The Pat Conroy Cookbook

出版者:Bantam Dell Pub Group

作者:Conroy, Pat/ Pollak, Suzanne Williamson

页数:304

出版时间:2004-11

价格:213.00元

装帧:HRD

isbn号码:9780385514132

具体描述

“This book is the story of my life as it relates to the subject of food. It is my autobiography in food and meals and restaurants and countries far and near. Let me take you to a restaurant on the Left Bank of Paris that I found when writing The Lords of Discipline. There are meals I ate in Rome while writing The Prince of Tides that ache in my memory when I resurrect them. There is a shrimp dish I ate in an elegant English restaurant, where Cuban cigars were passed out to all the gentlemen in the room after dinner, that I can taste on my palate as I write this. There is barbecue and its variations in the South, and the subject is a holy one to me. I write of truffles in the Dordogne Valley in France, cilantro in Bangkok, catfish in Alabama, scuppernong in South Carolina, Chinese food from my years in San Francisco, and white asparagus from the first meal my agent took me to in New York City. Let me tell you about the fabulous things I have eaten in my life, the story of the food I have encountered along the way. . . ” America’s favorite storyteller, Pat Conroy, is back with a unique cookbook that only he could conceive. Delighting us with tales of his passion for cooking and good food and the people, places, and great meals he has experienced, Conroy mixes them together with mouthwatering recipes from the Deep South and the world beyond.

It all started thirty years ago with a chance purchase of The Escoffier Cookbook, an unlikely and daunting introduction for the beginner. But Conroy was more than up to the task. He set out with unwavering determination to learn the basics of French cooking—stocks and dough—and moved swiftly on to veal demi-glace and pâte brisée. With the help of his culinary accomplice, Suzanne Williamson Pollak, Conroy mastered the dishes of his beloved South as well as the cuisine he has savored in places as far away from home as Paris, Rome, and San Francisco.

Each chapter opens with a story told with the inimitable brio of the author. We see Conroy in New Orleans celebrating his triumphant novel The Prince of Tides at a new restaurant where there is a contretemps with its hardworking young owner/chef—years later he discovered the earnest young chef was none other than Emeril Lagasse; we accompany Pat and his wife on their honeymoon in Italy and wander with him, wonderstruck, through the markets of Umbria and Rome; we learn how a dinner with his fighter-pilot father was preceded by the Great Santini himself acting out a perilous night flight that would become the last chapters of one of his son’s most beloved novels. These tales and more are followed by corresponding recipes—from Breakfast Shrimp and Grits and Sweet Potato Rolls to Pappardelle with Prosciutto and Chestnuts and Beefsteak Florentine to Peppered Peaches and Creme Brulee. A master storyteller and passionate cook, Conroy believes that “A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.”

用户评价

我最近翻阅了许多烹饪书籍，试图寻找一些既有深度又能带来新鲜感的作品。《The Pat Conroy Cookbook》这个名字本身就带着一种南方文学的厚重感，让人不禁好奇，这位以描绘美国南方式的复杂人性与壮丽风光而闻名的小说家，是如何将他的叙事天赋延伸到厨房里的。然而，撇开它那颇具文学色彩的标题不谈，这本书在实际内容上，却似乎更专注于一种非常具体且高度个人化的烹饪哲学，而非我所期待的那种能够跨越地域和背景，提供广泛烹饪技巧或食谱的“百科全书式”指南。它更像是一系列精心编排的、围绕着特定食材或节庆的个人回忆录，充满了对童年时光的怀旧和对某种理想化生活方式的描摹。我本来期待看到对基础烹饪科学的深入探讨，或者至少是能让初学者也能上手的清晰指导，但这本书似乎预设了读者已经拥有一定的烹饪基础，并且对特定的美国南方风味有着强烈的偏爱。它的配方往往省略了一些关键的步骤细节，仿佛作者认为这些“常识”无需赘述，这对于那些寻求实用性指导的读者来说，无疑是一个不小的障碍。整体阅读体验下来，感觉更像是在阅读一本关于美食的散文集，而非一本能真正指导我做出美味佳肴的工具书。

我不得不承认，这本书的选材视角非常独特，它似乎聚焦于那些需要时间沉淀的、需要情感投入才能完成的菜肴。那些动辄需要提前一天准备、需要长时间慢炖的传统大菜占据了相当大的篇幅。这对于平日生活节奏很快的上班族来说，可能并不是一个理想的选择。我理解，真正的美味往往需要耐心，但这本书中的很多食谱，其准备时间（Prep Time）和烹饪时间（Cook Time）加起来，已经远远超出了我能在工作日晚上投入到厨房中的时间极限。我尝试着去适应这种缓慢的节奏，挑选了一个相对简单的甜点食谱，希望能一窥其“魔力”所在。然而，即便是这个看似简单的甜点，其配方中对某种特定地域性原料的依赖性也让我颇感头疼——如果我无法在当地超市找到那种特定产地的坚果或香料，那么食谱的整体风味就可能大打折扣，作者似乎没有提供任何可行的替代方案。这使得这本书的适用范围被严格地限制在了那些能接触到特定、小众食材的读者群体中，形成了一种无形的门槛。

这本书最让我感到困惑的一点，在于其叙事与食谱之间的割裂感。在每一道菜肴的介绍前，往往附带着长篇累牍的个人轶事，讲述某个特定菜肴与作者生命中某个重要人物或事件的关联。这些故事本身无疑是引人入胜的，充满了文学性的张力，但它们常常占据了版面，而对烹饪步骤的阐述却显得仓促和简略。读者很容易被那些动人的回忆所吸引，沉浸在作者所描绘的南方夏日午后或家庭团聚的温馨场景中，但当真正需要关注“如何做到”时，却发现关键信息被淹没在了情感的洪流里。例如，在处理蛋白质的温度控制上，我只找到了一句模棱两可的描述，比如“加热到你觉得合适为止”，这让我不禁怀疑，作者是否真的希望普通人能够复制他记忆中的味道，还是仅仅将这些食谱作为他个人记忆的载体。这种将个人传记与实用指南强行捆绑的结构，使得这本书在实际应用中显得效率低下，用户体验并不友好。

总的来说，如果你是一位正在寻找一本结构严谨、步骤详尽、适合日常操作的食谱的读者，我恐怕要建议你寻找其他选项。这本书更像是送给那些已经对“南方美食”文化有着深刻理解，并且珍视烹饪背后的故事和情怀的“老饕”或“粉丝”的一份礼物。它成功地营造了一种氛围，一种对悠闲生活和传统手艺的向往，这在快节奏的现代社会中确实是一种稀缺的体验。但作为一本“食谱”，它的核心功能——清晰、可复制的指导——被置于了次要位置。我希望看到更多的关于技术层面的探讨，比如不同油脂在高温下的表现，或者面粉筋度的控制如何影响最终成品，但这些内容几乎付之阙如。它更像是一本精心装帧的咖啡桌读物，一本让你在壁炉旁翻阅，感受作者生活情趣的杂志，而非一本让你在灶台前挥洒汗水，确保每一步都准确无误的案头必备书。它的价值更多地体现在“阅读体验”而非“烹饪产出”上。

说实话，当我翻开这本书时，我立刻被其排版和摄影风格所吸引，那种温暖、略带做旧的色调，仿佛能让人闻到木柴燃烧和黄油融化的香气。这本书在视觉呈现上绝对是顶级的，每一张照片都像是精心构图的艺术品，捕捉了食材最自然、最诱人的瞬间。但遗憾的是，这种艺术性似乎并没有完全服务于食谱的实用性。我尝试制作了其中一个以海鲜为主的菜肴，它的描述充满了诗意，强调了食材的新鲜度和季节性，但这远远不足以构成一个完整的烹饪流程。例如，对于某种特定的腌制时间，书中仅仅用了一个模糊的形容词来描述“直到它呈现出恰到 দূরত্ব的好状态”，这在追求精确度的现代烘焙或烹饪中是极其危险的。我不得不依靠我自己的经验和网络搜索来填补这些空白，这让我不禁怀疑，这本书究竟是为谁而写的？如果它定位为“灵感之书”，那么它无疑是成功的，它成功地唤醒了我对慢煮和家庭聚餐的向往；但如果它旨在成为厨房里的得力助手，那么它在清晰度和可操作性上的缺失，使得它在货架上竞争力大大降低。我更倾向于将其视为一种“氛围营造剂”，而非实用的操作手册。