A usable guide to fresh, bright, beautiful food that one can actually make!
DESCRIPTION:
In Creole, chef and author Babette de Roziers honours her heritage and a love of simply prepared, authentic foods instilled in her by her grandmother
growing up in Guateloupe. From her home in the French Antilles her travels and cooking took her to Paris, home again, then back to France
where she recreates the dishes of her childhood home at the renowned Creole restaurant La Table de Babette.
With a collection of 160 of some of the most famous West Indian dishes and hundreds of stunning photographs,
Creole is bursting with the energy of New Orleans and the freshness of the Caribbean.
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REVIEW:
Combining Asian, African, and Indian influences with European preparations, creole is the classic fusion cuisine.
Babette de Rozières, who learned to cook from her grandmother while growing up in Guadeloupe, completes a culinary circle of sorts,
bringing the signature food style of the West Indies back to Paris, where she is the owner of La Table de Babette. Between cheerful plaid covers,
Rozières provides an encyclopedic tour of Caribbean food, from appetizers to desserts, lavishly photgraphed. Spices are complex, but not necessarily fiery hot.
Many use West Indian Columbo powder or graines de roussir, a blend of fenugreek, cumin, and mustard seed. Rozières' gleeful mix of traditions
is often evident in a single recipe, such as crab profiteroles in a saffron seafood cream, conch ravioli with a crab and lemongrass sauce,
or lamb in a tumeric and wasabi white sauce with pistachios. Fruits -- such as star fruit jam or guava jelly -- often lend sweetness to the main dish.
The seafood section is especially exotic, with recipes for tropical delicacies including shark, mahi mahi, conch, and sea urchin.
As an aid to the novice, Rozières provides a glossary, an online shopping guide, and substitutions for hard-to-find items.
Her clear, easy instructions make this a usable guide to fresh, bright, beautiful food that one can actually make.
--Amy Benfer