The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion: A Sourcebook for Understanding the Cuisines of the World

by Eve Zibat

Nowhere is America's rich ethnic and cultural diversity more apparent than in its restaurants. Every city and region of the United States has a unique cultural heritage - whether it's Cuban, Thai, Spanish, Italian, Indian, French or German - reflected in its dining choices. So what do you order in an ethnic restaurant, and how do you eat? The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion provides all the information you need to make every ethnic dining experience a pleasant and memorable one. In this book you will find information about what to expect in any type of ethnic restaurant; detail profiles of each ethnic cuisine, including key ingredients, spices and methods of preparation; cultural tips to put you at ease with the customs and etiquette of each cuisine; representative dishes of each cuisine defined and described; recommended complete meals from appetizer through dessert and easy recipes you can prepare at home.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2001

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't read on an empty stomach!

I immediately want to start eating my way around the world (or at least around the ethnic restaurants in my town). This is a great introduction to cuisines of the different regions of the world. It is not meant to be an extensive study of each region, and some areas are missing (Afghanistan, South Africa, British Isles). She also as an appendix about American regional cuisine which could have been its own section. I enjoyed reading about the basic things you'll get in each country/area. There are recipes, but I found them to not be totally necessary.

I would recommend this book for anyone interesting in travel, international cuisine, or expanding their cooking/eating ideas.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this little book - it's a great "beginners guide" to ethnic foods. Geared towards ethnic restaurants in North America, it is still very informative regarding regional cuisine and what to expect & proper etiquette while you're there. Each chapter involves a couple recipes so you can try out a food at home before venturing out.

I keep finding this book in different areas of the house... kitchen, living room, bedroom beside the bed... it wanders, as it is very friendly to the "pick up, flip through, find interesting chapter and read" style of reading.

Highly recommend it, it is one of my favorites.

The only complaint: there needs to be more of it. I want a sequal!

[Cynthia Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a fascinating resource for "Understanding the Cuisines of the World" as its subtitle states. It has history and geography, anthropology and even maps, as well as the descriptions of the world's cuisines , basic ingredients and flavor favorites, and finally recipe samples.

A good book if you want to know why you like what you like, too. Consider your own family roots.

It is not the sort of book I will read cover to cover but am really enjoying sampling sections. Will probably buy a copy to have on hand for reference.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fun book, the kind that you pick up to glance at only to find yourself completely drawn in after a few pages. It profiles most of the world's cuisines, detailing history, eating habits, typical ingredients, recipes, even the utensils used in each country. There is so much to learn about a land and it's people through it's food and this book takes advantage of that. This makes a great gift for anybody who enjoys food and travel or learning about other cultures.

[Mishqueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I lost interest really quickly. I guess I was hoping to learn more about individual dishes and ingredients, but it was more about the culture of the dish and the way the people feel about food and eating. Which is valuable unto itself, but not what I sought.

[Degan Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good starting point for diving into ethnic cuisines but it doesn't go much farther than a sampling and some history. I could do without the descriptions of what to expect of each ethnic food in the USA.

[Yaaresse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Invaluable to have when venturing into a new food geography. I really need to load the Kindle version on my phone so I have it with me when shopping.

[Marina Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely informative and a fun read. The title ("a sourcebook for understanding the cuisines of the world") is a good description of what it's about. It doesn't have a lot of pictures and describes food and ingredients.
I've been looking for a book like this for a long time, since a lot of books like this are either huge coffee table books or full of pictures in weird places. But this book was conveniently full of information and not stuffed with random pictures, which was a good contrast to other books I've read before.
There are no flaws that strike me particularly with this book, but to some people who came for just the food, the descriptions of language, history, and the maps might not have been a positive addition. Personally, I enjoyed them and they gave nice perspective, but others may have found them a nuisance.
In summary, this book is probably now one of my favorites and I will definitely refer to it in the future. It contains recipes, but isn't just for people who cook--I think anyone who wants to learn about other places' cultures should pick this book up and give it a read.