Cafe Vietnam (Conran Octopus "Cafe" Cookbook Series)

Rating:
Summary: Cafe Vietnam
Review: One of the most healthy cook book. Since I was born there I have try most of the food in Saigon and Hue. You can come to Little Saigon town in California and you can have all of the taste of the finest food of Vietnam.

Rating:
Summary: Try this cookery book - it's basic but it's good.
Review: The year before last, I went to Vietnam for three weeks and came back fired with enthusiasm to try some of its cookery at home. It had become a bit of a standing joke that I always ordered Spring Rolls and I wanted to see if I could make them myself.

I bought a selection of Vietnamese cookery books through Amazon and I can honestly say that having tried using all of them, "Cafe Vietnam" by Annabel Jackson comes top of my list for usability.

This book is by no means comprehensive (if you really want to sink your teeth into Vietnamese cookery, then you need to try other ones) but the selection of recipes, great photos and easy-to-follow instructions are ideal for beginners at Vietnamese cookery.

The thing that appealed to me the most is that the recipes are simplified and yet retain authenticity and originality. If you look at the same dishes in other Vietnamese cookery books, you will see that they are often considerably more complex and can therefore put you off from trying them.

I was concerned at first that the simplification of the recipes would diminish the authentic taste of the dishes but it doesn't. The concise paring down of the ingredient lists and handling instructions make the recipes more accessible (do-able), and makes one realise that some of the other cookery books, though lovely, are unnecessarily fussy. As always, the proof is in the eating, and I thought the results of my cookery experiments were not as good as the food I had in Vietnam but nevertheless highly satisfactory for an amateur.

Rating:
Summary: Try this cookery book - it's basic but it's good.
Review: The year before last, I went to Vietnam for three weeks and came back fired with enthusiasm to try some of its cookery at home. It had become a bit of a standing joke that I always ordered Spring Rolls and I wanted to see if I could make them myself.

I bought a selection of Vietnamese cookery books through Amazon and I can honestly say that having tried using all of them, "Cafe Vietnam" by Annabel Jackson comes top of my list for usability.

This book is by no means comprehensive (if you really want to sink your teeth into Vietnamese cookery, then you need to try other ones) but the selection of recipes, great photos and easy-to-follow instructions are ideal for beginners at Vietnamese cookery.

The thing that appealed to me the most is that the recipes are simplified and yet retain authenticity and originality. If you look at the same dishes in other Vietnamese cookery books, you will see that they are often considerably more complex and can therefore put you off from trying them.

I was concerned at first that the simplification of the recipes would diminish the authentic taste of the dishes but it doesn't. The concise paring down of the ingredient lists and handling instructions make the recipes more accessible (do-able), and makes one realise that some of the other cookery books, though lovely, are unnecessarily fussy. As always, the proof is in the eating, and I thought the results of my cookery experiments were not as good as the food I had in Vietnam but nevertheless highly satisfactory for an amateur.

Rating:
Summary: horrible
Review: Usually when I buy a cookbook, it is because of the recipes and how close it is to being authentic. This cookbook does not come close at all. I love Vietnamese food and have grown up eating it and know how most dishes should look and taste like. This book will give the reader a small idea of what some of the dishes are but it is not authentic. There are too substitutions for too many ingredients that although the dishes may look valid, the ingredients are not. This book is definately not for readers with adventurous palates for Asian foods. This book is only good for the ones who only like to stay within the Northwestern taste limits. If you are looking for a Vietnamese cookbook that is close to being authentic, I suggest Corinne Trang.