During quarantine this year, I was doing a lot of cooking and baking to pass the time and to make myself feel better. I made the During quarantine this year, I was doing a lot of cooking and baking to pass the time and to make myself feel better. I made the ever. I found a I actually liked (I skipped the veal because who even knows where you find that?) and managed to not make the meatballs rubbery.
So when I got the opportunity to review a few new cookbooks, I jumped at the chance.
The Flavor Equation, as promised, puts the emphasis on bold complex flavours. I enjoyed reading about different types of flavours and how best to pair them, and I also liked that this book contained a lot of appealing pictures. I have never before made any recipe that doesn't come with a picture - I'm a visual person - so it was nice to see a book full of them.
There are many different kinds of recipes in The Flavor Equation, but most of them take inspiration from Sharma's upbringing in India. I recommend having ghee, garam masala and turmeric on hand if you are even thinking of opening this book. Heat from chillis is often listed as optional.
I have made two recipes so far-- the lamb koftas and the beef chilli fry with pancetta.
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Now this may well be my fault, but I will say that neither looks quite as aesthetically pleasing as it does in the book. That being said, I thought both tasted great. The lamb koftas were full of garlic, ginger and spices, with just a hint of heat. I would definitely make those again.
The beef chili fry had a very interesting flavour, heavy on the cloves and cinnamon, which I personally liked, but not everyone did. Certainly neither one lacked for flavour. I now have my eye on a number of other recipes I want to try.
I'm pretty impressed so far. I will say that I wouldn't consider most of these recipes "everyday recipes". By that, I mean a number of them may require you to buy or order special ingredients, obviously depending on what you usually cook. I don't personally have pomegranate molasses, date syrup, or tamarind paste lying about the house. I had most of the spices, but amchur powder and nigella seeds were new to me.
If anyone else makes anything good from this book, let me know ...more
Everything about this book appealed to me. The gorgeous photos that could convince me to eat things I've never liked, the array of recipes, and just tEverything about this book appealed to me. The gorgeous photos that could convince me to eat things I've never liked, the array of recipes, and just the subject itself. I am, I confess, a dessert person.
Overall, though, I have mixed feelings about this one. I'll start by saying that most of these recipes require a lot of ingredients, many of which will have to be ordered specially, and some of which will definitely be pricey. And I should add that several of the already lengthy lists of ingredients contain things like "Chocolate Frosting (see pg ###)" meaning that the recipe can be twice as long and complicated as it first looks.
I also thought the inclusion of a savory section was an odd and unnecessary choice for a book titled "Dessert Person". Some others have noted that it has "something for everyone" but, come on, is anyone who just likes savory stuff going to buy a book called "Dessert Person"? It was already quite a hefty tome, too, so I think shedding that section would have been just fine.
Now for what I made. My first foray into this book resulted in these pistachio pinwheel cookies.
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These were actually really good. They were similar to shortbread cookies, a little salty (in a good way) and the pistachios + almond extract gave them great flavour.
Funnily enough, that was my more "daring" recipe because it wasn't something I would usually gravitate towards. Then I decided to make the buttermilk chocolate cake because I love chocolate and I love chocolate cake and buttermilk does great things for waffles and pancakes so why not my cake, right?
The chocolates on top were not part of the recipe. I just added them because I couldn't do the beautiful swirls that Saffitz did on hers. And, you know what? I was disappointed with this one. It was very... okay. It required a lot of extra steps that didn't result in a better than average chocolate cake. I could have produced a similar cake with a Betty Crocker box mix. Meh.
I will try a couple more at some point, most likely. Some of the recipes look very exciting, though I will have to order ingredients online to make them....more
The mental and physical toll of working in restaurants is corrosive. It will take generations to undo the harm and build an industry that is equita
The mental and physical toll of working in restaurants is corrosive. It will take generations to undo the harm and build an industry that is equitable for people of all genders, races, ethnicities, sexualities, and beliefs. We need to be responsible for one another.
This was a very interesting book. I'm not someone who usually cares to read chef memoirs and I don't think of myself as particularly interested in the restaurant business, but the author opens his heart in Eat a Peach and tackles a lot of tough subjects on the road to telling his life story. Plus, I just quite like David Chang.
My husband got me interested in David Chang. He’s a big foodie, which seems to be synonymous with “human” if you happen to live in Los Angeles. He also speaks highly of the way Chang talks about mental illness and its stigma among East Asian Americans. Chang goes into a lot of depth about his struggles with his mental health in this book and-- while his sense of humour does shine through --I should point out that it's a pretty dark read.
Chang has dealt with, and continues to deal with, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and no small amount of Impostor Syndrome that crept upon him as his restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars and he was named among Time’s 100 most influential people. I know reading about this can be upsetting for some, but I really appreciated the candid way he wrote about his insecurities and personal demons.
Race and racial stereotyping come up a lot in Chang's memoir. He has spoken out in the past on the stigma against mental illness in East Asian American families and communities. Due to cultural norms, many East Asian Americans do not seek the help they need. But in this book, he goes a step further and looks at the experience of growing up Korean in America, and how certain stereotypes set East Asian Americans up for failure and/or anxiety.
He talks about the "smart Asian" stereotype and how demoralizing it feels if you're not academically gifted; he talks about the perceived limited career options for East Asians and how being a chef seems ludicrous to most; and he also offers a critique of the "tiger mom". This is something I first heard when I came to California and it always struck me as both deeply racist and sexist. David Chang has other thoughts, though, about the parenting style itself. I found it very interesting how he calls it a way of giving a cute name to a type of parenting that is dejecting and exhausting for a child. He believes it is a cultural norm that should be strongly discouraged.
I also really liked his "Blind Spots" chapter. He talks here about the ignorance that goes along with privilege and how he himself was able to look the other way when women received misogynistic treatment in the industry. He acknowledges that he was part of the problem by ignoring it. Obviously, he can't change the past, but his voice matters a lot in this industry, so I am glad he is taking some steps to point out where he (and others) could have done better.
Eat a Peach is a not a standard "fun" chef memoir full of shenanigans and laughs, but its importance cannot be overstated. David Chang never tries too hard to be inspirational, and somehow that makes it even more so.
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