The One-Pot and Clay-Pot Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title, but Worth its Weight in Saffron.
Review: I bought this book without even looking inside it. That is testimony to the quality of "The Cook's Encyclopedia of" series, of which this is one, though it has been renamed for some reason.

I was initially disappointed, because my idea of one-pot cooking is that the contents of the one pot be a main dish, not a side dish. Many of these recipes are really side dishes. Not many people would consider Ratatouille as being a main dish, for example.

So why the five stars? Well, the ratatouille recipe is the best one I've ever seen -- simply wonderful! Also true of the other 20-odd recipes I've made from this book. Commenting on the review by Mr. Moore, where he says "the spices and combination of ingredients have a decidely European feel": He is quite correct, when the dish is a European one, such as Jansson's Temptation, Seafood Risotto, Cassoulet, or Italian Lamb Meatballs with Chilli Tomato Sauce (all of which are excellent, by the way -- the tricky risotto is particularly well-explained).

However, when the book moves further afield, to Morocco for five different tagines (the shellfish one is particularly good), or to India for a Goan Fish Casserole, or to Thailand for a tofu curry, I can assert that the ingredients, spices and techniques are absolutely authentic to their regions.

As with all of this series of books, the layout is almost perfect -- they'd be better eliminating the pointless "technique" photographs and enlarging the recipe font, but it is never necessary to turn a page while working on a recipe. The comprehensive index also works well -- rare in a cookbook.

I've only found one recipe where I immediately disagree with the author, and that is the otherwise excellent Chicken Gumbo. Where is the file roux? I know that excellent gumbos can be made without file, but if you're only going to include one gumbo recipe, it should have file in it. Strange omission, because the other recipe from Louisiana, the Jambalaya, is completely authentic.

One other gripe is that slow cookers are never mentioned, even though slow cookers are an absolute natural for many of these dishes. The author goes on at length about the different types of clay pot, but I have never noticed any actual advantage to clay pot cooking except for the presentation, when you walk into the dining room with tagine in hands, place it in the middle of the table, and whisk the top off with a flourish. It's just a small gripe, however, because most of these recipes can be done in a slow cooker without any change whatsoever except for increased cooking time.

I have five books from this series, and all five of them reside permanently on the top shelf of my 200+ cookbook library. I have used this one less than the others, but that's only because I got it fairly recently.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Illustrated for European Cuisine
Review: I purchased this book because I was looking for some recipes and tips for using my Romertopf clay cooker. The book does a thorough job of discussing the various types and techniques for cooking with glazed and unglazed clay pots, and examines other one-pot techniques (pan-frying, stir-frying pot-roasting)as well. But the real beauty of this book is the wealth of illustrations. Each recipe not only includes a picture of the finished dish, but several pictures showing the 'how to' of the recipe directions. The recipes are divided into clearly numbered steps again accompanied most of the time by an illustration.
I would have given this book five stars but for the fact that the book is designed primarily for European cooks and includes many recipes for dishes not particularly common in American kitchens. There are many dishes using lamb and the spices and the combination of ingredients have a decidedly European feel. That is not intended to be a negative comment as I intend to expand my culinary experience by trying some of the recipes that I have never tasted. But for Americans who like more traditional fare and are like me, looking to learn more about cooking with a clay pot, this book may be a disappointment.