With the Grain

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Summary: This book needs a good editor!
Review: Having read numerous fascinating and interesting works by Raymond Sokolov, I was unpleasantly surprised by the quality of the recipes in With the Grain. Not only are some almost identical recipes repeated numerous times with only minor adjustments - (there were no fewer than six recipes for stuffed grape leaves in six different chapters!)- but some recipes omitted ingredients or made blatantly dangerous suggestions. The Jambalaya recipe on page 126 calls for 6 pounds of chicken to be browned and set aside; but the reader is never informed when to add the chicken back into the recipe. The recipe for Orzo with Chicken Breasts and Red Peppers requires that the marinade, in which raw chicken has been sitting in for six hours, be strained and used as an uncooked dressing on the Orzo pasta. As my marinade was filled with raw chicken blood, I found this not only unpalatable but a clear example of unsafe food handling. How could an editor let that one slip through? Were these recipes not tested? To his credit, Mr. Sokolov did add some interesting historical facts and excerpts from other sources, but his recipes did not satisfy my hunger for easy to follow directions. If you are looking for a grain cookbook that has safe, easy to follow recipes in addition to "nourishing food for thought", I would recommend Nutrition Secrets of the Ancients by Dr. Gene Spiller and Rowena Hubbard. If you want to read Raymond Sokolov at his best, pass up With the Grain and pick up a copy of his earlier book, The Saucier's Apprentice instead!.

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Summary: With The Grain is a terrific little book!
Review: This is a terrific book and, as far as I can tell, it's been completely overlooked. I don't know why it hasn't received more critical attention.
The author, a Fullbright scholar, former Food editor for the New York Times, and Leisure & Arts editor for the Wall Street Journal, is extremely well-read and eloquent in this concise but thorough book that details the world's grains. From oats to grits, farro to quinoa, it's all there, with recipes from around the world to illustrate how each is used.
Note that even though it's about grain, normally the province of vegetarians, this is not necessarily a vegetarian's cookbook. Many of the book's recipes include meat.
This book could be especially useful for those who've decided to cut back on meat and change the focus of their diet to grain, but it would be handy on any cook's shelf. I turn to it again and again as both a reference and a cookbook. It's fully indexed, well organized and highly recommended.