Product Description

In New World Kitchen, Norman Van Aken explores the rich influence of Latin American cuisine on the American palate. From the African-influenced Creole cuisines of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica to South American flavors from Brazil, Peru, and Argentina to the distinct tastes of Mexico, Van Aken works his particular magic on this luscious cornucopia and emerges with a wealth of brilliant recipes, such as the exquisite Masa-Crusted Chicken with Piquillo Peppers, Avocado Butter, and Greens in Grapefruit-Honey Vinaigrette.

Well known in the culinary world for his passion and genius, Norman Van Aken has earned a reputation for innovation and artistry. Armed with his signature recipes, employing a cast of rich ingredients in inventive combinations, anyone can masterfully harness the fire-and flare of Latin American cuisine. With a preface by Anthony Bourdain, author of the bestselling Kitchen Confidential, and enticing color photo graphs by Tim Turner, winner of the James Beard Foundation's award for food photography, New World Kitchen is a lush, beautiful book that new worlds of flavor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #229199 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-01
• Released on: 2003-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Five years after publishing Norman's New World Cuisine, the chef at Florida's acclaimed Norman's restaurant turns in another collection of signature fusion recipes. The selections provide an introduction to his unique blend of Caribbean, Asian and Latin and North American cooking, ranging from tapas and soups through fish and meats to basic pantry preparations and cocktails. Van Aken was not trained in a culinary school and his preparations steer clear of jargon or complex techniques; specialized ingredients are seldom more exotic than scotch bonnet chiles, tomatillos or jicama (which, nowadays, are widely available). That said, he does offer such recipes as Savory Chicken Stew with a Corn Crust and Deviled Lobster, which are straightforward but have long ingredient lists and require time and careful attention to execute correctly. Combined with Van Aken's many thoughtful sidebars and notations, the sophistication of these recipes make this a treat for serious home cooks.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

World-renowned chef and culinary innovator, Norman Van Aken is the owner of the award-winning Miami restaurant Norman's. He is one of the only chefs in America to have won the James Beard Award, the Robert Mondavi Award, and the Food Arts Silver Spoon for lifetime achievement.

Customer Reviews

Good stuff
Good cookbook, but a lot of recipes involve multiple stages such as sauces or stocks that are made seperately. Book was lost in mail and took 4 weeks for delivery.

A good introduction to Latin American Cuisine
If this book was about latin american cuisine, I would give it four stars. The writing is great, and Chef Van Acken's philosophy (on food and life) is well worth reading. The recipes are feasible and delicious if executed correctly; something easy to do with some knowledge on food. I love this book, and go back to it often for inspiration, but it's still a book about New World Cuisine, and the Chef leaves his signature in every recipe, therefore the preparations are not authentic.

I have given 5 stars to this book because I value Norman's input. He is a phenomenal cook and a creative chef. His food should not be missed when visiting Miami and his knowledge on the ingredients and techniques from Latin America is exceptional. I wish the book was longer, with more recipes and longer stories, as I truly believe this author teaches through his books.

This is great book for the home cook and the professional alike. If you enjoy these recipes, and there's no reason why you shouldn't, then you will become curious about the food from my area of the world. For that I should always be grateful to Chef Van Acken.

A Rich Sampler of Pan American Cuisines
The multi-award winning Norman Van Aken of the restaurant `Norman's' in Miami has done us a great service by providing us this survey of New World Latin cooking plus a precis of the many influences which have borne on these cuisines. The geographic range of the recipes is truly impressive. The countries or regions to which the recipes are attributed are:

Pan Caribbean 19 recipes
Pan Latin 19 recipes
Cuba 19 recipes
Mexico 18 recipes
Peru 14 recipes
Brazil 12 recipes
Colombia 9 recipes
Venezuela 8 recipes
Nicaragua 5 recipes

4 recipes: Argentina, Chile, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad
2 recipes: Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador
1 recipe: Bahamas, Bolivia, Central America, Dominica, Martinique, Panama, Uruguay

The book also includes several pantry, sauce, and mixed drink recipes not attributed to any specific region. The pantry recipes owe much to classic French technique, which Van Aken taught himself early in his career. The recipes for chicken and pork stock follow traditional methods, but they include a lot more ingredients than the French classics. Most notable additions are wine, mushrooms, tomatoes, and chiles.

The large number of recipes from Mexico and Cuba are expected for a chef working in Miami, especially with the acknowledgments he gives to Rick Bayless and Diana Kennedy, our leading experts on Mexican cuisine. The emphasis on Peru becomes obvious when you see the references to Nobu Matsuhisa, who worked for many years in Peru and who has popularized many dishes based on Peruvian themes and foodstuffs.

The sizable body of congratulatory blurbs on the back cover of the book from the likes of Nobu, Mario Batali, Charlie Trotter, Todd English, and Emeril Lagasse attest to the quality of his cooking and, more importantly for you the reader, the quality of his researches into this `New World Cuisine'. I think the most important quality of the book is not culinary invention. Van Aken is not taking any credit for creating these recipes. His accomplishment is in the collecting and exposition of these recipes and their most important ingredients for us.

Van Aken is especially wise to not call this Latin American cuisine, as he makes it clear that the cuisine of the lands south of the Rio Grande have been created by an amalgam of Native American, Spanish, East Indian, Chinese, Japanese, African, Portuguese, Italian, and Polynesian influences. While Van Aken claims credit for inventing the phrase `fusion cuisine' it is plain that `fusion cuisine' has been going on in the New World since South American (Polynesian?) mariners carried plants from Pacific Islands to South America's Pacific coast. This activity expanded with a vengeance in both the old and new worlds as American foods such as corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and chiles were taken to both Europe and Asia and Old World foods came to America. For example, Italian and Sechuzen cuisines changed dramatically with the introduction of tomatoes and chiles respectively.

One of Van Aken's contributions to these recipes is to replace original peanut or palm oils with canola or grape seed oil. It's interesting to note that deep frying was never done in pre-Columbian America, as the natives, even the Aztecs and the Incas did not refine oils in sufficient quantities to use it as a deep frying medium. Another addition by Van Aken is wine and beer pairings with recipes. It is possible that he also contributed to the use of European fortified wines in recipes, although that may very easily be a Portuguese addition.

The background information on major ingredients and major influences is almost worth the price of admission. This is not a scholarly book, a thorough study of one or a few cuisines in the style of Diana Kennedy on Mexico or Paula Wolfert on Morocco. But its contents have much of the authority of a scholarly work. It is a sampling of recipes from many lands which makes this a much more valuable book to the typical foodie. All the recipes are first rate stuff, presented by a passionate and talented chef.

I highly recommend this book as an introduction to the cuisines of the Caribbean and of South America. The bibliography will also offer many sources of additional information on this cuisine. This book is worthy of Norman's colleagues' praise.