Sara Jenkins: Olives & Oranges

By JULIETTE ROSSANT There is no mystery about what Sara Jenkins like best – it is on the cover of her book with co-author Mindy Fox, Olives & Oranges: Recipes & Flavor Secrets from Italy, Spain, Cyprus & Beyond (Houghton Mifflin 2008). Against a grainy wood background, you will see a small dish of mixed olives glistening in olive oil and an orange with its leaves and stem in tact. She adores salty and sour flavors, and these permeate her cookbook. She cooks with fresh ingredients (the orange) and Mediterranean flavors (the olives). Sara is direct in revealing what this cookbook is about: The intent of this book is to show you how flavors work independently and together so you can follow your own instincts and appetites, make the most of the ingredients you have, cook without a recipe if you like, or change one to suit your needs (p. 2) Chefs don't use cookbooks, they get inspired by them, steal from them, or just read them for information and techniques. Slavishly following a recipe won't make for better dishes, but learning about why flavors work together, and how not to ruin a great ingredient is the whole point of her book. Sara Jenkins is the daughter of food journalist, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, and foreign correspondent Loren Jenkins. She grew up in capital cities and rural villages around the Mediterranean – Italy, Spain, France, and Lebanon - learning to cook with home cooks, and learning to appreciate and be adventurous in food from her parents. Her story sounds like a great foodie movie, ending up, where else, but New York City where she cooked in a number of restaurants, and is opening a new restaurant this fall called Porchetta in the East Village. Most cookbooks include a section on ingredients, but Olives & Oranges goes further. For instance, for the entry on Vinegar and Other Acids (pp. 7-9), Sara includes recommendations of strong-flavored vinegar (Forum by El Vendrell in Catalonia, Spain), lighter vinegar for salads and fish (Volpaia red and white vinegar) and Vin Santo (All of which can be ordered online from the Sources section at the back of the book). She does not use balsamic vinegar and argues that much of the balsamic vinegar in America is of very poor quality. Her list of spices ranges from black pepper corns to Za'atar, the Middle Eastern mixture of thyme, sesame seeds, sumac and other spices, to Sumac itself, another astringent flavor, and the North African pepper paste Harissa. All great meals in the Mediterranean start with mezze or antipasto, and Sara's range around the all the countries where she has lived. She starts with simple, quick recipes like Carrot Salad with Lemon, Sea Salt, Parsley, and Olive Oil (p. 25), which is the classic French Carrot Rape followed by Tunisian Raw Turnip Salad (p. 27) fortified with harissa. Don't skip the recipe notes. In them Sara explains how citrus wilts the carrot, or how harissa can be used in other recipes. She follows with a recipe for Kibbeh Naye (p. 30), the raw lamb and bulgur wheat mezze that is popular in Lebanon and a great end- of the-summer recipe for Mechuia (Tunisian Grilled Caponata (p. 50) that includes peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant with cilantro and lime. Slow cooking recipes follow the quick ones. Her Sweet Corn Sformato (p. 56-7) is a light creamy custard (great on the East Coast where corn is at its best). Fried Eggplant Balls (p. 60), which could use a better name, are flavored with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Alan Richardson fills Olives & Oranges with tempting food photos. If you want to follow a Mediterranean diet, Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox have absorbed the best flavors of the region and presents them in clear, well-written recipes with helpful notes. Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef