Cookbooks

REVIEWS BY SYBIL PRATT

The whole story on good food

Since this is the age of the confessional memoir, I'll confess right here and now that I fell in love last October. Not with a man or woman, but with a food market. There, it's out and I feel much better. Last October I set foot in a Whole Foods Market for the first time—it was love at first sight, love at first bite. I was dazzled by the variety of everything edible and couldn't wait to sample the awesome array of prepared foods. After tasting a few, I wanted to duplicate them at home when I was parted from this pioneer of the natural foods movement. Now, with the publication of The Whole Foods Market Cookbook, I and anyone else who loves good food and inventive ideas for making it can do just that.

Unlike most supermarkets, the Whole Foods Markets have a philosophy that goes way beyond the bottom line. They believe in moving away from the over-processed and artificially flavored to offer consumers natural and organic foods with the purest flavor and the most nutritive value, and they believe in helping people understand and prepare them. So, the wholly committed Whole Foods folks have supplied 350 wide-ranging recipes from super starters to sweet endings—with a variety of vegan and vegetarian dishes too—that stress simple elegance and enhance flavors rather than camouflaging them. And you'll get a lot of extra help: there are savvy, advice-laden sidebars; recipe bonuses with ingredient alternatives and serving ideas; time-saving tips from the team and those necessary nutritional profiles. No love 'em and leave 'em here; this is a cookbook to use and peruse for long, long time.


Desperately seeking supper

It's only August, but the end of late summer's lovely languor is looming and soon the back-to-reality, back-to-school, back-to-work hustle will be the order of the day. Hectic times or lazy days, entertaining is inevitable for most of us and, though it should be fun, it all too often makes us desperate. Five years ago, Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross, working mothers who faced daily dining desperation, put together Desperation Dinners!, a survival guide that became the answer to every time-starved cook's prayers. Now, the divine dames are back with Desperation Entertaining!, worth its weight in the fanciest foie gras for hassled hosts. The authors' desperation dinner party doctrine evolved from their own real life encounters with panic, pressure and paltry pantries. Their game plan, which can easily be yours, works. First, you figure who, what and where. It's the "what" that calls for dinner design, and that's where Beverly and Alicia really help. Every recipe is timed; some are Fast and Fabulous, others are "phased and flexible" and broken down into timed, do-ahead and do-now prep steps. Sample menus with worked out game plans show you how to put it all together. Then 200 delicious, downright doable recipes let you select your own winning combos. Beginning with Beguiling Beverages and ending with Decadent Desserts, you'll find nibbles and noshes to go with the drinks, festive entrees—including enticing ideas for the good ol' Crockpot and non-grueling grilling—salads, sides and brilliant brunches in between. With the sanity savers and do-ahead tips that season almost every page and the detailed info on what to keep on hand, you can soft-pedal the panic and be happy and humming when company's coming.


Happy birthday, Julia!

The woman who revolutionized the way Americans eat and treat food will turn 90 on August 15. That's hard to believe, but it's even harder to remember the world of food without the influence of the vibrant, vivacious Julia Child. She was our liberator, an army of one who freed us from our provincial, 1950's food mentality and allowed us to learn to cook and eat real French food, right here, right in our own kitchens. Her first foray was Mastering the Art of French Cooking written with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle (the first cookbook I ever owned). It appeared in 1961 and was hailed as "a masterpiece" and "the definitive work for nonprofessionals." James Beard said, "I only wish that I had written it myself." Then, just a year later, Julia went on television as The French Chef, and the rest is history—delightful, delicious history. A special 40th anniversary edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume one, was recently published with a new intro by the birthday girl, and both volumes one and two are available in paperback, as are her six other fabulous cookbooks.


Sybil Pratt has been cooking up this column for many years.

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