#AusReadingMonth 2021 Cookbook nr 4
- Author: Danielle Alvarez
- Title: Always Add Lemon
- Published: 2020
- Trivia: Danielle Alvarez is the chef behind Sydney restaurant Fred’s.
- Monthly reading plan
- #NonFicNov 2021
- #AusReadingMonth2021 @bronasbooks
- #AWW 2021
Quick Scan:
- Of all the cookbooks I review for #AusReadingMonth 2021
- Danielle Alvarex is the chef with the most impressive credentials!
- Born to a food-loving Cuban family in Miami.
- She trained at some of the most prestigious restaurants in California:
- The French Laundry, then Boulettes Larder and finally Chez Panisse.
- She brought these culinary talents with her to Sydney in 2016.
- Ms Alvarez asked her to head up and design the kitchen the new restaurant, Fred’s.
Conclusion:
- Ms Alvarez sets the cooking bar very high!
- I thought I would dip into her book and select a recipe and have
- ….a meal quickly on the table.
- Little did I know, the author expects the reader to be a bit more serious!
- The book is full of beautiful, culinary inspiration,
- …but I found the recipes somewhat unapproachable.
- I became anxious just thinking of cooking Ms Alvarez’s suggestions.
- There are so many ways to go wrong.
- Funny, I am the only one in the kitchen…and eating my food
- …but still I feel judged (by myself) when I create a disaster.
- Looking at the photo’s of perfect food….by a master chef
- …intimidates me.
Personal Challenge:
- At first glance ….these recipes look a little too time-consuming.
- They feel more suited for a restaurant professional.
- The language felt complicated, ingredients that I had to look
- up in the culinary dictionary!
- Every time I decided to cook
- something I was discouraged halfway reading the instructions!
- I put the book away for weeks….just postponing the inevitable.
Results:
- Section: salads (17 recipes) I’m making the first 7 salads.
- As you can see many ingredients are not available for this mere mortal
- …and that is what makes many delicious recipes feel “unapproachable”
- I will improvise and do my best!
- Beetroot (yellow) – persimmons (not available) – feta, honey, pistachio nuts and
- Aleppo chili flakes ( not available..use ordinary flakes)
- Update:
- Best replacement or persimmon is a peach or nectarine.
- It is Autumn and…these fruits are NOT is season.
- I just used thinly sliced oranges.
-
Yellow beets..who would have thought!
-
My first attempt at Danielle Alvarez’s (top-chef) starters in
-
…her book Always Add Lemon.
-
No persimmon in my neck of the woods
-
…so I just used thinly sliced oranges.
-
This salad takes planning but is delicious.
-
You would easily pay 12-15 euro for this starter in a restaurant
- Fig and goat’s curd salad – smokey paprika vinaigrette
- (ingredient for dressing pimentón de La Vera dulce….not available)
- Tomato salad with sumac, onions, tahini yoghurt (not avaliable...
- I’ll make it with yogurt and sesame paste) – fennel
- Tomato and fried crouton salad with olive oil packed tinned tuna – capers
- Cucumbers with mustard vinaigrette and dille
- Belgian Endive (…radicchio (not available) with bagna cuda
- (Ms Alvarez raves about this dipping sauce) and walnut oil
- Zucchini with mint, lemon and bottarga
- (not available…and it is just as well, sounds vile, see Google)
Strong point:
- The book is a well-made beautiful book
- …feels luxurious with high quality paper.
- So impressed the images that I’ll add the links to the
- photographer Benito Martin
- stylist Jessica Johnson
- …just take a look at their portfolio’s ….creative genius!
Update:
Pg 16: How to dress a salad – Chardonnay and honey vinaigrette
- I have NO chardonnay or sherry vinegar.
- Substitute: balsamic vinagar
- Substitute: Listau Sherry ….made with grapes grown in the Jerez area of Spain.
- Lustau sherry is the industry’s gold standard
- … a sweet sherry from Pedro Ximenz grapes.
- Jury: unanimous vote…this is a keeper!
- Lessons learned:
- I did not know that a salad dressing should marinate 15 min before using!
- Always use just-washed hands (not tongs)…you need to feel the dressing coating the leaves!
- Taste….more salt? ….more honey?….more vinegar?
- Different salad leaves require different amounts of dressing
- …bitter radiicchio needs more dressing/salt
- …delicate leaf like arugula (rucloa) wants smallest amount of dressing
- …gentle touch just to coat them.
Update:
- Ms Alvarez challenges me again on pg 17 “Salsa Verde”.
- Original recipe was too salty for me (capers and anchovies).
- If I make this again I would reduce the acid (vinagar or lemon juice) and oil by half!
- I would use 1/2 amount of the “salty elements”
- ..and drain the shallots of vinegar and only
- add the shallots to the condiment.
- I froze 1 TB portions to be thawed in the fridge…worked perfectly.
- I TB is thawed within 5 mi…and I used it mixed
- into my mashed potatoes!
- Jury: Lovely burst of flavor, dille, chives, honey and parsely.
3 Comments
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I confess I thought the same as you when I looked through this book at work.
I thought the tricky ingredients might be ones only available in Australia, but I didn’t recognise most of them either! Sounds like one would need a trip to a specialist food shop.
But then I was like that the first few times I tried an Ottolenghi recipe. I now have most of the basic ingredients he likes to use in my pantry and he & I are best friends 🙂
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Some cookbooks should be a challenge…
I enjoy stocking up on new ingredients (Bill Granger’s Asian theme)
…and Danielle is just such a professional…she bring my cooking level up a notch!
I have Ottolenghi’s PLENTY and SWEET..I should have a look at them again.
Another one of my favorites is by Zoe Francois from Minneapolis, Minnesota and is an expert on baking and cake-making recipes. I wonder if her book “Zoe Bakes Cakes” in Australian bookstores? I made my birthday cake following Zoe’s recipe on page 77!
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No Zoe here, lots of Aussie cake makers to fill out shelves!!
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