New American Table

Imagine trying to describe American cuisine to a friend over a cocktail. It's a fool's errand since American cuisine is as diverse as a New York borough. Nonetheless, this is what Marcus Samuelsson successfully does in New American Table.Samuelsson has firmly planted himself in the cadre of great American chefs, albeit from a circuitous route via Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, and France. His life travels mean he developed a strong network of chef-friends, resulting in a repertoire of international foods. Despite that, this is definitely a book about American cuisine.With the onslaught of the Food Network, blogs, and internationally inspired cookbooks, there are few foods that haven't found their way into the American cuisine. And just as chicken tikka has become a Brit classic, so too have dishes like pizza and tacos become classics on American tables.Samuelsson is chef and co-owner of Aquavit. The youngest chef ever to receive two three-star ratings from the New York Times, he is the author of The Soul of a New Cuisine and Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine.New American Table is very well executed, with enjoyable backstory, vibrant photos, and accurate and usable recipes. But those features aren't what excite me about this book. The more I read Samuelsson, the more I realized that his progression of traditional dishes from across the globe offers a greatest hits of so many cookbooks on my shelves - but without the obscure ingredients only found in late night Moroccan souks. You can make these dishes and feel the belly dancer's tassles swirling around your table right in your own home.Samuelsson`s uninhibited use of spices also allowed me to look at my over-reliance on salt. He makes no claims to a low-sodium diet, but with his emphasis on the great spices of the world, you can give your mouth a break from salt and enjoy the myriad of flavors available at your local market.At just over 350 pages with over 300 recipes, New American Table includes recipes such as Hot shrimp noodles with poached eggs, Caramelized scallop salad, Caraway pretzels, Fried yellowtail poke, and My cod udon. As I tested recipes I focused in on the "My" recipes which also include My chile condiment, My veggie soup, and My mother's spaghetti with peas. I assumed that if they were good enough for him, they would be good enough for me, and I wasn't disappointed.Samuelsson's book is perfect for the aspiring foodie with its vast array of cuisines. Although you'll find nothing ground-breaking or especially innovative, adventurous cooks will enjoy the challenge of cooking across the globe and, ultimately, a modern definition of American Cuisine will appear right on their own dinner table.

I am in agreement with Jim Rad (see below), but I view this book a bit more harshly than he does. It was in desperate need of both a proofreader and an editor. As in, there's a rather significant difference between bay scallops and sea scallops, and whoever wrote this doesn't seem to know the difference. As in, the exact same recipe (for Persimmon Salad) -- fully spelled out, list of ingredients, technique, etc. -- appears twice, once on its own and once as an accompaniment to another dish.Then there's the fact that while the dishes may be tasty, they bear ZERO resemblance to the dishes on which they are theoretically based, and for which they are named. "Chicken Sate," for instance is not Southeast Asian chicken with a spicy sauce (often flavored with peanuts): In Chef Samuelsson's hands it's grilled chicken breasts with a balsamic vinaigrette and a dip made from feta cheese. "Smothered Turkey Legs" are not a Southern-style dish of long-cooked poultry with onions and thickened gravy: it's an Asian-style braise in a broth flavored with soy sauce, Szechuan peppercorns, ketjap manis, rice vinegar, and calamansi juice. The "American" in the title is a complete misnomer.Finally, there are the recipes themselves. I have to confess, I haven't cooked any of them, in large part because they strike me as kind of bizzarre. Chopped sardines show up in a really wide variety of the recipes, without any explanation -- I mean, in a LOT of recipes -- and hot peppers (or hot pepper flakes or hot pepper sauce or chili paste or a combination thereof) show up in ...almost everything. If nothing else, the obvious reliance on chilies puts the range of recipes seriously out of balance. And the sardines are just kind of yucky for me to contemplate.All in all, I think it's a pretty dreadful book. I will cook a couple things from it, just because I hate not to give it a chance. But I have a very strong suspicion it's heading for the Discard pile.

Marcus Samuelsson's New American Table is, like Marcus's cooking, a work of art. And like Marcus himself, his recipes are completely accessible and authentic.New American Table is more than a cook book. It is an inspiration about how to follow your passion. In Marcus's case giving and cooking...in that order. His passion for cooking and his appreciation for America, its people is - well, almost tasted in every word. Seldom does a great chef share the humble details of his path, and what led him to become a world class, James Beard Award winner. In this book, Marcus's story is written eloquently and from the heart.Although, truly a cookbook, New American Table is also autobiographical - a story of passion for loving what you do.. Eloquent and sometimes pithy stories are woven into the hundreds of recipes which add a special connection to the cooking experience. Stunning graphics, photography and shared experiences coast to coast make New American Table more than a cook book, it is an apprecaiton of the people and history of this great nation, fused together by culinary delights and the diverse ethnic cuisines found in America.I am a foodie. I also collect good cook books and have had the privilege of meeting some of the greatest chef's at the annual Aspen Food and Wine Classic. Marcus Samuelsson's book is on the top of the stack of my favorite cook books for 2 reasons - Marcus is more than a chef, he is an amazing human being, and 2) I can actually cook with his recipes!