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International Cuisine by
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A review by Marty Martindale
All travelers will like the fact this book explores the different cultures and cuisines of the whole world including regional and area influences. Stops in each country detail special ingredients, kitchen tools and cooking methods. This is followed by recipes menus presented. All 415 recipes have been tested and include tips when necessary. The book’s 855 pages contain 80 photographs. The Art Institutes of North America are a system of 40 educational institutions spread across the land. Their culinary programs, conducted in 30 of these locations, train more than 6000 students in Escoffier, Asian and Latin culinary techniques. Here is an overview of a few regions covered: In the Caribbean section, for example, after lining out the people and their land’s history, goes into an in-depth description of regional foods the people make. In Cuba, their foods include liberal amounts of black beans, white rice, yellow rice, citrus marinades, garlic and plantains. Their diet lacks dairy products, including cheeses. Jamaica’s national dish is ackee fruit and saltfish, and their Blue Mountain coffee is renowned. On St. Vincent, roasted breadfruit and abundant fish dominate the diet. The Dominican Republic raises fine cattle, and they dine heavily on meat, rice, beans, plantains, bacon, cheese frequently contained in their culture’s Taino indian cassava fritters. Barbados holds to its flying fish and coo-coo dinners, while Antigua’s big dish is fungi and pepperpot, Curasao revels in its stuffed Edam and Gouda cheeses and Trinidad, to the deep south, prizes its roti pastry, frequently stuffed with goat meat. A general look at Southwest Asia’s foods shows Indonesia cooking many satays of meat, poultry and seafood, another is Gado-gado, mixed vegetables with tofu, tempeh and peanut sauce. Cambodia and Laos rely on cooked meat or fish, with banana leaves, rice, coconut and jackfruit. The people of Singapore enjoy chile-spiced pork, fish and crab noodle dishes. In Thailand, they lean toward rice, coconut milk, black beans, herbs, eggs, shrimp and bean sprouts. Vietnamese cuisine favors herbs, pickled vegetables, grilled meat, fried spring rolls. Fish sauce overrules rules soy sauce and fruits rank highly. Middle Eastern foods all have rice, wheat, stuffed vegetables, pies wrapped in paper-thin pastry, meatballs, thick omelets, fritters soaked in syrup, eggplant, peppers, yogurt and cheeses. In this review, we’ll compare Italy’s landlocked Umbria and Sicily, an island surrounded by water. Umbrians enjoy pork, said to be the best in Italy, and all its organic components. This is heavily supplemented with beans, peas, truffles, unique pastas, some great wines and chocolate. The foods of Sicily accent fish, seafood, anchovies, eggplant, tomatoes, beans, many cheeses, figs, capers, olives almonds, pine nuts, fennel and citrus. Below is a menu and recipes picked to represent a Tapas Menu in Spain:
Green Olives Filled with Piquillo Peppers and Anchovy The Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes have taken a remarkable look at the exciting foods in all countries which surround North America. You might want to store this book with your travel books. See also:
www.artinstitutes.edu Marty Martindale’s website is: FOOD SITE OF THE DAY.
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