Customer Reviews

World Vegetarian Classics: Over 220 Essential International Recipes for the Modern Kitchen

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book full of interesting recipes - I've never before bought a cookbook where I wanted to make over half the recipes. Celia is brilliant, and although I tend to tinker with the recipes (I always do ..), they are mostly very simple, easy to follow, and often take very little time to prepare. The recipes are interesting enough to serve to non-vegetarians - my guests never complain about a lack of meat when I serve these sorts of exotic dishes.
Dorothy King

I am really surprised at some of the less complimentary reviews here. One reviewer described the design as clunky and clumsy. I am genuinely at a loss to understand what this reviewer is refering to. There is absolutely nothing clunky about the design. The recipes are clearly set out, typically just one to a page. The book is clearly organised by parts of the world which I like as it helps to understand the difference between cuisines in different parts of the world. If you wish to choose a meal by a particular ingredient you fancy the index can be used.

A couple of reviewers stated that the ingredients are hard to find. For the majority of the recipes this is not true. For the a small number of recipes there are more unusual ingredients but these should be available in most cities with multi cultural populations. The author also gives alternatives, where possible, if you cannot find the ingredients. And after all, some of us do live in multi-cultural cities and it is nice to have some recipes showing how to use some of the more unusual ingredients we are lucky enough to have access to!

I love this cookbook! I love the recipes, many of which are quick and easy to cook. I love the little details the author gives at the start of many recipes. This is the cookbook that I use most by far! The recipes are delicious and reliable. It's great!

I have mixed views on this book. It is quite americanised and while all the recipes I have tried have been great, I have really struggled to purchase some of the ingredients used. It's probably fine if you live in London and have access to markets/delis from all the different cultures but outside the city your shopping list can be hard work! Like I say, the dishes taste good though...

I borrowed this book from the library and found myself cooking so many recipes from it that I decided to buy it. As a reluctant vegetarian who loves cooking casseroles and game, it has been difficult to find interesting but quick and tasty recipes not involving meat or fish. This book has them in spades. The recipes from all over the world, helpfully divided by geographical provenance and thoroughly tested, are accompanied by interesting information about the ingredients used and how they came to be used in Western cookery. A gem for anyone interested in cooking and keen to find recipes that work.

Having had a great deal of use from the previous two volumes by Celia Brooks Brown, I read this with eager anticipation. I have, however, cooked relatively few recipes from this book, since many of them seem to require ingredients that, whilst probably available in London, are hard to source in a small town. The recipes I have used have been fine, and the book is well laid out and nicely presented. I can't shake off the feeling, however, that this book was over-ambitious, and that the author was trying too hard to produce a 'classic'.

This is a splendid buy. The text is admirably clear, the recipes straightforward and the results invariably wonderful. Our shelves are stacked with vegetarian recipe books, but there they remain as night after night thanks to Celia we enjoy another excellent meal from another part of the world. None of our recipe books has ever been put to such immediate, extensive and successful use. And we can now entertain our meat-loving friends with confidence and compassion!

If like me you enjoy your cookbooks on both an aesthetic AND culinary level, this book is somewhat of a disappointment. I love Celia's other titles: New Vegetarian and Entertaining... and my partner and I are also big fans of her gourmet tours in London and her workshops at Books for Cooks. It's such a shame about this title - it has an incredible and delectable range of recipes, but I really object to the design, which is slightly dated and clumsy. It could have been a really beautiful, clean, crisp design which would do justice to the photography. Hopefully, in paperback, they'll revise with a new cover too.