Bold - A Cookbook of Big Flavors

Title: Bold - A Cookbook of Big Flavors

Author:  Susanna Hoffman and Victoria Wise

Publication Information:  Workman Publishing Company. 2013. 409 pages.
ISBN:  0761139613 / 978-0761139614

Book Source:  I received this book through a publisher's giveaway free of cost in exchange for an honest review. The book arrived as a paperback edition.

Favorite Quote:  "America is not only a wide-open world; it's one world when it comes to food. Bold honors the great melange."

Bold: A Cookbook of Big Flavors is described by the authors as "replete with recipes for the amazing, every changing round of dishes that make up American cooking today." The "bold" flavors in this book are not coming from spices. Most recipes call for salt and pepper and not many other spices. "Bold" is more a reference to the mingling of cuisines from many different cultures into what is now American cuisine. "Bold" is also a reference to the heartiness and abundance of food that immigrants to America found here.

The book is organized into sections some centered around food types such as snacks, soups, and sweets. Some sections focus on ingredient categories such as meat, game, poultry, fish and seafood, and vegetables. This structure is similar to many other cookbooks that are general, all-purpose cookbooks.

Pros:

• The book includes a detailed index which is helpful.
• The physical book is a good size - not so large as to be unwieldy, not so small as to crowd the recipes.
• Each recipe is concisely presented on a page.
• The setup of each page is consistent and easy to read - a sidebar has the ingredient list; the main text has the instruction laid out in short paragraphs
• The ingredient list for each recipe is clearly marked and easy to read.
• The ingredients for the recipes seems to be things readily available to the home cook.
• The book includes periodic sections (clearly identified by color) with history and cultural trivia. They will interesting to any foodie.

Cons:

• The start of each section does not include a list of the recipes in that section. I find that helpful to flip through when I am hoping to be inspired.
• Not every recipe includes a picture.
• The color choices for the printing start with a sepia toned paper and the text and pages colored in shades of browns and oranges. The titles of the recipes are printed in very large font, in a muted orange, and in all caps. The font and color choice are somewhat distracting from the recipes themselves.
• Many of the recipes call for ingredients such as heavy cream, cheese, butter, half-and-half. I would find myself modifying the recipes to incorporate them into our lifestyle.

Overall, a general, all purpose cookbook.

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