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A Baker's Odyssey: Celebrating Time-Honored Recipes from America's Rich Immigrant Heritage
"In this book, I'm embarking on a different path, focusing on finding recipes that preserve the tastes and memories of a long-departed place."
— Greg Patent A Baker's Odyssey is a rich collection of recipes and culinary history, all gleaned from Patent's exhaustive research in the American home kitchens of immigrants from around the world. Through his travels across the country, Patent learned the secrets to traditional baked goods originating from thirty-two different nations. From Scotland and Austria to India and Thailand to Mexico, Norway, and West Africa, the recipes represent the best of each culture's beloved culinary traditions. Chapters are organized by categories of baked goods, and include Fried Pastries and Doughs, Flatbreads and More, Savory Pastries, Sweet Pastries, Savory Yeast Breads and Pies, Sweet Yeast Breads, Cookies and Cookie-Like Pastries, and Dessert Cakes, Tortes, and Pies. Patent provides detailed information on the origin of each recipe and its ingredients, and gives a real sense of the cultural heritage behind each dish. Recipes are easy enough for home cooks of any level to master, and include everything from Jewish Matzoh, Eastern European Rugelach, and Sweet Irish Soda Bread to Russian Meat Piroshki, Italian Pignoli Cookies, and Chinese-Style Almond Sponge Cake. The book is accompanied by an hour-long DVD in which Patent provides hands-on instruction in making Strudel, Pretzels, Cannoli, Kransakake, and much more.
— Greg Patent A Baker's Odyssey is a rich collection of recipes and culinary history, all gleaned from Patent's exhaustive research in the American home kitchens of immigrants from around the world. Through his travels across the country, Patent learned the secrets to traditional baked goods originating from thirty-two different nations. From Scotland and Austria to India and Thailand to Mexico, Norway, and West Africa, the recipes represent the best of each culture's beloved culinary traditions. Chapters are organized by categories of baked goods, and include Fried Pastries and Doughs, Flatbreads and More, Savory Pastries, Sweet Pastries, Savory Yeast Breads and Pies, Sweet Yeast Breads, Cookies and Cookie-Like Pastries, and Dessert Cakes, Tortes, and Pies. Patent provides detailed information on the origin of each recipe and its ingredients, and gives a real sense of the cultural heritage behind each dish. Recipes are easy enough for home cooks of any level to master, and include everything from Jewish Matzoh, Eastern European Rugelach, and Sweet Irish Soda Bread to Russian Meat Piroshki, Italian Pignoli Cookies, and Chinese-Style Almond Sponge Cake. The book is accompanied by an hour-long DVD in which Patent provides hands-on instruction in making Strudel, Pretzels, Cannoli, Kransakake, and much more.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published December 17, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 14, 2009
This is probably the first cookbook that I've read [almost:] cover to cover. My mother-in-law gave it to me for Christmas. The author decided to seek out recipes for baked goods from immigrants from many different countries. I've enjoyed reading his narratives that go along with each recipe. He has an entire section just on flat breads! I haven't actually baked any of the recipes yet but I'm particularly looking forward to making chipati, which is a flat bread from southern India that I ate when I was there in 1992. I loved it then and am looking forward to trying it!
Most interesting to me is the underlying similarity in food across cultures. Almost all cultures seem to have some kind of flat bread (naan, pita, chipati, tortilla, etc.) and almost all cultures seem to make some kind of filled pastry that's either baked or fried.
Most interesting to me is the underlying similarity in food across cultures. Almost all cultures seem to have some kind of flat bread (naan, pita, chipati, tortilla, etc.) and almost all cultures seem to make some kind of filled pastry that's either baked or fried.
June 26, 2008
Good book,Good Recipies..it's also got some flaws..it has a LOT of personal Anecdotes that weighs this down a bit..while many of them were quaint..some were pointless...feeling like this book was edited by someone who is a friend of the Author..sometimes Less is more.
The Accompanying DVD is nice,but only features some of the recipies..and I was wondering what the Criteria for picking them was..he included Struedel in the Demenstration..and that was handy..because it looked hard enough to NEVER want to do on my own..but some of the other demonstrations were pointless,while the hardest recipies in the book were left out..again..some editing and guidance would have been nice in this bulky and a bit overdone effort by someone who really seems to love the art of baking.
The Accompanying DVD is nice,but only features some of the recipies..and I was wondering what the Criteria for picking them was..he included Struedel in the Demenstration..and that was handy..because it looked hard enough to NEVER want to do on my own..but some of the other demonstrations were pointless,while the hardest recipies in the book were left out..again..some editing and guidance would have been nice in this bulky and a bit overdone effort by someone who really seems to love the art of baking.
April 17, 2008
This is an anthology of recipes from immigrant families in the United States. The jewel of this book is that with each recipe come the story of the recipe. It's like you're listening to your grandmother every time you open a page. Make sure you read the introduction too - the author's story of growing up in China with an Iraqi mother and Russian father. I haven't made any of the recipes yet, but there is a DVD included with the book demonstrating how to make some of the recipes. I wish there were pictures of every recipe! but alas, I think the value here is in the stories.
April 22, 2008
This cookbook was full of scrumptous looking recipes. Unfortunately, they require a lot more work than I'm generally willing to put into cooking. And they required lots of kitchen gadgets, several of which I had never before heard of.
August 7, 2008
It was *okay*. One recipe, however, was not true to it's heritage and original recipe. I wouldn't buy this book, and I won't be checking it out of the library again.
February 23, 2012
Interesting book, great recipes with a background for each.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews