Tapas or Life Is Meals

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain

Author: Penelope Casas

Penelope Casas, who introduced the classic little dishes of Spain to American cooks more than twenty years ago, now gives us a splendid updated edition of that seminal book—with fifty exciting new recipes and eight full pages of new color photographs showing tapas in all their glory.

Here are all the appetizer dishes that have long been a tradition in Spanish cuisine—mélanges of seafood in aromatic sauces; little ragouts of meat, sausages, beans; colorful salads and marinades; the omelets called tortillas that enclose a variety of tasty tidbits; banderillas, zesty combinations on skewers; and empanadas, savory delights encased in pastry. The new recipes Casas includes reflect the influence of the innovative cooking in Spain today—dishes seasoned with soy sauce or balsamic vinegar; ingredients wrapped in flaky phyllo pastry; accents of goat cheese and arugula; foie gras in elegant presentations.

With Spanish cooking at the forefront of today’s cuisine, this “exceptional book by the leading American authority on the foods of Spain” (as Craig Claiborne dubbed it in 1985) is a must for every adventurous cook in America today.

Publishers Weekly

Tapas are to Spain as pasta is to Italya fundamental culinary form of unending variety. And with Tapas, Casas (The Foods and Wines of Spain) continues to do for Spanish cooking what Marcella Hazan has done for Italian. Tapas are appetizers of every descriptionfinger food and salads, marinades and pates, tarts and toasts, beans, sauced dishes, even some soups. The author provides recipes for a tempting selection of dishes that conveys Spain's love for all types of seafood and sausage, potatoes and peppers, saffron, garlic, paprika and green sauce. Since tapas are, by definition, little dishes, quite a few recipes require a disproportionate amount of work per ounce, and one should get used to lists calling for -cup strong chicken broth or two tablespoons peas. Suggestions for tapas menus are listed, as are leading tapas bars in Spain. BOMC Cooking & Crafts Club and QPBC alternate. October 22

Interesting textbook: Latinos Inc or Federal Corporate Taxation

Life Is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days

Author: James Salter

From the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author James Salter and his wife, Kay—amateur chefs and perfect hosts—here is a charming, beautifully illustrated tour de table: a food lover's companion that, with an entry for each day of the year, takes us from a Twelfth Night cake in January to a champagne dinner on New Year's Eve. Life Is Meals is rich with culinary wisdom, history, recipes, literary pleasures, and the authors' own memories of successes and catastrophes.

For instance:

• The menu on the Titanic on the fatal night

• Reflections on dining from Queen Victoria, JFK, Winnie-the-Pooh, Garrison Keillor, and many others

• The seductiveness of a velvety Brie or the perfect martini

• How to decide whom to invite to a dinner party—and whom not to

• John Irving's family recipe for meatballs; Balzac's love of coffee

• The greatest dinner ever given at the White House

• Where in Paris Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter had French onion soup at 4:00 a.m.

• How to cope with acts of God and man-made disasters in the kitchen

Sophisticated as well as practical, opinionated, and indispensable, Life Is Meals is a tribute to the glory of food and drink, and the joy of sharing them with others. "The meal is the emblem of civilization," the Salters observe. "What would one know of life as it should be lived, or nights as they should be spent, apart from meals?"

Publishers Weekly

The author of A Sport and a Pastime teams with his wife, his 30-year cooking companion, to produce a "dinner book," a quirky cornucopia of recipes, historical notes, household hints, brief surveys of foodstuffs (eggs, salt, avocados, doughnuts, cheeses, olives, martinis, etc.) and utensils (forks, knives or toothpicks, say), appreciation of friends met both in life (including Alice Waters and Julia Child) and through books (Lord Byron, Anna Karenina) and random observations (what makes a good waiter) and advice of all kinds. For example, six "days" in January are dedicated to the useful art of giving a dinner party, but in fact, tips on, or accounts of picnics and parties (clearly a delight for both Salters), are everywhere. Their recipes are simple and good (Polpettone alla Toscana; Chicken Marengo; Fraises la Cussy; Gazpacho) and can usually be made in advance, leaving the cooks free to socialize. But this volume is not chiefly one of recipes or hints (though both may prove practical). The Salters call it a "bedside book" and, with its attractive packaging and charming illustrations by Fabrice Moireau, it should make the perfect hostess gift, not always an easy thing to choose, say the authors. (Oct. 20) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Inspired by their personal journal, James (A Sport and a Pastime) and journalist Kay Salter have compiled a charming collection of brief essays on food and wine, with 37 recipes and beautiful illustrations. The entries range from thumbnail biographies of the great chefs to the sauces of ancient Greece to dinner parties with John Irving. Other entries include notes on preparing food, explanations of the names of famous dishes, and tips on how to throw a dinner party. The Salters make entertaining seem an essential social act and will inspire anyone to get into the kitchen. The recipes represent home cooking at its best, including classics like Gazpacho, Blinis, and Chicken Marengo. There are also several cocktail recipes, as well as information on several of the authors' favorite wines. This lovely though nonauthoritative miscellanea may not be an essential purchase, but it is fun. Best for larger cookery or browsing collections.-Devon Thomas, DevIndexing, Chelsea, MI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.