9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
BORING !!, Oct 5 2008
By jmcc - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Around The World In 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure (Hardcover)
Like the literary equivalent of reading a birder's checklist of sightings.
I was hoping to get a "you are there" experience of exotic places and people. Instead, I got a few anecdotes, that mostly revealed the curmudeonliness of the authors, and a list of meal ingredients.
It is written in 3rd-person, present-tense with inane dialogue quotes that string together the tally of meals. The following is one example (from page 69).
"Our best meals come at small restaurants with more faithful specializations. One is a mom-and-daughter Vietnamese operation in a strip mall around the corner from out hotel. While the middle-aged daughter handles the cooking in the kitchen, the elderly mother serves the patrons, seating us at one of the two simple tables on the sidewalk, actually more atmospheric than the brightly lit, larger tables inside. For starters, she brings us a platter of delightful fried crab spring rolls, which we wrap in lettuce leaves with pickled ginger and then dip in fish sauce. Bill moves on to a spicy fish preparation, with cubes of the day's catch stir-fried with vegetables in a piquant sauce that gets his nose running again. Cheryl opts for a vermicelli salad with grilled bits of pork and pork balls, served with lettuce leaves, carrot strips, ginger, and peanuts to bundle together for eating.
L'Astrolabe, on the Baie des Citrons, reminds us of numerous seaside bistros on the French Mediterranean, in its menu as well as the alfresco setting. For our lunch, Cheryl chooses the plat du jour, a seafood carpaccio combination. Paper-thin slices of giant clams, salmon, and tuna arrive with seasoning portions of astringent greeen olive oil, coarse sea salt, black pepper, and lime, all arrayed around a mound of garlicky slivered crudite salad. As terrific as this is, she really swoon over the accompanying vegetable side dish. 'It's the sweetest pumpkin I've ever tasted, baked and then pureed with cream and some curry powder.' Bill picks the house meat specialty, a steak tartare with frites called Le Gastrolabe. Chefs prepare it in the kitchen rather that at the table, blending local beef luciously and richly with capers, tomatoes, onions, and gherkins, and flavoring the mixture with subdued but sound hints of parsley, chives, basil, egg yolk, brandy, olive oil, garlic, and Tabasco. The food punches out our congestion for hours."
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
uugh awful writing, April 9 2009
By jrnlmkr "jrnlmkr" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Around The World In 80 Dinners (Paperback)
i love travel essays because they tend to give insight not often found in the average guidebook and was particularly interested in reading a book about traveling around the world in search of delicious food. this book was a disappointment. the writing is flat and boring--i actually found it a chore to read. and for a reason i couldn't ever figure out, the authors switch from first person to third person, using we to describe themselves at the beginning of a paragraph, switching to bill said or cheryl did at the end of the very same paragraph. i found it confusing.
in the hands of a really good writer, words can often make me smell and taste, but the author's descriptions of food were bland and dull. throughout the book they describe dish after dish and not once did i find myself getting hungry when reading. worse, i have visited many of the places they describe and found myself thinking, "it was so so much better than that."
for some reason, amazon sent and billed me for two copies of this book--i wish i'd sent them both back.
15 of 20 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?, April 1 2008
By Gail Cooke - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Around The World In 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure (Hardcover)
Armed with heartiness, enthusiasm, and a ton of frequent flier miles cookbook authors Cheryl and Bill Jamison did what most of us would only dream of doing - they embarked on a 90 day long visit to ten countries. Their destinations and cuisines were diverse, from Bali to Brazil.
Of special interest is a detailed description of their trip preparation with many helpful tips whether it is clothing to take or the how-to of making room reservations in a foreign country.
Cheryl's clothes were mix and match (many from Chico's), no wrinkle and easily scrunchible. Bill, on the other hand, took slacks with expandable waists and zippered pockets plus his "blazer cum safe." Rather than tote guidebooks or language manuals for each stop they reviewed the materials, photocopied what they deemed important, and made succinct destination notes which were discarded after a visit.
Their preference is not for the most prestigious hotels but rather for "the best and priciest quarters at smaller local inns and hotels." They also found that dealing directly with hotel managers rather than a reservation service resulted in better accommodations and service.
First stop Bali where they found that ceremonies were of the utmost importance in people's lives and relished a dessert of "fresh tropical fruit cubes suspended in a yogurt and coconut milk mixture."
Australia held a host of wineries and chefs with a tendency to be adventurous in food preparation. Their hotel of choice in New Caldonia was closed because of a strike so they were transferred to the Nouvata Park which proved overly busy but their room had a magnificent view of the ocean.
So it went with ups and downs, chest colds and delighted taste buds to India, China, South Africa and Brazil.
Each chapter closes with recommended accommodations and restaurants.
Penned with humor and attention to detail Around the World in 80 Dinners is frosting on the cake for armchair travelers.
- Gail Cooke