What's Cooking at 10 Garden Street?

I would have loved this book when I was a child.

The illustrations are outstanding and fun to view. I loved everything about them: the people, the foodstuffs, the garden, the building, the interiors, the colors, the parts & the whole.

I wish this was an all vegan cookbook. I rarely read cookbooks anymore unless they’re 100% vegan. Many of the recipes in here are vegan or nearly so and all could be made vegan, but if all were presented as vegan I could wholeheartedly recommend this book to children and would deem it gift worthy. (Obviously non-veg*ns/most families wouldn’t have this quibble.)

I love that the 15 included recipes (and the people in the building, or their ancestors) are from different parts of the world, so in addition to show more the recipes and slight story, this book has a bit of a cultural lesson too.

I appreciate that all the recipes could be easily made by older kids, and even so for young kids with help from their adults.

My favorite part of the “story” was the last double page, which I was not expecting. Throughout the book there is a simple show and tell of different people in different apartments cooking dishes from their diverse backgrounds. The second to last double page spread shows them all on the move. The last double page shows them outside in the garden at one big table at a potluck type gathering sharing all their dishes with all the inhabitants of 10 Garden Street. I really loved that!

There are 4 vegan recipes, 6 vegetarian recipes, and 5 flesh containing recipes. All could be made vegan though. The recipes are for salmorejo (vegetarian), little trees sesame soy broccoli (vegan), guacamole (vegan), black bean soup, sole meunière, spaghetti al pomodoro (vegetarian), coconut dahl (vegan), mini quiches, meatballs, oyakodon chicken & egg rice, baba ganoush (vegan), green rice (vegetarian), peanut butter & chocolate chip cookies (vegetarian), banana & blueberry bread (vegetarian), strawberry crumble (vegetarian). show less

Note that it's also called Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street.

I did not realize that it's more cookbook than story... but I actually love the concept and (mostly) the execution. I like the details, too, for example the man who cooks fish is named Melville....

Unfortunately, it's not like a real recipe book, as there are few pictures of the finished dishes (how soupy is dahl?), no index, not even a table of contents.

The theme of an apartment building, with diverse residents, having a community potluck is wonderful, though.

In every apartment at 10 Garden Street, someone is making something delicious:

Salmorejo
"Little Trees" (sesame soyy broccoli)
Guacamole
Black Bean Soup
Sole Meuniere
Spaghetti al Pomodoro
Coconut Dal
Mini Quiches
Meatballs with turkey, zucchini, and feta
Oyakodon (chicken and egg rice)
Baba Ganoush
Green Rice
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Banana and Blueberry Bread
Strawberry Crumble

Everyone comes together for a lovely potluck in the garden.

There's a beautiful diversity in the representation of people and foods, and the recipes themselves are clear and concise, with an illustration of each ingredient.

Een huis vol lekkers. 15 recepten om samen van te smullen. Door Felicita Sala.

Met dit boek neem je een inkijkje in de keukens van de bewoners van de Granaatappelstraat nr.10. En oh wat ruikt het daar lekker. Alle bewoners zijn op hetzelfde moment aan het koken. Wij nemen in dit boek een kijkje bij 15 bewoners en pikken daar ineens een lekker recept mee. Gaande van de zwarte bonensoep van señora Flores, over de miniquiches van Mevrouw Toertjes, tot de aardbeiencrumble van Matilda.

Niet enkel de recepten zijn lekker, de tekeningen zijn oogstrelend én goesting gevend. Sala heeft een prachtig, divers, smakelijk boek afgeleverd. Voor jong én oud. Een boek dat aanzet tot koken en samen smullen, dat je blik verruimt (het hoeft niet elke dag show more aardappelen-groenten-vlees te zijn) en dat door de tekeningen vol originele details uren kijkplezier oplevert. Een pareltje om te koesteren dus! show less

odos los vecinos de la calle Babel n.º 10 se afanan en preparar un plato propio de su cultura. Pilar prepara salmorejo; el señor Lamar, lenguado meunière; María, guacamole; la señora Flores, un potaje de frijoles; el señor Tagore, dahl con leche de coco… Una a una se suceden las recetas en cada una de las viviendas.

Un delicioso libro para aprender a cocinar y a compartir 15 sabrosas recetas de diferentes países.