Wild Wild East or American Bar

Wild, Wild East: Recipes and Stories From Vietnam

Author: Bobby Chinn

A true culinary adventure told by

Hanoi's enfant terrible, Bobby Chinn.

Bobby Chinn describes Vietnamese food as being as near to Nirvana as he can imagine — fresh, clean flavors, light and healthy, and incredibly diverse.

Presenting directions for everything from simple grilled chicken wings to deep-fried spring rolls and Bobby Chinn's own fusion-style dishes, Wild, Wild East is more than a recipe book: it's also an authentic guide to Vietnamese food as it is prepared and enjoyed today. Evocative photos by award-winning photographer Jason Lowe and stories by Bobby about every dish in this book make Wild, Wild East a true culinary tour of Vietnam. You'll read about Bobby's first experience running a kitchen, and you'll learn how he discovered the recipe for his secret sauce for grilled chicken. You'll also enjoy his extraordinary tales about some of the more unusual foods and ingredients that contribute to Vietnamese cuisine. Wild, Wild East is a both a true personal adventure story and a treasury of palate-pleasing recipes.

Half Chinese, half Egyptian, raised in England, a familiar figure in San Francisco and New York food circles, and now living in Hanoi, Bobby Chinn is one of Asia's most highly respected chefs. Having come from a family of great cooks, Bobby has always been passionate about food. He learned his trade when taken under the wing by three leading San Francisco chefs—Hubert Keller, Gary Danko, and Traci des Jardine. He now owns a restaurant in Hanoi, and is working with the Discovery Channel on a series devoted to Asian foods and cultures. He has also appeared in the U.K. on BBC2's Saturday Kitchen and FullOn Food.

Judith Sutton - Library Journal

Chinn, described in Anthony Bourdain's foreword as an "International Man of Mystery," is half Chinese and half Egyptian; most of his childhood was spent in San Francisco, Egypt, or London. After briefly working on Wall Street, he did stand-up comedy in Los Angeles and San Francisco and then finally realized that food and cooking were his true interests. He cooked at some of San Francisco's best restaurants, fell in love with Vietnamese food, and opened his own restaurant in Hanoi in 2001. His first cookbook is a passionate, personal introduction to Vietnamese food, with dozens of classic and contemporary recipes. He includes an introductory section on ingredients and another on essential sauces and other basics; lengthy recipe headnotes provide history and context, and the instructions are nicely detailed. There are color photographs throughout, along with stories of some of Chinn's wild exploits. With Vietnamese food becoming increasingly popular here, it's surprising how few books there are on the subject. This is recommended for most collections.

Book review: How to Wow or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Administrators Companion

American Bar: The Artistry of Mixing Drinks

Author: Charles Schumann

This "bar bible" provides recipes for mixing the perfect drink, classical or exotic, and offers tips on serving it correctly.

Whether you're celebrating a special occasion or just relaxing with a cocktail, let world-renowned bartender Charles Schumann be your guide to mixing masterful libations. American Bar--the most authoritative cocktail book ever published--provides all the information the cocktail lover or professional bartender needs to serve up the perfect drink. Inside American Bar you'll find:

Recipes for more than 500 drinks, listed alphabetically

An easy-to-use drink index arranged by drink categories

The fascinating history and names of leading brands of all the major cocktail components

A handy guide to bartending equipment

A glossary of international bar terms and measurements

Illustrated with hundreds of delightful 1930s-style line drawings by Günter Mattei, this exceptionally handsome book is an indispensable companion to home or professional entertaining.

Other Details: More than 100 illustrations 392 pages 5 x 5" Published 1995

"The drink mixer's bible." --The New York Times

Author Biography: Charles Schumann has been a bartender for more than twenty years, the last ten as proprietor of Schumann's in Munich. He is the author of Schumann's Bar Book and Schumann's Tropical Bar Book.

Table of Contents:

Foreword

Drink Index: Aperitifs; Brandy drinks; Cachaça drinks; Campari drinks; Champagne cocktails; Classic drinks; Coffee drinks; Coladas; Collinses; Daiquiris; Digestifs; Eggnogs; Fizzes; Flips; Gin drinks; Highballs; Hot drinks; Juleps; Low-alcohol drinks; Martinis and variations; Nonalcoholic drinks; Restoratives and pick-me-up drinks; Rum drinks; Sours; Tequila drinks; 24-hour drinks; Vodka drinks; Whisk(e)y drinks

Drinks and Cocktails from A to Z:

Drinks and Cocktails from A to Z

Main Cocktail and Drink Categories

Cocktail Components:

Distillates from Wine: Cognac; Armagnac; Brandy; Marc and Grappa

Distillates from Grain: Gin; Aquavit; Whisk(e)y; Vodka

Distillates from Fruit

Distillates from Plants: Rum; Cachaça; Tequila and Mezcal; Arak

Liqueurs: Anisees

Sparkling Wines: Champagne; French Cremant; German Sekt; Italian Spumante; Spanish Cava; U.S. Sparkling Wines; Other Sparkling Wines

Fortified Wines: Vermouth; Sherry, Madeira; Port

The Artistry of Mixing Drinks and Cocktails: The Artistry of Mixing Drinks and Cocktails; Bar Equipment; Terminology; The Bartender

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Index