Taking Tea at the Savoy or Taste of Ancient Rome

Taking Tea at the Savoy

Author: Anton Edelman

Thè, té, cha, chai—tea is a universal beverage. It links the solemnity of the Japanese tea ceremony and the sustaining high tea of British school children; it can be green or black, fragrant or smoky. Tea is drunk around the world and around the clock, but the traditional afternoon tea is an inestimable pleasure. To take tea at The Savoy is to combine that tradition with all the elegance and sophistication that befits one of London's great hotels. Anton Edelmann, The Savoy's Maître Chef des Cuisines, offers exquisite recipes with tales that conjure up leisure time in a bygone era, set against the romantic story of tea and its journey to the West. Here is afternoon tea at its most stylish—aromatic brews, delicate porcelain, impeccably presented dainties. Indulge in feather-light palmiers or cinnamon madeleines. Savor delicate cucumber sandwiches or fragrant honey and ham biscuits for an al fresco summer tea, or luscious cakes to chase away winter doldrums. Taking Tea at the Savoy is a book to inspire endless afternoons of delight.

Go to: Working or Democracys Victory and Crisis

Taste of Ancient Rome

Author: Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa

From appetizers to desserts, the rustic to the refined, here are more than two hundred recipes from ancient Rome tested and updated for today's tastes. With its intriguing sweet-sour flavor combinations, its lavish use of fresh herbs and fragrant spices, and its base in whole grains and fruits and vegetables, the cuisine of Rome will be a revelation to serious cooks ready to create new dishes in the spirit of an ancient culture.

Publishers Weekly

Neither an update for modern palates nor an anthropological study, this engrossing collection reproduces a two-thousand-year-old cuisine to ``tempt the reader to explore some appetizing dishes from forgotten historical sources.''4 Relying primarily on the writings of Apicius, Cato, Coumella, Juvenal, Martial and Petroniussics , Giacosa recalls the foods and practices of the Roman meal, or cena , the banquet and the tavern. Though established centuries before the introduction of the tomato, eggplant or pasta, ancient Roman cuisine depended on some elements familiar to modern Italian cooking: eggs, vegetables, fish and poultry. Less familiar elements included dormice (served stuffed), thrushes (served roasted) and the widely used sun-fermented fish-based sauce called garum . The 200 recipes here for such representative selections as seasoned mussels and duck in prune sauce are offered in their original Latin and in English; Giocosa also provides additional instructions, as for stuffing pigeons, or substitutions for ingredients like silphium, which is no longer available. The dozens of line drawings of ancient foodstuffs and color plates of Pompeian taverns and food shops complete this culinary portrait. Useful for food historians, a treat for food buffs, the book takes a welcome new look at the origins of a familiar cuisine. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Nov.)

Library Journal

Here are two specialized books dealing with bygone cuisines, each with its own particular sort of fascination. Molokhovets's book was first published in 1861 but revised by the author up through 1917, thus spanning an important era in Russian history. Her compendium was a sort of Fannie Farmer or Mrs. Beeton's that became essential for young Russian housewives. (Indeed, it was credited with saving families that otherwise would have been destroyed by ``drunkenness and loose living.'') Toomre, a well-known culinary historian, has done an impressive job of presenting Molokhovets's work, providing a lengthy introduction to set the stage and annotations to put the recipes in context. A glimpse into another world that should interest cultural and culinary historians alike. Giacosa's unusual book goes back a bit earlier. Combining her scholarly training in archaeology and her interest in food, she presents a lively portrait of ancient Rome and its culinary practices. She has culled recipes from Apicius and other contemporary sources and made them accessible to adventurous modern cooks. As she presents it, the Roman kitchen seems surprisingly sophisticated, with a reliance on lots of fresh herbs, a taste for sweet and sour combinations, and dishes made with foie gras, truffles, and other ``refined'' ingredients. In fact, Giacosa also includes related modern recipes from the same region for comparison. Well written and engaging despite its narrow scope, Giacosa's book is recommended for special collections.

Booknews

Some 200 recipes gleaned from such classical Roman writers as Apicius, Cato, Martial, and Petronius, adapted for modern measures, ingredients, and facilities. The Latin is included to impress guests with. Nicely illustrated. Includes a glossary without pronunciation. Translated from the 1986 A Cena da Lucullo. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)