Restaurant Dishes with Restaurant Tricks and Tips, May 11, 2004

When Tom Valenti wrote his second book, ?Soups, Stews, and One Pot Meals?, he must have been concentrating on simple dishes to atone for the relatively complicated recipes he put in this, his first book. As always, ?simple? and ?complicated? are loaded words in culinary procedures. What appears complicated to some because it involves cooking several different components of a dish separately may be simple to others because each of the individual steps are simple and the end result leaves the flavors of the ingredients intact, or pleasantly accentuated by the cooking procedure and seasonings.

I recently received this book as a gift and I am very pleased I did. This is such a well-written cookbook, by an author who is clearly passionate about food. The personal, completely unpretentious tone of the author is so refreshing and makes for a very pleasant and easy read. I love how Mr. Valenti shares his personal experiences with food, from his (very tasty) upbringing in an Italian family, to his early years working as an apprentice in high caliber kitchens, to the accomplished chef he has become today. Though he never went to culinary school, Tom Valenti is undoubtedly a master of his craft, and all it takes is a taste of his wonderful dishes to learn that. What I really enjoy about his recipes is so many of them, when broken down, are based on simplicity, (a pinch of sugar here, a touch of vinegar there). Yet the end results are far from simple. They are gastronomic masterpieces! I feel confident that there isn't one recipe in his book that isn't heaven on a plate! My only...

In this cookbook, the author seems willing to actually part with secrets he has learned and acquired from his professional training and experiences as a chef. Rather than present yet another collection of recipes that readers can imitate, Valenti seems interested in promoting in the home cook useful cooking skills and ways of adapting to what food is on hand, what time is available, and what interest one has in creative cooking. The introductory sections are informative and different from most other books', and while the main part of the volume is a selection of recipes, the emphasis is on adaptions and flavor. The dishes are often unique and the book reads well. The author's love of cooking shines through on every page, and he is no snob-- he bears in mind the constraints of time and equipment that the average experienced cook faces.