# A good cook book series?



## sweetienora (Jun 11, 2009)

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help recommend a good series. I would like to get several books covering different ethnic cooking (possibly easy or quick recipes)

I am mainly looking for Pasta/Italian, Hispanic, Asian, and some European ones.

Thanks for any help you can get.


----------



## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

There have been many positive comments over the years for the Time/Life cookbook series from the 1970s-80s. They are hard to find.

That seems to be an exception to the rule as multi-national series usually aren't that good in my experience. But there are some other good ones in my estimation.

For Europe, Phaidon Press in the UK has been printing recently some really big tomes of recipes from Italy, _Silver Spoon_; Spain, _1080 Recipes_; Greece, _Vefa's Kitchen_. My understanding is these are translations of classic cookbooks of those cultures, sort of their Joy of Cooking. I've been pretty impressed by all of them, but they are not for the beginner. Instructions tend to be terse and direct without explanation and tips. These are of such size that I worry for their binding over time.

Hispanic cuisine covers a lot of countries and differences. I know of no wide ranging series for these but doing some searches here on various countries and cookbooks should get you some good pointers.

Likewise with Asia but there have been a number of threads on this topic. Here's a recent one:

http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/cookb...cookbooks.html


----------



## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

I think, much like knives, it would be better to buy specialty items rather than a set.
I would look for book(s) specializing in one cuisine (although, for sheer beauty if nothing else, the Culinaria series is really nice).


Naples at the Table - Cooking in Compania is one of my favorite books.
Be sure to use this sites direct link to Amazon for your shopping.


----------



## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I've found the Culinaria books pretty as well, but I don't think they're particularly good in actual cooking content. Kind of touristy is how I would describe it. Eating there, but not cooking it yourself. I own two,(Southeast Asia and Germany), have looked at others and found them all disappointing from the cooking aspect. The section on bratwurst in the German edition is awful. Poor discussion of the regional variations and cooking techniques that contribute to their differences.


----------



## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Yeah, they are Costco specials, great coffee table books, but that's about ti.
I hope that's how I came across in my original post.


----------



## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Just to add, I picked up Vefa's Kitchen a week or so ago and am slowly reading through it. I like it so far, but found Diane Kochilas' cookbooks on Greece more informative. Haven't cooked from Vefa yet.


----------



## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I've seen them at Borders and Barnes and Noble, but in their clearance section. Maybe they had picked up the close-outs from Costco?


----------

