Pauline Nguyen

I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of this gorgeous book when it was first published. This is easily the single most beautiful cookbook I've ever seen. As a biography, a story of Pauline's personal saga, the book is stupendous. As a cookbook, this is not so much. It is too pretty to take into the kitchen. The recipes are organized around Pauline's life rather than traditional classifications like appetizers, meats and dessert, so unless you are very familiar with Vietnamese food you will have the dickens of of a time finding the recipes you want. There are no suggestions at all anywhere of what goes with what. And perhaps my biggest objection - the recipes often use herbs that are generally unknown and unavailable in most of the US. If you don't know what "rice paddy herb" is and what it looks like, you are simply out of luck, because the authors do not tell us.

If you want to produce Vietnamese food in an American kitchen, take a look at The Little Saigon Cookbook instead.… (mer)

Easy, Fresh, and Quick: “‘What is Vietnamese food? How is it different from other cuisines?’ The first thing I always say,” Pauline Nguyen writes in the introduction to Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart, “is that Vietnamese food is easy—there is no mystery to it. It is simple to prepare; the execution is mostly quick; and the cooking methods are straightforward….What most distinguishes Vietnamese food, however, is its emphasis on freshness. We do not use fresh herbs sparingly to flavor or garnish a dish—instead, they play a major role in the food.”
So if Vietnamese food is easy, quick, fresh, and routinely uses ample amounts of aromatic herbs and other explosively flavored ingredients—scallion oil, crisp-fried onion, and garlic, pickled vegetables, peppers, and fish sauce—why then is it not the world’s most popular cuisine? With projects like Paula Nguyen’s becoming available, dishes from this beautiful, enigmatic Southeast Asian country will certainly gain acceptance in countless kitchens here in the U.S. and abroad. Including more than 275 recipes, superb color photography, and the Nguyen family’s riveting tale of escape from their war-torn country, Secrets of the Red Lantern satisfies on a multitude of levels. by Matt Sutherland… (mer)