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Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider

#1
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6/21/09 at 8:23pm
  • Joined: March 2002
  • Location: SLC UT
  • Post Count: 4,351
I picked this up from the library a couple of weeks ago. The title grabbed me and the concept of the title is an important one. But it failed to deliver for me.

It's a book of recipes organized around the master recipe and variations concept. However, a recipe in and of itself is the antithesis of improvisation. There's a point in a home cook's growth where they're transitioning from a beginner where such books of techniques are useful and meaningful. But improvisation requires more than that.

I've found it hard to explain well what I consider improvisational information for cooking. And I'll write more about why in a later post after I further hash out my ideas in words. But for now, I really don't see how this book gets so many 5 star reviews on Amazon.

The Cake is a Lie!

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#2
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6/22/09 at 6:37am
  • Joined: February 2007
  • Location: Central Kentucky---where the bluegrass meets the mountains
  • Post Count: 3,090
Haven't seen that particular book, Phil. But I can offer a good guess as to why the reviews are so high.

For many beginner cooks, variations on a theme come as a revelation. Keep in mind they have not progressed to the point where they are willing to change recipes with wild abandon. Indeed, many just-starting cooks are afraid to change a recipe for fear of ruining the dish.

Then comes a book which tells them, "hey, you like this recipe? Well you're not stuck with it, because you can make the following changes......"

Eventually, it is hoped, those folks will understand that its a knowledge of techniques and how flavors work with each other, not a recipe, that makes a good cook. Until then, such books can ease them along the way.

But I certainly agree with your basic premise. If you need a recipe then you for sure aren't improvising.

It surely would be a terrible thing to die of low cholesterol!

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#3
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6/22/09 at 6:19pm
  • Joined: May 2009
  • Location: Syracuse, NY
  • Post Count: 79
I was disappointed by this cookbook as well. The author seems confused about the intended audience. Specifically, if the intended audience is home cooks who are just learning to "think outside the recipe", then the selection of recommended ingredients seems odd and the recipes complicated. Recipes throughout the book call for such unusual ingredients (at least for most home cooks) as Guinea Hens, wild rabbit, and lavender flowers. If the intended audience is intermediate or professional cooks, who would be more familiar with these ingredients, then why spell out all the recipes? It's really rather perplexing.

Having said that, there are a few nice features in the book. These include lists of "essential items" for the kitchen and pantry, as well as an interesting list of ethnic flavor combinations and natural food affinities. There's also a resource section to help you find the less common ingredients. Finally, after each base recipe there is a section called "understanding" that basically tells the reader why the author prepared the food as she did.

Overall it's not a bad cookbook, but it's not five stars either. At best I'd give it maybe three.
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#4
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6/22/09 at 8:35pm
  • Joined: March 2002
  • Location: SLC UT
  • Post Count: 4,351
You're more generous than I am. I could only muster one I think.

The Cake is a Lie!

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