Best Eating

7=20 drool-worthy dining books

Best = Eating By=20 Angela Murrills

Publish Date: December 6, 2007

Wild Sweets Chocolate features pineapple = crystals in=20 chocolate (left); New World Provence highlights prawns = Proven=C3=A7al.=20

If Michelin rates restaurants with stars and wine critics do it = by=20 numbers, shouldn't cookbook ratings reflect the speed with which = your=20 salivary glands spring into action? I've been drooling over a = stack of=20 books that would all make great gifts.

Although Food TV presenter Trish Magwood has been yuckily named = a=20 "taste maker of tomorrow" by the Globe and Mail, this shouldn't = stop you=20 from buying Dish Entertains: Everyday Simple to Special = Occasions=20 (HarperCollins, $44.95). Magwood is a mom, well aware = that the=20 daily family routine leaves scant time for making posh food, so = everything=20 here is fresh and fast, and both tastes and looks good, with = recipes=20 classified as "everyday simple" or "special occasions". Here's a = sample=20 dish from the salad bar: Asian slaw with mango, red cabbage, and = bean=20 sprouts.

Vancouver's elite chefs seem hugely generous about sharing = their=20 secrets. If you hang out at either of Alessandra and Jean-Francis=20 Quaglia's eateries=E2=80=93Provence Mediterranean Grill and = Provence=20 Marinaside=E2=80=93you'll want to grab their New World = Provence: Modern=20 French Cooking for Friends and Family (Arsenal Pulp = Press,=20 $26.95). Open and joyous about their story, the Quaglias absorb = you into=20 their family as they reveal what's behind their ratatouille, = cannellini=20 beans with saut=C3=A9ed calamari, and that intense lemon tart. =

For the cost of a couple of orders of osso buco at his = restaurant, you=20 can learn how to duplicate this and other dishes in = Cioppino's=20 Mediterranean Grill by Pino Posteraro (Douglas & = McIntyre,=20 $60). Along with the push-the-boat-out food=E2=80=93lobster, = truffles, sablefish=20 casserole with saut=C3=A9ed green peas and fava beans, salmon with = a=20 soy-ponzu-tomato vinaigrette=E2=80=93there are less extravagant = dishes, such as an=20 asparagus and green pea risotto with chili oil, and a porcini = mushroom and=20 chestnut soup with black olive croutons that's to die for.

That last plateful is vegan, which leads neatly into the new = book by=20 White Rock resident Dreena Burton. Like its predecessors, = Eat,=20 Drink and Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth = Celebrating=20 (Arsenal Pulp Press, $25.95) puts flavour at the fore. Even as a = roaring=20 carnivore, I can see myself making her Thai coconut corn stew or=20 tomato-dill-lentil soup.

Slimmed-down U.S. dollars mean we can afford to take our = palates south=20 of the border again. In the couldn't-be-more-timely category is = Seattleite=20 Braiden Rex-Johnson's Pacific Northwest Wining & = Dining: The=20 People, Places, Food, and Drink of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and = British=20 Columbia (Wiley, $41.99). Profiling wine and vinegar = makers,=20 restaurants, and places to stay, and aided by Jackie Johnson's = sunlit=20 photography, Rex-Johnson cuts a commendable swath through the = region,=20 including contact information and festival listings for instant = trip=20 planning. Until you hit the road, tease your taste buds by = re-creating=20 recipes such as Native Indian crispbread with "snakebite" dip from = Nk'Mip=20 Cellars in the Okanagan Valley, or roasted breast of chicken with = lentil=20 vinaigrette, cracked walnuts, and wilted spinach from Portland's = famed=20 Wildwood Restaurant.

Let's conclude with dessert and a couple of standouts. Even as = someone=20 who doesn't make cakes (that's what patisseries are for), I was = completely=20 seduced by Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts = (Whitecap, $45),=20 by French Laundry pastry chef Claire Clark. While leading you into = the=20 professional arena of desserts like authentic sacher torte, the=20 British-born Clark also covers domestic basics like sticky toffee = pudding,=20 treacle tart, and (can't wait to bake this one) a marmalade=20 bread-and-butter pudding made with panettone. The recipe for an = op=C3=A9ra, the=20 French classic cake, occupies four pages (two devoted to a photo = you want=20 to dive into), but lemon posset simply calls for lemons, sugar, = and cream.=20 Clark uses imperial and metric measurements only, maintaining that = "baking=20 is about precision and accuracy, and cups as a measurement give = neither".=20 Maybe add a small electronic scale if your giftee doesn't own = one.

Locals Dominique and Cindy Duby list quantities in spoonfuls = and cups=20 largely because Wild Sweets: Chocolate (Whitecap, = $40),=20 the trailblazing follow-up to their first book, strides fearlessly = into a=20 culinary world where short ribs lie down with chocolate, while = crab=20 cohabits with white- chocolate hollandaise sauce and hot celery = gel=C3=A9e. A=20 rave foreword by none other than Charlie Trotter suggests the=20 sophistication of the dishes, such as mahi-mahi with cocoa oatmeal = granola, red Swiss chard, and cumin crunch. Definitely not=20 meat-and-potatoes stuff, but catnip for those keen to ride the = next wave=20 of culinary invention. And talk about talent=E2=80=93the Dubys = even provided most=20 of the dazzling photos.

Title	Section	Contributor
Experts=20 dish: what makes or breaks a menu	Dining=20 Features	Carolyn=20 Ali
The=20 freshest dining spots and events in the city	Straight=20 Goods	Judith=20 Lane
Your=20 guide to restaurants in Vancouver (December 21 - 28, = 2006)	Dine = Out=20 Guide	Judith=20 Lane

Recent articles in Best Eating:

Title	Contributor	Date
James=20 Barber inspired love in the kitchen	Angela=20 Murrills	Dec 6, 2007
7=20 drool-worthy dining books	Angela=20 Murrills	Dec 6, 2007
Tableland=20 documents sustainable farming successes	Carolyn=20 Ali	Nov 29, 2007
Sai=20 Z dishes up strange but happy bedfellows	Angela=20 Murrills	Nov 29, 2007
A=20 whole new congee	Tara=20 Lee	Nov 22, 2007
Insadong=20 Korean Barbeque inflames the thrill of the grill	Carolyn=20 Ali	Nov 15, 2007
The=20 best Indian restaurant on the North Shore	Charlie=20 Smith	Nov 8, 2007
Five=20 Sails fly again: new food to match the heavenly = views	Angela=20 Murrills	Nov 1, 2007
Creative=20 pizza gets back to its organic nature	Angela=20 Murrills	Oct 25, 2007
Salade=20 de Fruits serves tasty fare sans froufrou	Angela=20 Murrills	Oct 18, 2007

=C2=BB Best Eating=20 Archive

Recent articles by Angela Murrills:

Title	Section	Date
= The=20 Velvet Room Boutique	Chic of = the=20 Week	Dec 6, 2007
From=20 jewels to panties: luxe gifts without the price tag	Fashion = Plate	Dec 6, 2007
The=20 Best International Recipe	Food of = the=20 Week	Dec 6, 2007
CBC=20 Food Bank Day, Oakridge secret, truffle delights + = more	Straight=20 Goods	Dec 6, 2007
James=20 Barber inspired love in the kitchen	Best=20 Eating	Dec 6, 2007
7=20 drool-worthy dining books	Best=20 Eating	Dec 6, 2007
Crafty=20 gifts from earrings to paintings	Arts=20 Features	Nov 29, 2007
Party-season=20 treats for eye and lip	Chic of = the=20 Week	Nov 29, 2007
W= inter's=20 must-have coats	Fashion = Plate	Nov 29, 2007
Skin/hair=20 repair for the cold months	Style=20 Features	Nov 29, 2007

=C2=BB Angela=20 Murrills Archive

Departments

Blogs

Magazines

Best Eating

7=20 drool-worthy dining books

Related Articles:

Recent articles in Best Eating:

Recent articles by Angela Murrills:

Vancouver weather



classifieds coupons music clubs movies events dining arts listings music health views news blogs