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Summary: letter I sent to Anna Thomas
Review: Dear Anna this is really a simple note to let you know how much I have appreciated your influence in my life. I just found your website and thought that i should utilize your easily-accessible e-mail address to express appreciation. I had been a self-made cook- just making things up and finding my own way in the kitchen until 4 years ago when I was given the New Vegetarian Epicure as a gift. Your descriptions of food drew me in and your conversational tone made me feel as though I was cooking with an experienced friend or teacher. I became comfortable with your style, confident that you wouldn't lead me astray- and I ventured out into incredible cooking. Not only making dishes with ingrediants I had never heard of, but even making succesfully the more complicated ones. I learned even to flip through the book to find a description in the beginning describing how I was feeling to find the recipe or menu for that experience. My kitchen skills are worlds away from where I began. I now create meals from a much broader base of understanding, philosophy and taste. Cooking has become a beautiful meditation for me, and I am grateful to have your book for reference. Thank you so much. Nathalie Kapp
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Summary: Perhaps the Paperback version is different
Review: Having received this book as a gift in the last week, I would like to lay to rest the idea that there is a spread on how to carve a turkey -- there isn't. There are three pages at the end of the book which explain how to spit roast a turkey. However, these pages weren't written by Anna Thomas, rather they were written by her husband. And the logic to his argument is reasonable -- in a household that is diverse, someone might want or need to know how to integrate a turkey into an otherwise vegetarian menu at Thanksgiving. The other recipes, however, far outweigh the slightly disconcerting presence of the turkey at the end. Many fascinating presentations -- from yummy corn tamales to an interesting frittata supper -- there's something here for everyone. One of the useful features of this cookbook is the menu format -- solving the oft time dilemma of what to serve with X. The recipes are mostly designed to serve between 6 and 10 people. Perhaps a bit much for some of us, but leftovers are a wonderful thing. The other really nice feature is the "What do kids eat?" section, which reminds us that we all went through strange food periods when we were kids and it's often easier to go with the flow than to fight. All in all this is a wonderful cookbook with clear instructions and a good sense of balance. I'll be cooking happily from it for years to come.
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Summary: Great for any gourmet (or wanna-be); not for the newbie cook
Review: I am vegetarian, and I purchased this book to give to one of my nonvegetarian friends. We're both gourmandes. I wanted to try out some of the recipes first to give my suggestions and comments on the book. I liked the presentation of the meals in the book. I find that most cookbooks, especially vegetarian ones, just throw out recipes and expect the cook to find flavors that meld properly. I believe that The New Vegetarian Epicure is a great reference for planning a meal, but the recipes themselves aren't that great. First, I think that the proportions of the ingredients are off; for example, she usually calls for an excessive amount of onions. All the recipes I've made from the book, I either really didn't like or just thought they were OK. Secondly, the book is not at all practical for everyday cooking. Most, but not all, of the recipes require 2 or more hours to prepare. In some of the recipes, there is a much quicker way to get from step A to step B other than the path proposed by the author. I would recommed Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone over the New Vegetarian epicure. Veg Cooking for Everyone has more healthful, simple dishes, that are fancy enough for even the most uptight company.
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Summary: Ingredients hard to find; can't find a turkey tree either...
Review: I collect cookbooks. I have a bookshelf in my kitchen groaning under the weight of my vegetarian cookbooks. Some are mediocre, some are excellent.
This one, however, doesn't even fit in since it isn't a vegetarian cookbook. The inclusion of turkey cooking and carving information is unnecessary and offensive to me. She even states, "Everyone is happy, and even the vegetarians usually want to try my great spit-roasted turkey." I don't know what kind of vegetarians she's been hanging around with, but this Thanksgiving, a group of us got together so we could specifically have a dead-animal-free holiday. Most vegetarians I know aren't going to be interested in her turkey because they are VEGETARIANS.
As for the meatless recipes, enough of them call for expensive or rare ingredients that I am discouraged from trying many of them. The planned meals have a lot of recipes that just don't sound very good, and she relies much too heavily on dairy products in most of these recipes.
I suggest the recipes in "Living Among Meat Eaters" over the ones in this book. I also recommend the Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking for those who want to give Indian cooking a try.
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Summary: A favorite cookbook that just HAPPENS to be vegetarian
Review: I have dozens of vegetarian cookbooks and they get pretty repetitive. I bought this book because I loved Anna Thomas' Vegetarian Epicure books 1 & 2 -- and I was not disappointed! Like her other cookbooks, the inspiration for these recipes comes from around the world. Also, this book has an updated cooking style compared to her older cookbooks.
The recipes are original and fresh. I particularly recommend the Tomatillo and Squash soup. My family loves Mexican food, but typical vegetarian Mexican fare is heavy on the cheese and fat. Anna Thomas presents a number of Mexican-inspired dishes that offer a variety of tastes; many are relatively low-fat.
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Summary: Inventive vegetarian food
Review: I have dozens of vegetarian cookbooks and they get pretty repetitive. I bought this book because I loved Anna Thomas' Vegetarian Epicure books 1 & 2 -- and I was not disappointed! Like her other cookbooks, the inspiration for these recipes comes from around the world. Also, this book has an updated cooking style compared to her older cookbooks.
The recipes are original and fresh. I particularly recommend the Tomatillo and Squash soup. My family loves Mexican food, but typical vegetarian Mexican fare is heavy on the cheese and fat. Anna Thomas presents a number of Mexican-inspired dishes that offer a variety of tastes; many are relatively low-fat.
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Summary: Splendid meals for any table, vegetarian or not
Review: I simply love this cookbook. As an occasional vegetarian, it's a thrill to find a source for elegant, delicious food. Thomas' recipes deliver all that she promises in her nicely written text, and everything I have cooked from this book has been luscious, from fresh tomato risotto to roasted winter vegetables. It's easy to forget that's there no meat in menus so beguiling and satisfying. I also like Thomas' emphasis on seasonal fresh ingredients, and the balance she strikes by presenting recipes you can do on a weeknight without compromising on quality. Finally, I was pleased by her decision to organize the book around menus. Although you don't have to cook the courses as she suggests them, I have tried it and found that the dishes blend beautifully, and that they don't all demand attention or the same piece of kitchen gear at the same time--one person working alone in the kitchen can reasonably produce the full menu without too much angst. A gem for cooks and eaters of all persuasions.
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Summary: Great for any gourmet (or wanna-be); not for the newbie cook
Review: Like a number of long-time vegetarians, Anna Thomas's first cookbook (The Vegetarian Epicure) was my first vegetarian cookbook. Though I still use it for some recipes, after 15 years of vegetarianism I needed something more interesting, challenging, gourmet. When I got The New Vegetarian Epicure as a gift ~5 years ago, I couldn't have been more pleased. Nothing has ever turned out badly. The Red Pepper Pesto is so popular at parties that I always have to at least double the recipe - everyone loves it, even those who don't like roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, and/or olives (all of which are in the recipe). My personal recommendation: serve it with some soft goat cheese! In recent years, I've taken to even more serious cooking, and I still always start with this cookbook when planning special dinners. The recipes are primarily organized into menus, which is very handy, but they all stand well on their own. Two things may detract from the appeal of this cookbook for some chefs: First, many of the recipes are a bit more complicated than a beginnner or quick-cook will want. However, instructions are very clear and reasons for complicated steps are explained, and I learned a lot when preparing these recipes (much of which is useful in other recipes). But, if you are looking for a basic, how-to-cook, vegetarian cookbook, this is not for you. Second, some of the ingredients will be harder to get in your average supermarket. However, almost everything can be found in a big city or higher-end grocery store, and of course there's online stores if you prefer. Flexibility and/or planning makes it all possible, and many recipes can indeed be made without the special ingredients. If you like to cook, you like to entertain, and you love to eat, you really can't go wrong, unless you think absolutely everything must include meat. These recipes will keep even the skeptical meat-eater satisfied, and may even convert a few.
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Summary: So much less than the original
Review: Unfortunately, Anna Thomas has caught the "lean cuisine" bug.
The original Vegetarian Epicure distinguished itself with recipes that showed that vegetarian food didn't have to be bland or thin. I loved (and all of my dinner guests raved about) the Corn & Cheddar Cheese Chowder, for example.
I mean, just because we're vegetarians it doesn't mean we've lost our taste for rich food or bold flavors!
The new version is a disappointment because it focuses on, for want of a better phrase, "health food." Anna Thomas celebrates the abandonment of butter, cream, cheese. And by doing so she abandons the very thing that made the original Vegetarian Epicure interesting.
For my money, don't bother with the new edition -- get yourself the original Vegetarian Epicure!
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