THE PEOPLES' COOK BOOK

Lavish spreads of delicate pate and caviar, rich cream sauces and succulent roasts are nowhere to be found in this unusually well assembled collection of ordinary folks' recipes. Buckwheat cakes and Brunswick stew testify to the fact that Yanks have also been poor and thrifty, but many of these recipes--measurements given in both grams and pounds--come from parts of the globe where hunger is commonplace, diets monotonous, and simple meals the only ones attainable. A guide to ""resources"" introduces American cooks to such items as breadfruit, sorghum, manioc, millet, and seaweed--staples in other parts of the world. The recipes are sensibly arranged and generally quite spartan, though holiday fare is more abundant. Bread recipes range from India's pooris to Chinese steamed rolls to Jewish latkes--potato pancakes. The meat and fish dishes comprise only a small section of the book and the recipes--whether Congolese (chicken with peanuts), Afghani (lamb patties), or American (chitlins')--tend to utilize the cheapest and most abundant animals of the region. It's a moot point how much of this fare will be replicated in our kitchens before it has to be--to well-stuffed Americans. the ingenuity of peasant cooks should be an eye-opening lesson in feeding families on next to nothing.