Aquavit: And the New Scandinavian Cuisine by Marcus Samuelsson
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Book Reviews of Aquavit: And the New Scandinavian Cuisine
Book Review: Tala Svensk
Summary: 5 Stars
When Aquavit in Minneapolis closed, it was a sad sad day. However, this book allows one to remember what a great restaurant it was and still is.This cookbook is honestly the best I have purchased ever. Being a 28 year old female that doesn't cook often, and has a taste for more daring food, this cookbook is the perfect blend, just like every recipe in it. The recipes take a fair amount of time to make, but the items do not cost that much. I have been pleased with every recipe made from this book. A must have.
Book Review: A wonderful book for the coffee table or the kitchen!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Aquavit" is a wonderful book by "not a great black chef, but a great chef who happens to be black" (as Marcus Samuelson describes himself on page 279 of the new revised edition of "Becoming A Chef" by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page). Don't miss it!Book Review: Aquavit:And the New Scandinavian Cuisine
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a delight to read, and the photographs are marvelous. The recipes are excellent and have provided inspiration for exploring my cultural heritage in a delicious and healthy way. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on fish and seafood.Book Review: Lovely book
Summary: 5 Stars
Not the same as eating at the restaurant, but pretty close. A wonderful variety. Easy to follow instructions. Delightful "liner" notes accompany many of the recipes.Book Review: Not as intimidating as I initially thought...
Summary: 4 Stars
Ever since my husband found out he was part Danish, he's really embraced his Scandinavian background (case in point, we went to Denmark for our honeymoon). We're big fans of Chef Samuelsson and have dined at his meat/seafood restaurant in Chicago and made our first visit to Aquavit earlier this year.
I've been hesitant to buy this book only b/c I expected the recipes to be way too complicated for home cooks. We love to cook, but I tend to stay away from overly fussy recipes. I finally bought it a couple months ago b/c Samuelsson was going to be at a food and wine event in Chicago and we wanted to have an autographed book, and I thought this would be the most appropriate one to have him sign.
Well I'm happy to say that after trying a few recipes, this isn't just a pretty coffee table book, but an actual cookbook I can see us using fairly often with recipes that are actually quite easy to execute.
So far we've tried the Swedish Roast Chicken w/ Spiced Apple Rice (loved the spice combination and even used it as inspiration for our Thanksgiving turkey), the Lamb Sausage Wraps w/ Spicy Sauerkraut and Garlic Mashed Potatoes, as well as the brine and Glogg Sauce from the Crispy Duck recipe (he just used the breasts, but we roasted a whole duck following methods from a combination of recipes).
There are definitely a lot more recipes left to try, but so far we haven't been disappointed by these. I also like the additional suggestions and commentary that he includes with each recipe.
Overall I'd say this is a great book if you want to explore a more modern style of Scandinavian cooking...and don't be intimidated by all the glossy pictures of fancy food! I'm not sure if I'd consider this a book for beginning cooks, but it does have a mix of easy-moderate-more advanced recipes that aren't as advanced as you might expect and turn out to be quite tasty.