Rating: 
Summary: Feedback from an overseas reader
Review: Awesome book, a little US centric in places but fantastic reading, well worth buying
Rating: 
Summary: A solidly written cookbook
Review: Chez Panisse's Alice Waters on the west coast is generally credited with having educated people's palates to the wonders of food that was fresh, fresh, fresh and simply prepared; Dean & DeLuca helped to do the same on the East Coast, but instead of preparing them to enjoy such food only in restaurant settings, the store enabled them to try new culinary tricks at home. Dean & DeLuca's vast stock of formerly unavailable (and frequently pretty esoteric) food goodies emboldened even the most timid of home chefs, and sharpened the sophistication of the New York appetite.Written by television cooking show host and former GOURMET restaurant reviewer David Rosengarten, with considerable input from Dean and DeLuca themselves, "The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook" is a compendium of nearly 600 recipes. The recipes are divided into component-based sections, rather than seasonal chapters. The dishes are unfailingly imaginative (sometimes perhaps too much so, substituting flash over substance), and Rosengarten has a highly developed flair for educating the reader in manageable bits and pieces with his ingredient and technique tips. My only complaint is that there is nary an illustration in the entire book. Because the act of eating employs all the senses, I expect any cookbook to reasonably approximate this experience, if only as a way of tempting me to try the recipes. "The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook" is filled with delicious-sounding stuff, but as an invitation to cook, it is a little too text-bookish and nose-to-the-grindstone.
Rating:
Summary: A solidly written cookbook
Review: Chez Panisse's Alice Waters on the west coast is generally credited with having educated people's palates to the wonders of food that was fresh, fresh, fresh and simply prepared; Dean & DeLuca helped to do the same on the East Coast, but instead of preparing them to enjoy such food only in restaurant settings, the store enabled them to try new culinary tricks at home. Dean & DeLuca's vast stock of formerly unavailable (and frequently pretty esoteric) food goodies emboldened even the most timid of home chefs, and sharpened the sophistication of the New York appetite. Written by television cooking show host and former GOURMET restaurant reviewer David Rosengarten, with considerable input from Dean and DeLuca themselves, "The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook" is a compendium of nearly 600 recipes. The recipes are divided into component-based sections, rather than seasonal chapters. The dishes are unfailingly imaginative (sometimes perhaps too much so, substituting flash over substance), and Rosengarten has a highly developed flair for educating the reader in manageable bits and pieces with his ingredient and technique tips. My only complaint is that there is nary an illustration in the entire book. Because the act of eating employs all the senses, I expect any cookbook to reasonably approximate this experience, if only as a way of tempting me to try the recipes. "The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook" is filled with delicious-sounding stuff, but as an invitation to cook, it is a little too text-bookish and nose-to-the-grindstone.
Rating:
Summary: Cooking up a storm...
Review: David Rosengarten not only explains each category of food, but the recipes throughout have resulted in culinary delicacies I never thought I could produce!
Rating:
Summary: Should be called the "Taste" cookbook
Review: How much does this book have to do with "Dean & Deluca"? Very little! There are a few recipes of items offered for sale at "Dean & Deluca", and some of more exotic ingredients are likely to be found at "Dean & Deluca". What this book should have been called is the "David Rosengarten - Taste" cookbook. Almost all the recipes come from episodes of "Taste"(the very popular cooking show hosted by David Rosengarten shown several times each day on the TV Food Network). David is by far the most visible personality on the TV Food Network, having hosted as many as 3 different programs a day ("Taste", "In Food Today", and earlier version of "Dining Around"). He's also a well known wine/food writer for several magazines. It's not a general cookbook (it's not going to replace you copy of Joy of Cooking), it's not a primer, and it's not a specialty book. It's more like a "best of" Taste, leaning to the less exotic.
Rating:
Summary: Should be called the "Taste" cookbook
Review: How much does this book have to do with "Dean & Deluca"? Very little! There are a few recipes of items offered for sale at "Dean & Deluca", and some of more exotic ingredients are likely to be found at "Dean & Deluca". What this book should have been called is the "David Rosengarten - Taste" cookbook. Almost all the recipes come from episodes of "Taste"(the very popular cooking show hosted by David Rosengarten shown several times each day on the TV Food Network). David is by far the most visible personality on the TV Food Network, having hosted as many as 3 different programs a day ("Taste", "In Food Today", and earlier version of "Dining Around"). He's also a well known wine/food writer for several magazines. It's not a general cookbook (it's not going to replace you copy of Joy of Cooking), it's not a primer, and it's not a specialty book. It's more like a "best of" Taste, leaning to the less exotic.
Rating:
Summary: Serious, yet simple. Buy it; you will not regret it.
Review: I am still in the cooking experimentation stage (read: I usually have no clue when it comes to cooking). I love food and my philosophy has always been 'genius lies in simplicity.' This book epitomizes that philosophy. I have tried several recipes and to my utter surprise, not only were they easy, but also tasted great ! I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: 20 hours of tomatos violently roasting in the oven?
Review: I bought this book. At random I came upon the tomato recipe being roasted in the oven. It said let it roast for 20 hours!
How is it possible to roast an innocent-looking succulent tomato for 20 hours? Or am I missing something here? Otherwise, what they say about this book is passable. I still have to comb it thoroughy though for more instances of violent 20-hour-high-heat cooking. If this is a piece of bad editing/proofreading I shudder to think of what other serious errors have crept in. I worry for my electric bill more than for my palate that's why I brought this up.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth buying!
Review: I first borrowed this book from the library to test the recipes, and ended up renewing it twice before buying my own copy. Every recipe I've tried has come out fantastic - and they haven't been very difficult, either (although some have taken me longer than I thought because of prep time- like peeling shallots and garlic). My husband loves meat loaf, but I was never able to make it exactly right. Thanks to the Dean & Deluca recipe, I don't have to keep searching for that perfect recipe (I found it here). The roast chicken with shallots and rosemary was absolutely wonderful and the chicken cacciatorre had my 11-year old raving for days -- he ate all the leftovers, too! Many thanks to the Dean & Deluca Cookbook for letting us in on the secret to delicious food, and providing us with easy-to-follow instructions! I am really looking forward to trying the other recipes (and there are a LOT of them!).
Rating:
Summary: The perfect cookbook
Review: I have tried several recipes from this book throughout the past year and have been thrilled with the results. While I can't remember the exact names of the dishes, my favorites include Dean & Deluca's version of the basics-the chili, the meatloaf, the chicken soup, the tomato sauce. I think I have made the chicken pot pie at least a dozen times. When it comes to a bit more complicated fare, I found the paella to be extraordinary--and one of the easiest paella recipes I have found to follow. It's really a lot of fun, as far as cookbooks go.
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