Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Vegetarian Handbook or Ducasse Flavors of France

The Vegetarian Handbook: Eating Right for Total Health

Author: Gary Null

Many patients that I see in my medical nutrition practice request specific detailed information in order to move toward a vegetarian lifestyle. Here is a book that will guide them along such a path. It will also assist current vegetarians to reach a new level of understanding by offering specific instruction for improving food habits. The instruction includes the most up-to-date and scientific data regarding food protein. By using the egg as a model of the near perfect protein source and comparing vegetarian foods with the egg, we now have available tools for increasing the benefits of protein from non-meat sources.

"Patients with certain medical problems should consider removing red meat and other animal proteins from their diet and moving toward vegetarian food sources. Some of these medical problems include the following: hypoglycemia, obesity, digestive disorders including diverticultitis and other colon problems, gout, and elevated cholestrol. Many specfic studies have shown that the vegetarian diet may help with these problems. This book presents a clear and sophisticated road map for becoming a vegetarian or moving in this direction." --Dr Martin Feldman

Publishers Weekly

The author of The Complete Guide to Health and Nutrition here succeeds in presenting what he calls ``a comprehensive statement on the value of vegetarianism.'' Passionately argued, this well-documented, readable volume makes a thorough, albeit somewhat familiar, case for vegetarianism as a way of eating and a way of life. There are discussions against eating animal products, such as eggs, cheese and milk, on the wasteful economics of raising animals for food, on why people become vegetarians, and how poor nutrition causes illness and good nutrition protects against disease. Utilizing grains and legumes, Null suggests nutritious food combinations that are high in complete protein, in a diet devoid of animal products. The 95 unusual recipesincluding the Peter Pan rice casserole, which calls for peanut butter, brown rice, sunflower seeds and shallots, seasoned with a blend of thyme and tarragonare inexpensive, facile and low in fat and cholesterol. (January 18)

Library Journal

Null provides documented research on the history, philosophy, and politics of vegetarianism. For the uninitiated, his statements may sometimes appear accusatory, but he supports most claims with material from current sources. The appendix, containing a list of food combinations that provide high levels of usable protein, is likely to be this book's single most valuable contribution. Unfortunately, many of the recipes will be inaccessible to American cooks who are uncomfortable converting ounces to cups and tablespoons. But although Null's handbook may intimidate some, it will prove valuable to those seeking solid information on vegetarian philosophy, diet, and nutrition.Andi Lyons, SUNY at Albany



Books about: Second Year Sobriety or The Pharmacology for Massage Therapy

Ducasse Flavors of France

Author: Alain Ducass

Brash, driven, and dazzlingly inventive, six-star-chef Alain Ducasse is a larger-than-life figure. At 33, he was the youngest chef ever to be awarded three Michelin stars, and in March 1998, he became the only chef in our time to possess six stars. He has mentored a generation of younger chefs who have introduced his cooking around the world and has, quite simply, changed the face of traditional French cooking.

In his long-awaited American cookbook debut, Ducasse shares the principles and techniques of his uniquely elemental cuisine. At its core are clarity of taste, precision in execution, and respect for the food itself, which to Ducasse means retaining in a multitude of simple but striking techniques, such as combining in the same recipe raw and cooked, hot and cold, fruits and vegetables. Ducasse uses as much of each element as he can--the trimmings, sometimes the skins, the shells, the baking juices, the pan drippings, the heads, the cooking broth, all the by-products of the process--in order to capture an ingredient's precise taste. He incorporates different preparations of the same product into a given dish, each revealing an individual aspect of its flavor--sliced raw artichokes, braised whole artichokes, and paper-thin slices of fried artichoke, for example, might be featured together. The brilliance of his food--apparent in receipes made with no more than two ingredients enhanced by a simple aromatic element, with seasoning reduced to a few grains of salt.

Ducasse Flavors of France documents, in more than 100 lavishly photographed recipes, the influences--Mediterranean, Provencal, and classical French--that permeate this extraordinary cuisine. Many of the recipes are simple, others complex, but all can be perfectly accomplished with a little time and patience.

Wine Spectator

The country's star chef.

The New York Times

The brightest seventh star: Ducasse himself.

Le Point

The Escoffier of our time.

Library Journal

Ducasse recently became the first chef in 60 years to garner three stars in two restaurants simultaneously. If you can't take a trip to France to visit them, here is the next best option. Written for an American readership, this cookbook is, quite simply, a masterpiece by a genius. It consists of five chapters: "with aperitifs," vegetables, shellfish and fish, poultry and meat, and desserts. Most recipes are brief, reflecting an orientation rather than a formula, and many suggest wines of widespread availability. Ducasse is, above all, concerned with "clarity of taste, precision in execution, and respect for the product" yet realizes that certain French ingredients are rare in North America. Thus, there is an excellent appendix that provides hints for adaptations: ingredients, including viable substitutes, are discussed at length, as are techniques. A list of sources for kitchenware and specialty ingredients appears at the end. A beautiful and passionate book; highly recommended.--Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., KY



Table of Contents:
Introduction by Alain Ducasse

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