This book is so fun! And so very interesting. It was like I was taking the trips myself. My mouth is still watering.

This book was a mix of personal stories, travel experiences, and recipes. It was a bit difficult for me to relate to on a personal level -- a world of galas is beyond me -- but the recipes were interesting. It's hard for me to recommend a book that I couldn't really feel strongly about, however it may be of interest for those who are looking to learn more about food and appreciate close, personal experiences mixed in with recipes.

HA! I loved the opening story of this memoir/recipe book! The party was too funny! Apart from that, I thought all the little story lead ins to the recipes were wonderful and the recipes themselves sound scrummy! I can't wait to try a few of these over the summer!

Southern European cuisine like Italy , spain and Greek recipes with well explained instructions.........

For the first couple of chapters in “From Boiling Water To Master Of The Southern European Cuisine: A Travelogue” by Janisa J. Brunstein, I thought the book should’ve been titled “A Love Story To Myself”. But after plugging on and getting through to the actual travelogue, I did start to enjoy it much more.

I did particularly enjoy reading about the various European countries to which the author had traveled. The recipes do not seem to be overly difficult, although in some cases small details are missing. For instance, for how long does one refrigerate the gazpacho prior to serving? This missing detail may cause problems if you’re trying to figure out how far in advance to make it before your dinner party. And a Russian Salad in the middle of the Greek Cuisine section, why?

Several formatting and editing errors were extremely distracting for me. They didn’t take away from the overall value of the book itself though. The Carbonnade Belgian Beef And Beer Stew was the weirdest thing I found. It recommends transferring the prep work to a slow crock pot and cooking it overnight. If you do, then that means you’re eating beef stew for breakfast. I’m thinking that it might be a better idea to prep it in the morning so you can leave it to cook for eight hours during the day so it’s ready in time for dinner. If we actually did put the crockpot on overnight it would be mush come dinnertime the next day, or again we would have to eat stew for breakfast.

Worth A Read

In all, I believe that the book is worth reading, but I prefer books which are for any cooking level. The experienced cook seems the target audience for these recipes. Read them well before you try any of them to make sure you know what is needed.

The “Date and Almond Tart” recipe was going to be included in my review, but there are a couple of things that aren’t explained clearly. Instructions for how to create the filling have you cream the butter and sugar together. It then it says beat the egg. But it doesn’t say beat the egg in with the mixture. It also says to “stir” almond flour, all-purpose flour, and orange flower water, it’s not clear whether or not you should be adding this to the butter and sugar mixture or keeping it in a separate bowl. I am certain they meant “stir in”, again an editing issue I’m sure, clarity is so important.

The full review with the recipe for Greek Hummus recipe is available at RecipesNow! Reviews and Recipes Magazine. Enjoy!

From Boiling water to Master of the Southern European Cuisine: A Travelogue by Janisa J Brunstein, is both a travelogue with personal vignettes, and a cookbook. The author is a professional chef, but the recipes she includes are not over-the-top and are doable by those of us who are home cooks.

Brunstein writes in an easy manner, and her vignettes are quite fun to read, albeit some give a little too much information (since we don’t know her, we are subjected to more divorce and relationship details than are necessary), and one gets the idea that the author considers herself superior to those of us who are simple commoners. Given that, for most of us who are of average income, it’s obvious that we won’t have an opportunity to travel to the places she describes in the same style that she does, because she constantly hints at the fact that she is extremely wealthy (having her own driver, attending high society events, etc.) and is frankly, a bit on the snobby side.

While the book does contain some excellent recipes, Brunstein obviously flunked the course in recipe protocol. Experienced cooks will be able to fill in the blanks, but beginning cooks may be confused because some of the instructions are left out (i.e. Greek Olive Bread – it doesn’t ever instruct the baker to form the dough into loaves – although the finished product is absolutely delicious). In her French Macarons recipe, she instructs you to “Bang the baking sheets against the floor” to settle them before baking. Generally floors aren’t the cleanest, and I believe banging on a countertop will suffice.

Once you have translated and filled in the blanks in the directions in her recipes, you can rest assured that they turn out very well. The Chicken with Marsala and Mushrooms was quite easy, and also very good. The Cold Watermelon Salad is luscious (although she fails to tell us to crumble the feta), and the Gâteau Basque was delicious, although I haven’t heard the term “karate heat” and simply cooked my filling over medium heat. I had to look up the definition of “Omelette Quercynoise” is an omelet in the style of Quercynois, a place in France. Incidentally, the omelet, with a filling of walnuts and bleu cheese, is delicious.

While there are pictures of most of the dishes, they are small, and some seem a bit washed out – the pomegranates which are generally red, look pretty sick in the Pomegranate Honey Roasted Chicken.

All told, this isn’t a must-have cookbook/travelogue, but it is interesting and has some excellent recipes.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I really loved his book it tells you about the places he visits and gives you recipes,what more could you want from a book,plus there is some great recipes in it,a must read.