cover image Allen Susser's New World Cuisine

Allen Susser's New World Cuisine

Allen Susser. Broadway Books, $30 (326pp) ISBN 978-0-385-47111-4

Taking the ingredients and methods used in Caribbean and Latin American cooking and applying them to traditional European and North American dishes is the forte of the author, owner/chef of the North Miami Beach restaurant, Chef Allen's. Trained in classic culinary technique (and raised on such Jewish specialties as kishkas and tzimmes), Susser refreshes familiar recipes with new ingredients, as in the Mango Tarte Tatin with Foie Gras and a Lobster Cassoulet, featuring conch, calamari and white beans, cooked with white wine, orange juice and zest. He surprises by using savory ingredients in expected dessert formats, e.g., Caviar Sundae with polenta, or vice versa, as in Mango Pot Pies with Praline Topping. Calling extensively on tropical fruits (guava, mamey, papaya, plantain, tamarind), vegetables (boniato, breadfuit, malanga, chayote, calabaza) and incendiary additions like Scotch bonnet peppers, Susser offers nearly 200 recipes sure to intrigue cooks looking for new frontiers. Some combos seem intended mainly to startle (Jerk Foie Gras and Charred Blue Mountain Coffee Burgers), but Susser's collection is indisputably innovative. (Mar.)