Book Reviews

Street Food from Kolkata (Capital of West Bengal, Indian)

by Hot Juan on January 24, 2012 · 1 comment

in Book Reviews

A very off looking parcel arrived in the post a few days ago from ChilliPepperPete, this was not his normal bottle of sauce or pack of amazing dried chillies, this was something completely different..

Odd looking package from ChilliPepperPete

Odd looking package from ChilliPepperPete

Kolkata or Calcutta as we probably better know it is the capital of  the Indian sate of West Bengal, with a population of over 14 million, it  was the capital of India until 1911. With 14million people to feed there is a thriving street food culture and in this package is a small book and DVD put together by Angus Denoon with the assistance of Sunil Misro.

Street Food Kolkata

Street Food Kolkata

The book is not a recipes book but a guide to the street food available, it covers the basic ingredients and this then split into the three main meals of the day:-

Morningside –  Staring with Chai  tea made with buffalo milk, tea flakes, ginger, cardamom and Sugar, it then covers the other delights of the local breakfast cuisine including  Chholar Bhatura, Jelabi, Halwa, Chana Sattu, Satti Pani to name but a few, each includes some excellent pictures and a description of the how they are made, not a recipe more of a enticement to taste them.

Lunch Time – What is a for lunch in Kolkata? The guide again includes some mouthwatering descriptions of dishes, I wish I could taste now, with pictures to match, Biryani, Rori, Tumali. Chowmein, Momo stall all get a mention, before we read about Chaat, Phuchka and Hhal Mouri, for a small book this list of delights seems endless with more that I mention in this review before getting on to the range of drinks

Evening Time –  Out comes the Kalto Kebab Rolls and then for the Bengali Sweets and Kulfi an Indian form of ice cream that is  coloured and flavoured with saffron.

The DVD that accompanies the book is in the form of a film lasting just over an hours that takes you through a day in Kalkata vis the street food, the colours are rich and deep, it shows us soft westerners the frenetic life of the street food merchants as they pre pair and describe there wares.

The DVD also includes options to see the traders serving up Lime Pani, Ghugni Chaat, and the equivalent of the Kolkata paper cup  from manufacture to being discarded. In last short section  we seen Angus as a jhal muri wallah working his trade not in Kalkata but more locally in Brighton.

To wet your appetite Angus has a much much shorter version on the web.

You can order this package from the ChilliPepperPete web site and if you want to know more about Angus and his travels, film making and his alternate career as Brightons own jhal muri wallah then visit www.streetfoodkolkata.com.

Descriptions
(8/10)
Photo/Illustrations
(7.5/10)
Design & Layout
(6/10)
Value
(8/10)
Overall
(7.5/10)

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Angela Garbes – The Everything Hot Sauce Book

by Hot Juan on December 27, 2011 · 0 comments

in Book Reviews

This looks like a little great book for people starting out in the world of Chillies and Hot Sauces. It is the kind of book we all needed when we started, it provides a quick history of chillies, describes what makes them hot and does a good job with a guide to the main varieties and growing techniques. It is unfortunately a little US centric, I guess  we have to expect that as it is the target market for this publisher.

Angela Garbes - The Everything Hot Sauce Book

Angela Garbes - The Everything Hot Sauce Book

The best part of the book is recipes with over 150 to try, some are a little bit to simple, like making chilli Mayo with Mayo as the main ingredient, I would use our simple Mayo recipe instead, but apart from that they all look interesting with well written instructions, but no illustrations or pictures.

In the middle of the recipe section was a short history/guide to manufactured bottles sauces, but this only covered a few styles (Tabasco,  Sriracha, Louisiana and Mexican Hot sauces, before providing some recipes for their use.

The recipes take you from making your own hot Sauces and Pastes, to Salsas, Dry Rub and Mixes, and then on a world tour to Mexico , Texas and the Americas before  departing to Europe, African and Middle Eastern and finally Asian dishes, before covering the general subjects of Pickling and preserving and then drinks and desserts.

To make thing simple for us metric users there is a conversion guide in the back of the book, as all the recipes are in odd-looking cups and pounds..

So to sum it all up, A good book for anyone starting in Chillies, ideal gift, but a bit US centric, but still worth adding to your collection, I am sure to use the recipes as a reference guide, but it could do with some more photographs and illustrations.

Recipes & Descriptions
(7/10)
Photo/Illustrations
(2/10)
Design & Layout
(6/10)
Value
(7/10)
Overall
(6.5/10)

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Vivien Lloyd’s First Preserves (A master class in preserving)

by Hot Juan on November 7, 2011 · 0 comments

in Book Reviews

Vivien Lloyd's First Preserves

Vivien Lloyd's First Preserves

It has been a while since we did a book review, but this book as arrived at ChileFoundry HQ and it has bowled us over, if you are into making preserves at home this is the first book you should buy.

In the 1980′s Vivien Lloyd taught herself to make preserves, she is now a well know and respected maker who runs here own courses and has even produced a DVD. I reviewed her Tomato and Chilli Chutney a long time ago, and we have corresponded a few times since then, I  finally got to meet Vivian at Chutfest 2011 at Barrington Court, she was judging the Chutney competition and showing her new book First Preserves.

The book provides a great basis for understanding the process and problems of preserving, what equipment you will need before embarking on recipes, everybody can learn from this book it is a master class in how to keep people hooked, the writing is easy to follow with excellent photographic illustrations of each process, so you will know exactly what to expect when you start.

Beautiful Illustrations

Beautiful Illustrations

The book is divided into three main sections covering marmalade, jams and chutney, each provides a definition, basic introduction and a little history to get you started, you are then introduced to the ingredients and the processes involved,  making is easy to then understand the recipes provided.

For the competitive amongst us, there is also a guide to entering competitions, having been a judge, Vivian can explain what they are looking for and what they are not. Nearing the end of the book is a seasonal guide to what is best throughout the year as well as a list very useful of suppliers.

Well if this review should have convinced you that the  £17.99 purchase price will be paid back many times, so go and  purchase this book NOW, here is the link to order direct from Viviens Web site.

Recipes & Descriptions
(9/10)
Photography
(10/10)
Design & Layout
(9/10)
Value
(8/10)
Overall
(9/10)

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eat tweet – mini recipes – mini review

by Hot Juan on April 9, 2011 · 1 comment

in Book Reviews

eat tweet by Maureen Evans

eat tweet by Maureen Evans

While browsing the cook books isle of a local book shop I found a small book called “eat tweet” which contained over 1000 recipes all condensed down twitter sized posts.

The book was written by Maureen Evans or @cookbook as she is know on twitter, she now has over 85K+ followers to whom she tweets a daily recipes.

i.e.

“SALSA FRESCA Mexico Peel,seed 4tom;mince+¼c wtonion&cilantro/1-2jalapeno(seed for milder salsa). Toss+2T lime/s to taste. Yld c.”

or

“SALSA VERDE Mexico Husk,broil ib tomatillo~7M. Sauté onion&jalapeno/T garlic&oil; +tomatillo/½c h2o. Simmr15m; +lime&cilantro&s+p. Yld2c.”

You can find a glossary of the terms used at cookbookglossary.pbworks.com/w/page/9614902/FrontPage or visit eat-tweet.com for more details.

If you can come up with your own chilli based mini recipe tweet, send them in, we will give aways a bottle or two of hot sauce to the best entry?

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