annieb123
Written on Jul 31, 2019
The World Sauces Cookbook is a new cookbook/tutorial from travel writer Mark C. Stevens. Released 30th July 2019 by Rockridge, it's 238 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
It's always amazed me how picking a protein (chicken, fish, beef, tofu, etc) and just changing the sauce and carbohydrate side dishes (rice, noodles, potatoes) gives a completely different meal.
The author says something that resonated with me in the introduction:
On the road in a foreign land, seeing everything is impossible. If you try, you miss what is truly unique about a place. Books with 400-plus recipes claim to be exhaustive, yet many of them don’t have Khoresh Fesenjoon or Jajik. Are they truly acquainted with Persian cuisine? Have they been in the kitchen, or did they just go to the monuments?
This is such an interesting cookbook. It is laid out logically and in an easy to follow format. The first section includes sauces arranged in chapters by geographical location. There are recipes from Asia-Oceania-The Indian subcontinent, the Americas (North & South), Middle East-Africa-Mediterranean-Caucasus, and Europe.
The second section has all the recipes for using the sauces as well as serving suggestions. Many of the recipes include alternative sauces or presentations. The recipes are written for American standard measurements and are (mostly) not converted to include SI measurements. There are a few places where gram measurements are given (for example the ponzu recipe which calls for 5g each of kombu and bonito flakes).
These are regional sauces many of which are not well known outside of the locale or amongst those who have emigrated elsewhere. As such many of the ingredients may be difficult to source without a well stocked international food store.
The recipes have a header with location info, short description with prep/cooking time and yields, followed by ingredients, cooking instructions, alternative finishes and (if appropriate) links to coordinating dishes.
It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Very tasty and exotic sauces to dress up one's staple recipes. We've tried several with our regular chicken, porkchop, and sliced beef and all were quite enjoyable.
Four stars. This one will be a keeper for me.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.