Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart [Hardcover]

I agree this is a stunning book with wit, reverence and lyrical descriptions, which make it a delight to read. I do have a real problem, however, with the technical material. On the whole, the recipes are superb and typical of the characteristic fragrance and lightness that makes Vietnamese my favourite cuisine. Unfortunately, there are several mistakes, with ingredients missing from the method or vice versa, steps missing and a bewildering list of very unusual ingredients. I know what perilla leaf is, but I doubt many other UK, US or Aussies do without serious research. I have no idea what nem powder is, neither does anyone in my local oriental delis and "half a packet" is hardly a helpful measurement.

It is a great shame, and the blame ultimately lands on the doorstep of the editor, who should have included a glossary and fewer errors to make this into a more user friendly book. It would get five stars in that event.

I would certainly recommend the book if you love Vietnamese food as I do; the recipes are unusual and seem to be more from the heart and home than other more professionally put together books. Because of the occasional frustrations, I would only recommend to a serious cook.

"Secrets of the Red Lantern" is an absolutely stunning book, the recipes are scrumptious and so is the food photography. The story behind the recipes and the story of the author's family history are amazing and gut wrenching. What a wonderful mix of family history and Vietnamese recipes, truly one of the most beautiful and unique "recipe" books out there. From the material cover of the book, to the personal photography and candid memoirs this is definitely one to add to your collection.

Firstly, this is a stunning looking book. Beatifully made, beatifully presented, with beatiful pictures. A work of art, and one of the many cookbooks available now that are simply a joy to look and read through, without even trying the dishes.

The text in the book exists in two forms; partly as a collection of recipes and partly as an autobiographical piece detailling the authors' family history - in the main their fleeing Vietnam during the war and subsequently settling in Autralia and opening up a successful food business. A lot of it details with the hardship they endured en route to their success and a difficult family life and one absolutely feels for them given some of the horrors they encountered. It does all, admittedly though, read something like one of the many David Pelzer-esque "traumatic life-story" novels that have become enormously successful over the past 10 years or so and are ten-a-penny in any major chain of bookstores. Which is fine, if that's your type of thing. It's not especially my type of thing however, and I'd add that it's simply not written well enough to warrant a particular draw for anyone who'd choose to buy the book for the autobiographical aspect. There are simply better books elsewhere that are written in this genre.

And so onto the recipe and food section. I'd long wanted an authentic collection of Vietnamese recipes, and this is unquestionably what you get here. A marvellously extensive range of varied and delicious sounding meals all well written and photographed. Vietnamese cookery is often, so it seems, quite involved and involves preparation of numerous stocks, sauces and condiments to go into many dishes, and the book is well laid out in this respect, with the requisite recipes for these component parts being displayed on the opposite or following page of the book, making it easy to understand the various stages of cooking. The recipes are, in the main, easy to follow although they do perhaps require some prior knowledge and expertise of cooking in order to follow them completely successfully, although this is not a particular criticism.

The recipes are, I'm absolutely sure, entirely authentic, but this is what can sometimes pose problems. The recipes often demand authentic Vietnamese ingredients (hop bap, betel leaves, etc,) and often offer no explanation as to what these are. It can take quite a bit of research to find out what indeed they are, even for someone who considers themselves to be quite savvy, food-wise. I'm lucky to live near a large Oriental Supermarket, but have still found it impossible to obtain some of the ingredients so I'd imagine that for someone not living near one this would be a huge problem. Also, bear in mind that the authors have settled in Australia and so the recipes often include ingredients native to Australia, (e.g. perilla, saw-toothed coriander, blue swimmer crabs, Balmain bugs, Barramundi etc.) which also take a bit of research and creative thinking to come up with alternatives. What this book desperately needs is a glossary, to explain what some of these weird and wonderful things are, and also perhaps to suggest alternative ingredients in the event of not being able to find them. A list of stockists for UK readers would also be of huge help!

So, in short then, a beautiful, fascinating and diverse selection of truly authentic recipes, interspersed with a lot of autobiographical filler which could have been improved dramatically with a few thoughts for those who might find it difficult to track those ingredients down.