Product Description

Vegetarian cookery, once associated with the East, is now a firmly established part of our Western culture and eating habits. As meat-free cooking has grown in popularity and sophistication, we have borrowed a whole range of techniques and ideas from various cultures, creating an exciting new tradition of globally influenced vegetarian cuisine. Rather than approaching vegetarianism from a dry, didactic standpoint, this major new book takes as its starting point the principle that vegetarian cooking is one of the most interesting, dynamic areas in food today and provides a collection of the very best recipes the world's various cuisines have to offer. Chapter to chapter the book focuses on different ingredients, from vegetables and grains to pulses and dairy products, providing fascinating information about less familiar ingredients, such as wild rice or the many new kinds of salad leaves available. Over 500 recipes draw on the whole world for their inspiration, from Thailand to Tunisia, from the Mediterranean to Mexico. Throughout Madhur Jaffrey's renowned talent for informing and inspiring her audience is apparent, and her own personal anecdotes and stories set the recipes in context. Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian will be a milestone in modern cuisine and is a book which is set to be on kitchen shelves for many, many years to come.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7320 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Madhur Jaffrey--who unorthodoxly still combines a career as one India's leading actresses and film producers with being a best selling cookery writer--broadens her culinary horizons in this comprehensive global tour. Having popularised Indian cooking with her previous efforts, the world is now her stage for this magisterial global take on vegetarian food. Flesh-free eating, drawing on a wide range of influences and culinary traditions, has never been a more mainstream part of the British diet eating and Jaffrey's book stylishly plugs into this. She deals with all the basic ingredients in turn--vegetables, beans, lentils and nuts, grains, dairy foods and flavourings, as well as soups, salads and drinks--together with advice on preparation and storage. The recipes, based on extensive travel and research, are simply laid out and easy to follow as food from Thailand and Tunisia, Italy and India, Mexico and the Middle East, all jostle for position in this clamouring world bazaar of wonderful tastes, entertaining anecdotes and practical tips. --Nick Wroe

Review
'More than just a cookbook, a fascinating tour of the vegetarian world. Comprehensive, yet personal, a must for all food lovers', Waterstone's Books

From the Publisher
A major new work from this hugely popular author, focusing on a global range of truly delicious recipes and destined to be the definitive book on modern vegetarian food

Customer Reviews

A staple of our kitchen
I bought this book for my partner a year ago, but since then have used it mainly myself - barely a week goes by without dipping into it for a recipe or some advice, and it is freqently used daily. It contains an amazing variety of recipes, as well as basic advice on choosing, preparing and cooking all manner of vegetables, pulses and grains, sprinkled with readable comments and anecdotes. One of the first recipes we tried was the grated beetroot and shallots - I had never been a fan of beetroot, but this recipe converted me - amazing flavours and texture, unlike anything I had ever cooked before, and incredibly easy to make (it took less than 15 minutes and required only a few ingredients). My only criticism would be that the structure and presentation of the book seems sometimes a little fussy, sometimes a little arbitrary, and because of this we rarely venture beyond the first section on vegetables, with the occasional foray into pulses and grains. However, it contains enough recipes (probably a couple of thousand) to make any random dip throw up surprises, and to last a lifetime (though you may have to forego some of the more esoteric ingredients or substitute alternatives if you are just after a quick idea for tonight's dinner, but we have never found this to be too much of a problem).

An invaluable collection
This is my favourite recipe book - and have a few on the shelf! I always turn back to this one when I need inspiration. Lack of pictures doesn't matter, because the descriptions and anecdotes mean you can visualise the meal. I enjoy knowing a bit more about the background of a particular dish. Also helpful are the suggestions about what to serve with what. Don't be put off by the long lists of ingredients - mostly spices etc which always combine perfectly and are generally readily available in the UK. Everything I have cooked from this book tastes good.

Excellent and very comprehensive
Having read this book from cover to cover, I can honestly say that this is one of the most comprehensive and enjoyable vegetarian cookery books I have ever read. It is extremely well researched and packed full of interesting anecdotes. The recipes are delectable and the format is easy to read. Many of the recipes are completely authentic, whereas others are adapted to suit modern tastes and lifestyles, and give an unconventional twist to old classics. This book is clearly a labour of love, and I would urge everyone, particularly vegetarians, to buy it. You won't be disappointed - there's something for everyone, from gourmet, dinner-party dishes, to homely, one-pot meals perfect for mid-week cooking. The only critisisms,as such, would be that you'll need a very well-stocked store cupboard, and that purists may find some of the recipes a little simplified. Some people may be discouraged from buying the book because of it's size and lack of photographs. However, written with enthusiasm, passion, and warmth, this book is surely a landmark in vegetarian cookery books and, in my opinion, destined to become a classic.