ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY background="background.gif"> <center><img src="ep15_058.gif"></center></p> <center><font size=4><b>Book Review</b></font></p> <font size=5><b> The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines:<br> China, Greece and Rome </b></font></p></p> </center> Kiera Hafoc mentioned this book to me, And when I saw it offered by the History Book Club, I bought a copy. It you have ever caught any of Jeff Smith's shows on Public Television, you know how entertaining he can be. He writes just like he talks. </p> The book does cover three ancient cuisines, but what you get is basically modern cooking from three ancient cuisines with a few old recipes adapted to modern taste and ingredients. You will note a distinct lack of primary sources in the bibliography. This is not to say that you should stay away from the book. On the contrary; it is amusing and witty, and has some recipes you probably won't find many other places--like "Live Drunken Shrimp" and "Looed Duck feet". Smith has adapted several recipes from Apicius, such as "Chestnuts and Lentils Apicius":</p><ul> Soak ½ pound of dried chestnuts overnight. Drain them and place them in a 4-quart covered saucepan with 2 ½ cups of "brown soup stock" (I would use a beef bouillon here.). Simmer until the chestnuts are tender. Drain the liquid and measure it. Add enough water to make a total of 2 ½ cups of liquid and pour it back in the pan. Add 2 cups chopped and rinsed leeks, 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander, ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black ?pepper, ½ teaspoon of coriander seed crushed in a mortar, 1 teaspoon of dried mint, [! teaspoon of rosemary and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. Bring to a boil and add 1 cup of dried lentils. Simmer about 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender and the liquid is absorbed. Add salt to taste. Place the mixture on a serving dish and drizzle with two tablespoons of good olive oil. </p> </ul> <p></p> <b><i>Source:</b></i> Jeff Smith. <u>The Frugal Gourmet Cook, Three Ancient Cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome.</u> <i>William Morrow and Company,</i> 1989. ISBN: 0-6887S89-4</p> <center><img src="ep15_059.gif"></center></p> <p><p> <hr> <center> <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep15/10norsecap.html">Previous Article</a> | <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep15/12strawshoe.html">Next Article</a> | <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep15/index.html">Back to Early Period #15 index</a> <br> <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/EP">Back to Early Period Index</a> | <a href="http://www.housebarra.com/PastTimes/">Back to PastTimes</a> </center> </BODY> </HTML>