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Autumn Leaves

By angela murrills

Publish Date: 14-Oct-2004 =

Entertain

There's A New Pile Of Cookbooks To Rake Up And Jump = Into--Just Watch=20 Out For The Tempeh And The Pig's Trotters=20

A trawl through the tottering stack of cookbooks that has = showed up on=20 my desk over the past few months is one way to spot emerging = trends in the=20 culinary world. Complex calligraphy in jus is so last year. = What=20 come across this season are, first, the simpler recipes that stem = from the=20 recognition that good ingredients really matter, and, second, an = emphasis=20 on the ever-changing joys of eating regionally and seasonally. So = what if=20 that was the last of the nectarines with your breakfast yogurt? = Think of=20 all the apples and pears and cranberries and walnuts waiting. Many = writers=20 now divide their cookbooks not by starters, mains, and desserts = but by=20 season. Add wine pairings and sensible menus (you're not expected = to make=20 everything all at once), and cooking, eating, and having friends = over=20 become the pleasures they should be.=20

Globe and Mail readers or anyone familiar with Lucy = Waverman's=20 other cookbooks will need little more than a gentle nudge to pick = up=20 A Matter of Taste: Inspired Seasonal Menus With Wines and = Spirits to=20 Match (HarperCollinsCanada, $50), a huge, juicy = hardcover=20 book unlikely to spend much time stuck on your coffee table. For = added=20 value, Waverman has teamed up with wine expert James Chatto, who = explains=20 in straightforward, elegant prose not just what to put with each = of the=20 dishes but why. Dive into the midst of the book (spring and summer = will=20 have to wait) and you find an autumnal bistro dinner that's = classic but=20 modern: crisp-skinned salmon with citrus sauce paired with the = usual=20 frites, and a starter salade Landaise of endive, = pine nuts,=20 and chicken livers. A feast for the book club centres on = make-ahead=20 braised chicken with olives and figs; an evening for foodie = friends=20 focuses on the inventive, like licorice ice cream with the lemon = tart.=20 What make this book even more valuable are the little food and = wine=20 lessons snuck into its pages. My number-one pick this season.=20

Being genetically predisposed to roast lamb and crisp bacon = means I'll=20 never be totally vegetarian, but, like many of us, I do eat = considerably=20 less meat these days. All the more reason to grab Fresh Food = Fast:=20 Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under an Hour by = Peter=20 Berley (ReganBooks, $49.95), which sets out two-course menus and = desserts=20 that take you right through the edible year. This weekend, for = instance, I=20 might be making a pumpkin-pear-and-fennel soup as a prelude to = quinoa with=20 Brussels sprouts, tempeh, and toasted almonds followed by = maple-chestnut=20 mousse. Further down the wintry road, I might try toasted-millet = pilaf=20 followed by winter-vegetable stew with maple-glazed tofu and an = apple=20 cidercouscous cake. Lists of groceries and equipment, and = game plans=20 make entertaining a no-brainer.=20

Even a glance at the cover reveals that herbivores had better = not look=20 inside The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by = Fergus=20 Henderson (Ecco, $29.95). Apart from the title, the threat of an=20 introduction by Anthony Bourdain suggests quite rightly that the = innards=20 of the book are not delicate fare for the faint of heart. Still, = if you've=20 done shanks and short ribs, and now want to take your first = tentative=20 steps along the dark alleys of animal viscera, Henderson is your = man.=20 Down-to-earth, amusing, and the owner of the much-revered St. John = restaurant in London, he isn't after shock for its own sake.=20

"There is a set of delights, textural and flavoursome, which = lie beyond=20 the fillet," he writes, pointing out that his approach (whether = devouring=20 the guts of a sheep or the leaves of a radish) is environmentally = sound.=20 Roasted on a bed of onions, brined pork belly sounds unctuously = tasty, and=20 if you can bring yourself to make devilled kidneys for breakfast, = serve=20 them, as Henderson suggests, with a glass of Black Velvet (equal = parts=20 Guinness and Champagne). Classic British dishes like kedgeree and = treacle=20 tart get a look-in too.=20

Now here's a cut-to-the-chase title: Entertain = (Kyle=20 Cathie, $24.95). But who's this Ed Baines whose curly = Heathcliffian hair=20 is in stark silhouette on the cover? Turns out he's yet another = talented=20 Brit who's taking the country's culinary foundations and shifting = them=20 ever so slightly on their axis. So we have bacon and eggs but with = potato=20 r=F6sti, and scrambled eggs with truffle oil and = smoked=20 salmon. Homemade fish fingers are served with = tomato-zucchini-and-olive=20 compote, fish cakes paired with a watercress and Parmesan salad, = and roast=20 chicken legs given verve with an orange gremolata. As for = Gus=20 Philgate's photos, you could lick them. (And his deliberately = out-of-focus=20 approach is the nearest anyone's yet come to capturing the feeling = of one=20 martini too many.) A small wrist slap for an otherwise highly = recommended=20 book: unless otherwise stated, recipes appear to feed four. Baines = doesn't=20 say.=20

No, last winter's package trip to Varadero = probably=20 didn't provide much of an entr=E9e into the local cuisine, but if = a=20 backstreet plate of moros y cristianos got you intrigued, = do get=20 In a Cuban Kitchen (Running Press, $34.95), in which = Alex=20 Garcia provides a sound introduction to the roots of his country's = cooking=20 and a highly useful glossary that demystifies lesser-known staples = such as=20 culantro (not cilantro) and the taro rootlike = malanga.=20 Recipes for the famous media noche sandwich, = croquetas,=20 albondigas, and black-bean soup (and Hemingway's mojito) = are just=20 the start. You'll also want to cook unfamiliar dishes like = pudin de=20 pescado (fish casserole) and chilindr=F3n de cordero=20 (lamb-and-roasted-pepper stew). Share, eh? As Garcia points out, = it's wise=20 to remember "the first, second, and third rules of Cuban = cooking...'where=20 one eats, two eat, and where two eat, all eat.' "=20

Beginning with =FCber-cook Donna Hay, Australian recipe books = have=20 established a much-copied benchmark for clear, bold tastes and = photography=20 to match. Two more to swell the Antipodean ranks on the bookshelf = are=20 Blue Ginger by Les Huynh (Murdoch Books, $29.95) and = Longrain: Modern Thai Food by Martin Boetz (Hardie = Grant,=20 $45), whose chef-authors take you inside their Sydney restaurants. = With=20 glisteningly fresh ingredients and vibrant flavours his = signatures, Hunyh=20 spins traditional Asian recipes using "local flavours and produce = and=20 relaxing the rules a little" to create dishes along the lines of a = Vietnamese steamed crab-meat frittata with watercress salad (my, = that=20 sounds good) and char-grilled beef with chili jam and green-papaya = salad.=20 Additional justification to spend a low-key Saturday morning = rooting=20 around Chinatown is provided by Boetz, who first encountered = Asian-style=20 cooking while at legendary Darley Street Thai. That's quite the = pedigree,=20 and his recipes, no surprise, will appeal most to the = near-professional.=20 This is dressier food altogether that calls for more arcane = grocery items=20 like cassia bark, pea eggplants, and pig's trotters. Meanwhile, = sommelier=20 Sam Christie, who worked at the equally revered Tetsuya's, brings = you up=20 to speed on cocktails and wines that pair well with fire and = pungency.=20 Both books deserve a look, but if it's a toss-up between the two, = Blue=20 Ginger gets my nod.=20

When Eric Akis titled his first book Everyone Can Cook, = was he=20 thinking miniseries? Everyone Can Cook Seafood: Over 120 = Recipes for=20 Entertaining Everyday (Whitecap Books, $22.95), with the = emphasis=20 on can, is a worthy follow-up. Wherever he journeys, Akis = explains=20 in his introduction, he encounters folk eager to eat more fish: = they just=20 don't know how to handle it. Now they do, thanks to this Victoria = writer=20 who combines an affable writing style with tasty recipes and = plenty of=20 seafood information you can actually use (such as how to dismantle = a=20 Dungeness crab or remove the pin bones from a salmon). Bolstered = by=20 Michael Tourigny's scrumptious colour photos, this regional = cookbook=20 really reflects what West Coasters want to eat: one-pot dishes = like=20 whole-wheat penne with tuna, olives, and bell peppers, or=20 shrimp-and-mixed-vegetable chow mein, or Thai-style fish cakes = served with=20 dollops of the sweet chili sauce that is Vancouver's ketchup.=20

Speaking of sweet: is it their prettiness or retro appeal? = Whatever the=20 reason, they're fast becoming the biscotti of the 21st century (or = at=20 least the first part of it). And as Joanna Farrow points out in=20 Cupcakes (Whitecap Books, $12.95), decorative = possibilities=20 extend way beyond icing and sprinkles. Once you've mastered the = basics of=20 fondants and food colouring, she leads you off on a whirlwind ride = of=20 cakes trimmed with "snakes in the jungle", ladybugs, and farm = animals.=20 Adults get their own versions too. Nothing X-rated, just classily=20 tulle-tied, pansy-topped wedding cupcakes or teatime butterfly = cakes or=20 espresso cream cakes to kick-start your morning. Subversives will = start=20 thinking, "Hmm, could there be a market out there for the = savoury=20 kind?"=20

From tea tables to bedside tables (and even if it weren't = published by=20 Insomniac Press), that's where Mark Morton's Cupboard Love: = A=20 Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities ($21.95) belongs. This = is a=20 quirky plum pudding of a book bulging with fruity facts and nutty=20 observations. Did you know that calling someone a "smell-feast" is = an=20 ancient term for a freeloader or that souffl=E9 and = flatulence=20 share the same Latin root? More shared parentage: baguette = and=20 bacteria. Morton's dual approach as an academic (he teaches = English=20 at the University of Winnipeg) and communicator--yup, that's him = you've=20 heard on CBC radio's Definitely Not the Opera--translates=20 comfortably onto the page. A thousand entries, hours of = pleasure--just try=20 to resist the temptation to read aloud or you'll be pushed out of = bed.=20

=20

=20 Departments Home=20 Letters=20 News = and=20 Views=20 Contests=20 Features=20 Travel=20 Style=20 Dining=20 Arts=20 Books=20 Movies=20 Music=20 Cartoons=20 Time Out=20 Events=20 Classifieds=20 Golden Plate=20 Awards=20 Best of=20 Vancouver	Dining Dining=20 Archives Autumn Leaves By angela murrills Publish Date: 14-Oct-2004 = = Entertain There's A New Pile Of Cookbooks To Rake Up And Jump = Into--Just Watch=20 Out For The Tempeh And The Pig's Trotters=20 A trawl through the tottering stack of cookbooks that has = showed up on=20 my desk over the past few months is one way to spot emerging = trends in the=20 culinary world. Complex calligraphy in jus is so last year. = What=20 come across this season are, first, the simpler recipes that stem = from the=20 recognition that good ingredients really matter, and, second, an = emphasis=20 on the ever-changing joys of eating regionally and seasonally. So = what if=20 that was the last of the nectarines with your breakfast yogurt? = Think of=20 all the apples and pears and cranberries and walnuts waiting. Many = writers=20 now divide their cookbooks not by starters, mains, and desserts = but by=20 season. Add wine pairings and sensible menus (you're not expected = to make=20 everything all at once), and cooking, eating, and having friends = over=20 become the pleasures they should be.=20 Globe and Mail readers or anyone familiar with Lucy = Waverman's=20 other cookbooks will need little more than a gentle nudge to pick = up=20 *A Matter of Taste: Inspired Seasonal Menus With Wines and = Spirits to=20 Match* (HarperCollinsCanada, $50), a huge, juicy = hardcover=20 book unlikely to spend much time stuck on your coffee table. For = added=20 value, Waverman has teamed up with wine expert James Chatto, who = explains=20 in straightforward, elegant prose not just what to put with each = of the=20 dishes but why. Dive into the midst of the book (spring and summer = will=20 have to wait) and you find an autumnal bistro dinner that's = classic but=20 modern: crisp-skinned salmon with citrus sauce paired with the = usual=20 frites, and a starter salade Landaise of endive, = pine nuts,=20 and chicken livers. A feast for the book club centres on = make-ahead=20 braised chicken with olives and figs; an evening for foodie = friends=20 focuses on the inventive, like licorice ice cream with the lemon = tart.=20 What make this book even more valuable are the little food and = wine=20 lessons snuck into its pages. My number-one pick this season.=20 Being genetically predisposed to roast lamb and crisp bacon = means I'll=20 never be totally vegetarian, but, like many of us, I do eat = considerably=20 less meat these days. All the more reason to grab *Fresh Food = Fast:=20 Delicious, Seasonal Vegetarian Meals in Under an Hour* by = Peter=20 Berley (ReganBooks, $49.95), which sets out two-course menus and = desserts=20 that take you right through the edible year. This weekend, for = instance, I=20 might be making a pumpkin-pear-and-fennel soup as a prelude to = quinoa with=20 Brussels sprouts, tempeh, and toasted almonds followed by = maple-chestnut=20 mousse. Further down the wintry road, I might try toasted-millet = pilaf=20 followed by winter-vegetable stew with maple-glazed tofu and an = apple=20 cidercouscous cake. Lists of groceries and equipment, and = game plans=20 make entertaining a no-brainer.=20 Even a glance at the cover reveals that herbivores had better = not look=20 inside *The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating* by = Fergus=20 Henderson (Ecco, $29.95). Apart from the title, the threat of an=20 introduction by Anthony Bourdain suggests quite rightly that the = innards=20 of the book are not delicate fare for the faint of heart. Still, = if you've=20 done shanks and short ribs, and now want to take your first = tentative=20 steps along the dark alleys of animal viscera, Henderson is your = man.=20 Down-to-earth, amusing, and the owner of the much-revered St. John = restaurant in London, he isn't after shock for its own sake.=20 "There is a set of delights, textural and flavoursome, which = lie beyond=20 the fillet," he writes, pointing out that his approach (whether = devouring=20 the guts of a sheep or the leaves of a radish) is environmentally = sound.=20 Roasted on a bed of onions, brined pork belly sounds unctuously = tasty, and=20 if you can bring yourself to make devilled kidneys for breakfast, = serve=20 them, as Henderson suggests, with a glass of Black Velvet (equal = parts=20 Guinness and Champagne). Classic British dishes like kedgeree and = treacle=20 tart get a look-in too.=20 Now here's a cut-to-the-chase title: *Entertain =* (Kyle=20 Cathie, $24.95). But who's this Ed Baines whose curly = Heathcliffian hair=20 is in stark silhouette on the cover? Turns out he's yet another = talented=20 Brit who's taking the country's culinary foundations and shifting = them=20 ever so slightly on their axis. So we have bacon and eggs but with = potato=20 r=F6sti, and scrambled eggs with truffle oil and = smoked=20 salmon. Homemade fish fingers are served with = tomato-zucchini-and-olive=20 compote, fish cakes paired with a watercress and Parmesan salad, = and roast=20 chicken legs given verve with an orange gremolata. As for = Gus=20 Philgate's photos, you could lick them. (And his deliberately = out-of-focus=20 approach is the nearest anyone's yet come to capturing the feeling = of one=20 martini too many.) A small wrist slap for an otherwise highly = recommended=20 book: unless otherwise stated, recipes appear to feed four. Baines = doesn't=20 say.=20 No, last winter's package trip to Varadero = probably=20 didn't provide much of an entr=E9e into the local cuisine, but if = a=20 backstreet plate of moros y cristianos got you intrigued, = do get=20 *In a Cuban Kitchen* (Running Press, $34.95), in which = Alex=20 Garcia provides a sound introduction to the roots of his country's = cooking=20 and a highly useful glossary that demystifies lesser-known staples = such as=20 culantro (not cilantro) and the taro rootlike = malanga.=20 Recipes for the famous media noche sandwich, = croquetas,=20 albondigas, and black-bean soup (and Hemingway's mojito) = are just=20 the start. You'll also want to cook unfamiliar dishes like = pudin de=20 pescado (fish casserole) and chilindr=F3n de cordero=20 (lamb-and-roasted-pepper stew). Share, eh? As Garcia points out, = it's wise=20 to remember "the first, second, and third rules of Cuban = cooking...'where=20 one eats, two eat, and where two eat, all eat.' "=20 Beginning with =FCber-cook Donna Hay, Australian recipe books = have=20 established a much-copied benchmark for clear, bold tastes and = photography=20 to match. Two more to swell the Antipodean ranks on the bookshelf = are=20 *Blue Ginger* by Les Huynh (Murdoch Books, $29.95) and = *Longrain: Modern Thai Food* by Martin Boetz (Hardie = Grant,=20 $45), whose chef-authors take you inside their Sydney restaurants. = With=20 glisteningly fresh ingredients and vibrant flavours his = signatures, Hunyh=20 spins traditional Asian recipes using "local flavours and produce = and=20 relaxing the rules a little" to create dishes along the lines of a = Vietnamese steamed crab-meat frittata with watercress salad (my, = that=20 sounds good) and char-grilled beef with chili jam and green-papaya = salad.=20 Additional justification to spend a low-key Saturday morning = rooting=20 around Chinatown is provided by Boetz, who first encountered = Asian-style=20 cooking while at legendary Darley Street Thai. That's quite the = pedigree,=20 and his recipes, no surprise, will appeal most to the = near-professional.=20 This is dressier food altogether that calls for more arcane = grocery items=20 like cassia bark, pea eggplants, and pig's trotters. Meanwhile, = sommelier=20 Sam Christie, who worked at the equally revered Tetsuya's, brings = you up=20 to speed on cocktails and wines that pair well with fire and = pungency.=20 Both books deserve a look, but if it's a toss-up between the two, = Blue=20 Ginger gets my nod.=20 When Eric Akis titled his first book Everyone Can Cook, = was he=20 thinking miniseries? *Everyone Can Cook Seafood: Over 120 = Recipes for=20 Entertaining Everyday* (Whitecap Books, $22.95), with the = emphasis=20 on can, is a worthy follow-up. Wherever he journeys, Akis = explains=20 in his introduction, he encounters folk eager to eat more fish: = they just=20 don't know how to handle it. Now they do, thanks to this Victoria = writer=20 who combines an affable writing style with tasty recipes and = plenty of=20 seafood information you can actually use (such as how to dismantle = a=20 Dungeness crab or remove the pin bones from a salmon). Bolstered = by=20 Michael Tourigny's scrumptious colour photos, this regional = cookbook=20 really reflects what West Coasters want to eat: one-pot dishes = like=20 whole-wheat penne with tuna, olives, and bell peppers, or=20 shrimp-and-mixed-vegetable chow mein, or Thai-style fish cakes = served with=20 dollops of the sweet chili sauce that is Vancouver's ketchup.=20 Speaking of sweet: is it their prettiness or retro appeal? = Whatever the=20 reason, they're fast becoming the biscotti of the 21st century (or = at=20 least the first part of it). And as Joanna Farrow points out in=20 Cupcakes (Whitecap Books, $12.95), decorative = possibilities=20 extend way beyond icing and sprinkles. Once you've mastered the = basics of=20 fondants and food colouring, she leads you off on a whirlwind ride = of=20 cakes trimmed with "snakes in the jungle", ladybugs, and farm = animals.=20 Adults get their own versions too. Nothing X-rated, just classily=20 tulle-tied, pansy-topped wedding cupcakes or teatime butterfly = cakes or=20 espresso cream cakes to kick-start your morning. Subversives will = start=20 thinking, "Hmm, could there be a market out there for the = savoury=20 kind?"=20 From tea tables to bedside tables (and even if it weren't = published by=20 Insomniac Press), that's where Mark Morton's *Cupboard Love: = A=20 Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities* ($21.95) belongs. This = is a=20 quirky plum pudding of a book bulging with fruity facts and nutty=20 observations. Did you know that calling someone a "smell-feast" is = an=20 ancient term for a freeloader or that souffl=E9 and = flatulence=20 share the same Latin root? More shared parentage: baguette = and=20 bacteria. Morton's dual approach as an academic (he teaches = English=20 at the University of Winnipeg) and communicator--yup, that's him = you've=20 heard on CBC radio's Definitely Not the Opera--translates=20 comfortably onto the page. A thousand entries, hours of = pleasure--just try=20 to resist the temptation to read aloud or you'll be pushed out of = bed.=20 =20
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