Joyce Esersky Goldstein

Joyce Goldstein is a first rate cookbook author, combining a lusciousness up there with Paula Wolfert's with a practical kitchen veteran's tone akin to Marcella Hazan's. This book includes the cultural background of the cuisine, contrasting it with the Ashkenazic tradition most people are more familiar with. And the recipes are amazing--pumpkin-filled filo coils, leek and cheese matzo pie, vegetable soup with plums, tomato bread pudding, and Georgian-style meat-with-fruit fare like roast show more chicken with apples and pomegranate. YUM. I'm a cookbook addict--by which I mean I love the ideas and opinions behind sublime food, and I also love curling up with a good cookbook just to read it for fun, and collecting them as historical documents. This takes the cake for all three. show less

First off, don’t read this book while you are hungry, it doesn’t help, it just makes the cravings worse. So i knew there was jam, jelly, and chutney, but this book goes way beyond that. Did you know you can make other flavors than just Orange Marmalade? Who has thought of adding Rhubarb to your jam, or the difference between butters and Conserve? Not me until reading this book. Well done, lots of mouth watering pictures, and plenty of fun recipes that I can not wait to try out. My show more kitchen will be a disaster zone, but I look forward to it. show less

These books are odd, in that they're cookbooks that are apparently designed to be coffee-table books. While I with they had been published in a normal cookbook size, the photos of the regions and the recipes, and the recipes themselves, are top-notch.

This has been a popular book in our kitchen for years. The suggestions for which wine to pair with foods are pretty much on the mark. When we follow the recommendations the pairings are great,