A Baker's Odyssey: Celebrating Time-Honored Recipes from Ameria's Rich Immigrant Heritage [With DVD-ROM]

Patent, a baker, teacher and James Beard Award winner (for 2002's Baking in America), examines the baking traditions of Iraq, Norway, Germany, India and other countries in order to illuminate the ways in which different cultures bake alike. Recipes are organized by cooking style instead of nationality, allowing home cooks to see the connections between regional specialties; for instance, New Orleanian Calas, fried puffs traditionally sold on winter sidewalks, are grouped with sweet Nigerian Chin-Chin and Italian Zeppole, the sugar-dusted fritters traditionally dished out at St Joseph's Day celebrations. Other baked goods share more complicated techniques: Hungary's Rigo Jancsi is a triple chocolate cake filled with thick chocolate cream and iced with semisweet chocolate glaze, while its cousin, French Gateau Basque, comprises an egg-rich pastry stuffed with thick vanilla cream. Those who like their baked goods on the savory side will delight in treats like Kleecha, delicious Syrian rolls flavored with clove, caraway and anise. More simple, but no less satisfying, are Norwegian Whole Wheat Oatmeal Loves, which smell like toasted joy coming out of the oven. This cookbook also comes with a DVD featuring useful show-and-tell examples of pretzel-making and cannoli-stuffing.