The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook

I never thought I would consider a cook book to be transforming, but that has been my experience with The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. It has changed my cooking habits more than any cookbook I own (some 40 - 50 at this point, and still growing).Cooking has been a long haul for me. I used to not like it at all, and considered anything that took longer than 10 minutes to prepare from start to finish as being way too involved! But by the time I have reached Wolfert's Mediterranean masterpiece, maybe I was ready to be picked. I absolutely savored Wolfert's long leisurely approach to preparing food. Now I'm somewhat disappointed if a dish doesn't take at least a whole day to prepare (cutting the amount of time one can enjoy making the dish.) Cooking a complicated recipe (not that these recipes are all that comlicated) now seems like an invigorating puzzle, the challenge being to get the pieces to go together just right.I've learned so much from this book. First, how to roast a perfect chicken! That in itself is worth kajillions. Second, the very best way to roast rack of lamb. Also, one recipe involved a two hour preparation of carmelized onions. I always wanted to know how to properly do that. I guess, in the final analysis, this book has contributed more than any other book in making me a passionate cook, or at least pointing me in that direction. Introducing me to a very interesting cuisine is frosting on the cake.

I feel bad to say this but the book is not exciting. There are few pictures that are very randomly placed. The pictures don't entice me to cook them either. Copy right 2003 but has the old school cook book feel.Please let me know if you've purchased this book and can recommend any of the recipes.

I have a bone to pick with Ms Wolfert. Her books and her infectious enthusiasm for cooking have caused a severe strain on my budget. I'm several hundred dollars into buying various kitchen gadgets just this month. An army of claypots is converging on my house as I'm writing this. These acquisitions are mainly due to her latest book (Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking). However, my comments below concern a recipe I picked from "The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen" book.Over the last couple of days I made "Fall-Apart Lamb Shanks with Almond Chocolate Picada." I only cook as a hobby, so this dish was no trivial adventure for me. But I stuck with it and took apart the whole three page recipe so that I could manage it without panicking. It worked. My wife and I had one of the best lamb dishes ever. Making the sauce kicked my butt, but in the end each drop of the it was treasured. I used good bread to soak up the sauce. The meat was truly "fall-apart." Nothing about this dish disappointed me. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised at all. How can a dish be bad when the recipe calls for a whole bottle of full-bodied red wine to start with. :-)If there's any doubt in your mind how passionate Paula is about cooking, head to eGullet and look for her postings. You'll open a door to a whole new world and before you know it, your credit card companies will be calling you regarding bizarre purchases from exotic sounding Internet shops.

Good info on slow Med cooking

I thought that this would provide some good, healthy recipes for my slow cooker. The recipes are not exactly designed for the slow cooker. I'm sure that I can adapt them, but I was hoping for a different book. Slow in the title of the book is a bit deceptive.

I have tried three recipes from this book so far. One was good and the other two was great. The Corsican pork chop recipe was especially good.This book is not aimed at slow cookers, but some of the recipes are well suited to that cooking method.I didn't see any major typos or missing steps, but I have the hardcover edition purchased used.

I thought that this would have a set of difficult recipes, because it said it was for the serious cook. However, this was not true. Like the name says, the recipes are slow. A great book if you have the time to slow down and enjoy your time in the kitchen.

The photos are gorgeous, but I think the average American cook wouldn't have the right equipment and/or ingredients to make the book worth the price. A cookbook for the average cook would have more than a few recipes possible without the search and expense involved with getting unique products.I've read similar recipes in cookbooks authored by chefs who have a staff and access to anything and everything, including specialized serving pieces, cooking vessels, exotic spices, and minions to do the kitchen scut-work.HOWEVER, the title DOES say it's for "Passionate Cooks" and I must not be one of those.

I must say at the outset I regret buying this book. I do not in any way denigrate the considerable amount of first hand research Paula Wolfert has clearly put into it. Her travels around the Med bring in a large number of unusual recipes from the southern side - Tunisia, Morocco etc, but I have yet to find one which makes me think - "I absolutely must try that this Saturday". It is not the fact that they do indeed invlve slow cooking, marinading etc, but the book is written for America, so the list of suppliers of out-of-the-way ingredients and utensils is quite useless; something which perhaps could have been tackled before the book was released onto the UK market? Of course we also have the ubuquitous cup measurements everywhere. I will stick with Claudia Roden for Middle Eastern recipes.

have not used the recipes yet but enoying the read some very good tips as always from Paula wolfert, great food writer

NOT MANY PICTURES TO INSPIRE YOU. BUT THAT'S AT FIRST GLANCE. RECEIPES APPEAR LONG WINDED. NOT THE BOOK TO ENCOURAGE COOKING BUT THOSE WHO ALREADY ARE KEEN.

This is a much enjoyed and much used book for cooking enthusiasts. there is a particularly good recipe for quinces.

As the title suggests, this book is based around food which involves time, patience, care and a bit of effort in its preparation. Paula Wolfert demonstrates a real love and understanding of food.The time taken for recipes may involve simply time taken to marinade, or more complex effort; the latter is probably most evident in canales de Bordeaux, a kind of fully enclosed creme brulee which requires significant preparation of copper moulds with an oil made up from beeswax and safflower oil.Wolfert has collected many unusual, innovative and imaginative recipes, such as mushrooms marinaded in saba, artichoke and orange compote, Tuscan quail with red grape sauce, slow roasted leg of lamb with pomegranate glaze and red onion & parsley relish, and lamb shanks with almond-chocolate picada.This book is certainly no thing of beauty. Many American cookbooks have not suffered the attentions of the stylists as have many in Britain. But this is one of those must haves for food lovers.