Vegetarian Cooking: A common sense guide

THIS BOOK HAS SO MUCH INFO, PHOTOS, HOW TO'S.IT'S A GREAT BOOK. EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A VEGETARIAN IT WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO COOK GOOD FOOD. EVERY KITCHEN AND COOK SHOULD HAVE IT. DIXIE GALLUP

A friend of mine owned this cookbook and the pictures were so smashing that I had to get it. I have only made a few items from it so far, however, because some of the ingredients are, shall we say, "financially intensive...?" This book was compiled for cooks living in Europe and, though it does convert recipes for our American system of measurement, includes items like; self-raising flour, caster sugar, treacle, golden syrup, and lots of cream of every sort, that give the recipes a touch of added frustration. The ingredients are available here, and useful to have, but this is not a cookbook a layman can pull off the shelf and use. Most likely, you will need to go out and buy elements of the recipe because they may not be on hand. On that note, I do also prefer to make things from scratch, and the book cheats in this regard. For instance, rather than making a sweet chili sauce, we are to simply buy it, limiting our intake (for this one element if the recipe) to a corn syrup-based, store-bought chili sauce. Despite these limiting factors, I still recommend the book because it is choc full of great ideas, thoughtfully combined flavors and solid recipes. If nothing else, it has helped my creativity in combining foods. In a shameless plug for the most incredible cookbook I have ever used, I must tell you that if you are interested in curries and Indian food, I highly recommend the cookbook 660 Curries. I found it in a library by chance and after making a few recipes, immediately bought it. It is the most fabulous cookbook I have encountered. Every recipe I have made (I have made about 20 of the 660) has come out simply incredible. All of my guests agree: *****five stars*****. Happy cooking!