Patricia Yeo: Cooking from A to Z

`Cooking From A to Z' by Bobby Flay protégé, Patricia Yeo is an average first cookbook by a near-celebrity chef whose primary claim to popular exposure is in her appearance as a sous chef on Bobby Flay's Iron Chef America, Master Series TV show where she was probably instrumental in Flay's victory. While this is an `average' offering in its category of first cookbooks from Asian / American fusion cookbooks, it is in very good company, being almost, but not quite as good as Ming Tsai's first book, `Blue Ginger'. With Tsai's book, this volume shares a knack for presenting interesting dishes with simple recipes. Ms. Yeo claims to have given us recipes with few inaccessible ingredients and to supply substitutions for any ingredients we may have trouble finding back here in the hinterland. I think she is pretty successful in this. The only ingredients I have real trouble finding are Aleppo pepper, fresh galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Unfortunately, everyone I read says there is really no good substitute for galangal, not even ginger. Otherwise, this book is totally engaging, especially if you can get it at significantly reduced price below its $35 list. Ms. Yeo's elfin visage on the cover is at least worth keeping a copy around to lift your spirits once and a while. Not surprisingly, her dishes are just a bit spicier than Ming Tsai's cuisine, since her primary Asian influence is Thai and Malaysia, reinforced by Bobby Flay's very strong flavors. If you are a big fan of Ming Tsai and Bobby Flay's recipes, you will like Miss Patricia's offerings.

The lack of reviews here doesn't surprise me; more surprising will be if my review actually survives the intense lobbying effort The Conspiracy will make to remove this. In fact, they would already have removed the book entirely but for the possibility that might arouse attention.You see, without a shadow of a doubt, Yeo mistakenly published the recipes intended for her staff in this book. The recipes that were intended for mass consumption had already been made indicipherable, with unobtainable ingredients, opaque prose, misleading illustrations and the like, consistent with all cookbooks approved for public use by The Conspiracy.Yet we have irrefutable evidence here that the Rules were not obeyed; these recipes are very easy to follow, clearly and accurately illustrated, with lots of ingredient substitutions clearly explained. In fact an ordinary cook can produce delicious, tasty restaurant meals with little trouble from this work! The threat the escape of such information poses to The Conspiracy is manifest: people could realize how easy it is to cook at home without sacrificing quality at all, indeed, often improving quality. This would undermine the very fabric of the restaurant industry, based on maintaining widespread culinary ignorance at all costs.I imagine the book will be unceremoniously removed from print at some pre-determined date, and all extant copies immediately destroyed. However, those lucky enough to obtain a copy now will have their eyes and palettes opened, and should consider hiding any copy they do have in a safe, undisclosed location. Produce these delectable meals only for trusted confidants!