The Art of Simple Food: Notes and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
by Alice Waters
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Read in January, 2008
I'm one of those people who reads cookbooks cover to cover when I get them. Strange? This book was a re-gifted Christmas present from a friend who didn't want it. Their loss was my gain. I'd seen the book in the bookstore before and was turned off by the lack of photos and the atypical recipe format of not putting all the ingredients in one list at the start of the recipe.
However, as I started to make the first dishes I found that for actually cooking/baking this format is easier and be...more
However, as I started to make the first dishes I found that for actually cooking/baking this format is easier and be...more
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recommends it for:
Everyone
I'm being biased in my star rating because this isn't really a great cookbook by any means. I just love Alice Waters and appreciate her purpose in writing this.
This isn't so much a "cookbook" as it is a book that tries to educate on how to approach food differently, to get our minds out of the increasingly fast-food mentality.
If someone who didn't know Alice Waters' goals were to pick it up, they might be disappointed with the cursory, almost random-seeming and too-simple recip...more
This isn't so much a "cookbook" as it is a book that tries to educate on how to approach food differently, to get our minds out of the increasingly fast-food mentality.
If someone who didn't know Alice Waters' goals were to pick it up, they might be disappointed with the cursory, almost random-seeming and too-simple recip...more
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I got this cookbook for xmas and I really like the idea of it. It is about cooking fresh, seasonal food without over-seasoning or over-processing it. It also appeals to me as I am not, unlike Alice Waters (proprietor of Chez Panise), a genius chef and therefore appreciate simple recipes. Unfortunately, while the recipes are not particularly complex, the instructions are often confusing.
For example, at the start of the apricot jam recipe she says "if you like, to give a bitter almond...more
For example, at the start of the apricot jam recipe she says "if you like, to give a bitter almond...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
all who cook or need to eat
I just started this last night and I love it. The author, the owner of a lovely, but upscale restaurant, talks about food and cooking in a very down to earth way. Her premise is that anyone can cook and the only things you need are good ingredients (especially fresh local produce/herbs), good equipment (but not necessarily the most expensive), and the basic know-how. All of these things are explained and detailed in her book which reads nicely (particularly at 2:00 a.m. when you're on the cou...more
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Read in October, 2007
This is a book for people who cook at home regularly--the recipes are, as advertised, simple and yet not so simple as to be disappointing. The first half of it reviews useful basic techniques such as making salads, simple vegetable soups, and slow-roasting meats. Each section features a few example recipes that show how to implement the technique. The second half of the book is filled with recipes.
There's a spying quality to this book--part of its appeal for me is that it feel like I've...more
There's a spying quality to this book--part of its appeal for me is that it feel like I've...more
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Wow. She did it again. This time the book is her personal food theories (not necessarily all associated with Chez Panisse) along with profoundly simple and accessible and delicious recipes.
The book is great for someone who has never cooked and someone who has cooked for years. It has this amazing directness that is warm and approachable, much like the woman herself.
Speaking of which, Alice Waters, if you haven't heard, is making time to meet folks at Red Hill. She will read from her book ...more
Has a copy to sell/swap
recommends it for:
everyone--highly accessible
Wow. She did it again. This time the book is her personal food theories (not necessarily all associated with Chez Panisse) along with profoundly simple and accessible and delicious recipes.
The book is great for someone who has never cooked and someone who has cooked for years. It has this amazing directness that is warm and approachable, much like the woman herself.
Speaking of which, Alice Waters, if you haven't heard, is making time to meet folks at Red Hill. She will read from her book ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Farmer's Market Lovers!
Just spent time reading this in a coffee shop and I loved the way she thinks about food and going to the farmer's market. I've become a huge fan of the farmer's market this last summer and I love cooking simply with fresh ingredients, and whatever is available. This is a great companion for that type of cooking. It gave me some ideas about what to do with fruit that's getting old, and made me want a food mill. It also explained some techniques that I had been using without knowing why they w...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
home cooks
The revolutionary Alice Waters has become is only now gaining attention. She's really been at this for a long time, and her ideas are wholesome and about living a healthy life. It's really nothing more than that. You can discredit this by pointing at her French techniques, but using natural, organic ingredients far outweighs any processed materials society used to gleefully ingest. This book shows how cooking, using a few techniques, can be done very well simply by taking farm ingredients to...more
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Read in December, 2007
This is cookbook sacrilige to say but I thought this cookbook was only OK. I read through it, copied the chicken stock recipe which was nice and simple and returned it to the library. I'm not saying it's a bad cookbook. I just didn't see many recipes I wanted to make. I love buying and owning cookbooks but didn't feel the need to own this one. I love and own Chez Panisse Vegetables though so I'm not dissing Alice.
One pet peeve I have is that no one needs special cookbooks for org...more
One pet peeve I have is that no one needs special cookbooks for org...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
someone relearning to cook
Although it contains a small cookbook within a cookbook, The Art of Simple Food is more of a how-to book, with an emphasis on ingredients and technique, rather than on a comprehensive list of recipes. This is a good book for someone wanting to change their relationship to food because Water's insistence upon quality and integrity encourages thoughtful and appreciative eating.
There are, however, some disappointments in this book. Many of these recipes are so simple they can be found ne...more
There are, however, some disappointments in this book. Many of these recipes are so simple they can be found ne...more
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Read in January, 2008
Waters's food philosophy is base on the following principles:
-Eat locally, sustainably and seasonally.
-Shop at farmers' markets.
-Garden, conserve, compost and recycle.
-Cook simply, engaging all your senses.
-Cook and eat together.
The first half of the book instructs the reader on various cooking/baking methods with a few basic recipes to demonstrate each technique. She also includes ideas on how to stock your pantry, what kitchen equipment to have on hand and how to plan menus. ...more
-Eat locally, sustainably and seasonally.
-Shop at farmers' markets.
-Garden, conserve, compost and recycle.
-Cook simply, engaging all your senses.
-Cook and eat together.
The first half of the book instructs the reader on various cooking/baking methods with a few basic recipes to demonstrate each technique. She also includes ideas on how to stock your pantry, what kitchen equipment to have on hand and how to plan menus. ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
newbie/wannabe chefs
so far I've made her 1-2-3-4 cake and a potato & pancetta risotto. both were delicious and satisfying to make and to eat. it takes some time for the shopping and the cooking of her dishes, but if you have a chance it is really great. not practical for making dinner after work, but great for a weekend afternoon...
have now also made her pan-seared pork chops. incredibly easy, delicious, and really pretty fun. searing is dramatically sizzley :) also great b/c it wasn't just a recipe, but...more
have now also made her pan-seared pork chops. incredibly easy, delicious, and really pretty fun. searing is dramatically sizzley :) also great b/c it wasn't just a recipe, but...more
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Read in January, 2008
I really enjoyed the big picture parts of this book. As someone who has changed the way we eat, she is worth reading. And I think you could really learn how to cook if you only cooked out of this book for awhile, and set up your pantry per her recommendations and such. I actually bought a copy but ended up exchanging it for "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" because her recipes are a bit too gourmet -- anchovies, capers -- and also too much fish, which I don't really eat anymore. ...more
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Phoenix's little sister, Red Hill is having Alice Waters over December 20th at 7:30. That's this Thursday folks!
Alice Waters is going to sign books and discuss the Delicious Revolution, which from what Phoenix hears, we will all get to partake in...as in a few of the recipes from the book will be served!!
This is why we live in San Francisco: to see and hear revolutionary, sensate, intelligent people and have conversations with them, while surrounded by great books. Well, it's certainl...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone interested in eating well
This book is an essential primer for the preparation of simple delicious food from the Slow/Local/Sustainable Food guru herself Alice Waters. Instructions that bring you belong just picking up your organic milk and gourmet pesto at Wholefoods and calling it a day. This book teaches you the fundamentals so you can do it yourself: roasting the perfect chicken, making aioli, pesto, salsa verde, soup, bread, an array of delicious veggies, deserts/tarts and much more. A great reference to have on ...more
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Read in December, 2007
I read a review of this book somewhere (the Times? Time? I dunno) and I got the impression it was more writing and less recipes. Wrong! It's lots of recipes. But it's pretty handy for someone (like me) interested in eating locally and in season. Many of the recipes seem to be in my realm of cooking-impaired. I was hoping for more writing, as I'm really interested in Alice Waters - chef for Chez Panisse in CA, big advocate of local/seasonal foods, started a program for schoolchildren on gr...more
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Read in January, 2008
I loved this book. I did subtract a star because I felt the book tended to be poorly organized, and I agree with a few other reviewers that the recipes were not all crystal clear.
That being said, this was a great cookbook for me, with a combination of recipes and food writing. The book has a lot of cooking philosophy and basic techniques. It also includes a slightly wider range of ingredients than I would usually have around, which encourages me to try new things, especially in terms of seas...more
That being said, this was a great cookbook for me, with a combination of recipes and food writing. The book has a lot of cooking philosophy and basic techniques. It also includes a slightly wider range of ingredients than I would usually have around, which encourages me to try new things, especially in terms of seas...more
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Read in December, 2007
Sometimes Alice Waters drives me batty with her all-too-optimistic beliefs that anyone can afford to shop at farmers markets and spend their Saturday mornings idly talking to the man who grew their beets, but I nonetheless can't help but read her instructions on butchering a chicken and braising a stew like it's poetry. No Alice, I will not travel and visit people's homes with my own stash of sea salt and extra virgin olive oil, but I will follow your wonderful, delicious recipes.
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Read in May, 2008
This is not a conventional cookbook. At all. It's really inspiring, however. Lots of great ideas and a few simple recipes with suggested variations makes it perfect for learning to cook on your own. It's also a manifesto for eating locally, organically, and sustainably. I'm not sure it's quite worth the high cover price, but I've gotten a lot out of this unconventional cookbook.
(Note: This is NOT a vegetarian cookbook, but there are tons of veggie recipes and ideas.)
(Note: This is NOT a vegetarian cookbook, but there are tons of veggie recipes and ideas.)
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recommends it for:
annie, sydney
picked this up at borders and am convinced this is the book that is going to make me a cooker (someone who technically cooks or tries to cook - i feel like i have to make that distinction. am not trying to be a cook, just a cooker.)
goal: to cook at least 4 recipes from this book a month. some of you will think this is no goal at all. some will think it's overly ambitious. we'll see. updates to follow. am open to cooking with a sous-chef if there are any volunteers...
goal: to cook at least 4 recipes from this book a month. some of you will think this is no goal at all. some will think it's overly ambitious. we'll see. updates to follow. am open to cooking with a sous-chef if there are any volunteers...
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