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Author Mispireta, a medical practitioner and an expert in the field of food processing and preparing, here offers his extensive knowledge not only of preparing delicious foods but of the basic chemistry that each preparation entails. He begins with an explanation of each method, urging the reader, whether "a curious beginner or an experienced cook," to use the recipes he offers and to understand the science that will increase one's competence across a unique array of cultural roots, modern additions, and inventions.
Mispireta's extensive advice is seen in the more than three hundred recipes catalogued here, divided into specialized categories: dry conduction; method dry radiation; dry convection; wet high heat; wet low heat; wet indirect heat; fat-based high heat; gentle frying or sweating; braising, pickling, fondue, and sauces; dressings; and herb pastes. Dry conduction, for example, concerns the connection between the food and the heat source needed for preparation, achieved without the need for oil or water. It is detailed for the reader through such delicacies as flavorful, dry-roasted beans and nuts. Grilling over an open fire typifies dry radiation, utilizing thick cuts of meat, often with marinades, a process that requires specialized skills in creating and handling the needed flames as much as the preparer's knowledge of foods and flavors anticipated, with results as simple as flank steak, or as intriguingly exotic as "Flat Iron Steak with Red Wine Sauce." Broiling is the central methodology needed for dry conduction or radiation, producing such exotic offerings as "Parmesan Scallops" and "Miso Salmon." The baking and roasting process, usually done in an oven, includes both meats and vegetables, with instructions for heat levels and encompassing choices such as "Perfect Roast Beef" and "Fried Cauliflower Rice."
One chapter is devoted to preserving foods: "curing, fermenting, pickling, and souring." All methodologies examined offer recipes as familiar as cooking rice or poaching eggs, as well as those far more complex, with alluring names such as "Mondongo Al Italiano," "Beef Steak Shio Koji," and "Fish with Peperonata." The possibilities presented by Misipareta for both experienced chefs and those developing a wider range of home-based food knowledge are astounding in variety, clearly stated directives, and accompanying background detail.
The author, born in Peru, studied medicine there and later in the US, where he received seven years of training in surgical processes. After thirty years of practice of vascular and heart surgery in Washington, DC, and as a fisherman who was drawn to cooking his catch, Mispireta began to consider the connection between metabolic needs common to all and the means to satisfy one's physical food requirements while providing a remarkable spectrum of the art of food creation, preparation, and preservation. Ranging from handling large quantities of meats, vegetables, and fruit, to the finely honed understanding, explication, and devising of tasty sauces and zestful cuisine choices, Mispireta's guide, aimed at passing his widespread knowledge to family and future generations, will satisfy readers across a wide spectrum, incorporating both detailed facts and enjoyable functions to their cooking endeavors.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review