-defined lives. So they quit their jobs, rented out their house, moved onto a 42-foot sailboat called Receta (“recipe,” in Spanish), and set sail for the Caribbean on a two-year voyage of culinary and cultural discovery.
In lavish detail that will have you packing your swimsuit and dashing for the airport, Vanderhoof describes the sun-drenched landscapes, enchanting characters and mouthwatering tastes that season their new lifestyle. Come along for the ride and be seduced by Caribbean rhythms as she and Steve sip rum with their island neighbors, hike lush rain forests, pull their supper out of the sea, and adapt to life on “island time.”
Exchanging business clothes for bare feet, they drop anchor in 16 countries -- 47 individual islands -- where they explore secluded beaches and shop lively local markets. Along the way, Ann records the delectable dishes they encounter -- from cracked conch in the Bahamas to curried lobster in Grenada, from Dominican papaya salsa to classic West Indian rum punch -- and incorporates these enticing recipes into the text so that readers can participate in the adventure.
Almost as good as making the journey itself, An Embarrassment of Mangoes is an intimate account that conjures all the irresistible beauty and bounty from the Bahamas to Trinidad -- and just may compel you to make a rash decision that will land you in paradise
Book's author & Women and Cruising contributor says
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[The book contain] recipes at the end of each chapter, based on Caribbean ingredients and cuisines.
The recipes started with suggestions from market ladies, home cooks, restaurant cooks, farmers, and other locals, but then I take the advice/directions I'm given verbally (or what I've observed in an island kitchen) and work out precise quantities and methods in my galley.
— Ann Vanderhoof |
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Diane Kochilas
Amazon description
Greece and its many islands are rich with traditional and regional culinary dishes that go far beyond the standard fare of moussaka and spinach pie. To gather these special recipes and the culture that surrounds them, Kochilas spent over 15 years living and traveling in Greece. From home cooks and professional chefs she coaxed a wonderful array of authentic recipes to augment her own creations. Line drawings.
Women and Cruising contributors say
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It's a virtual encylopedia of information, as well as having recipes you can trust to serve to a crowd of (paying!) guests without having tested it first. [...] I've used it so much, it's sauce-stained and dog-eared.
— Lynda Childress |
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Sophie Braimbridge
Women and Cruising contributors say
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It's a lovely large colorful dream book that takes you on a foodie tour of Italy combining life with simple food, the way you picture it should be. It's probably a bit too big and heavy to have onboard but if I need a bit of inspiration this book is the winner.
— Amanda Swan Neal |
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Shizuo Tsuji
Amazon description
When it was first published, Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art changed the way the culinary world viewed Japanese cooking, moving it from obscure ethnic food to haute cuisine.
Twenty-five years later, much has changed. Japanese food is a favorite of diners around the world. Not only is sushi as much a part of the Western culinary scene as burgers, bagels, and burritos, but some Japanese chefs have become household names. Japanese flavors, ingredients, and textures have been fused into dishes from a wide variety of other cuisines. What hasn't changed over the years, however, are the foundations of Japanese cooking. When he originally wrote Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, Shizuo Tsuji, a scholar who trained under famous European chefs, was so careful and precise in his descriptions of the cuisine and its vital philosophies, and so thoughtful in his choice of dishes and recipes, that his words--and the dishes they help produce--are as fresh today as when they were first written.
The 25th Anniversary edition celebrates Tsuji's classic work. Building on M.F.K.Fisher's eloquent introduction, the volume now includes a thought-provoking new Foreword by Gourmet Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl and a new preface by the author's son and Tsuji Culinary Institute Director Yoshiki Tsuji. Beautifully illustrated with eight pages of new color photos and over 500 drawings, and containing 230 traditional recipes as well as detailed explanations of ingredients, kitchen utensils, techniques and cultural aspects of Japanese cuisine, this edition continues the Tsuji legacy of bringing the Japanese kitchen within the reach of Western cooks.
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Thomas E Levy
Amazon description
A collection of over 100 recipes involving stir frying, published under the auspices of "Family Circle". Each recipe carries ratings for ease of preparation, ease of use and understanding. There are also fun suggestions for expanding the reader's cooking knowledge.
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Jan Basile
Women and Cruising comments
This volume of recipes assembled by Peace Corps volunteers in Tonga gives you a glimpse not only of traditional cuisine, but of how local peoples are mixing traditional ingredients with those found in stores and how Peace Corps voluneers are trying to make familiar dishes with unfamiliar ingeredients!
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Jessica B. Harris
Amazon description
Savor the food, flavor, rhythm, and romance of the Caribbean.
A truly authentic guide to down-home traditional Caribbean cooking, the kind you'd find at roadside stands, Sky Juice and Flying Fish captures the feel of the Islands, bringing the blue-green sea, the tropical breeze, and the exotic scents of the Caribbean into the American kitchen.
A culinary history of each of the Islands provides the perfect introduction to the 150 mouth-watering recipes for appetizers and soups, entrees, side dishes, and desserts, all featuring the distinctly exotic seasonings -- ginger, garlic, chili, coconut, curries, and rum -- of the Caribbean.
Begin your meal with plantain chips and a rum-spiked 'ti-punch. Go on to Bajan Fried Chicken from Barbados, complemented by a banana-ginger chutney and served with Jamaican Rice and Peas. Finish up with a sumptuous coconut pudding.
A glossary lists ingredients from achiote (small reddish berries) to z'yeux noirs (black-eyed peas), which can be found in grocery stores, Caribbean markets, or through the mail-order source list provided in the appendix.
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Jay Solomon
Amazon description
Traveling along the equator with utensils in hand, chef and restaurateur Jay Solomon takes an entertaining culinary journey through Cuba and Aruba to Hawaii and Indonesia, sharing his visions of paradise along the way. Combining fruits and vegetables with spices, peppers, fish, and piquant sauces, the 145+ recipes in A TASTE OF THE TROPICS reflect a laid-back island style with a complex range of flavors from savory to sweet and fiery to cool. What could be more inviting than a feast of Shrimp and Mango Curry, Jerk Chicken, and Green Papaya Salad capped off by a Golden Piña Colada? With helpful tips for using tropical ingredients, A TASTE OF THE TROPICS is part travelogue, part cookbook, and 100 percent delicious.
Women and Cruising comments
Chef and restaurateur Jay Solomon takes an entertaining culinary journey through Cuba and Aruba to Hawaii and Indonesia. Combining fruits and vegetables with spices, peppers, fish, and piquant sauces, the 145+ recipes in A Taste of the Tropics reflect a laid-back island style with a complex range of flavors from savory to sweet and fiery to cool.
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