Saveur: The New Comfort Food: Home Cooking from Around the World

by James Oseland (Editor)

From the pages of Saveur magazine, one of the world's premier food publications, comes a celebration of the enormous range of regional American and international dishes that have shaped the classic comfort foods of today. A steaming bowl of udon noodles, a bubbling serving of macaroni and cheese, a hearty helping of huevos rancheros, a perfectly browned grilled cheese sandwichthese are just some of the 100 mouthwatering recipes in this extraordinary volume that highlights the pleasures of comfort food in all its diversity. Brimming with more than 200 stunning photographs and memorable sidebars that present the people, ingredients, and techniques involved in the recipes, Saveur The New Comfort Food is an unforgettable journey behind the scenes of our favorite heartwarming dishes.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Ebooks, Food and Drink

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2011

About the author

James Oseland is an American writer, editor and television personality. He is the author and editor-in-chief of World Food, an acclaimed book series from Ten Speed Press. He served as editor-in-chief of the U.S. food magazine Saveur from 2006 to 2014. His memoir and cookbook Cradle of Flavor (2006, W.W. Norton) was named one of the best books of 2006 by the New York Times, Time Asia, and Good Morning America, among others. He has edited an array of bestselling and award-winning anthologies and cookbooks, notably Saveur: The New Comfort Food (2011, Chronicle), A Fork In the Road (2013, Lonely Planet), and Saveur: The New Classics (2014, Weldon Owen). His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Gourmet, Vogue, and dozens of other media outlets. He was a judge from 2009 to 2013 on the Bravo television series Top Chef Masters.
Oseland is the author of Jimmy Neurosis (2019, Ecco Press), a critically acclaimed coming-of-age memoir set against the California and New York City punk rock movements of the late 1970s. Out called the book "nonstop entertainment," while Rolling Stone hailed it as a "vibrant coming-of-age memoir [told] in an instantly lovable voice."

Reviews

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comfort food from around the world, yet recognizable to our palates. Good photos and commentary on the history, creator, or tradition of the recipe.

[Dom · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say I’m excited to start cooking from this book is an understatement.

The book is beautifully laid out, the recipes are truly all delicious looking and sounding, and the stories and other details contained in the book contribute to the whole in really wonderful ways. I won’t say that the recipes are all easy, not that they all contain super easy to find ingredients, but many of them do and it means that this is not just a cookbook I’m glad to own, but also one I’ll be glad to cook from.

As a whole, I must say that the comfort foods in this book are spot on and perfect for anyone looking to try their hand at making and tasting really delicious foods from around the world.

While I haven’t made anything yet, I can tell just by the amount of page markers that this is one of my favourite cookbook buys so far.

[Aric · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE: I have not actually cooked ANY of the recipes in this book....but, damn I want to.

A book of comfort food recipes + photos of every dish = food porn.
Every recipe seems to be sourced from either its origin or from where it is most popular judging from the background information that is also included with every recipe.
The only real criticism I have is for the lack of New Orleans fare. Its only representation coming in as 'New Orleans-Style BBQ Shrimp'. I think etouffee would be a better representation of the locale's many comfort food representations.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made 3 recipes, and they turned out great. I would come very close to buying this book.
Beautiful food porn photos too. Would make a great coffee table book. You guessed it - a Top cookbooks of 2011 list member..

[Hoyadaisy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an expensive book for a limited number of recipes. Also, the recipes themselves are uninspiring. I don't think it's because of the "home cooking" aspect. "Saveur" magazine always included home cooking. I can still remember the recipe for gougeres (apologies for skipping the accent), the photo of them, and the description that lured me into making some. That's a home-cooking recipe if you're French, and they nailed every aspect of it.

In the decade since I stopped getting the magazine, something happned. Did they get tired? Run out of recipes? Is it the editor? Whatever it is, I regret spending my money on this book.

[chrstphre campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice Enough…

…But —
The photography is poorly done ( ! )
Some of The images actually seem too small, then enlarged to fill their tiny boxes in The book !
It makes it just a little more difficult to steal images for collages of screensavers ( ! )
Plus; cook books are porn for culinary deviants, it cheats them another opportunity to evacuate onto their favorite cutting board that they know how to clean properly .

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comfort food standards from iconic locations and places

Interesting comfort food, from a variety of countries, mostly Euro-centric recipes, though appealing. From Saveur magazine, so interesting text and recipes.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comfort food at its finest

A wonderful representation of a variety of comfort foods from around the world. Every recipe is a winner! Elegant yet simple recipes to create.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Oseland's books has been a soul feed each time I read ! This one no difference !

[Carol Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of comfort food

This book provides a lot of different ethnic comfort foods found around the world.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun book to read plus I found myself marking many recipes that I want to try. It is one of the best cookbooks that I have read in a long time.

[Aja Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

just picked this up from the library today and made myself extremely hungry while lazing on the bed reading it in post-work, pre-dinner relaxation. it's incredibly readable-- with awesome brief write-ups lifted from their magazine about each dish or some sort of culture related to the featured dish. as always, excellent photos, and really do-able recipes-- which is a big thing for a cooking magazine/cookbook. yet, not dumbed down. love it. if i had infinite bookshelves and was never going to have to move them again, i would totally have this in my collection, even if most of the recipes in the book are too decadent for most of my lifestyle. that being said, lots of vegetarian recipes!

[Hina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book got me hooked on foods I never thought I'd cook - potato gratin, southern fried chicken, beef empanadas, shakshuka...the list is endless! This is not an everyday food cookbook. It'd be best suited for people who enjoy cooking and look forward to making somewhat challenging dishes. I use this book several times in a month, and the portions are quite large for a family of two, which means lots of leftovers! The ingredients are pretty easy to find, but are of the somewhat higher end quality. Overall this is exactly the kind of cookbook I enjoy using, but it may not suit someone who has to cook for a large family regularly.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully photographed cookbook. Since it's comfort food around the world, there are fun photos of a variety of people and foods. There are also interesting sidebars with history and customs. There are also how-to tips, like how to pick an artichoke and what to do with it once you've got it (there are something like ten different kinds of artichokes. Who knew?). I've only made one recipe -- for huckleberry or blueberry crisp -- and it was wonderful, so plan to make more.

I wasn't familiar with Saveur, and now want to pick up more of their books / magazines.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG, I want EVERYTHING. Not vegetarian, but everything looks SO GOOD....it's even going to get me eating poached eggs. YUM!

***I have to return this now, 12 weeks later. There are recipes I didn't try that I'd like to (poached eggs in spicy tomato sauce!), but the two big takeaways are tikka masala (I sub tofu and vegetables for chicken) and potatoes gratin (the garlic was a revelation). Pretty yum.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been on a cook book spree lately and while this one has a lot of variety and seems to have friendly enough recipes and instructions, it just didn't inspire me the way that others have. I flipped through most of the "food" without finding anything that I really wanted to make, but when I got to the desserts on the other hand, I wanted to make them all.

It's not a bad cookbook, it just didn't do it for me.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely has a couple of yummy recipes, but not amazing. Most of the recipes are a little out of my range. In real life, when am I ever going to fry chicken? Super excited about some of the drinks though, and I really want to try the snickerdoodles.

[Nichole ~Bookaholic~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with Comfort Food.....there are some really great recipes in this...have already tried the French Onion Soup and it was fabulous and I have about 40 of the recipes in this book marked to try.... and you can 't beat the price for the Kindle version.

[Maureen Flatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting American comfort foods and got, instead, sort of a global comfort food approach. It's fine though...full of great stuff, classic Saveur. And in my book, Saveur can do no wrong!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The photography is amazing! I made lemony roasted chicken and fennel baked in cream for dinner and ate like a neanderthal. There are some wonderful regional takes on traditional comfort foods here.

[Yasmeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so beautiful, I can't even judge it properly.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read & look through but not a realistic source of recipes for me.

[Erin Stuhlsatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures in this book are awesome. I have saved 6 recipes to try, but they are as of now yet untried. There are lots of fancy ingredients, so it's definitely special occasion comfort food.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of comfort food recipes from various ethnic groups in America with photos. Problem with the e-book versions is the difficulty in copying recipes.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many wonderful sounding recipes, will take me a long time to try them all!

[Chris Thorsrud · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories, photography, recipes, culture are up to the expected Saveur standards of quality. The book is a journey to diverse cultures, recipes, images - beautiful. Recipes are very user-friendly.

[Stephanie McGarrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 for the writing. Haven't made anything from this yet.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best cookbook I ever read