The Asian Pacific Melting Pot
Having been raised and traveled and currently live along the Pacific Rim, I favor books that represent the cultures at this confluence.
These are the volumes that I my fingers would fly to, if an immediate evacuation was needed. My pantry is always filled with the goods of Chinese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Indian, and Mexican markets, and I would just as handily make Indian chicken livers with yogurt and cinnamon for a quick dinner, as Teochow fish porridge sprinkled with dried shrimps from memory-- since I have learned them from repeated preparation—but I would miss the other wonders from the books they were culled, I had not tried to sample yet.
(Most of these were mentioned on the post about my cookbook library.)
All the Donna Hay Cookbooks. She is from Australia and borrows liberally the foodstuffs and techniques of Asia. Italian cookery is also her touchstone. Very simple, modern and elegant.
The Complete Asian Cookbook by Terry Tan. His Singaporean recipes mostly reflect his Hokkien and Swatow Chinese background, but those of Malaysian and Indian are recognized too. This is the tome I reach for when I want Straits-born food that is fresh and tropical.
The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmane Solomon. I’ve worked out of her book for years, always delighted by my culinary journeys to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Korea, China, and other exotic ports of call. It is only in the Philippines, she lost her grip.
The Asian Cookbook edited by Jeni Wright. This is a good guide to Asian soul food, the kinds of dishes that rarely appear on restaurant menus. Recipes like Thai sticky rice and black beans endear it to me. It is good for everyday cooking.
The Recipes of the Philippines by Enriqueta David Perez, because Filipinos don’t believe in learning how to cook from cookbooks, or writing them, and this is one of the rare ones that channels the talented, mother-taught housewife back home.
Hawaii Filipino Favorite Recipes by the Filipino Women’s League. These are the kind of Filipino-Hawaiian foods that you would have in somebody’s backyard when they have invited all the neighbors and relations, and a few tourist for good measure. Filipinos are not big on opening restaurants, so this is close to a home cooked meal as one can get.
Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking and World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. Once I found her, I stopped buying all others. Warning: her Far Eastern Cookery is the work of a dilettante.
Diane Kennedy’s The Cuisine of Mexico and the Taste of Mexico by Patricia Quintana. What must be remembered that these are extremely complex and time consuming recipes, traditionally made by a household of women. I shop and eat in the deep Mexican parts of town, and these are the recipes, which are most reflective of those experiences.
These are the books of traditional cuisines, having survived centuries, for good reason: they are delicious.
- great home style Chinese cooking
