The Mekong region, which extends south from China through Laos and Thailand to Cambodia and Vietnam, offers extraordinary food. Hot Sour Salty Sweet, which takes its name from the principal taste sensations of the region's cooking, provides an unparalleled culinary journey through this fertile land. Though the book contains a wealth of anecdotal material, its great strength lies in its 175 recipes, explicit formulas for the likes of Shrimp in Hot Lime Leaf Broth, Lao Yellow Rice and Duck, and Hui Beef Stew with Chick Peas and Anise. The breadth and substance of this authentic yet approachable collection is truly exciting; readers who cook from the book (not difficult to do once ingredients are assembled and techniques understood), as well as those searching for the best kind of armchair travel, will be delighted.

Beginning with a discussion of the Mekong region, its people (a complicated mix, among them the Kai, Akha, and Cham), and their characteristic foods, the book then provides recipes organized by ingredients, dish types, and topics such as "Everyday Dependable," "One-Dish Meals," "Kids Like It," and "Vegetarian Options." This latter style of division helps define and "domesticate" a vast array of cooking, often enjoyed at times and places foreign to Westerners. Chapters devoted to such sweets as Tapioca and Corn Pudding with Coconut Cream, grilled specialties, and fare for adventurous cooks, such as Aromatic Steamed Fish Curry (more painstaking technically, though not truly difficult) further widen the book's scope. Illustrated throughout with 150 color photos and containing a comprehensive ingredient glossary, the book is a definitive point of entry to a mostly unexplored culinary port of call. --Arthur Boehm


From Publishers Weekly
With their usual ?lan, Alford and Duguid (Flatbreads and Flavors; Seductions of Rice) follow the Mekong River through southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and the Chinese Yunnan region) to bring home a trove of delicious, unusual recipes. Fans of their earlier books may be disappointed to see that their latest volume often revisits earlier themes. Still, there are enough uncommon recipes here to keep even the most inveterate cookbook reader discovering new flavor combinations. (Consider Vietnamese Baked Cinnamon P?t? and Smoked Fish and Green Mango.) As in their other books, the authors display a specificity and a knowledge of this part of the world that is staggering, as well as a heartfelt reverence for the foods that "real" people eat. Vietnamese Beef Ball Soup, for example, is commonly sold by street vendors, and Shan Salad with Cellophane Noodles was picked up from an acquaintance who lives on the Shan State-Thai border. The provenance of each recipe is provided so that readers may clearly distinguish between multifaceted Thai cuisine and French-influenced Vietnamese foods such as Saigon Subs on baguettes. One-page mini-essays on the pair's travel experiences are truly a treat; they cover topics such as fermented fish and the city of Vientiane. With this third book, Alford and Duguid prove that they are fast producing a body of work that commands serious admiration. The hypnotic black-and-white cover photo of a teapot in soft focus will have book buyers lingering in the aisles. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Los Angeles Times
"Once every five years or so there comes along a cookbook that transcends the category....This is such a work."


Washington Post
"A must for anyone who aspires to visit Asia or simply revisit it in their kitchen."


The New York Times
"...this is a breakthrough book. "Hot Sour Salty Sweet" is a major contribution to the field."


Christian Science Monitor
"Alford and Duguid's tastes and talents...are elegantly pressed between the covers of this handsome book."


Book Description
The culinary map of Southeast Asia is about to change, if award-winning cookbook authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid have their way. Realizing that the wonderful flavors of Southeast Asia spill over national borders, Alford and Duguid set out to eat their way through the region's towns and villages, all the while collecting recipes, cooking techniques, stories, and photographs. In Hot Sour Salty Sweet, dishes like Spicy Grilled Beef Salad and Vietnamese Chicken with Fresh Herbs appear side by side with more exotic treats like Jungle Curry from Thailand and Pomelo Salad from Cambodia. There are simple warming soups, easy stir-fries, brilliant, hot salsas, and cooling desserts. Evocative stories and photographs of their travels also appear throughout.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
If the authors are right, Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet will be the important cookbook of the next decade. The authors, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, seasoned writers and photographers of the world, tell us the foods of the Mekong River region will be as important an influence on the cooking of the next couple of generations as the Mediterranean region has been in flavoring that of the past few. Subtitled A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia, this volume is the diary of the authors' adventures, culinary and otherwise, as they followed the Mekong River through Southeast Asia. This diary has produced a wonderfully adventurous book by two gifted and daring authors.

The two previous books by Alford and Duguid, Flatbreads and Flavors: A Baker's Atlas and Seductions of Rice serve as but a hint of what was to come. And they were both award-winning, tantalizing cookbooks! This new book is so inviting as it introduces the reader to the authentic foods from which so much of contemporary American-Asian culinary ideas have sprung. By giving us the real thing -- both recipe and cultural influence -- the authors offer us the opportunity to expand on the original in our own unique way -- just as we have done with Mediterranean cooking.

Traveling throughout Southeast Asia since the 1970s, Alford and Duguid (husband and wife, as well as the parents of two equally adventurous sons, Dominic and Tashi) have experienced and observed the changes brought about by war and cultural evolution. By following the Mekong -- which threads from Yunnan in southern China through Burma and Laos and then turns south into Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam -- the authors were able to document the culinary traditions that unite the region. Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet are, in fact, the flavors that come together to make the foods of the area so enticing.

As the authors say, "That uniquely wonderful food, the food we'd originally been introduced to in Thailand, we came to realize, was unique to an entire region, not to just one country."

As the authors followed the river, they choose to stay in small villages whenever possible, with village life becoming their point of reference. "Perhaps it is because we are foreigners and have so much to learn. In a village, we can see how rice grows and how it is harvested. We can watch as noodles are made by hand, first by pounding soaked rice into a paste, then by pushing the paste through a sieve into boiling water. We can observe how a household fish pond works, and how river fish are fermented to make padek and prahok. In villages we feel we see the foundations of the cuisine, the building blocks. They are more visible, more accessible." Even this tiny bit lures the reader into the journey.

To further quote Alford and Duguid: "Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet: A Culinary Journey through Southeast Asia is a cookbook, a photo essay, a journey down a river, and an introduction to one of the world's great culinary regions. It is also, because so much of the research and travel and recipe work was done with our two sons, Dominic and Tashi, a family tale, a diary. Food and life, we rationalize to ourselves, reflect forever in each other." Reading and savoring their words, I longed to follow their journey and re-create the cuisine they so brilliantly document, but for the moment, I was happy to settle into my pillows and let them lead the way. This is a truly marvelous cookbook!

--Judith Choate

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The culinary map of Southeast Asia is about to change, if award-winning cookbook authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid have their way. Realizing that the wonderful flavors of Southeast Asia spill over national borders, Alford and Duguid set out to eat their way through the region's towns and villages, all the while collecting recipes, cooking techniques, stories, and photographs. In Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, dishes like Spicy Grilled Beef Salad and Vietnamese Chicken with Fresh Herbs appear side by side with more exotic treats like Jungle Curry from Thailand and Pomelo Salad from Cambodia. There are simple warming soups, easy stir-fries, brilliant, hot salsas, and cooling desserts. Evocative stories and photographs of their travels also appear throughout.

Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid are cooks, writers, photographers, and great travelers. Their first book, Flatbreads and Flavors: A Baker's Atlas, was the 1996 James Beard Cookbook of the Year and the IACP/Julia Child Best First Book. Seductions of Rice, their second book, was Cuisine Canada's cookbook of the year. Their articles and photographs appear frequently in Food & Wine, Gourmet, and Fine Cooking magazines. They live in Toronto with their two sons.

FROM THE CRITICS

Washington Post

A must for anyone who aspires to visit Asia or simply revisit it in their kitchen.

Los Angeles Times

Once every five years or so there comes along a cookbook that transcends the category....This is such a work.

Christian Science Monitor

Alford and Duguid's tastes and talents...are elegantly pressed between the covers of this handsome book.

Gourmet

The authors of Flatbreads and Flavors and Seductions of Rice seduce us yet again with this culinary journey.

Entertainment Weekly