Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook

I have been searching for a cookbook since I moved to an area with limited international restaurants. Specifically, I was searching for a cookbook with Ethiopian recipes which I particularly love. This book is it! Everything that I have made has tasted authentic--Ethiopian and Indian. I have even tried some recipes of which I am not familiar (Dominican Republic and South African), all were delicious. I plan on giving this as a gift to my friends in the future.

The recipes from all over the world, mainly third-world nations, are delicious, easy-to-prepare, healthy, and can be made from inexpensive ingredients after an initial investment in spices. My husband and I were unemployed students and this cookbook gave us an endless variety of ideas for how to prepare lentils, at 50 cents a meal! I buy fresh garlic and ginger and keep both in my freezer. No need to peel the ginger if you've washed it before freezing it, and it breaks apart easily when it has been frozen. Though seasonings can be expensive, they can make the most basic ingredients--dried beans, lentils, grains--savory and satisfying! If you don't have the ingredients the recipe calls for, improvise! These recipes are extrememly versatile. There is a index for the recipes origin, so you can decide to have a complete dinner featuring a particular nation or region. Many meals can be prepared with one or two pots on your stove, as many kitchens in the world contain only a wood-fired stove. If you buy this book, spend some time just reading it-- it is filled with stories and observations from MCC volunteers who lived in community with the poor of the world and experienced generosity and hospitality of their neighbors. Some stories will bring you to tears. You will never think of food in the same way again.

I've collected hundreds of books - from philosophy to mysteries to cookbooks. And, I'm a philosophy teacher who reads (lots of) fiction for pleasure. But if I were to save only one book for eternity, it would be this one. The recipes are presented clearly and are simple to prepare. But the book is more than the recipes. It is also a collection of inspiring stories from around the world. For those of us in the US, with luxuries and overabundance the norm, it is a humbling look at how the rest of the world struggles with the simplest needs. I have no particular religious affiliation but this is the book I turn to (at least once a year) for a spiritual overhaul and reality check. I can't recommend it enough.

This is positively the best cookbook I own! I bought it while living in Belize, where specialty ingredients are scarce, and I was cooking all the time. Every single recipe I have made from this book (and I've made a few!) turned out perfect and amazingly tasty the very first time. The authors and testers have clearly done their work well. This book is worth buying for the (very-simple-to-prepare) Korean spinach salad recipe alone. People who *hate* spinach will love it! Hope you enjoy this cookbook as much as I have.