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The Waldorf=Astoria Cookbook

by John Doherty with John Harrison



      This is such a beautiful book, on several levels. Beautiful in the classic coffee table book sense, full of lovely illustrations. Those include details from the Waldorf=Astoria itself, pictures of the people who work there and famous guests, events and vintage menus, and food. Definitely food. It's packed full of recipe illustrations so vivid and enticing you'll reach for your fork.

But it would be a pity to relegate this book to mere coffee table decoration. It's also beautifully written, with enjoyable discussion of the Waldorf=Astoria and its history surrounded by vivid character sketches of its people. Co-author Executive Chef John Doherty comes across as a knowledgeable, passionate, and opinionated professional who is also a natural storyteller and someone you'd enjoy knowing, as he cheerfully lists Cheerios among his favorite foods or cracks a joke about how the occupational hazards of his tough job include the need to "quality check" other favorites.

Best and most beautiful, however, are the recipes. This isn't a cookbook for the complete novice, although the recipes are very clearly explained and a few are beginner level. For example, you may not feel able to tackle the brioche recipe, but anyone could make the Chocolate-Hazelnut Panini from a bakery loaf. Despite its origins, the cookbook also largely avoids the opposite extreme of focusing on recipes whose ingredient list and technical demands require a fleet of professionals. A few recipes look like very special occasion only, but this is essentially a book for the experienced home cook willing to take a few pains to create something astonishingly good rather than settling for the acceptable usual. Oscar's Asian Chicken Salad, one of the ones I tried, is typical. It's one of their most popular offerings, but not at all difficult to make, given access to some common (and one less common) Asian ingredients. The friends I served it to apparently couldn't decide whether to kiss me or fight for their share of second helpings (second helpings won). The recipes are also full of helpful and interesting comments for the home cook, reflecting both Chef Doherty's encyclopedic knowledge and empathetic teaching abilities. Highly recommended.

The Book

Bulfinch Press (a Hachette Press imprint)
September 2006
Hardcover
ISBN-10 0-8212-5772-2
ISBN-13 978-0-8212-5772-2
Cookbook
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Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Kim Malo
Reviewed 2006
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© 2006 MyShelf.com