Customer Reviews:
One of the best book about politics.......2005-06-20
I stumbled on this book at a gas station in Death Valley, while looking for something to put me to sleep at the no TV motel I was staying at. It turned out that it was not only the most informative book about California water politics I had ever read but also one of the most insightful books about politics and the human nature.
We are all familiar with the premise of the movie "Chinatown." Scheming developers like giant puppeteers, plot to bring water to South California to sell real estate. "Water and Power" goes into so much more fascinating detail. Reality is never that simple. Intricate alliances and wars within and between various federal, state and local agencies, farmers, businessmen, newspapers, labor activists. And the end result of many battles is often the result of chance. In the process of reading all this one learns the history of 20th century California.Unlike Mike Davis' "City of Quartz" which is boring and predictable because all the facts are shoehorned to fit his point of view, "Water and Power" is fascinating because William Kahrl lets the facts tell their own story and reality becomes stranger than fiction.
The only other similar book that comes to mind is David Fromkin's "A Peace to end all Peace". Although it deals with the Middle East it's also a history of unintended consequences. But in a way "Water and Power" it's even more fascinating because it exposes the same machinations of politics through the seemingly innocuous subject of local water politics.
This book is a must for anyone interested in politics.
Amazon.com
In the 1970s, Alice Waters helped launch the revolution in American cuisine. She inspired a generation of food lovers with her passion for freshness and the best ingredients. Her influence helped infuse menus all over the U.S. with dishes rooted in Mediterranean cooking, often with a sunny, California twist. Dishes at the casual café, located upstairs in the same enchanting house as Chez Panisse, her more formal restaurant in Berkeley, California, include Wood Oven Baked Porcini Mushrooms, Tuna Confit, and Meyer Lemon Éclairs. Waters suggests making the mushrooms in your fireplace if you can, although recipe directions are for a conventional oven. Typical of the ingredient-driven cooking Waters encourages, the stunning tang of the éclairs requires Meyer lemons: a cross between a lemon and an orange, which are now exported beyond their native California. But the fresh tuna steak gently simmered in olive oil with garlic, fresh thyme, and fennel seeds and served with barely cooked green beans and aïoli, a pungent garlic mayonnaise, is sublime even made in an apartment kitchen. Her point is that you should use her recipes as guides, letting them inspire you to make the most of locally produced, seasonal foods in your area.
Alice Waters is an enchanting raconteur and an activist as well as a chef. In The Chez Panisse CaféCookbook, she weaves her beliefs about food as pleasure, sustenance, art, and politics in with over 200 recipes. Bringing you into the community she has been instrumental in creating to preserve the earth's resources as well as to provide great ingredients, Waters tells about the producers who share her passions. They respect the environment, using only sustainable production methods while delivering the freshest possible product, be it free-range poultry and eggs, acorn-fed pigs, impeccable oysters, or organically grown fruits and vegetables.
Jewel-colored Art Nouveau-style illustrations by David Goines give this book the same distinctive look as earlier Chez Panisse cookbooks, including those devoted solely to pasta, vegetables and desserts. --Dana Jacobi
Book Description
We hung the walls with old French movie posters advertising the films of Marcel Pagnol, films that had already provided us with both a name and an ideal: to create a community of friends, lovers, and relatives that span generations and is in tune with the seasons, the land, and human appetites.
So writes Alice Waters of the opening of Berkeley's Chez Panisse CafÉ on April Fool's Day, 1980. Located above the more formal Chez Panisse Restaurant, the CafÉ is a bustling neighborhood bistro where guests needn't reserve far in advance and can choose from the ever-changing À la carte menu. It's the place where Alice Waters's inventive chefs cook in a more impromptu and earthy vein, drawing on the healthful, low-tech traditions of the cuisines of such Mediterranean regions as Catalonia, Campania, and Provence, while improvising and experimenting with the best products of Chez Panisse's own regional network of small farms and producers.
In the Chez Panisse CafÉ Cookbook, the follow-up to the award-winning Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters and her team of talented cooks offer more than 140 of the cafÉ's best-recipes--some that have been on the menu since the day cafÉ opened and others freshly reinvented with the honesty and ingenuity that have made Chez Panisse so famous. In addition to irresistible recipes, the Chez Panisse CafÉ Cookbook is filled with chapter-opening essays on the relationships Alice has cultivated with the farmers, foragers and purveyors--most of them within an hour's drive of Berkeley--who make it possible for Chez Panisse to boast that nearly all food is locally grown, certifiably organic, and sustainably grown and harvested.
Alice encourages her chefs and cookbook readers alike to decide what to cook only after visiting the farmer's market or produce stand. Then we can all fully appreciate the advantages of eating according to season--fresh spring lamb in late March, ripe tomato salads in late summer, Comice pear crisps in autumn.
This book begins with a chapter of inspired vegetable recipes, from a vivid salad of avocados and beets to elegant Morel Mushroom Toasts to straightforward side dishes of Spicy Broccoli Raab and Garlicky Kale. The Chapter on eggs and cheese includes two of the cafÉ's most famous dishes, a garden lettuce salad with baked goat cheese and the Crostata di Perrella, the cafÉ's version of a calzone. Later chapters focus on fish and shellfish, beef, pork, lamb, and poultry, each offering its share of delightful dishes. You'll find recipes for curing your own pancetta, for simple grills and succulent braises, and for the definitive simple roast chicken--as well as sumptuous truffed chicken breasts. Finally the pastry cooks of Chez Panisse serve forth a chapter of uncomplicated sweets, including Apricot Bread Pudding, Chocolate Almond Cookies, and Wood Oven-baked Figs with Raspberries.
Gorgeously designed and illustrated throughout with colored block prints by David Lance Goines, who has eaten at the cafÉ since the day it opened, Chez Panisse CafÉ Cookbook is destined to become an indispensable classic. Fans of Alice Waters's restaurant and cafÉ will be thrilled to discover the recipes that keep them coming back for more. Loyal readers of her earlier cookbooks will delight in this latest collection of time-tested, deceptively simple recipes. And anyone who loves pure, vibrant, delicious fare made from the finest ingredients will be honored to add these new recipes to his or her repertoire.
Customer Reviews:
More than a Cookbook, not quite a Classic.......2004-01-23
This book is, at the very least, a feast for the eyes due to the hauntingly Art Nouveau woodcut illustrations by David Lance Goines. This, together with Alice Water's substantial reputation sets the bar of expectations very high for this book.
Waters has established a niche for herself in the culinary world, which is not unlike that of Martha Stewart. She is the flag bearer for a culinary style which endorses using fresh local produce for both their health benefits and the economic benefits to small, artisinal farmers, ranchers, and fishermen, followed by a loving handling of these ingredients in the kitchen in order to draw out their best properties. Her similarity to Miss Martha is that both are vocal in their support of their lifestyle choices, yet they are not necessarily the most gifted craftsmen in their chosen fields. Both enhance their own standing by hosting true stars in the culinary world. Martha does it on her TV show with Mario and Eric and Jean-George and Daniel and a long line of other justly famous chefs. Alice does it in her kitchen where she has launched the careers of Jeremiah Tower and Paul Bertolli.
Ms. Waters' efforts may not have been as lucrative as Miss Martha's, but Alice has succeeded in establishing a leader's reputation in her field with no blemishes other than a few for possibly hogging a bit more credit than may be her due for the success of Chez Panisse and the creation of `California Cuisine'.
This book seems to answer one question puzzling me about California Cuisine. I have always wondered whether it was Miss Alice or Wolfgang Puck who first installed a pizza oven and started selling pizza in a distinctly un-Italian venue in California. Alice herein claims that Wolfgang got the idea from a visit to Chez Panisse. If Alice had any regrets about the glamorous Austrian's stealing her thunder, she can get satisfaction in having referred her incompetent German oven bricklayer to Wolfgang.
As I indicate in my title to this review, the book contains much more than you would expect to find in a conventional cookbook. It's content is much richer than Alice's book on vegetables, for example, in that it opens with a little history of the Chez Panisse Café and its style of service, clientele, and suppliers. The level of detail about the ingredients even matches the more specialized Vegetables book. After a while, it starts to read less and less like a cookbook and more and more like a culinary travelogue, the most famous of which is Patience Gray's `Honey from a Weed'. The travelogue aspect adds value for the reader, but it is not enough to carry the book to a full five star rating.
The culinary aspects of the book, the recipes, give a loving treatment of their ingredients, making every effort to respect the attributes of each foodstuff. The book does not, however, spell out every little detail of every technique. It does not, a la Alton Brown for example, give you careful steps for dealing with beets. It's mission is not to teach prepping, it is to communicate a knowledge and appreciation for all of the different types of beets available to you, once you have established your connections with local farmers. I have not found any extremely difficult recipes in this book, but an amateur with a fair level of skill will enjoy the book much more than it will by a rank newbie.
Just as with Patience Gray's book, not having a source of nettles for my pasta will not detract from my pleasure in reading about how nettles are prepared. I am truly amazed at the extent to which foraging for `weeds' continues to this day in some European societies. But back to Alice.
I give this book good marks for giving the name of every recipe, not just chapter titles, in the table of contents. This little feature always enhances the value of a cookbook. This value is further enhanced by listing recipes by major ingredient rather than by course. This fits the style of the earlier book on Vegetables and makes finding an appropriate recipe even easier. This organization is taken to it's logical conclusion in that even pantry recipes commonly put into a separate chapter are slotted by ingredient so that chicken stock is in the chapter on chicken and so on.
The recipes cover the most simple salads to some of the most unusual products such as boudin blanc, a French white sausage of chicken and pork. The range of recipes is simply a result of Alice's staying on message. These are all the recipes made at the Chez Panisse Café, and only recipes made at the Chez Panisse Café.
While several recipes may be beyond the skills, time constraints, budget, or ingredient availability of many readers, the book succeeds in providing great value. As a source of salad recipes alone, the book is first rate. Salads are one of Alice Waters' most passionate subjects. While my title to this review holds back any claim that this is a classic like `Honey from a Weed', it is the equal to the very similar, recent book `The Vineyard Garden' to which I gave five stars. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who shares Alice Waters' ideals. I would recommend it to anyone else interested in food and cookbooks.
You Didn't Expect To Cook With This, Did You?.......2003-12-27
My foodie friends in Berkeley jokingly refer to Alice's books as "food porn". I have actually cooked a couple of the recipes and, while they are correct, they are exhausting. In Berkeley, CA, where the author's restaurant is thriving, it is easy to get the interesting and seasonal ingredients that are described in the book. However, the complexity of preparation of the recipes makes the book less acessible to most readers and home cooks.
The illustrations are lovely, as are the narratives. It is fun to just read the book and fantasize about being a hemp-clad, kinder version of Martha Stewart. However, it is not the most practical cookbook to stick in the cookbook holder when putting the family's meal together.
The real lesson behind this book is that foods that are in season taste better, are less expensive, and are fun to eat. Changing the menu as the seasons change keeps the experience of dining and cooking interesting and entertaining. Also, buying seasonal food is better for the environment than flying foods out of season from another hemisphere.
Take that wisdom, go to your store and get seasonal fruits and vegetables and use an easier and more accessible cookbook like, "The Joy of Cooking". But do keep this one on the coffeetable for those days you want to fantasize about being a world class hippie chef.
Great book for the serious cook.......2003-12-06
I had made many things out of the book, and all have turned out delicious. The success of the dishes depends completely on having the highest quality, freshest ingredients available. If you can't get a hold of any pancetta or prosciutto, you're going to be really limited in what you can prepare from this book. The cookbook is definitely for a serious home cook, who's interested in spending time in the kitchen, making homemade sausages, experimenting with homemade pancetta, etc. If that's you, you will love it!
Disappointed.......2001-06-12
I have a lot of respect for Alice Waters. She plays a positive, constructive role in promoting excellent,healthy food in this country. I wish, however, she had take more care over the quality of the product that has her name on it, The Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook. Obscure ingredients intrigue me and, because I live in northern California, I'm likely to find a lot of them. What annoys me is sloppy editing that can lead to their wastage. Too many of the recipes are unclear. My complaint has nothing to do with my experience as a cook. The flours in the pizza dough recipe could have been described more clearly. Where was the editor? Why didn't Ms Waters' read her galleys closely? I want to point out one more recipe to show how the small things matter. In the recipe that calls for bottarga (dried tuna or spelt roe that comes in small quantities, costs a fortune and can only be found at an Italian supermarket in Sacramento, as far as I know), saffron and lemon over spaghetti, the directions are to shave the bottarga over the spaghetti. Now that I've made bottarga with spaghetti and lemon (but not the saffron) several times, there is no way that shaving the bottarga (at $40 for a couple of ounces!) helps melt it over the spaghetti. Why wasn't grating called for? It's a minor detail, but when expensive ingredients are involved, I'd like to have confidence in the cookbook writer when I try it.
So, go back to Jean-George, Marcella, Lynn and even Jamie. Leave this one behind. Alice's food is best experienced in her restaurant.
Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook.......2000-10-11
I was beyond excited to receive this cookbook after my wife and I had the intense pleasure of dining at Chez Panisse for our anniversary. However, while it contains fascinating background information on both the history of the Cafe and its purveyors, its recipes seem unduly impressed with themselves and somewhat precious. The esoteric nature of many of the ingredients provokes a cumulative eye-rolling effect, and to tell the truth, some recipes (Spaghetti with Herb Meatballs) that you would expect to elevate the mundane end up tasting... well, mundane. Great for reading, so-so for cooking. I love you Alice Waters, but I think I'll stick to eating your food.
Book Description
While surfers may look more relaxed than most, and may even be more relaxed, they are not exempt from the human desire to go higher, farther and faster. As the members of the developing surfing world of the early 1960s found themselves striving to surpass one another, and looking to quantify their most accomplished riders, the first surf contests were organized. These loosely arranged affairs had, as Shirley Richards (Ron's former wife) recently remembered, silk-screened T-shirts as their prizes. Pretty innocent stuff. At 27, as Ron Church strode forcefully into this arena, he had already accomplished a great deal, first as a jet test photographer, then as an up-and-coming (and ultimately much-awarded) underwater photographer. In his ongoing quest for new material, he brought to surfing a headful of new ideas, camera angles and lighting techniques, at the very moment these earliest contests arose, at the moment that surfing, which had been considered a somewhat off-center activity, began to organize itself and enter the mainstream. Although Church only actively photographed surfing and its surrounding lifestyle for a few short years, he was there at the beginning of its transformation into something big, and, as viewers will see, his documentation of its first contests--which were at once mundane and heroic--brought surf photography to another level. All but a few of these images are previously unpublished.
Product Description
Internationally known as one of the most magnificent farmers' markets in the world, the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market has inspired this gorgeous illustrated market companion. The perfect guide and cookbook -- no matter where you live -- ;each page celebrates the abundant seasonal produce grown by local organic and specialty-crop farmers along with more than 100 fresh, remarkably easy-to-assemble recipes. Organized by season, the book details the availability of products at the market and offers advice on choosing, storing, preparing, and freezing items. A foreword by Alice Waters, the history of the market, and vivid color photos throughout bring this farm fresh market guide to life.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful cookbook for vegetables.......2007-03-05
This is a spectalarly colorful cookbook with innovative tasty recipes for items found at a Farmer's Market. I use it all the time. Excellent.
A must-have for Bay Area and beyond.......2006-12-07
The subtitle's "A Comprehensive Guide to Impeccable Produce Plus Seasonal Recipes", but it's oh-so-much more than that. Filled with recipes culled from dozens of cookbooks, plus personal interviews with favorite farmers and purveyors... a must-have for Bay Area residents and a fantastic gift for anyone who loves San Francisco.
a great resource.......2006-07-22
What a great resource. I had to read this book for work and I now cook from it all the time.
Mouth-watering.......2006-05-04
"The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market Cookbook" is filled with fabulous photographs, appetizing recipes and excellent tips about seasonal fruits, vegetables, herbs, meats, cheese, eggs and fish!
Peggy Knickerbocker has done an excellent job at researching seasonal foods and the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market! She is a food and travel writer that has written for Gourmet, Food & Wine, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and Saveur.
Christopher Hirsheimer is a photographer whose work has appeared in Saveur, as well as cookbooks written by Lidia Bastianich, Rick Bayless, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin.
California is a state bursting with flavor. In such a large state, virtually anything can grow there. Kiwifruits, rice, wine, olives, tomatoes, corn, strawberries and much more! The influx of other cultures help infuse their produce and culinary contributions.
Excellent recipes in this book are: Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with Frisee, Fried Zucchini Blossoms, Shaved Raw Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette and Roasted Halibut with Braised Artichokes and Potatoes.
This entire book reminds me of my previous life in California where food never tasted fresher. Where ingredients are fresh, recipes are simple, yet the result was sophisticated and intoxicating.
Great book!
Book Description
Save precious water resources. . . and enjoy a lush, colorful landscape.
Low water-use plants can improve your landscape appearance year-round while you save precious water.
Written by an award-winning landscape architect, Low Water-Use Plants provides detailed descriptions plus buying, planting and watering tips for more than 200 drought-hardy, heat-tolerant plants that thrive in fragile, dry environmentsespecially in California and the Southwest.
Ideal for both homeowner or professional use. Low Water-Use Plants discusses the principles of landscaping in an environmentally sensitive climate. Explains how you can reduce water consumption without compromising visual appeal.
Tells how to update your landscaping to conform with your community's water-saving regulations, replace existing water-thirsty plants or start a completely new low water-use design.
From planning to planting, colorful photographs and an easy-to-use format help you choose amazingly colorful yet water-thrifty trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines and accent plants. Features newly introduced natives formerly not available.
Charts show water and soil requirements, flower color, bloom season, cold-hardiness, drought-resistant qualities and more.
Includes irrigation systems, watering schedules, detecting drought stress in plants, alleviating the heat, attracting birds and other wildlife to your landscape, harvesting rainwater and reducing property erosion.
Low Water-Use Plants tells you what you need to know and do!
Customer Reviews:
Not for native plant enthusiasts.......2004-08-28
"Low-Water-Use Plants" is a good book for someone interested in landscaping with drought-tolerant plants. Shuler provides excellent plant descriptions and details on garden uses. I would have gotten great use out of this book when I first became interested in low-water-use gardening after purchasing my first house in California. I have now become primarily interested in native plants, however, and Shuler's book only includes a few these. For budding native plant enthusiasts I would recommennd Marjore G. Schmidt's "Growing native California Plants" and Sally Wasowski's "Native Landscaping from El Paso to L.A."
A must-have for desert landscaping libraries!.......2000-07-01
I found out about this book from a class that I took at the Desert Botanical Gardens here in Phoenix. It is a great addition to Judy Mielke's book, Native Plants for Soutwestern Landscapes and Mary Rose Duffield's book, Plants for Dry Climates. Carol Shuler has some great charts toward the back of the book on trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and accent plants. I love the section on horticulture which covers some basic design principles. There are also lots of great pictures throughout and great explanations of many types of plants.
Book Description
A strong sense of nostalgia and a yearning for a simpler life are the accompaniments to the images in Don James's Pre-War Surfing Photographs. At the end of the Depression and before the beginning of WWII, James and a small group of friends lived a charmed life in Southern California. When school was out, they roamed the undeveloped Eden-like coast from Malibu to San Onofre, scraping together gas money for their worn jalopies, lugging 90-pound wooden boards to the ocean, sleeping in lifeguard huts and makeshift tent camps in the sand. They lived hand-to-mouth, plucking an endless supply of abalone and lobster from the ocean and raiding nearby orange and avocado orchards at night. What spending money they had came from guiding rumrunners to secluded coves, selling fresh fish to local restaurants, life guarding in posh beach clubs in Santa Monica, or acting as stuntmen and extras for Hollywood films. At that time, there were fewer than 200 surfers in the entire state, and James and his friends were inventing a beach/surf culture that would endure for decades. In 1936, at 16 years old, James began chronicling those days with his father's folding Brownie camera. For water shots, he would place the camera in a homemade semi-waterproof pine box, rest the box atop his board, and paddle out to the calm water adjacent to the surf. Focal range of the Brownie was limited, and James preferred to keep his frame uncluttered, so many of the photographs have a similar weight and balance. The images in Pre-War Surfing Photographs are the result of his preliminary endeavors, the works that mark the beginning of James's career. Throughout his life, James continued to perfect his skills going on to take a multitude of elegant surfing photographs, for which he became famous, until his death in the 1990s.
Customer Reviews:
REDDSURF.......2007-05-18
THIS IS A MUST FOR SURFERS. THE PICTURES SHOW US HOW SURFING IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS WERE. IF YOU ARE INTO THE HISTORY OF SURFING THIS A GREAT BOOK. IT IS PUT TOGETHER VERY WELL.
Research Material Unrealized to Sustain a Book.......2007-01-20
"Don James: Prewar Surfing Photographs" is a collection of black and white photos taken by someone who would go on to become one of the first great photographers of surfing.
Matt Warshaw assembled this heretofore unpublished collection of what can be described as among the very first attempts in California at taking surfing photos from the water from the perspective of another board ( water level). Water shots of surfing had been pretty common in the waters of Waikiki for a number of years, but were almost always taken from an outrigger canoes, thus the perspective was not actually from water level.
The book seems to have been thrown together quickly from photos that were "found" in Dr. James' desk, after he died. Given that some of them are out of focus and others seem almost comically composed, ( plenty of self-conscious posing and mugging for the camera) one can assume that the late Doctor was on to something when he decided to leave these in his desk. Perhaps some of these photos could have been used in the context of another book about the history of surfing, but to stand alone as the backbone of a specific book devoted to just these photos, was in my opinion a miscalculation or an after thought.
Warshaw is one of the preeminent chroniclers of the surfing phenomenon and history. His other works, "Photo/Stoner.....", "Surf Movie Tonight", and his "Encyclopedia Of Surfing" demonstrate his thorough grasp of the cultural, historical and socio-economic history of surfing. Warshaw's prose ( especially in his excellent "Photo/Stoner...") is among the best if not the best in the genre. Coupled with his keen eye for photos that capture an era and the reader's imagination, Warshaw has a commendable body of work. The Don James book cannot be listed among them.
The book contains a short preface from Warshaw but as previously stated many of the photos that follow are sub-par. Some of them would probably work well in framed large formats, at say a Restaurant in So. Cal.
The photos are left in a vacuum. No notations or specific identification of what we are looking at or an effort to put them into any surf history context.
Warshaw could have, should have fleshed this effort out more. Perhaps a bit more on Doctor James. Maybe some drawings or photos of what the camera rig looked like that took the photos. A map that shows geographically where the spots are.. A bit more insight into the people in the photos, a description of the nuances of the reefs and breaks portrayed, anything something, but alas nothing.
Another reviewer of the book mentioned that it captures a lost era and life style. Surfing back then was not considered a "life style", that did not happen until well after WWII. These were young men, who had the good fortune to discover and take part in a sport/art that was a welcome respite from the pressures of the economic conditions prevalent in the nation at the time. What was on their minds was more probably, "Am I going to make it socially-economically". James did by becoming a successful Dentist.
This book can only be recommended to the most hard core surfing history enthusiast, and even they ( I among them) will find this book, a less than valiant effort.
Don James:Prewar Surfing Photographs.......2007-01-09
This is an excellent collection of photos. Don did his best to capture a lifestyle that is long behind us.
Average customer rating:
- All you need
- Not my favorite
- A Touchstone Recipe Book
- The most beautiful cookbook you've ever seen...
- Excellent Source for Vegetable Dishes, But Not the Best.
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Chez Panisse Vegetables
Alice L. Waters
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
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ASIN: 0060171472 |
Amazon.com
By now just about everybody whose interest in eating runs deeper than fast food knows about Alice Waters. The creator of Chez Panisse, the legendary restaurant in Berkeley, California, that helped create a modern American cuisine based on fresh ingredients, she is also equally well-known as a teacher and cookbook author. Chez Panisse Vegetables is one of the best new cookbooks of the season; it's as useful for its information about vegetables and how to use and handle them as it is for its irresistible recipes, which lead to complex and interesting dishes built from simple ingredients and simple techniques.
Book Description
For twenty-five years, Alice Waters and her friends at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California have dedicated themselves to the ideal of serving the finest, freshest foods with simplicity and style. From tender baby asparagus in early spring, to the colorful spectrum of peppers at the height of summer; crisp, leafy chicories in autumn, to sweet butternut squash in the dark of winter, much of the inspiration about what to put on the menu comes from the high quality produce Waters and her chefs seek out year-round.
Using the treasures from the earth
, Chez Panisse Vegetables offers endless possibilities for any occasion. Try Grilled Radicchio Risotto with Balsamic Vinegar at your next dinner party, or Pizza with Red and Yellow Peppers for a summer evening at home. Why not forgo green-leaf lettuce, and opt for Artichoke and Grapefruit Salad drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil? Or serve Corn Cakes with fresh berries for breakfast instead of cereal?
Throughout Vegetables, Waters shares her energy and enthusiasm for what she describes as "living foods." When she first began in the restaurant business, the selection of good-quality vegetables was so limited that she found herself searching out farmers with whom she might do business. Luckily, today's explosion of markets and organic farms across the country ensures that any home cook can find freshly harvested produce to put on the table. And with the increased popularity of home gardening, more and more people are taking their vegetables straight from the earth and into the kitchen.
Cooks, gardeners, vegetarians and everyone who appreciates good food will find Chez Panisse Vegetables to be not only a cookbook, but a valuable resource for selecting and serving fine produce. From popular vegetables like corn, tomatoes and carrots, to more unusual selections like chard, amaranth greens and sorrel, Vegetables offers detailed information about the seasonal availability, proper look, flavor and preparation of each selection. Arranged alphabetically by vegetable, and filled with colorful linocut images, Chez Panisse Vegetables makes it easy for a cook to find a tempting recipe for whatever he or she has brought home from the market.
Customer Reviews:
All you need.......2007-06-13
Vegetables never tasted so good. I wish I had this book years ago. I wish my mom had it when I was growing up. Trained cooks and newbies can benefit from this book.
Not my favorite.......2007-04-22
In my first go-over of a cookbook, I look for the inspiring recipes. Well, I found none here. The incredible amount of space given to discussing the vegetables themselves is a waste. I have other sources for that information. And, the lack of pictures or drawings of the completed dishes is a serious omission. I love Alice Waters and what she has done for American cuisine, but save your money.
A Touchstone Recipe Book .......2006-06-17
This gorgeous book looks like an art piece, reads like an authority, and has wonderful recipes for the chef. I love this book! Vegetables is a book that I pull out to just read about squash varieties with no inttention of cooking them! The recipes are divine.
The most beautiful cookbook you've ever seen..........2005-12-10
It's my sister's, so I've only made one recipe from it. A great (easy) butternut squash recipe for Thanksgiving. I've asked for it for Christmas. Reason one - to have the most lovely cookbook I've ever seen. Reason two - to put an end to my long-time search for good vegetable side and main dishes.
Excellent Source for Vegetable Dishes, But Not the Best........2005-01-02
`Chez Panisse Vegetables' by Alice Waters is a book you will want to seriously consider for your library in general, and especially if you are very fond of cooking vegetable dishes. This is not to say this is the best book on the veggie bookshelf, as there are several, both vegetarian and non that are as good or better. The most similar volume is `Vegetables Every Day' by Jack Bishop which, like Waters' volume is organized by vegetable. And, in most easily measurable regards, Bishop's book is superior if you simply cannot have more than one veggie book on your shelves.
For starters, Bishop's book weights in at 388 pages for a list price of $30 while Ms. Waters has 336 pages for a list price of $35. Bishop covers 68 named vegetables in his table of contents while Waters covers only 44; however, some of her 44 chapters cover two similar veggies, as in the chapter on broccoli and broccoli raab. Yet, while Waters gives us five recipes on these two products, Bishop gives us eleven (11) recipes on broccoli and four recipes for broccoli raab.
Bishop also gives a lot more routine information on each vegetable. Every article, regardless of how many recipes may be given, has the same seven (7) paragraphs in the introductory article. The first paragraph simply introduces you to the vegetable and gives you a general idea of the appeal and usability of the vegetable. The next paragraph on availability gives the best season for the produce and whether or not the vegetable is currently available year round in American markets. The third paragraph on selection gives us criteria for whether we want to pick up today's selection of a species or let it alone. The paragraph on storage is especially useful, as there is probably very little wisdom handed down from your Eastern European grandma on storing tomatillos, taro, or jicama or from your Mexican mom on dealing with arugula, bok choy, or burdock. The basic preparation paragraph can be simple for leafy greens or very complicated for artichokes. The very short section on best cooking methods is primarily useful for totally unfamiliar vegetables. A very useful last entry gives recipes on other vegetables in which the titular ingredient appears.
But then, this review is about Waters' book, so let's get back to it. From the point of view of a book lover, there are a few things that recommend this book. First, like all of the Chez Panisse cookbooks, this one is very attractively illustrated in a vaguely French Art Nouveau style with what appear to be color pencil drawings for each vegetable. The table of contents also has the complete title of every recipe in the front of the book, which is a great help if you happen to be doing a quick search for a particular carrot or sweet potato recipe. Ms. Waters' volume also includes recipes for some vegetables not covered in Mr. Bishop's book such as Amaranth Greens, but Mr. Bishop returns the favor by covering several not highlighted by Ms. Waters.
Even though Ms. Waters dedicates more pages to mushrooms than does Mr. Bishop, Bishop offers fourteen (14) mushroom recipes to Ms. Waters twelve (12). And, Mr. Bishop tends to give more basic and more traditional recipes. Among his mushroom recipes, for example, he has a recipe for duxelles and for duxelles with scrambled eggs. Bishop also includes more recipes that include meat; but neither book should be considered a vegan or vegetarian book, as both make heavy use of dairy products in their recipes.
The two most positive things I can say about Ms. Waters book are that there is very little overlap of recipes between her book and Mr. Bishop's book and her comments are much more fun to read between commercials while watching Rachael Ray or Alton Brown on the Food Network. The introductory text is less formal, but more interesting.
While I have had Ms. Waters' book longer than I have had Mr. Bishop's volume, I still go to Chez Panisse first over all my other vegetable books, as Waters' recipes are simple, elegant, and very well explained. I go to Bishop second if I can't find anything that appeals to me from Miss Alice.
If you can, get both of these books over any other vegetable cookbook I have seen (although I have certainly not seen all). But do not get them if you need strictly vegetarian recipes. For those, see Deborah Madison's books, `The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen' by Peter Berley, or Crescent Dragonwagon's encyclopedic `Passionate Vegetarian'.
Highly recommended for foodies and cookbook collectors.
Book Description
Every winter when the ocean buoys start to read 10-, 15-, and 20-feet, the coast of Half Moon Bay, California, is transformed by an enormous wave called Maverick's. Recognized as one of the most dangerous big wave surf breaks in the world, Maverick's is big, cold, and sickeningly powerful. It's the best show in town, but until now you could only see it through a pair of binoculars. Inside Maverick's brings you right onto the sickening ledge of a 75-foot wave with jaw-dropping photographs and gritty insider accounts of what it's really like out there. Sports columnist Bruce Jenkins and Maverick's surfer Grant Washburn have interviewed top big wave surfers Peter Mel, Zach Wourmhoudt, Evan Slater, and others to discuss every aspect of the freakish wave from the paddle out to the terrifying drop to the inevitable and brutal wipeouts. Covering fifteen years of incredible surfing with photos that have never before been published, Inside Maverick's grants unparalleled access to this legendary wave and the elite core of big wave surfers that are obsessed with challenging it.
Customer Reviews:
The Trifecta for a Mav's Book: Acton/Jenkins/Washburn.......2007-01-15
Inside Maverick's is an outstanding mix of excellent photos, writing and story telling. The book captures amazing stories from the unique mix of surfers that ride Maverick's. No extreme sport enthusiast's coffee table or bookshelf is complete without this book.
An Extraordinary Book.......2007-01-01
The stunning photos alone make this book worthwhile, but the surfing commentary is topnotch as well. A great companion to the DVD "Riding Giants", and you will recognize many of the people from the DVD in the book.
If you are in to any adventure sports or just an armchair surfer, this book is for you.
"Are you KIDDING ME??".......2006-12-28
"Are you KIDDING ME???"
Those are usually the first words out of anyone's mouth when they see this book on my coffee table. And then, usually I have to throw in "Riding Giants" and change any conversation we may have been having.
The photography and story telling present by Grant and team in top notch. Grant alone has spent more than a decade chronicling the history of the world's heaviest big wave, and it comes through in an amazing presentation that anyone who could possible comprehend what these guys do will appreciate.
But then again, comprehending just exactly what these guys are doing is pretty much impossible.
Maverick's - A Very Gnarly Place.......2006-09-28
Inside Maverick's is an extraordinary book. It is written & photographed by 3 extraordinary people and, as a team, there is not another 3 people alive who can match their intimacy and knowledge of Mavericks or who have the ability to capture in words and images the wild moods and moments of this world class break. This incredible book answers the question, what's it like and the answer is delivered by more than 50 voices, all of remarkable courage, strength and boldness. If you want to wade in, here are a few excerpts of what Maverick's has to offer up. Washburn describes an unforgettable wipeout: "I was shocked at the ferocity, the gravity, the mercilessness. Where was he? Would he be drowned? Dismembered? It seemed entirely possible that his head could be torn clean off. When the set was finished with him, he popped up, shaken, but alive. We knew he had been lucky" There is a chapter giving us expert weather advice, courtesy of Mark Sponsler: "Hurricane swells pale in comparison to Northern California surf, because all 12-foot waves are not the same. Some will seem to move a lot more water and travel much faster. The period is what makes the difference. The longer the period, the faster and stronger the wave. Pure chop has a period of 4 to 8 seconds, windswell 9 to 11 seconds, weak swell 13 to 15 seconds and strong swell 16 seconds or greater. Though a hurricane can generate waves with periods in the 14 second range, storms headed for Maverick's can generate waves with periods at 25 seconds or greater, the most powerful waves on Earth short of a tidal wave." And here is Evan Slater's description of the take off zone: "Only fifteen or twenty feet wide, swells march in as big, fat lumps, then double in size and fold over themselves as they hit the shelf. Within this zone, each wave has about a three-to-five foot wide ramp or make-able entry point, with a one-to-two-second window of opportunity. The location of the ramp changes with every wave; sometimes it's not there at all. Mistime it by a split second or take off a foot too deep, and you'll be freefalling. Guaranteed. Even after surviving countless beatings and a handful of two-wave hold-downs, I still have no clue why there's a 99.9 percent wipeout survival rate at Maverick's. Every time you go through one, you wonder in midthrashing, 'Is this the end for me?'" And there is a chaper on fear, "I love fear," says Don Curry, "I thrive on it. But there are times at Maverick's when it overwhelms you. There was a day in '97 when I was out there for three hours, just me and Jay and one other guy. None of us even took off--not once--and I'll admit to being psyched out. I felt like I was seeing things that I shouldn't have. Things that were not meant to be seen that close by the human eye. I felt like God and the devil were right there, and it could go either way." And finally, one of many tributes to Jeff Clark, this one written by John Raymond: "We owe everything to Jeff Clark, and nobody should forget that, I'm talking about going left or right with nobody else out there. I don't think people understand what kind of courage that took. It's one thing for the rest of us to come in afterward, but for him to go out, at a place that looks like it just might kill you, that's unbelievable. If it wasn't for Jeff, I'll bet that place would still be cloudbreaking, and nobody would be out there." If you're in search of inspiration, Inside Maverick's is where it's found. I can see this becoming my all-time favorite surfing book.
Book Description
When a tiny cheese shop opened for business on a quaint Berkeley street in 1967, there was little hint of what the shop—and the neighborhood—would grow into over the next 30 years. The Cheese Board became a collective a few years later, and Chez Panisse opened across the street, giving birth to one of the country's most vibrant food neighborhoods, the epicenter of California's culinary revolution. Known and loved by locals and travelers alike, the Cheese Board is equal parts bakery, cheese store, pizzeria, and gathering place—a patchwork of the local community, where a passion for good food runs deep. For the first time ever, THE CHEESE BOARD presents the classic recipes that have made the store one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most acclaimed gourmet destinations. Complete with a history of the shop and neighborhood, a cheese primer, and all the classic recipes—including the corn-cherry scones, cheese rolls, and zampanos, all of which have a cult following—THE CHEESE BOARD is as rich and varied as the institution that inspired it.
Customer Reviews:
Best Scones Ever.......2007-01-10
I love this book. I have been searching for the perfect scones for 25 years. I have found them in the Cheese Board's new book, along with myriad other phenomenal recipes (brioche, shortbread, pizza, etc.). The humor and affection of the bakers/writers for each other and the subject matter are also infectious.
Awesome Little Book.......2006-01-04
I spent 6 years in Berkeley and I still go back occasionally. The one stop I always make is the Cheeseboard. Not only are they famous for wide cheese and olive selection, but their bakery is out of this world. I remember the days where I would get Brioche and munch on it on the way to class. Or getting the fresh baked sourdough baguettes on the way home from the market. This cookbook describes in detail how to work with the dough, measure out ingredients, and how to bake bread properly. I learned a great deal about baking from this book. I have made a few things (such as the shortbread, sourdough baguette, brioche, muffins, etc) from the book and was very satisfied. Now, this is not for the beginner bakers, I don't think. Also, this is not a speed baking book. I would rate this book as a medium skill book, but with a help of Kitchen Aid mixer and patience, you will be able to get the same great products you find at the Cheeseboard Collective. Definitely recommended for anybody and everybody.
Baking Voyeurism.......2005-08-10
This book is worthwhile for the mouth watering stories and recipes alone! As someone who went to Berkeley shortly after the Cheese Board was established, the "old" quotes from former members concerning the joys and travails of working at the Cheese Board brought back memories of Berkeley in that era in a pleasantly nostalgic manner.
Although the bread recipes are far beyond my abilities, all of the morning breakfast food recipes can be produced successfully by someone with limited baking experience (and limited patience!).
Definitely work buying, even if you never bake any of the breads.
great read.......2004-12-01
I read it cover to cover, great fun, lots of fascinating history of the collective. The pizza recipe I tried was excellent. But if you are looking for a book with lots of detailed information on different cheeses and what to serve them with, note that you won't find that here -- the food focus is on baking.
Fun book with some great recipes.......2004-07-06
If you ever been to the Cheese Board in Berkeley, you've experienced how fun, and delicious it is. It's a destination, not just a food store.
The book is the same way. The recipes are delicious, and actually work. But it's filled with fun facts and info on the Cheese Board history and culture.
So far, I've made the challah (Excellent!), banana muffins (very good), ginger shortbread (good), and simple whole wheat bread (bit of a disaster).
The only criticism I have is its overemphasis on sourdough. Many of the recipes assume creating sourdough with their recipe, so if that's not to your taste, it's not clear exactly how to proceed.
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- Water Encyclopedia, Five-Volume Set
- Waterfowl: An Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World
- Wetland Indicators: A Guide to Wetland Identification, Delineation, Classification.........
- Wetlands
- Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul
- Wilderness and the American Mind, Fourth Edition
- Zen Shorts (Caldecott Honor Book)
- 104 Activities That Build: Self-Esteem, Teamwork, Communication, Anger Management, Self-Discovery, Coping Skills
- African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame
- An Introduction to the Sun and Stars
Books Index
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