A Baker's Odyssey: Celebrating Time-honored Recipes from America's Rich Immigrant Heritage - Tapa dura

After his successful, award-winning Baking in America, Patent, an immigrant himself, now features recipes from others who journeyed to the United States. Included are bakers from Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and even Australia, Slovenia, Wales, and West Africa; Patent traveled the country to work with over 60 home bakers. The majority of the baked goods are sweet, but there are savory pastries, yeast breads, and pies. An introduction to each recipe includes information about its origin and the current baker. The instructions are clear, with alternate versions for mixing by a stand mixer or a food processor, or by hand. The accompanying DVD (not seen) gives instructions for making strudel, pretzels, cannoli, Swedish saffron rolls, and more. Much of the baking is not for the calorie-conscious and contains lots of butter, sugar, eggs, and heavy cream. This is a marvelous resource for bakers interested in the cultural heritage of our immigrant nation. Recommended for all cookbook collections. (Library Journal, February 1, 2008) Patent, a baker, teacher and James Beard Award winner (for 2002's Baking in America), examines the baking traditions of Iraq, Norway, Germany, India and other countries in order to illuminate the ways in which different cultures bake alike. Recipes are organized by cooking style instead of nationality, allowing home cooks to see the connections between regional specialties; for instance, New Orleanian Calas, fried puffs traditionally sold on winter sidewalks, are grouped with sweet Nigerian Chin-Chin and Italian Zeppole, the sugar-dusted fritters traditionally dished out at St Joseph's Day celebrations. Other baked goods share more complicated techniques: Hungary's Rigo Jancsi is a triple chocolate cake filled with thick chocolate cream and iced with semisweet chocolate glaze, while its cousin, French Gateau Basque, comprises an egg-rich pastry stuffed with thick vanilla cream. Those who like their baked goods on the savory side will delight in treats like Kleecha, delicious Syrian rolls flavored with clove, caraway and anise. More simple, but no less satisfying, are Norwegian Whole Wheat Oatmeal Loves, which smell like toasted joy coming out of the oven. This cookbook also comes with a DVD featuring useful show-and-tell examples of pretzel-making and cannoli-stuffing. (Jan.) (Publishers Weekly (Online Edition), January 2008)

"In this book, I'm embarking on a different path, focusing on finding recipes that preserve the tastes and memories of a long-departed place." -Greg Patent A Baker's Odyssey is a rich collection of recipes and culinary history, all gleaned from Patent's exhaustive research in the American home kitchens of immigrants from around the world. Through his travels across the country, Patent learned the secrets to traditional baked goods originating from thirty-two different nations. From Scotland and Austria to India and Thailand to Mexico, Norway, and West Africa, the recipes represent the best of each culture's beloved culinary traditions. Chapters are organized by categories of baked goods, and include Fried Pastries and Doughs, Flatbreads and More, Savory Pastries, Sweet Pastries, Savory Yeast Breads and Pies, Sweet Yeast Breads, Cookies and Cookie-Like Pastries, and Dessert Cakes, Tortes, and Pies. Patent provides detailed information on the origin of each recipe and its ingredients, and gives a real sense of the cultural heritage behind each dish. Recipes are easy enough for home cooks of any level to master, and include everything from Jewish Matzoh, Eastern European Rugelach, and Sweet Irish Soda Bread to Russian Meat Piroshki, Italian Pignoli Cookies, and Chinese-Style Almond Sponge Cake. The book is accompanied by an hour-long DVD in which Patent provides hands-on instruction in making Strudel, Pretzels, Cannoli, Kransakake, and much more.