KIDS AROUND THE WORLD COOK!

This cookbook for recipes from around the world chooses neither the best foods nor the best recipes, but does include some odd and interesting information about the history of what we eat. Dividing the text into chapters on beverages, grains, soups and starters, main courses, and deserts, the author includes a section on kitchen safety and provides brief information on special ingredients. Braman (Kids Around the World Create. Not reviewed), is a former teacher, who states she has tested the recipes with fourth graders and simplified recipes for young cooks. Maybe, but Baklawa (Egyptian phyllo with ground nuts and coconut) and Injera (Ethiopian flat bread) are not usually considered starter recipes. Some information given is neither safe nor accurate. She suggests cooking bratwurst in a pan over medium heat till lightly brown. Gourmet magazine recommends simmering brats for twenty minutes before grilling, or pan browning. Undercooked sausages are NOT SAFE. Elsewhere, she describes New York egg creams, as `a combination of eggs, cream, chocolate syrup and soda.` Most New Yorkers will tell you egg creams have neither eggs nor cream. The format is distracting for cooks, since the author introduces a type of food, then gives some food history from other times and cultures, lists ingredients for a specific recipe, gives the stepbystep procedure, and then introduces a food from still another culture. Line drawings and photographs appear throughout. Some specialized cooking terms are defined in the glossary. Index was not seen. An additional purchase where multicultural materials are in heavy demand. (Nonfiction 1012)