Marks, whose earlier cookbooks have featured such cuisines as Guatemalan, Burmese, and Indonesian, has ranged far and wide for this hefty collection, marking the 500th anniversary of the Jews' expulsion from Spain, that is held together by its focus on Sephardic Jewish and other related Jewish communities. With bits of sketchy capsule history introducing each place of settlement, Marks presents recipes from the community of 6000 Jews in Greece, the 50 or fewer (down from 6000 just decades ago) in Calcutta, the 38,000 from Libya (now completely transplanted to Israel), and several others. Some of the recipes, such as the ``Jewish eggs'' cooked in their shells for hours, he found in Jewish communities in Calcutta, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, and Morocco; others, such as the walnut sauces of Georgia in the Caucasus, the injeera bread of Ethiopia, and the Moroccan bestila (``pigeon'' pie made here with chicken), are characteristic of the country of settlement but, as in other Marks collections, are considerably adapted here for American convenience. An interesting collection of dishes, many of them new to Americans, from a cuisine family that is becoming increasingly popular with American Jews raised on more stolid Eastern European fare. (Photographs.)
Pub Date: March 24, 1992
ISBN: 1-55611-318-8
Page Count: 632
Publisher: Donald Fine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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