Review: Fire and Ice by Darra Goldstein

Title: Fire and Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking
Author: Darra Goldstein
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: October 13th 2015
Source: Ten Speed Press


Book Description:

A beautifully curated and approachable collection of 150 recipes from Scandinavia, from the founding editor of Gastronomica and the West's leading culinary authority on the cuisines of the European North.

In this evocative, fully illustrated cookbook, Darra Goldstein explores the cultural history and culinary traditions of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Lushly photographic and rich in cultural scope, Fire and Ice features 150 aspirational and achievable recipes that introduce home cooks to the glorious flavors of Nordic cooking.

Review:

★★★★★

This is yet another cookbook coming out in October that I cannot recommend enough. I wasn't sure at first how I was going to like this book, because like most people (even if they don't admit it) I tend to judge a book by its cover. And frankly, this cover doesn't do it for me. It looks boring, and not at all like it's about to talk about amazing cuisine. Oh but how wrong this assumption would be.

The recipes in Fire and Ice are sorted by course, with spotlights on each of the Nordic countries. This isn't a region, or a cuisine for that matter, that I know too much about, so I thought this was really helpful. There's also a guide to sources as well as help with conversions, which I appreciated as well.

There's lots of history included in this book, which I liked. As I mentioned, I'm not familiar, so the more information that I'm given, the better off that I am. There's also a lot of personal input, which added a nice personal touch from the author. If they felt one technique or one ingredient or something was better than another, they gave their own insight along with variations and substitutions. Because of the nature of the cuisine and this helpful list of variations, I'd say that this book is definitely vegetarian friendly. The steps are written short and concisely, so it's easy to follow along with the book as you get cooking.

Plus, there are plenty of photographs, and they are absolutely stunning.

Some of the dishes that I thought sounded the most delicious include Chanterelle Soup, Apple Soup with Juniper, Buttermilk Soup with Strawberries, Honey and Beer Braised Short Ribs with Root Vegetables, Red Berry Pudding, and Raspberry-Rose Petal Jam.

I really look forward to adding a physical copy of this book to my kitchen collection. The pictures are lovely, the food sounds even better, and it's full of useful information that I think both beginners and novices will find helpful. It's not a vegetarian cookbook, but I do think it's vegetarian friendly.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.