The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion A Sourcebook for Understanding the Cuisines of the World

by Zibat, Eve

• ISBN13: 9780897323727
• ISBN10: 0897323726
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-10
• Publisher: Menasha Ridge Pr

Summary

Nowhere is America's rich ethnic and cultural diversity more apparent than in its restaurants. Every city and region of the United States has a unique cultural heritage - whether it's Cuban, Thai, Spanish, Italian, Indian, French or German - reflected in its dining choices. So what do you order in an ethnic restaurant, and how do you eat? The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion provides all the information you need to make every ethnic dining experience a pleasant and memorable one. In this book you will find information about what to expect in any type of ethnic restaurant; detail profiles of each ethnic cuisine, including key ingredients, spices and methods of preparation; cultural tips to put you at ease with the customs and etiquette of each cuisine; representative dishes of each cuisine defined and described; recommended complete meals from appetizer through dessert and easy recipes you can prepare at home.

Author Biography

Eve Zibart has published is a long-time contributor and restaurant columnist to the Washington Post an author of several books, including several of the best-selling Unofficial Guide series. Murial Stevens is food editor and columnist for the Las Vegas Sun and is a member of the International Gourmet Society and National Association of Food Journalists. This former gourmet radio talk-show host has been cooking since she was eight.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
List of Illustrations	xi
Acknowledgments	xii
Introduction	xvi
PART I: EUROPE	1	(120)
France and Belgium	3	(26)
Italy	29	(27)
The Iberian Peninsula: Spain, Portugal, Catalonia, and the Basque	56	(22)
Germany and Austria	78	(14)
Scandinavia	92	(13)
Russia, Poland, and Eastern Europe	105	(16)
PART II: AFRICA	121	(38)
North Africa	123	(14)
Ethiopia	137	(11)
West Africa	148	(11)
PART III: THE MIDDLE EAST, GREECE AND TURKEY, AND INDIA	159	(52)
Greece and Turkey	162	(11)
The Middle East	173	(18)
India	191	(20)
PART IV: SOUTHEAST ASIA, INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA, AND THE PHILIPPINES	211	(70)
Thailand	213	(13)
Vietnam	226	(16)
The Golden Triangle: Cambodia, Laos, and Burma	242	(12)
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore	254	(12)
The Philippines	266	(15)
PART V: ASIA	281	(80)
China	284	(32)
Japan	316	(31)
Korea	347	(14)
PART VI: THE AMERICAS	361	(58)
Mexico, Central America, Puerto Rico, and Cuba	364	(24)
The Caribbean Islands	388	(12)
South America: Brazil, Peru, and Argentina	400	(19)
Appendix: American Regional Cuisine	419	(9)
Index	428

Excerpts

German food is a lot more familiar than many Americans expect; in fact, you might not even recognize it as "ethnic," because so many family-style American meals, from family diner blue-plate specials right down to the quintessential Fourth of July picnic, have German roots. Potato salad, deviled eggs, pickled beets, dill pickles, sugar cookies, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pot roast, beef stew are all typical German fare. The whole meat-and-potatoes concept is primarily a German import, not to mention beer: Every year, 35 gallons per person of this quintessentially German brew is consumed in the United States. Hamburgers and frankfurters even get their names from German cities, and what could be more American than they?

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Excerpted from The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion: A Sourcebook for Understanding the Cuisines of the World by Eve Zibart, Muriel Stevens
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.