The Multicultural Cookbook for Students

by Carole Lisa Albyn, Lois Sinaiko Webb

Take an appetizing tour of the world with The Multicultural Cookbook for Students. Arranged by region and then by country, each group of recipes is preceded by a brief description of the geography, history, and culinary traditions of the country. Recipes list the number of people served per dish, the ingredients--with appropriate substitutions for more exotic items--the equipment needed, and easy-to-follow directions for the preparation of dishes. A glossary is also included. Recommended for grades 4-12.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is much to like about Carole Lisa Albyn's and Lois Webb's The Multicultural Cookbook for Students, but upon now having browsed through both the recipes and the accompanying cultural, historical information, there is also rather too much that I for one find more than a bit personally frustrating and annoying. For although I indeed do much enjoy and appreciate the diversity and rich number of recipes shown for most of the countries of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean (and have definitely loved reading the cultural background information on ALL of the countries of the world featured and presented in The Multicultural Cookbook for Students) many of especially the countries of Europe do seem to come more than somewhat short (and while I actually do understand the authors' reasoning and did not in fact even expect a lot of recipes from for example countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, I definitely did expect more than the very meagre number Albyn and Webb have often selected, and actually for Germany, one of the only two recipes featured is at least in my humble opinion not only rather atypical of Germany as an entity, as a whole and more distinctly in particularly Southern and Central Germany based, but also, with Himmel und Erde, at least in my own family, my mother usually tended to make this as a vegetarian dish of just potatoes and apples cooked together WITHOUT the addition of bacon, and sorry, Ms. Albyn and Ms. Webb, while much of German cookery is indeed heavy and meat based, there is also a very strong tradition of vegetarianism and plant based foods present that was popular and standardly acceptable even at a time when in say North America the same was not as yet even being much if at all considered).

However, I was actually more than willing to still consider a three star ranking for The Multicultural Cookbook for Students, had the absence of ANY accompanying photographs of what the end results or at the very least of what a few of the recipes might look like once prepared not majorly rubbed me the wrong way (because since so many of these recipes are in fact not all that universally known and familiar, and considering that the cookbook is supposed to be primarily geared towards school aged children, there really should be, there really must be at least some pictures of the end results featured, even if only for the most unusual, for the least globally known inclusions). And furthermore, and what finally really and truly did cement a two star ranking at best for The Multicultural Cookbook for Students for me is the complete absence of any bibliographical notes and source acknowledgments whatsoever of and for the cultural and historic details shown, which is not only academically suspect, it also prevents further research and study of the food traditions of the countries depicted and presented and does in my opinion seriously and problematically limit and reduce the teaching and learning value of The Multicultural Cookbook for Students (and considering that at least according to my own knowledge and background of having being born and having lived in Germany as a child, some of the specifically German food details and cultural information Carole Lisa Albyn and Lois Webb have penned are really not all that correct anymore, in so far that it is mostly in very rural areas that people generally do still consume two breakfasts, and I therefore also must of course now wonder whether there are any such errors and faux pas with regard to the other shown and featured countries as well, and with no bibliography, with no footnotes, endnotes, no sources acknowledged, there is sadly also no way to easily check this using the book itself as a starting point of and for research). Still very much interested in trying some if not even a large number of the presented recipes, but no, I was truly expecting rather a bit more from The Multicultural Cookbook for Students or rather, I was expecting something different (a more balanced distribution of recipes, pictures of the end results and definitely a bibliography listing secondary works cited and used).

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just found in the bottom of a box not unpacked from our last move, a very special book that I bought back when I was studying to be a K-6 teacher. I recommend this to all families, and to curious cooks even if they don't have children. Lots countries represented, lots of varieties of good home cooking. Much of it is of course plant-based because traditional. Easy to browse, or to search by country, with a good index if you know the name of the dish or the main ingredient.

I've decided not to haul any further my Joy of Cooking (that I almost never use) but to keep this, if only because the recipe for tzimmes is about 1/3 easier in the youth-friendly book, and looks more appealing than in the weighty foodie classic, too!

Published by Oryx.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book many years ago but only recently gained an appreciation for it. I'd been holding on to it for so long without really trying to cook from it. But, I have found I really love it.

The geography in the book is outdated by over 20 years (There is a more recent second edition that I'd love to see.), but this book was likely a pioneer of its kind. Do not use it for current geography info! It has Yugoslavia, Zaire, and is missing any country created since '93.

Here's the really great takeaway that makes this book a real taste of cultures: It is really nice to see a cookbook that doesn't treat all of African cuisine the same and doesn't treat all of the Middle East, Central America, or Southeast Asia as one lump. There are some areas that were undergoing a lot of change during that time (former Soviet Bloc), so they don't have a lot of distinction. However, this book is a joy to look at and fun to cook from!

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly interesting book of recipes from around the world. Tries to give a writeup of food and cooking in each country of a region, although central Asia (former Soviet bloc countries south of Russia) is absent. Made a few recipes from it and they were okay. There was a particularly frustrating habit of the author to tell you about a yummy-sounding dish that is a very popular dish of a country in its writeup, and then once your appetite is whetted, so to speak, THERE IS NO RECIPE FOR THAT DISH! Drove me a bit batty. Still, I did find a bunch of recipes to copy.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

great multicultural cookbook!