» The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show

The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: teaches techniques and introduces new flavor combinations
Comment: I asked for this for Christmas after listening to the show, but also finding it listed favorably on a cookbook review website. I like the cookbook for its straighforward instructions in the not-so-basic cooking techniques, and the common sense approach to making healthy but very tasty meals. I love the quotes sprinkled throughout and the tips about other good cookbooks. I also like how they incorporated various cooking traditions into this basic primer. It's easy to be adventurous while still not too risky in making dinner! I have the sense it's not perfect -- but I don't know what's missing, and I think it's a great resource for the new or intermediate cook.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Cookbook
Comment: Great gift for the cook in your life who loves to learn new tricks and recipes. Lovely book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Book
Comment: This was a gift for my daughter, she had heard it discussed on NPR's Splendid Table. I looked through it and was very impressed and now plan on buying one for myself.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Comment: I asked for this book after hearing Lynne and Sally discuss it on NPR. It sounded very appealing in that context, but I can't heartily recommend it. Here are the specific items that trouble me:

1. It's poorly indexed (and scantily indexed). Here is an example. There is a nice tip in the book regarding how to thaw frozen shrimp properly, while keeping and enhancing the flavor. I came across it while browsing, but when I went back to look for it again, it couldn't be found. Not listed under shrimp, the obvious place. Finally located it again by searching other entries for fish. When I am looking for information or a recipe, I go to the index first.... I don't have time to browse an entire book every time I want to cook something. Someone suggested I could just make notes, but that seems like a pain.

2. Many complete pages are taken up with large quotes printed in variably sized fonts, which is not what I am looking for in a cook book. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations will do for that. To me the effect is jarring, a bit like being shouted at, and it makes me wonder if they didn't quite have enough material to fill the book otherwise.

I have not tried the recipes yet. I do own "The Splendid Table", which is a wonderful book, rich with information, great illustrations, and a terrific index, so I don't really get why this book is so inferior in that respect. If you are thinking about buying it, I'd look it over in a store before purchase.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Too Busy to Read
Comment: The use of many different font sizes, styles, colors, boldface and italics on all a single page is enormously distracting. Why would any editor allow that? It's unnecessary clutter which I find, well, distasteful! I have such a hard time getting past the chaotic visuals on each page that I simply don't use the book.

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