DAVID LEITE, a Portuguese citizen, is a James Beard award-winning writer and the founder of the popular website www.leitesculinaria.com, a hub for recipes and food journalism. The New Portuguese Table won the IACP 2010 Julia Child Award for First Book.
A modern classic cookbook.
--BlackBook.com
Beautifully illustrated, The New Portuguese Table is a
smart, delicious and highly personal travelogue through both memory
and terrain.
--Maricel E. Presilla, MiamiHerald.com In Leite's The New
Portuguese Table, the author performs a multitude of feats:
first, he provides [a] culinary travel guide to the country of his
ancestors...introduces, with great specificity, a multitude of
regional delicacies...and finally presents recipes ranging from the
most remarkably parsimonious...to the more extravagant and modern.
Leite's book is a stunning passport to a food and a people
virtually unknown to most Americans, even though they are only five
hours away from our mainland.
--Elissa Altman, The Huffington Post This is the perfect cookbook
for lovers of salt cod, and it just might be the perfect cookbook
for those who dislike the mild, Atlantic fish. Leite, a three-time
James Beard award winner and proprietor of the Web site
LeitesCulinaria.com, offers a wealth of recipes for the brackish
dried fish, including a traditional version of pasteis de bacalhau
(salt cod fritters) and a newfangled mini salt cod sandwich that is
the Portuguese equivalent of McDonald's Filet-O-Fish. By
highlighting the eclectic ingredients and modern techniques that
define the country today, Leite brings the often-overlooked foods
of Portugal center stage. This fully illustrated book begins with
an extensive glossary of Portuguese staples, plus a port primer and
an introduction to Madeira, and ends with a chapter devoted to
workhorse sundries such as fiery piri-piri paste and smoked paprika
oil. Along the way home cooks are introduced to a delectable jumble
of dishes that range from classic to contemporary. A comforting
adaptation of the fabled stone soup is enlivened with spicy
chourico sausage; simple-yet-elegant duck breasts are sauced with
white port and black olives; and a dip made with anchovies, green
olives, cilantro, and whole milk is surprisingly harmonious. The
desserts are comparatively docile-molasses cookies, baked custard
tarts-but the recipe variation for fatias douradas (Portuguese
sweet bread French toast) is truly over-the-top. (Aug.)
--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) If your finances don't
permit a trip abroad this year, perhaps this cookbook will provide
some comfort-though it might just reinforce your urge to hit the
sunny beaches of the Algarve. Leite, a noted Portuguese American
food writer and publisher of the James Beard Award-winning web site
Leite's Culinaria (www.leitesculinaria.com), begins by outlining
Portugal's diverse regional cuisines and then describes traditional
ingredients. From there it is a straightforward listing of
appetizers, soups, fish, meat, poultry, vegetable/egg/rice dishes,
breads, sweets, liqueurs, and condiments, with approximately 150
recipes overall. Each recipe begins with a paragraph relating its
background, which adds to the book's homey feel. The recipes, many
inspired by Leite's memories of his grandmother's cooking, are
designed for the home cook and generally don't require exotic
ingredients, although a supplier for salt cod may be necessary. A
list of sources is provided for the few hard-to-find items, and
color photos add to the presentation. Full of delicious-sounding
recipes, this title is sure to appeal to adventurous cooks wanting
to try a new ethnic cuisine and will also be popular with
Portuguese American communities.
--Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH (Library
Review) David Leite's The New Portuguese Table is in
fact three superb books in one volume: a thrilling travelogue, a
thorough guide to Portuguese regional dishes and ingredients, and a
transporting kitchen companion. The recipes in it will not only
spirit you to an exotic, alluring place, they'll change the way you
cook. We'll wager that after making Potato Skin Curls with Herbs,
you will never look at potato peelings the same way again!
--Matt Lee and Ted Lee, authors of The Lee Bros. Simple, Fresh,
Southern
David Leite takes you right to the heart of the good stuff,
scrupulously (and appetizingly) exploring and explaining an
egregiously overlooked and unappreciated range of flavors and
ingredients. Portugal once ruled the known world, and the recipes
in this book are-in many ways-the history of the world-on your
plate.
--Anthony Bourdain This book begs the question why, in heaven's
name, have we ignored Portugal for so long? David Leite's
Portuguese dishes practically stand up and salute with flavor. And
he is smart about the Portugal he portrays. The temptation is to
look only to the past and the traditional, but David knows cuisines
are restless, ever shifting beings. He gifts us with the land of
his family as it was and as it is now. We'll be cooking from this
book for a long time.
--Lynne Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift, authors of The Splendid
Table's How to Eat Supper I am very impressed with The New
Portuguese Table. It is a welcoming, wonderful, satisfying, and
passionate cookbook, an enticing view of Portugal through the lens
of its food. David Leite is a terrific writer and he has a lot to
teach us about one of Europe's most extraordinary and diverse
cuisines. Bravo!
--Paula Wolfert
Long overlooked in our culinary literature, Portugal's rich,
historic cuisine finally has a passionate and knowledgeable
ambassador in David Leite. Keenly aware of what modern American
cooks want these days, Leite has compiled an incomparable
collection in which every recipe is as rewarding to eat as it is
simple to make. Bravo David!
--Anya von Bremzen, author of The New Spanish Table
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