Olives, Anchovies, and Capers: The Secret Ingredients of the Mediterranean Table - Hardcover

Brennan, Georgeanne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811824942 ISBN 13: 9780811824941

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2001

Synopsis

No one knows just what makes the Mediterranean shores so white, the sun so golden, or the sea so blue. But thanks to award-winning author Georgeanne Brennan, we now know what makes the cuisine so delicious. Olives, anchovies, and capers are the secret ingredients behind the magical flavors of the Mediterranean. Toss a few tangy olives and capers, or a savory anchovy or two into these over 50 dazzling recipes and instantly capture the fresh, sun-drenched flavors of Italy, France, Greece, Tunisia, and Morocco. Enhanced by vibrant color photography, Brennan reveals the basic techniques for salting, brining, curing, and seasoning these delicacies and also explores their history and common uses. Bring the Mediterranean home with these simple, flavorful accents and add intensity and depth--with minimum effort--to any dish.

About this title

About the Author

Georgeanne Brennan is a James Beard Award-winning author of numerous cooking and garden books. She lives in Northern California and France.

Leigh Beisch is a San Francisco-based photographer. Her work has appeared in many national fashion, lifestyle, and health magazines, as well as in Chronicle Books' Skewer It! and Cooking for the Week.

Reviews

Winner of the Julia Child Award for Aperitif and the James Beard Award for The Food and Flavors of Haute Provence, Brennan focuses her fourth book for Chronicle on "this pungent pantry trio." She explains how the colors of olives vary with their picking time, how the anchovy is caught at night ("by lamplight") and how capers, "a heat-loving, drought tolerant shrub," should be rinsed of packing salts before using. But the bulk of the book, and of the many full-page color photos (carefully composed, if shot in trendy half-focus by Leigh Beisch), is given to more than 50 recipes highlighting this trio's complex tastes Terrine of Layered Goat Cheese and Olives with Fresh Thyme, Catalan-Style Anchovies and Swordfish with Capers and Fresh Tomatoes. Simple dishes like Roast Cod Larded with Anchovies (from Seen Lippert, formerly of Chez Panisse) can be a revelation with the right ingredients. The convention of setting the title ingredients in boldface every time they appear is annoying, and the introductory chapters have a slapped-together feel. Experienced cooks will be attracted to the book's specificity and focus, however, and it should also appeal to pasta-boilers who worry about controlling these briny basics. Agent, Susan Lescher. (July 15)Forecast: Brennan's previous titles will attract fans to this book.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0811824942
• ISBN 13: 9780811824941
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 132