New Asian Cuisine

By JULIETTE ROSSANT New Asian Cuisine: Fabulous Recipes from Celebrity Chefs (International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association 2006) is a courageous book does many things at once. Wendy Chan and Grace Niwa of Savory Productions, a marketing and public relations firm specializing in food, created and produced the book. Wendy and Grace write that they wanted "to spark more interest in Asian food and beverages on all levels" (p. 4), through assembling a collection of the best recipes from over 100 celebrity chefs, predominantly from US restaurants but also from Asia. That is a huge task given the great number of different cuisine traditions in Asia. But there is more: We decided to enrich the book with information allowing readers to understand how Asian food fits into the new USDA dietary guideline. Therefore, you will find recipes that include a healthier interpretation of classic dishes and contemporary creations rich in Eastern sensibilities. Many of the recipes have a small food pyramid logo printed at the bottom of the page to show that they are more healthy choices. Further, Wendy and Grace want to promote the restaurants of the chefs who have contributed recipes, thus there is a cut-out diary section at the back of the book to write food notes when visiting each restaurant as well as a list of all the restaurants. And New Asian Cuisine also promotes the sponsors, including Pucci Foods, Wang Derm Brand, and Phillips Foods, by listing them in the book, almost as they might appear in a tradeshow catalog or conference program booklet. Wendy and Grace wrote in a press release "We were able to conceptualize, produce, raise funds, design, get the book printed and in major bookstores all within the year." Unlike traditional cookbook publishing, in which a publishing company pays an advance to the writer or compiler along with payments to one or more photographers, this book has been paid for by the sponsors, with photographs and recipes donated by the chefs. The tradeoffs are that sponsorship frees Wendy and Grace from the constraints of a publishing company but constrained the look and feel of their final product to whatever monies they could raise. This is not the best-looking book on the market. Yet, in some instances, recipes are well written and the photographs are excellent, such as those by Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur (Crunchy Indian Snack with Fresh Tomatoes and Onion, pp. 26-7). On the other hand, the photo by Ben Fink is tempting, while Ian Chalermkittichai's Northeast Style Beef Salad with Snake Beans (p. 52) has a photo by Martin Jansche, which makes that dish look greasy and unappetizing. One technical draw back in the book is that there is no table of contents. There is an "Index by Recipe" (pp. 282-7) and an Index by Chef (pp. 280-1) but no index for ingredients or country of origin. Given the monetary constraints, however, overall this brave book brings forth amazing recipes from exciting chefs, a number of whom have published their own cookbooks. Very interesting are the recipes from chefs outside of the US, like Hide Yamamoto's Shichimi Crusted Lamb Loin, Ginger, Lemon Grass Jus, Corn and Kabocha Sauce (pp. 163-4) from Tokyo, which calls for kabocha squash juice and several Korean specialty ingredients. Some of the recipes are so spare in their descriptions of method that it would be difficult to make the dish, as in cookbook authors H.K. & Pauline D. Loh's Swift in Phoenix (Chicken with Bird's Nest) from Sigapore (p. 170). It is also interesting how many non-Asian named chefs are included in the book, such as Wolfgang Puck's famous Chicken Salad Chinois (p. 43), a fascinating Grilled Shrimp with a Strawberry Beet Reduction (p. 96) from James McDevitt of Restaurant Budo, and a Tuna Tartar (p. 133) from Olives New York from Todd English. These are recipes for home cooks, to encourage experimentation and more healthy eating. What is most exceptional is the Dessert chapter in the book, which is brimming with unusual recipes perfect for summer dessert. The Almond Tofu with Kiwi in Rock Sugar Syrup (p. 218) is a great reason to rejoince at Pichet Ong's upcoming restaurant opening in New York. The tofu is is made of soya and almond milk in a light custard served with kiwi. Ong's Vietnamese Coffee Fortune Cookies (p. 242) reveal his fun side of exploring a traditional Chinese restaurant cookie with a twist, first made for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurant 66. Overall, this cookbook is a fun introduction to the breadth of Asian cuisine, especially in America. Many of the recipes are easy to prepare and require only a handful of special ingredients, most available at a good health food store. The Food Pyramid logos are an easy way to decide which are the healthiest dishes to prepare. But the real point of this cookbook is to entice you to go out and eat Asian. Book details: Website Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Previous articles: Blooker Prize: Julie & Julia [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, self-publishing --> back to superchefblog