Simple Cooking or Raw Ingredient Quality in Processed Foods

Simple Cooking

Author: John Thorn

John Thorne's classic first collection is filled with straightforward eating, home cooking, vigorous opinions, and the gracefully intelligent writing that makes him a cult favorite of people who like to think about food.

Publishers Weekly

Similarities between the versatile zucchini and the blandly grating familiarity ``Have a nice day'' could easily escape the average cook, but Thorne, the editor of the Simple Cooking newsletter, thinks about such things. He also ponders Alice B. Toklas and the differences between fat and thin chefs. This multifarious collection of recipe-laced pieces gathers topics as diverse as stuffed grape leaves, picnics and the culinary subculture of ``truly awful recipes.'' The substance of Thorne's work is not the exotic, but the everyday. For example, a department store's food processor demonstration leads him to contemplate picture-perfect ingredients (and the cooks who demand them), turning the event into a thought-provoking essay. Recipes are likewise basic. Cocoa, macaroni and cheese, French toast and cheesecake are lovingly and thoroughly explored. Also offered are more adventurous but equally easy dishes: pears and toasted hazelnuts in whipped cream with Armagnac, strawberries with lemon and black pepper, and pork-and-apple pie. Incisive, hilarious and occasionally nostalgic, this volume will delight many readers, reminding them why they enjoy the pleasures of food and cooking. (October 21)

Library Journal

Thorne's essays with recipes originated in his culinary newsletter, Simple Cooking. His writing ingredients include reminscence, diary, and daydream, with seasonings of whimsey and irony, and a taste of nostalgia. His recipes evolve naturally from the essays. The recollection of eating his first stuffed grape leaf leads to recalling walks in fragrant fields, the place of grape leaves in Middle Eastern cooking, how to select the fresh leaves, and light recipes for stuffings. A final paragraph suggests further books to read. The next topic is strawberries and cream, a grand topic for many a gifted writer. Literate and leisurely, Thorne will please readers of Fisher and Capon. SP

Books about: The Healing Power of Naturefoods Volume 1 or Essential Oils Handbook

Raw Ingredient Quality in Processed Foods: The Influence of Agricultural Principles and Practices

Author: Mark B Springett

The properties of incoming raw ingredients have a great impact on the processing, storage, and resulting quality of all food products, yet the effects of agronomic practices on product quality and safety are often not well understood, as illustrated by the BSE outbreak in cattle and other public health crises. This book is the first to relate different agronomic practices to differenct product types, and to relate all to the final safety and quality of foods and drinks. In particular, factors such as variety or species, fertilizer or feed regimes, effect of water, climate, and microbiological loading can all have large effects on the processing properties and final flavor, texture and color of foods. Written by experts in their fields, this highly practical book provides essential information for food scientists and technologists as well as other professionals in food processing and food ingredients.