Review: The Ethnic Paris Cookbook by Charlotte Puckette
Bringing the French Melting Pot Into Your Kitchen by Charlotte Puckette and Olivia Kiang-Snaije
Reviewing an Ethnic French cookbook is not my style by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m flattered to write it fair and balanced. The focus of this book is on varied ethnic restaurants in Paris and their internationally famed chefs with more than 100 of their best recipes. The back cover quotes Jacques Pepin’s review (which only states that the recipes are written well, not that he tried any).
Being a dyed-in-the wool Yankee, I set out to pick something really ethnic and create a lavish dish. Bon Apetite to my family! This is what happened. . .
I picked Spicy Brik Pastries (Rouleaux de Brik aux Epices) …these type of pastries can be found in North African restaurants all over Paris – according to the book. Theoretically they were empanadas by another name. I make empanadas all the time, so this was an easy pick, but a good one. I could use either beef or lamb or a combination; I sometimes have trouble with filo pastry, but I got through it okay. To be fair I tried another recipe, this time I picked Laotian Chicken Curry (Curry de Poulet du Laos) but I never heard of kaffir lime leaves or nuoc mam. Breezing through this book is about all I really did after the briks. The use of exotic or international spices are just not items I have in my pantry. I didn’t feel the need to go out looking for them for one or two recipes, either.
The Roasted Eggplant Puree (M’tabal) was delicious as an appetizer, but this cookbook just wasn’t something I would use straight up. I’d definitely have to tweak the recipes to fit my lifestyle and budget. The average person would use only about 20% of these recipes; fish lovers may use more.
On a scale of 1 -5 with 5 being the highest possible score, I give this book a 2.
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