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Rating: 
Summary: Totally outdated
Review: Having written a reference work on food myself, I fully realize how difficult it is to research and write such a book as this, and how easy it is to find fault and criticize. And if I had seen the original edition of this book when it was first published, I probably would have found it valuable and interesting. If it had been heavily revised and brought up to date, it still might be. But it isn't. I have been reading the chapter on Iceland and I have to say that it is very misleading. What is being described - and not always correctly - is Iceland in the 1950s and 1960s. A few examples - there are many more in the text:"Some homes have refrigerators with freezers" (yes, about 98% of them) "but most manage with cold closets." I'm the only person I know who has a cold larder (and a refrigerator and a freezer, too). Refrigerators have been in most homes here since the early 1960s at least. "Fresh fruits are scarce". They haven't been scarce for the last 30 years at least. These days you can even get exotic fruits like ramboutan and mangosteen. "Cattle are mainly used for dairy products, rarely for beef." Beef is now as common as lamb. "Pigs are all but nonexistent; pork is rare and expensive and said to have a fishy taste ..." Now common, inexpensive by Icelandic standards and quite good. "Icelanders have a deeply rooted objection to eating birds of any type" - oh, come on, chicken was not much eaten but not because people didn't like it, rather because it wasn't economical to raise the birds on imported grain. They are very popular now. And wild birds have always been eaten - in some regions they were a large part of the diet. "... margarine and butter (all unsalted)". Totally wrong. Both margarine and butter is almost always salted. "Salt is seldom added (to food)" Wrong. Salt is added to most savory food and many people salt their food liberally. "Preferring to talk in separate groups, men and women disperse after the meal, it still being considered "odd" or "forward" if women join in men's conversations." Possibly in the 1950s; certianly not now. Flatbrauð (rye griddle cakes) is never ever served with sugar or preserves, always with butter and meat or cheese. Steiktir partar are not "thin wafer-like pastries filled with sweetened whipped cream" but fairly thick, flat wheatcakes, deep-fried in fat and eaten cold with butter and often meat or cheese, never a sweet topping. I could go on and on - there are so many errors here. Reading this book made me realize once again how much Icelandic cuisine and society has changed during the last 30-40 years and the same is true for most other Western nations. This book is supposedly revised and updated but these updates seem to have been minimal in the chapters I've looked at so far (the only sources cited for Iceland that are published after 1967 are The New York Times 1998 Almanac and the Lonely Planet guide). Unfortunately I feel this is a reference work that I can not trust - it is so inaccurate and out of date.
Rating:
Summary: Outdated and inaccurate
Review: I know Australia is at the end of the world for most Americans and Canadians, but I would presume that an ethnic cooking "expert" such as Barer-Stein presents herself to be could access more up to date information than the 30 year old sources used in her book.
Inaccuracies abound - including "home freezers are not yet common", "skim milk is not widely accepted", "cheeses are not a usual part of the diet", "potatoes are expensive"!!! and the unbelieveable lunch "the working person will have an inexpensive hot plate of mince, potato, and peas" -- Yuk! And certainly not a food habit of my living memory.
Not to mention the glossary: an amazing hodge-podge of food from the 1950s, New Zealand Maori seafood and strange fare such as a molehill "a desert of almond-filled prunes coated and mounded with gelatin, whipped eggs and cream and topped with chocolate" which nobody I know has ever heard of.
We also now eat kangaroo, emu and crocodile steaks, but never never never has goanna "a large fatty lizard, often eaten grilled" ever graced any South Australian table.
So - don't waste your money. This book is a sloppy updating of the author's 20 year old study. Firefly Books should be embarrassed to have it in their catalog.
Rating:
Summary: DECEPCIONADO
Review: Me encanta leer libros de cocina y pense que este serÃa "el libro" para conocer arte y costumbres culinarias de otros paises. Como soy originario de México y ahora vivo en Brasil, lo primero que leà fue lo referente a estoa paises. QUE DECEPCIÓN! La idea del libro es excelente y seguramente la autora tuvo que viajar, leer y estudiar mucho, pero pienso que debió haber pedido ayuda a que revisaran sus capÃtulos personas conocedoras de cada paÃs o región. Tiene muchos errores históricos, geográficos, culinarios y de ortografÃa del idioma original. Estoy preparando una lista de ellos que posteriormente enviaré. La felicito por su dedicación, perodes graciadamente el resultado no es del todo bueno. Hans Rio de Janeiro/Brasil
Rating:
Summary: Outdated and inaccurate
Review: Me encanta leer libros de cocina y pense que este sería "el libro" para conocer arte y costumbres culinarias de otros paises. Como soy originario de México y ahora vivo en Brasil, lo primero que leí fue lo referente a estoa paises. QUE DECEPCIÓN! La idea del libro es excelente y seguramente la autora tuvo que viajar, leer y estudiar mucho, pero pienso que debió haber pedido ayuda a que revisaran sus capítulos personas conocedoras de cada país o región. Tiene muchos errores históricos, geográficos, culinarios y de ortografía del idioma original. Estoy preparando una lista de ellos que posteriormente enviaré. La felicito por su dedicación, perodes graciadamente el resultado no es del todo bueno. Hans Rio de Janeiro/Brasil
Rating:
Summary: Coverage of India was a total disappointment
Review: Reading a very favorable review in New York Times, I bought the book without even opening it at the book store. As I am researching on the cooking of my home state in India, I was hopeful of finding a lot of information in it. But to my great disappointment, several historical facts were incorrect. Thelma Barer-Stein began the historical narrative on India by saying that all foreign conquerers came to Delhi.History reminds us that the Poruguese navigator Vaso da Gama arrived not at Delhi, but at the other end of India, at Calicut, in the state of Kerala. The Romans, Greek, Syrians and the Arabs had invaded the southern part of Inida way before that. About religion she says" Greek thinking in 300 BC and Buddhisam in 200 BC was followed by Hindu beliefs". First of all Hinduism was there first, and Buddhisam originated India, both before the invation of the Greeks. About food, the statement "fruits and vegetables are eaten in season only sapraingly; more consumed in the form of pickles, condiments and chutneys" is totally wrong, written by someone who has not tasted the varied and rich vegetarian cuisine of India. Then she goes on to write about several fruits, completely ignoring India's favorite fruit the mango. Finally the statement "In Cochin, in Kerala province, foods are very plain, and rice and coffee prevail. Rice, fish and vegetables and seafood make up the diet..." is waht is prompting me to write this review. Probably the author only ate these foods in Cochin; but as a native of Cochin and a life long vegetarian, I can assure you that our vegetarian cuisine is neither very plain not very bland. Our vegetable crop is enriched by the centuries long foreign invasions. There were several other incorrect facts in the chapter. I did not read any other chapters and my comments are strictly about the chapter on India. But I have to say I was very disappointed and returned the book the very next day.
I understand the author undertook a herculian effort study the food and culture of the world. This book makes one realize how vast and uncomprehensible the subject is.
Rating: 
Summary: A work of art for the inquisitive cook!
Review: This book is truly a labor of love. No other book has such varied multicultural information all in one place. This book should be celebrated for its diversity and insight into the world of every imaginable cooking experience on the planet. I value this book highly for it's insight into a world I may not be able to visit without a reading tour. I have found her research to mirror much of my own research and I would highly recommend this book to those who look at cooking from an intellectual level and are curious about other cultures. My grandmother has always told me I have a Norwegian heritage and I was delighted by the 7 carefully written pages on this subject. If you want an overview of cooking from Africa, Albania, America, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Holland, England, France, Germany, Iran or even Japan....this is the book for you. While you will not find recipes you will finally understand what Mealie-meal is or why Bobotie is so good. For recipes from all over the globe you will have to wait for my cookbook to be published.
Rating:
Summary: A work of art for the inquisitive cook!
Review: This book is truly a labor of love. No other book has such varied multicultural information all in one place. This book should be celebrated for its diversity and insight into the world of every imaginable cooking experience on the planet. I value this book highly for it's insight into a world I may not be able to visit without a reading tour. I have found her research to mirror much of my own research and I would highly recommend this book to those who look at cooking from an intellectual level and are curious about other cultures. My grandmother has always told me I have a Norwegian heritage and I was delighted by the 7 carefully written pages on this subject. If you want an overview of cooking from Africa, Albania, America, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Holland, England, France, Germany, Iran or even Japan....this is the book for you. While you will not find recipes you will finally understand what Mealie-meal is or why Bobotie is so good. For recipes from all over the globe you will have to wait for my cookbook to be published.
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