Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore about America's Favorite Indulgence
by Joanna Pruess
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joanna PruessPhotographer: Liesa Cole
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-01
ISBN: 1592288510
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Lyons Press
Book Reviews of Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore about America's Favorite Indulgence
Book Review: Very Nice Book on Delectable Subject. Could have been better.
Summary: 4 Stars
`Seduced by Bacon' by culinary writer Joanna Pruess, with assistance from her restaurant critic husband, Bob Lape, deals with what is easily the tastiest of Gentile culinary pleasures. It is certainly a time-honored tradition to dedicate an entire book to one very specialized subject such as lobster, mushrooms, or muffins. The only problem with this subject in a book of its own is the very popularity of the subject. This popularity means that virtually every other large cookbook will already have spent lots of space dedicated to the subject. All the most famous bacon recipes, such as the BLT, pork and beans, and bacon wrapped scallops will already have been done to death. And, anyone with a reasonably good cookbook collection will already have most of these recipes.
The well-worn subject is helped a bit by covering `bacon' in the broadest sense, including pancetta, Canadian bacon, English and Irish bacon (actually almost the same as Canadian bacon), gypsy bacon, ventricle (French for pancetta), guanciale (Italian for pig's jowls) and even prosciutto (which, to be sure, is not really bacon at all. The book also spends the expected time in talking about all the different ways bacon (standard American restaurant, standard, or thick-sliced) bacon is prepared. Like so many `cursory' treatments of obligatory material, I really miss a lot of fine details and illustrations. The biggest oversight is the fact that the good authors never get around to telling us how we can actually make our own bacon! This, I think, is not out of place, as virtually all good books on fresh sausage actually tell us how to make several different kinds of fresh sausage. And, my hero, Alton Brown even dedicated an entire `Good Eats' show to the details of actually making bacon. While I have no plans to make bacon myself, knowing exactly how it's done goes a long way in helping to find the very best specimens.
But, for a relatively modestly list priced book, this still has much to offer in original recipes, as Ms. Pruess makes a point in saying that the has not collected all the `classic' recipes she can, but has concocted many of her own, although almost all are variations on standards, and, to be sure, there are certain standards, like the above mentioned BLT and pork and beans which cannot be denied. The recipe chapters cover:
Breakfast & Baked Goods
Appetizers & Snacks
Salads & Soups
Sandwiches
Seafood
Poultry & Meat
Pasta, Beans & Grains
Vegetable Side Dishes
Desserts
The last chapter of four recipes may be the most surprising. Bacon's high fat content goes well with rich desserts, but its salty side would seem to ruin the sweet stuff. Of the four, the combination with apple and nutmeg-seasoned cantaloupe seems to work, but the ice cream and combination with chocolate I leave to the Iron Chef competitors and their judges to taste.
The book has many `bacon bits', sidebars of miscellaneous info, all of it interesting, but not very deep. If you love bacon and can get this cheap, it's a great buy.
Summary of Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore about America's Favorite Indulgence
A celebration of bacon, filled with gorgeous photographs and seductive new recipes both savory and sweet.
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