Donuts or Classic Cuban Cuisine

Donuts: An American Passion

Author: John T Edg

Acclaimed food writer and cultural historian John T. Edge conjures nostalgia by revealing portions of our history through our most cherished foods. Donuts is the cap on a scrumptious series toting comfort food, belying calorie-counting, and embracing those cornerstone, iconic dishes that have come to define American cuisine and customs over the years.

In Donuts, Edge walks us though the donut's inception as Dutch fare, the Salvation Army's wartime donuts, the invention of the donut machine, the 1950s donut-shop craze, the Krispy Kreme revolution, the appropriation by other ethnicities, and the fanatical chefs that take donuts to a new art form. Nothing encourages our sweet-tooth cravings like the donut. It is honest. It is satisfying. It is a national symbol that has survived the low carb-diet dogma and the death of the local donut shop, and it is making a comeback into the hearts of Americans.

Library Journal

Edge's (Hamburgers & Fries) exploration of iconic American foods, including fried chicken, apple pie, and hamburgers, concludes with this work that looks at the origins and cultural meaning of donuts. Spanning North-South and East-West traditions, it includes recipes, profiles of bakers, and must-visit shops, as well as a meditation on the conflict between artisan and commercial foods. In addition, Edge traces the development of the donut from seasonal ethnic treat to proletarian breakfast fare and the recent mania for Krispy Kremes. Edge has a prodigious appetite and an amazing tolerance for sugar-no donut style, glaze, or flavor is left untasted, from austere cake donuts to Hawaiian malassadas to haute cuisine deconstructions, including donut soup. Despite their ubiquity, donuts don't seem easy to make; Edge's 15 recipes look good, but the primer on frying would be more useful earlier in the book. However, armchair cooks as well as ambitious types will enjoy this fun read.-Devon Thomas, DevIndexing, Chelsea, MI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Interesting book: Systems of Production or Annual Editions

Classic Cuban Cuisine, Vol. 1

Author: Andy Gravett

African, Latin American, North American and European cuisines combine to produce mouth-watering and unique recipes in Classic Cuban Cuisine. Evoking the faded grandeur of Havana, it offers more than 120 authentic and delicious recipes, including Rainbow Peanut Soup, Cuban Papaya Cheese, Havana Pickle Sauce, Quiqui Marina's Caldosa Stew, and Zapote Sorbet. The book covers the history and usage of Cuban ingredients, profiles Havana's main restaurants, and lists alternatives for ingredients difficult to obtain. Gravette tells the story of Cuban rum and offers exciting cocktails from mojitos to 4 kinds of daiquiri.

About the Author:
Andy Gravette is a former foreign correspondent on the Sunday Times of London who spent a total of four years in Cuba. He has written almost 30 books including seven on the island's culture.