The Improvisational Cook, Sally Schneider

The Improvisational Cook, Sally Schneider
$34.95, 392 pages, William Morrow 2006
ISBN 978-0-06-073164-9/0-06-0731648
http://www.google.com/products?q=9780060731649&show=dd

I saw this book listed somewhere online and had to have it. This is probably one of my last books at wholesale cost as MrsF's store is shutting its doors (actually, it's moved back in the house, but that's another show). So as soon as it leapt out of the UPS box, I started reading it... and I'm less impressed than I'd hoped.

First off: how's the food porn value? Pretty low, actually. There are color photos on matte paper up to page 41, but not even an illustration beyond that. The photos in that section are very, very nice.

Second: how much did I learn? Less than I'd hoped. It's a big book with not a lot of words on each page: big margins, lots of nicely designed whitespace -- perhaps nice for the Improvisational Cook who likes to make margin notes. Ms. Schneider's definition of Improvisational is less Jazz than Lego -- I was expecting more variations-on-a-theme, and what I got were a lot of building blocks: things like caramelized onions, lemon jam with oregano (cribbed from Batali), edamame as a quick sub for favas, etc. that end up in other recipes. I mean, an entire chapter on flavoring popcorn? A little more oomph seems called for.

There are some nice techniques and recipes, but she seems to operate just fine with a major culinary cognitive dissonance: she keeps harping on keeping a pantry full of long-keeping staples, while at the same time raving about the wild venison leg someone dropped on her doorstep, and a large number of recipes use creme fraiche, fresh fruits, etc. To follow in her footsteps I also need to beef up my liquor cabinet: sherries, ports and madeiras figure strong in her repertoir as a substitute for the deep flavors missing from high-end stock.

I will take some of her ideas to heart: I'm not much of a postmoderinst, but deconstructing Carbonara into an over-easy egg on top of bacon-fat-flavored pasta is kinda cool (the deconstructed Caesar salad less so). In fact, the first recipe I tried from here is a departure from our usual household methods: slow roasting instead of high-heat.

"Close-Roasted Pork with Ancho, Cinnamon, and Cocoa" came out quite tasty. A 4lb shoulder rubbed with a mixture of the above ingredients (actually, I subbed half of the ancho (my dwindling supply of Hatch from NM) for smoked paprika, as she said you could try it with either), sugar, salt, and oregano, left to penetrate overnight, and cooked for four hours at 275F atop a whole head's worth of garlic cloves, I was expecting an inside-job pulled pork. (Of course I picked the hottest day of the year to make it). It sure did make the house smell nice all afternoon, and the meat is succulent without turning to jello. The 4lb roast seemed to have shrunk to under 3, meaning that it certainly wasn't going to feed the 8 servings the book predicted, but it was enough for we 4 with some leftovers. It had less deep flavor than I'd expected -- probably should have oiled the meat before rubbing it? What would have helped it penetrate?

Summing it up, it's a very nice book, with a few recipes I want to try and a few ideas I'll build from, but not an invitation to Iron Chef-level riffing on ingredients. Pick it up at a discount, and you'll enjoy it. Pay $35 and you'll feel kinda ripped off.