Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery (BBC cookery series) Book

In Step-by-Step Cookery Madhur Jaffrey celebrates the food not just of her native India but of southern Asia as a whole--Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. This vast area ranges in climate from temperate to tropical, even equatorial, and even Madhur Jaffrey could only hope to skim the surface and all in 270-odd pages. However, there is a theme running through these invariably well-chosen and delicious recipes, which is that of a healthy emphasis on grains. Rice and wheat, in the form of noodles, steamed buns and breads or pancakes, predominate as the staple. As the title indicates, this is also a tutorial in the cooking methods and ingredients of the East, and a very thorough and approachable one it is. Madhur Jaffrey seems to have been everywhere and eaten everything, as a good cookery writer should, and she has a vast repertoire of techniques and individual dishes at her disposal. Her explanations are clear and the many photographs ensure that everything is easily followed. The scents of chilli, garlic, ginger and soy seem to rise off the page, along with dozens of other fragrances. A few examples, to show just how tempting this collection is: Squid in Chilli and Garlic Sauce (Malaysia); Hot and Sour Prawn Soup (Thailand--"one of the world's greatest soups"); Lamb with Spring Onions (Hong Kong); Aromatic and Spicy Beef Stew (Vietnam); Pears Poached in a Saffron and Cardamom Syrup (India). --Robin DavidsonRead More