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Filled with more than 150 recipes, this vegetarian cookbook integrates a variety of ethnic influences to provide an exciting array of innovative dishes.Amazon.com Review
This is true fusion cooking, mixing elements of Vietnamese, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, French, Chinese, Indian, and American cuisines. Italian tortellini is tossed with Thai curry paste and coconut milk. Kale-Apple Soup brings together earthy Chinese and tart American ingredients. Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage seems German, but features an Indian Peanut Sauce. Greek orzo is mixed with raisins, onions, and garlic and stuffed into a New England maple squash.
$4.95
The Bold Vegetarian: 150 Inspired International Recipes
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Bharti Kirchner has the right credentials for this kind of book: she is extremely talented in the cuisine of her native Bengal (see THE HEALTHY CUISINE OF INDIA), as well as a cookbook author who has traveled widely and grained widely from her travels (see INDIAN INSPIRED). As she did with her two earlier cookbooks, Kirchner goes to great lengths to explain her ingredients and methods to an American audience. Her food is innovative, interesting, reasonably easy to make, and great fun to eat. For vegetarians tired of “the same old thing,” this book is just the ticket to new culinary adventures!
Rating: 5 / 5
While Kirchner has presented some interesting and tasty dishes, the directions leave something to be desired. Admittedly, by being on one’s toes, one can avoid some of the pitfalls found in the recipes, but if you are like I am and slavishly follow directions for an unfamiliar recipe, there are potential disasters afoot. For example, the Yam Masala, a yummy side dish, the recipe calls for blackening chiles then adding garlic. Of course, if you have enough heat to blacken chiles, you have plenty of heat to blacken and eventually ignite minced garlic. So, overall, good recipes, but be wary!
Rating: 3 / 5
I buy and read a lot of cookbooks. When you read a lot about food many recipes can seem obvious and uninteresting. Bharti Kirchner manages to combine and recombine flavors in so many interesting and new ways that it is almost impossible not to become excited and start running for the spice cabinet while you are reading. Her willingness to experiment with fusion cuisine cannot help but infect and inspire your own cooking. Some of the recipes are long and involved but i find that you can refine the flavor concepts down to their essential elements and make these recipes quicker and easier.
Rating: 5 / 5
Here’s the true test for the quality of a vegetable recipe: transcendance. You’re looking for nothing less. Cabbage should taste like cabbage but also like something divine, and unimaginably delicious.
Don’t like cabbage? Oh, you will. Try the Cool-Hot Cabbage (a thai green curry type dish with coconut milk). The best Napa Cabbage in the world is waiting for you. And Beans with Fancy Toppings are delicious too…
Rating: 5 / 5
This cookbook is for people who want to mix and match food from around the world. It will guide people who are interested in experimentation but need some guidance for what foods to combine. My family’s favorites are the German-Thai peanut cabbage, the baked couscous with saffron, the Iranian tofu stew, and the kale-apple soup (among others). I would highly recommend it to vegetarians (especially those who are bored with the same old same old) and to anyone who is interested in truly international food.
The recipes are clear and well written, and will add another level of creativity to your cooking–even when not making a recipe from the book. One thing I appreciate most is the variations at the end of each recipe; there are both vegan and meat-eating suggestions. She also does a good job suggesting menus, if you need help deciding which dishes to combine. Best of all, most of the recipes are very healthy and will help work protein, fiber, and veggies into your food.
This is my favorite cookbook in terms of innovation and ideas. It will change the way you cook.
Rating: 5 / 5