The Breakaway Cook: Recipes That Break Away from the Ordinary

Eric Gower's terrific new book The Breakaway Cook, like his previous, The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen, is stunningly simple in preparation, but extremely high in flavor and inspiration. He continues to show a flair for Japanese ingredients, but also goes far beyond these roots (Eric lived in Japan for a while, but now we've got him in the Bay Area - hooray!) to seek out the "global flavor blasts", playing with intensely flavorful ingredients like smoked paprika, habanero, lavender, maccha, maple syrup, and tangerine. All through The Breakaway Cook, Eric demonstrates really simple ideas and preparations utilising these ingredients (e.g. umeboshi duck legs, maccha salt, they're fusion ideas without all the confusion) which are great for both weekend chefs and more serious cooks. Especially so for all of us time-challenged individuals who want interesting food without a whole lot of fuss. I find this inspiring volume now occupies a place on my all-time favorite cookbooks shelf next to Simple French Food, Japanese Cooking A Simple Art, and The Complete Meat Cookbook. I highly recommend this book.

I bought "The Breakaway Cook" yesterday afternoon and read it cover to cover--TWICE. Once I saw Eric Gower's recipe for the Minty Meaty Wontons, I realized that he had codified (and validated) the type of cooking I do at home. I grew up in a traditional Chinese kitchen in San Francisco, and over the years learned to "Chez Panisse-ify" my cooking: soy sauce and star anise meet local/seasonal/sustainable produce. There are many beautifully photographed cookbooks out there, but this one is truly special. The recipes are terrific and realistic, and I love that it's such a **useable** book. You'll find yourself reaching for "The Breakaway Cook" for both special parties and Tuesday night dinners.

The title says it all...Eric absolutely "Breaks Away" from the norm with this book and these recipes. "The Breakaway Cook" reads like a fun novel,too. His writing makes it entertaining to learn about cooking with tips on what you need, don't need to cook really good food. I've always been a cookbook reader, altho was raised by probably the best "chef", my Italian mom who, to my knowledge, has never used a "recipe" in her cooking. "You know honey, just a little of this and that like grandma used to do". And honestly, I never cooked growing up because it was mom's passion.(she would only allow us near the stove to "steal" a meatball or 2 from the pot!)But, I've always enjoyed reading about using different spices, herbs and other ingredients in cooking. Now, as an adult and mom not living here to cook for me, I've HAD to learn to cook and find I love it.I watch all the cooking shows on TV, but find lately that it's the "same old, same old". Eric not only uses some of the usual ingredients in unique ways, but also some very unusual(to me) which I'm dying to find and try. The photography is simply amazing. I've heard it said, "the picture looks so real, it's af if you can pick it up from the page and eat it". These are so incredibly clear and detailed, my mouth waters from their sight. Bravo, Mr. Gower. Keep 'em coming!

I've never been a very adventurous cook so weird food combinations and complicated recipes give me The Fear. This book is so entertaining and interesting - it made me want to try all sorts of new things! And everything was really easy and straightforward to prepare. With only a few basic purchases i was able to try all sorts of cool new dishes and even my very boring traditional midwestern husband loved loved LOVED the food from this book. Its a whole new way to approach cooking, very simple, very fresh, and not too complicated for the average housewife who's just trying to get a nice meal on the table. Buy this book, it will rock your world!

My cooking -- and cookbook purchasing -- usually fall within French and Italian traditions. When I want Asian food, I head to restaurants, and when I hear the word "fusion" I run rapidly in the opposite direction. But as Gower writes in the introduction, "breakaway cooking is fusion that actually makes sense." Simple to execute and bursting with flavor, Gower's recipes produce food that is light, healthy and, most of all, delicious. I own hundreds of cookbooks but it's been a long time since I've bought one that made me want to start with the first recipe and cook straight through to the end.