Member Reviews
Pros: I love books that teach children (and adults!) about other cultures, and food is a fantastic way to celebrate other cultures. This book explores many parts of the world and is not euro-centric. It is also thoughtful of readers with special diets! This book is full of recipes and fun facts. I especially appreciated the photographs of the cooking steps and finished recipes because that always helps me feel more confident when trying to cook something for the first time. As someone who lived in Singapore as a child, I immediately want to make the Singapore Satay!
Cons: The only con I can think of is that I did not have something to snack on as I read this book about food!
Thank you to NetGalley and The Collective Book Studio for the opportunity to read this book.
An absolutely fun cookbook perfect for children, and families. In this cookbook we get to discover flavors and recipes from around the world. Not only is the book full of recipes it is packed full of facts about other countries and wonderful color illustrations of their landmarks. Each recipe has brilliant photographs of the finished food as well as the steps along the way. We found some new favorites like Chicken and Rice with Tomato and peas, Pulled Chicken BBQ and Garlicky Shrimp and Toast. Your family will love learning about new places and food from around the world. This book would be perfect for a classroom with endless possibilities of discovery. Enjoy this adventure of delicious discovery with your family.
An engaging global cookbook designed with children in mind, A Taste of the World successfully explores regional cuisine in an interactive format. The cookbook is divided into five regions, featuring recipes from a country within each region. Before each section, there are some short and informative introductory facts about the featured country/region and some factors influencing diet and food culture. Each individual recipe begins with a thorough description of the dish.
The recipes themselves are accessible and there are pictures of each dish, along with step-by-step photos of its preparation. The recipe steps each have a star rating assigned to them, indicating a skill level required. This format lends itself well to families or groups with multiple children of various ages working together to complete a recipe, with all skill levels represented in the preparation of the dish. Additional information included is serving size, allergens, and prep and cook time. Some readers may miss the nutritional information that is typically included in a cookbook. The selected recipes are chosen with kids in mind, but would appeal to anyone looking to cook or explore global cuisine.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying a digital copy of this book for review!
A Taste of the World is a cookbook that takes you through 60+ recipes from all over the world. I really liked the information and illustrations that were provided for each country. I found the recipes to be very interesting, but many were more steps than kids would be able to handle. Each step of the recipes were rated by difficulty, but I would have preferred if there were some easier recipes that the younger kiddos could do on their own.
Overall though, this book was a fun way to introduce kids to cuisine from around the world! Thanks to NetGalley, Rowena Scherer, and The Collective Book Studio for the chance to read and review!
A Taste of the World is a really fun way to look at culture and environment. I could see this book being a great starting point for a world cultures class for example. Each chapter starts with a super brief (like one paragraph) summary about the country and what ingredients one typically finds there. Then there is a small selection of recipes that highlight traditional aspects of that country and culture. It has great pictures of the food--and I would have liked to see more pictures of the country/region/individual ingredients or the farming locations they come from. I think this would be great, content-wise, for middle school, especially for families who cook together. Cooking-wise I think this could extend into high school for sure. The lower-level content with the high-level recipes is a bit of a mismatch for me but I LOVE the idea of this book and I think that if a student is in culinary school, an experienced cook, or has the support of family this could be a really great match. This would be a great addition for a middle school or public library or any cooking class or program.
From Lebanon to London, from Singapore to Spain, there are so many delicious looking recipes from around the world in this bright, wonderful cookbook. Aimed at children, the content is also great for adults who want to get creative in the kitchen. The recipes are fairly simple, and there is great representation, including everything from Swedish pancakes to substantial entrees.
There are also pages with trivia from each location, talking about the language and important landmarks. It was the kind of detail that made me want to visit each place. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
This is so much more than a cookbook. It's a cullinary journey around the world for grown-ups and kiddos to enjoy together. I love the lay-out of these recipes. They are first divided into sections by continent and then further separated by country. Along with the recipes, there are maps and facts about each country as well as a description of each dish in English followed by the name of the dish in its country's language. So, not only do we get delicious recipes, but we get a geography lesson as well. The recipes are clear and concise and are marked to show which steps can be completed by different age groups, making it easy to get everyone involved in the kitchen. In addition, there are tips and shortcuts given to add options to many of the dishes.
This book can be used in so many ways; as a way to try new recipes, as an activity for parents and kids to enjoy together, as the basis for a geography class or study, and so much more. In my own family, it will be a Summer experience for my kids. I have one child going off to college in the fall who loves to cook and another child entering 5th grade who is just learning. The plan is for them to choose a recipe from the book to cook for our family each Sunday throughout the summer. They're both excited about the endeavor, and I can't wait to taste the results. This is the perfect book to help them make some lasting memories in the kitchen.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.
This is a really good children's book to read with your child, especially to broaden their horizons and to tell them there is more than just
"American" fast food out there. This is also a good book to read if you are from a certain culture and want to teach children about the food of that culture. Definitely recommend this book!
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Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.
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While A TASTE OF THE WORLD offers 60 delicious recipes from around the globe for children to cook with their families, I found the book's design and the cooking concepts a bit too complicated, and would have liked a more user-friendly approach.
Some of these recipes are a little to flavorful for my taste buds, but I really like the idea behind the concept. The tidbits about each country and skill level rating made this book easy for me and my kiddos to use.
This is a cool kids’ cookbook with a fair amount of social studies mixed in. The recipes are divided by region and there are photos of every recipe and the steps. There tend to be a lot of vegetarian and gluten free alternatives offered. I honestly found the format overwhelming, though. It is so detailed that each recipe takes three pages (followed by a one page fact about the region) with lots of steps. I prefer recipes that are one paragraph and could fit on a recipe card. There also is no nutritional information, which is always a no for me when purchasing a cookbook.
It will be a good fit for homeschool families who want to use it for country studies, though I did not find it especially representative of the countries. For instance, the Mexican enchiladas were stuffed with broccoli and spinach, which were not traditionally grown in the region the way vegetables like cactus and corn were, and spaghetti squash with bolognese sauce was listed as a traditional American recipe. Still a fun resource.
I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.
You will find recipes from all over the world, in this book they are separated by regions : Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.
You will be told how to prep the ingredients by examining, cutting or filleting the vegetables or meat, how to prepare gravies, sauces and condiments, and also how to make any appetizers or accompaniments to the meal such as breads, muffins or noodles with very detailed instructions so your meal can be a success!
Enjoy preparing Soy Chicken with Chinese Broccoli and Garlic Sauce with Rice, Meatballs and Spaghetti with Caesar Salad, Ground Lamb or Beef with Vegetables Topped with Mashed Potatoes, Spiced Lamb or Chicken Flatbread with Tomato and Mint, or even Brazilian Savory Meat Pastries with Tomato and Watermelon Salad.
Enjoy making a special dinner with your family!
I received an ARC of this cookbook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a wonderful cookbook with delicious, interesting recipes!
There are many ways to encourage kids to learn about the world. I think that through cuisines may be one of the best and most fun. This book will hlep families to do just that.
This cookbook is divided by world regions including Asia, Europe, Africa, The Middle East, and The Americas. Within each of these are a number of countries. To name one from each section, there are Singapore, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Lebanon and the U.S.
The book begins with some general information and advice before moving to the recipes. Some of these are for Broiled Salmon with Spinach and Rice, Shepherds Pie, Breaded and Fried Chicken or Tofu with Vegetables and Arugula Salad, and Ground Beef, Lamb or Vegetable Stuffed Zucchini Canoes.
Recipes are organized with information like what you’ll need, time to make, allergens and more. There are generous illustrations throughout.
While this book is geared toward children, it would also be a good resource for anyone just learning to cook. It is a good resource.
Many thanks to NetGalley and The Collective Book Studio for this title. All opinions are my own.
This book was published in February 2024.
A Taste of the World: Celebrating Global Flavors is a cookbook geared toward children in the kitchen, and includes recipes gathered from areas all over the world. It includes some hints for cooking with children, and notes for making the dishes successfully. However, all of the recipes require an adult in the kitchen. This isn’t a bad thing; rather, most of us don’t spend enough time with our kids, and this is an invitation to spend some quality time with them.
Scherer has included dozens of mouthwatering dishes, many that wouldn’t appeal to most children, but recipes that will give them the excuse to taste new things. Most of the dishes are very appealing to adults, and even though this cookbook is geared toward children, I love it and I love the recipes which are very temping and are definitely mouthwatering.
The recipes are written in the traditional manner with the ingredients listed first, followed by step-by-step instructions. There are also comments at the beginning of each recipe which are not only helpful, but educational. This is a cookbook that is well-written and will tempt all of us, older children and adults, to curl up in a corner and read it cover to cover. Even though I’m an advanced cook, have had years of experienced in the kitchen, and traveled to most of the countries where the recipes are from, I fell in love with this cookbook and want to learn more about the countries featured and feed my friends and family the yummy dishes.
All told, even if you aren’t a child, or don’t have one to give a copy as a gift, this one makes an excellent addition to the cookbook shelf.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.
I wish I liked this better, because the recipes actually sound great, and I love the concept.
Unfortunately, while the graphics are great, they feel a little young for a book where at least one step in most recipes requires someone "15 & older" based on the key at the beginning, and every recipe has at least one step for the "9 and older" group, even though the graphics and topics seem to skew a little younger than this.
Ultimately, this feels like a book that would have benefited from catering to the 10 and younger crowd OR catering to the middle-high-school group (with more realistic pictures, and facts that are more age appropriate).
I don't know if that includes more "process"/"technique" photos, or steps split by child led and adult led skills, but in this format it feels like its trying to be all things to everyone, and the breadth of the scope here ends up making it a weaker cookbook.
A Taste of the World by Rowena Scherer is a wonderful collection of recipes that really provides a taste of the world! I enjoyed the facts shared about each featured country before the recipes, and especially appreciated that the recipes are accessible and appealing to a wide audience of culinary preferences. My daughter will enjoy trying out more of these recipes. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC!