RANKING OVERALL 7/10 BIO INFO 8/10 USEFUL INFO 5/10

Indeed, to refer to 'Asian Cook' as a cookbook is to do Tan a grave injustice. This is a lavish but functional compendium of the 'tools and techniques' beloved of cooks of Asian cuisine, be they food writers for the San Francisco Chronicle or top Indian chefs in London. I suspect that if Tan had his way, the kitchenware department would be situated right next to jewellery.

Tan's authority stems from his experience and expertise as a cookery teacher and food historian. He gives us wonderful descriptions of what makes an Asian cook - the historical background and geographical origins that in turn determine the utensils, implements, ingredients (whether fish, fowl or offal) and spices used. Artfully photographed pots, woks, tandoors, cooking tools, accessories and tableware are accompanied by simple but illuminating points and pointers. For example, did you know that for some Asians, knives are considered 'too barbaric to be used at the table' and that they are in any case superfluous, given that 'all ingredients are cut into bite-size pieces during preparation'?

Asian Cook offers a wide-range of easy to follow, relatively inexpensive recipes for the discerning palate, with dishes from yang zhou fried rice to roast chicken madurai masala to bamboo leaf dumplings. But they are here to provide a colourful backdrop - and final flourish -- to the tools and techniques that made them. Tan tells us that Asian chefs have 'always been at the cutting edge when it comes to presentation skills'. I was particularly intrigued by how one produces an 'edible basket' with the right molds (which, surprisingly, are two perforated ladles shaped to fit one inside the other). A prawns in yam basket should go down very nicely at my next supper party. This book is a treasure, if not a secret weapon.

Candace

This is the only creation storybook that we have found that addresses the "us" in "Let US make man in OUR image." (Genesis 1:26), by acknowledging the presence of the Son at the time of creation.

The illustrations are beautifully artistic, thus taking children into the story. Our Christian Sunday school curriculum company for the Workshop Rotation Model likes this story so much that we have integrated it into one of our lessons.