A genuine contribution to our knowledge of world cuisines from the author of Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons (1989), about the African food legacy in the New World. Harris's concise introductory overview surveys Brazil's different regions with their different ethnic mixes and sorts out the major elements—indigenous, Portuguese (and through them, Moorish), African, and others—in this lively melting-pot cuisine. Her useful list of foreign- sounding ingredients includes several available at Latin American and Caribbean markets and a few unavailable to us. Brazilian cooking, and thus these recipes, makes heavy use of cassava, fresh and dried shrimp, peanuts, banana leaves, coconut milk, dende (palm) oil, hot malagueta chiles (often preserved according to a recipe Harris provides), and various tropical fruits. The more exotic recipes include drinks made from cachaáa (an alcoholic sugar-cane product), unusual sweet snacks, spicy condiments, typical Bahian black-eyed-pea fritters, and two versions of the Brazilian national dish feijoada—that elaborate smoked-meat and black-bean feast that unfortunately requires carne seca (a salted, sun-dried meat peculiar to Brazil). Some of the other dishes can be prepared with items from your local supermarket, but you'll definitely want to range further afield. As presented here, a Brazilian spread would make for a memorable informal party.
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 1992
ISBN: 0-02-548261-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992
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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