Lost Arts

by Lynn Alley

Hand-cured olives, home-baked bread, fresh goat cheese: Before Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, the only way to enjoy these pure and simple flavors was to make them the old-fashioned way-by hand. This charming little guide will teach you how to blend your own mustards, crush grapes for wine, bottle vinegar at home, and more. Sure, you can buy these things at the neighborhood farmers market, but Alley's instructions are so easy, you'll be inspired to add her age-old techniques to your culinary repertoire. The sumptuous recipes at the end of each chapter enable you to put the fruits of your labor to good use.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

Lynn Alley began her career as a cooking teacher at a middle school, where she and her students gained fame for selling handmade, gourmet items at Neiman Marcus. Since then, she has taught the art of cooking throughout the United States and France. Lynn has written for the San Diego Union Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Fine Cooking, and many other publications.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cooks sort neatly into those who value the ease and speed of using prepared foods and those who value more making foods "from scratch." Each tends to think the other a bit daft. Lynn Alley is a child of the Sixties, perhaps even an ageing hippie, who speaks reverently of Alice Waters, Sahag Avedisian and Alice Medrich. She finds a special joy in recapturing the peasant crafts of food preservation which have been lost to most modern Americans. The revised and expanded edition of her 1995 book leads the reader to the arts of curing olives, growing herbs, making mustard, making vinegar, making cheese, baking bread, flavouring butters and oils, putting up preserves and making wine. The chapters are quite good for opening the mind to possibilities. The instructions tend to be unfortunately simplistic and incomplete. The suitably inspired reader ought not really do any of these things for the first time without first reading another book devoted entirely to the specific craft. Fortunately, there are many.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book in my collection for many years. I've used her ideas for vinegar and cheese making, and have just recently completed my first batch of home cured olives. This reads more like narrative non-fic, rather than recipe listings.

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to keep on hand in the kitchen. Good eating, growing and preserving tips. I especially like that it's written in such a fun informing and casual way.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers making or preserving
Olives
Herbs
Mustard
Vinegar
Goat Cheese
Bread
Flavored butters and oil
Preserves (low and sugar free jams)
Wine

The chapter on Herbs had great info on growing them and the conditions that they need. The mustard Chapter was something I had never thought of but now want to give a try. The vinegars were all made from wines. The goat cheese is a little beyond me right now. Bread I already do. I skipped the rest.
It was an interesting book, and helped me to see that I really can make more and more things myself. Not all of them practical for my lifestyle, but interesting none the less.

[Mathew Carruthers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good how-to book for different culinary techniques, though truthfully, I'll probably never use most of them. Maybe I'll try and make my own mustard or vinegar some day, just probably not any time soon. I doubt I'll ever try to cure my own olives, but it was still an interesting and informative read.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reference tool for all of those How to....? the old fashioned way.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good general reference guide if you want to learn how to do such things as make your own mustard or goats' cheese ... but it shows it's age as being a guide from 1995, and has a few editing issues. The author's passion for home made foods and condiments is evident, and if this is your passion too it is a good starting point.