[.ca] Real Stew: 300 Recipes for Authentic Home-Cooked ... (ISBN 1558321993)

From Amazon.com:
The global scope of stews and other long-simmered, richly warming dishes is vast. Clifford Wright's Real Stew offers 300 recipes for this delicious fare--everything from basic Irish stew through stroganoff, bouillabaisse, gumbo, feijoada, and much more. What makes Wright's dishes--and cookbook--different from similar efforts (besides its "all-under-one-roof" commitment) is his insistence on authenticity. Readers will find, for example, a recipe for the famous French Daube Provençale that calls for salt pork in addition to slab bacon, plus beef or veal foot, among other ingredients. Wright's devotion to the real thing will excite most readers, and while it may discourage others, all will find the recipes clear and easy to follow. The results of Wright's devotion to formulas in every way justify the kitchen (and shopping) duty required. The recipe selection is definitive. The section on lamb stews, for example, contains over 50 mouthwatering recipes, from the paprika-hot Classic Lamb Stew of Andalusia; piquant Abruzzi Lamb Stew with Egg and Lemon Custard; and Sweetly Saffroned Lamb, Onion, and Golden Raisin Stew of the Jews of Morocco; to Indian Rogan Josh and Martinique-Style Mutton Curry, among others. Other sections, like those on seafood stews and vegetable stews, are equally comprehensive--and enticing. Wright also provides inviting background material, and sidebars such as "What's a Cardoon?" and "Cuisine of the Poor," which details the birth of many stew-type dishes. With notes on equipment and a comprehensive list of ingredient sources, the book is full of worthwhile information as well as wonderful cooking. --Arthur Boehm

The best way to get through winter:
I have the good fortune of living next door to Clifford A. Wright. I developed a bad case of pneumonia at the same time that C.A.W. was testing his recipes for Real Stew. His delicious recipes nurtured me through a difficult time and speeded up my recovery tremendously! I highly recommend his latest collection of recipes. I can't imagine a better and more complete resource for stews.

Homey and practical:
Organized by principal ingredient, with a list of dishes prefacing each chapter this is an international collection for everyday and special occasions. Familiar favorites - Beef Stroganoff, Cholent, Irish Lamb Stew, Hungarian Goulash, several Gumbos, Cape Cod Clam Chowder, Maine Lobster Stew , Bouillabaisse - abound, side by side with unfamiliar fare. Kuyrdak is a Kazak beef stew with a basil-dill yogurt sauce; Pot Eten is a mild Dutch-American pork and barley stew; Zarzuela is a complex Catalan seafood dish which includes fish, lobster, shrimp and squid. Others, familiar or not, just sound good: Abruzzi Lamb Stew with Egg and Lemon Custard; Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry; Croatian Sausage and Sauerkraut Stew. Brief prefaces give the dish's provenance and sometimes a hint on finding unusual ingredients. Directions are straightforward and sidebars offer tips on such things as a "game plan" for cassoulet or how to clean mussels and clams. Homey and practical, this offers much to the novice or the veteran.

Get ready to call around town for the ingredients:
I thought this book sounded fabulous. I love stews, and I like authentic food. This book went too far off the deep end for me. I looked up cabbage as I had some on hand. One recipe called for 14 ingredients, including celery root (celeriac) and parsley root (try finding that ANYWHERE--it's similar to, but NOT, a parsnip). Another called for 27 ingredients, including a 1/2 chicken, a parsnip, a turnip, a small amount of a hubbard squash (they don't COME in small amounts), etc. The final straw was the recipe (with cabbage) that called for *39* ingredients, including (I'm not joking): beef honeycomb tripe, beef chuck flanken-style ribs, fresh chorizo or andouille sausage, prosciutto BONES, lamb shoulder, ham fat, ham bone, smoked slab bacon, boneless and skinless chicken thighs, goat meat on the bone, beef or veal marrow bones, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rinds, fresh fava beans, fresh fenugreek leaves, celeriac, beef feet and pig feet. I'm serious. I flipped through the rest of the book, and things like "rendered duck or goose fat" kept cropping up along with other insane ingredients. I live in a huge metropolitan city and would have difficulty finding many of these ingredients. I'm sure there are a few good recipes in this book, but it really seems written for chefs who have unlimited access to off-the-wall ingredients through their vendors. I'm thankful that I checked it out from the library before purchasing it. I won't be purchasing it.

For those who care:
I was dismayed to see that 25 of 27 readers found the panning review by "Houston TX Reader" (December 12, 2002) to be helpful. His review is seriously flawed, and very much misses the point. For one, Wright's "Cliff's No-Name Stew," which "Houston" lambastes, is clearly a tongue-in-cheek finale, a freezer-and-fridge-emptying fun project, and not one of the carefully researched ethnic recipes that Wright offers. While sometimes complex, these recipes and his notes give a clear and richly detailed account of a world of classic, authentic, and distinguished stews. "Houston" seems preoccupied with counting ingredients, and lacks the cook's common sense to omit or substitute -- there is no need to despair of parsley root or duck fat, or to vacate to "chefs with unlimited access." My concern, really, is not with "Houston," but with the 25 readers who may have given this book less than a fair look. Please try again.

Cooking Challenge:
This cookbook will definitely challenge you to think beyond the "traditional stew" of meat and potatoes. The author provides many sidebars to explain terms or to provide rationales behind certain ingredients. While the recipes call for many ingredients, it is certainly not any different from cooking by scratch where the cook simply adds a little of this and a little of that until the desired flavors are achieved. You will need to have access to a good butcher in order to make the most of this book, but any good cook should be able to make do or substitute in the recipes to get something he or she enjoys. A list of sources for many of the ingredients used in this book can be found in the back. Overall, I enjoyed reading through the book and have tried several of the less ambitious recipes. I especially enjoy the ones with African and Indian backgrounds.