September 7, 2015
In 25 portraits of women who own and cook in New York’s restaurants, food journalist and blogger Arumugam (Chop, Sizzle, and Stir) sheds light on how these chefs arrived at the forefront of New York’s restaurant scene. Biographical essays and inquisitive, lighthearted interviews reveal how personal culinary memories, training, creativity, and persistence without compromise keep the chefs at the top of their game. Recipes are organized by culinary region (American, Mexican/Spanish/Latin, Asian, and Mediterranean/Middle Eastern) with a concluding section on pastries. Each chef’s restaurant provides recipes for four signature plates. Amanda Cohen’s vegetable-focused Dirt Candy is a recipe for grilled Swiss chard gnocchi in goat cheese sauce. The Spotted Pig’s April Bloomfield (James Beard Best Chef of N.Y.C.) shares her recipe for an Italian-inspired roasted pork shoulder with chianti. Shef Sohui Kim of the Good Fork provides a Korean-style bouillabaisse recipe, and Jody Williams (Buvette Gastrotheque and Via Carota) contributes a fried rabbit dish infused with rosemary butter and served with crunchy artichokes. Jennifer Yee of Noho’s Lafayette offers a pistachio macaron tartlet with white chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries. Arumugam believes it’s time to challenge the media’s preference for male chefs and correct the “imbalance of shelf space” dedicated to noteworthy leading female restaurateurs. These stories and recipes will inspire women to pursue culinary careers.
August 1, 2015
In this contemporary collection of New York City recipes, Arumugam (Chop, Sizzle & Stir) profiles 25 influential female chefs, including April Bloomfield (A Girl and Her Greens), Rawia Bishara (Olives, Lemons, & Za'atar), and Gabrielle Hamilton (Prune). Contributed recipes, four from each chef, range from simple buttermilk pancakes to an exacting jasmine tea and apricot mousse cake that requires specialty ingredients and equipment. Readers who like to keep up with the latest restaurant trends will devour the book's singular offerings, such as a thoughtful heirloom tomato and watermelon salad (dressed with pickling liquid, pistachio oil, and gingery pickled onions) and flavorful braised short ribs with wine, prunes, and harissa. VERDICT Chef collections focused solely on women are rare, and this one intrigues. Recommended for intermediate to advanced cooks who enjoy chef interviews.
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from October 1, 2015
One chef's guilty pleasure is powdered cheese, another chef's secret is using herb purees as sauces, and another chef calls August her favorite month in which to cook. Although the 100 unusual recipes presented here are certainly one attraction of Arumugam's latest book (her first was Chop, Sizzle & Stir, 2009), interviews with two-dozen-plus-one women chefs are, in a word, mesmerizing. Far from being up-and-comers, these cuisiners have more than paid their dues and have been appropriately honored, whether running a many-starred restaurant, winning a James Beard award, or appearing on the Top Chef television program. April Bloomfield, of the Spotted Pig, claims, There are no rules to salad, while Leah Cohen, who specializes in Asian fusion at an eating establishment called Pig & Khao, offers her version of quail adobo. Photographs of dishes and restaurant interiors liberally augment the text. The dishes are inventive and appealing; try Empire Diner patty melt or smoked duck and soba or lime chili doughnut holes. Perhaps novice cooks and bakers should possess intermediate skills.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)