March 19, 2019
By Emily Capo Sauerman, Founder Taste Quest
Let’s face it: cooking for the family can sometimes get monotonous. This is one of the reasons why, for so many of us, cooking becomes a chore instead of a craft.
The thing is, the kitchen has the potential to be a magical space for families. It can be a place of learning, a place of communication, a place of expanding imaginations. Involving our kids in the kitchen can lead to wonderful things, including more awareness around nutrition, cooking techniques, and—my personal favorite—world cultures. Cooking can lead to discovery: Do you know what shakshuka is? Me neither…let’s find out! Did you know you could make homemade eggrolls that taste even better than a restaurant’s? Let’s do it! We have the opportunity to turn a Tuesday night into a fiesta, with just a little bit of planning. If we build out our lineup of favorite family recipes to include more global flavors, even a weekly routine can get a flavor-filled shakeup.
One of the important tools for making this happen are the right recipe sources. Obviously, the internet overflows with options, but sometimes a good cookbook on the shelf with favorite recipes tagged saves precious weeknight minutes. Over the years, I’ve come to rely on several international cookbooks to shakeup my weekly flavor profiles. Here are my finds (so far!):
1. The Food of China
If you live in Nashville, as I do, and you know of a good Chinese restaurant, please tell me where to find it. I adore Chinese cuisine, and have ever since I was a baby and my mother blended up Chinese takeout to feed to me with a spoon. When I moved to Nashville, however, I felt bereft of the Chicago Chinatown I left behind. But if necessity is the mother of invention, then craving is the mother of cooking experiments! So, I set out to make my own Chinese Food. It’s been a learning curve, but homemade Chinese food is marvelously healthy, versatile, and enticing, even leftover! I’ve used several books so far in my Chinese food education, but The Food of China is definitely my favorite. The recipes are simple and straightforward, and easy to make substitutions. I love how almost every recipe has a photo, which is always helpful when you don’t know how something should look, let alone taste. Best of all, you get to impress your friends, and even yourself, by making dishes like homemade eggrolls or spare ribs or even—for special occasions—Peking Duck!
2. The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook
Here in Nashville there is a giant used bookstore called McKay’s. It’s a magical place overflowing with literary gems of all varieties, but to tell the truth I’m not sure I ever made it beyond the cookbook section. This Irish Pub book was a total shot in the dark, and turned out so well I went back to look for a second copy to give as a gift. We may think of pub grub as necessarily greasy, but the funny thing about Irish pub meals is that they tend to be fresh, well-balanced, and comforting without being too heavy. In other words, it is a marvelous cuisine for growing families. This book is packed with flavorful entrees, healthy vegetable sides, multiple kinds of Irish bread, and some marvelous desserts.
3. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
I have a beloved aunt who started getting really interested in cooking several years back. She and I regularly talk food whenever we catch up. I remember once we started talking about favorite cookbooks, and when it came to Italian options she said, “Well, of course you have Marcella Hazan’s book.” When I said, “Who?” she said, “What? Oh, come on! She’s like the Italian Julia Child!” A few years later I found this book at a used book store and I understood what she meant. Like Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Essentials of Classic Italian Cookingbursts at the seams with recipe variations, classic techniques, and handy illustrations for more difficult processes. Of the recipes I’ve tried from the book (and there are gazillions), I marvel at how simple they seem on the page, but how much flavor comes from them. Marcella Hazan emphasizes how Italian food shines in simplicity, so it doesn’t need a lot of effort, but rather good ingredients and the patience to use them to their best advantage.
My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz
Ok, Ok…David Lebovitz is American, not French. But neither was Julia Child or Doris Greenspan, the other favorite authors of “French” cookbooks. But this doesn’t matter quite so much when you try the roasted herb tomatoes and goat cheese crostinis from My Paris Kitchen. Levovitz draws on his years in Paris and highlights both the longstanding French food traditions but also ways in which it’s evolving. So, he has French Onion Soup, but also has a homemade cheese naan. If cooking with your family, the book is also great for experimenting with new techniques, including making herbed semolina pasta from scratch, “homemade” cheese made from strained goat yogurt, and “Lady Chicken” made by butterflying a whole chicken and searing it with a large weight sitting on it.
If you know of more excellent international cookbooks, please send me your recommendations! Always wanting to experiment more!
Emily Capo Sauerman is the founder of Taste Quest, a nonprofit food magazine and app for kids ages 8-12. Learn more and support Taste Quest’s launch at tastequest.org and @tastequesthq. Contact Emily at emily@tastequest.org.
