Rick Stein's Seafood Lover's Guide: Recipes Inspired by a Coastal Journey

In this beautiful full-color cookbook, British seafood expert Stein delves into the many wonders of the United Kingdom's fish. Interspersed among the recipes are restaurant suggestions, lush photographs and the stories of those who make their livings from the waters around Britain: fishermen, lobstermen, restaurateurs and fishmongers. Their stories underline the dangers of overfishing in U.K. waters while documenting the decline of the independent fisherman's way of life. Despite the veddy Britishness of this cookbook, several of Stein's recipes are easy to follow no matter what side of the Atlantic one lives on: Devilled Mackerel with Mint and Tomato Salad, Stir-Fried Clams with Garlic and Ginger, and Poached Haddock with Mussels, Spinach and Chervil are a few examples. Likewise, the Salmon en Croute with Currants and Ginger is easy and elegant, although the recipe does ask that home cooks seek out a fillet that originated ""behind the gut cavity of a 3-4 kg (7-9 pound) fish."" Other recipes, however, like Gurnard Fillets with a Potato, Garlic and Saffron Broth involve fish unlikely to be found at an American fishmonger's, and the ""American"" alternative offered at the chart in the back of the book can occasionally be just as esoteric. Recipes like Salt Ling, Tomato, and Potato Pasties employ dried salt fish--perhaps a bit briny for the American palate--and Kedgeree of Arbroath Smokies, which Stein includes in his""classics"" section, may also be a bit too foreign. As a chronicle of British seafood in all its glory, this book succeeds terrifically, but as a recipe collection for the American home cook, it doesn't fare nearly as well. However, the pictures are so pretty and the writing is so engaging that perhaps the book's practicality might just be beside the point.