Vongerichten spices up the kitchen with this colorfully photographed companion piece to the new PBS series in which the author shares her Korean roots and easy-to-prepare culinary delights.
The author may be the wife of three-star Michelin chef Jean-Georges, but when it comes to Korean cooking she is the master. Recipes include an assortment of flavors for all tastes, ranging from sauces and salads, meat for the barbecue, seafood, staple dishes of rice and noodles and, of course, the robust Ultimate Cabbage Kimchi. While she doesn’t attempt to Americanize the dishes, many ingredients, such as Kraft single cheese slices, can already be found in readers’ kitchens: “A lot of [American] foods found their way into pantries in Korea after American GIs rationed them to Koreans during the war,” she writes. Other more exotic ingredients can be readily sourced through the author’s recommended resources, including the affordable Koa Mart (kgrocer.com), and she also provides lists of pantry staples and required cooking tools. It’s not just about food for Vongerichten, who attempts to shed light on Korean culture as well. Readers are encouraged to introduce a series of small side dishes (Banchan) for communal eating, and reminded that drinking in Korea is accompanied by much good food cooked on sizzling camp stoves in tents. Along with recipes for several cocktails, the author offers hangover cures and preventatives, like Budae Jjigae (Army stew), which by itself is well worth the book’s price. Excellent recipes for all skill levels.
Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2011
ISBN: 978-1609611279
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Rodale
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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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