Asia, the Beautiful Cookbook

Just that,...The title says it all. Beautiful photographs of the finished products with both American AND metric measurements included in the directions for each recipe. ASIA-The Beautiful Cookbook starts in Japan and ends in Sri Lanka. The two main countries of focus with the most recipes and pages, would be China and India. This book includes all types of dishes from each country,.. appetizers, soups, salads, desserts and main dishes. The only thing I can think of that would make me like this book more,... a larger section on Korea. ASIA-The Beautiful Cookbook includes recipes from each country and a history about the unique cuisine that represents it. A cultural background surrounding the people and their food is also lightly explored in this book. It's part cookbook, part history text book. I love it.

This is without a doubt one of the best "practical" cookbooks I have ever seen. It also offers spectacular views of the lands, people and especially, food of the region. Each nation has an individual section, starting with a general introduction as to the factors that influence the cuisine of that particular land. Interspersed with the colorful recipes are incredibly luscious landscapes. Many of these photographs are of museum quality. I have made many dishes from every country and all turned out well. The Indonesian section was a suprise and the Nasy Goren was a hit for a dinner party. The Korean beef, the Thai lime beef, all the Chinese food - everything looked and tasted sumptous.

This is a beautifully put-together book with a number of great recipes. My rating is simply due to the fact that there are VERY few Korean recipes in this book. I mistakenly believed that since Korea is second in the list of countries covered, a significant number of recipes would be included. This is an excellent sampler for anyone wanting to experiment with the dishes of a variety of countries, but don't buy it if your interest is in the cooking of a specific country.