Margvelashvili—a Canadian married to a Soviet Georgian- -divides her time between Vancouver and Tbilisi, Georgia, and has taken fine advantage of the opportunity to investigate the cooking styles, native spices, and culinary legends of this region rich in colorful and fragrant foods. The result is one of those highly readable cookbooks that convey the cultural context along with the food. As for the food, Georgian cuisine makes heavy use of eggplant, yogurt, wild greens, game, chicken, sour plums, pomegranate syrup, hot paprika, and coriander, both fresh leaves and ground seeds. There's also an ubiquitous paste made of ground coriander, garlic, walnuts, and marigold petals; a leaf called ekala, for which a recommended substitute is sarsaparilla or green brier; and a spice called utseko suneli, for which the closest substitute is powdered fenugreek petals. Since you can't get far without these ingredients (and even the substitutes are a little obscure), we'll be waiting for the list of mail-order sources to come in the finished book.
Pub Date: Aug. 19, 1991
ISBN: 0-13-138215-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1991
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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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 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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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
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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