****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is a fabulous book of recipes! It is clear that these authors really know their stuff - the book is very readable and full of helpful information, deeper explanation where appropriate, historical detail, and personal stories are sprinkled in throughout the text - just the right amount that made me feel like these authors thought of everything in order to give the reader a sense of support and peaked interest to try these amazing recipes. Feeling a sense of support (I'm not a very good cook, so this was key for me!) and peaked interest, I tried the West African Peanut Soup recipe. It was so yummy! And pretty easy to make! My family loved it so much I made it again in short order. The second time around, I tried an alternative step that the authors suggested. This is another thing I love about this book - the authors offer lots of ideas for substitutions and alternatives to tweak the recipes to individual taste. There are no hard and fast rules here, which I think anyone can appreciate. The photography in this book is excellent - very enticing. The book makes for a great gift too - I bought copies for friends who were very happy!Update: 8/1/15I feel compelled to add this extra note, as I made the Farro-Chickpea Salad with Sunflower Seeds for a large family gathering last weekend and it was the absolute hit of the party! This recipe makes a lot, but I doubled it for a large crowd and it turned out beautifully. Everything about this salad is fantastic - first, it seems very healthy (asparagus, chickpeas, red onion - yum!), second, it is very beautiful! It received rave reviews all around. A few bonuses to this recipe - one, I had folks in my gathering who couldn't eat nuts but who could eat seeds - so this was an excellent dish for them. Also, I had a few people who couldn't eat cheese, so I separated some out and these folks raved about the dish too! I was relieved, as I found that the ricotta salata that this dish calls for had the perfect taste for this dish. (I never had ricotta salata before, and it is exceptional! I think you could substitute feta in a pinch, but go for the ricotta salata if you can.) I had many people ask for the recipe, and I happily told them about this amazing book. I've already made it again for my own family, as there were no leftovers from the first time!
