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Rick Stein's Taste of the Sea
by Rick Stein

Going only by the enthusiasm bursting out of this cookbook, the easy money says that Rick Stein, author of Taste of the Sea (and star of a British TV cooking show of the same title), is to seafood cookery what Richard Simmons is to weight loss. Stein opened a seafood restaurant in 1975 and has witnessed the rise in popularity of fish and shellfish in Great Britain in the intervening years. The same rising arc is true for the United States.

Stein breaks his cookbook into sections dedicated to choosing, prepping, and cooking techniques as well as basic recipes for stocks, sauces, flavored butters, and dressings. The fish and shellfish recipes he divides into oily fish, Mediterranean fish, round fish, flat fish, large fish, crustaceans, shellfish, and then a collection of soups, stews, and pies. He includes a list of fish alternatives for the American and Australian markets, where some of the British and European fish won't be available.

Take equal measures of passion for seafood and delight in brilliant flavors from Asia, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and North Africa, and you'll have a sense of how Stein enlivens his seafood recipes. Sure, you'll find salmon in sorrel sauce, or seafood thermidor, but that's just the comfort food side of this book. Look also for a Thai seafood salad, a Goan shark curry, and a Dover sole with cilantro, cumin, and chiles. This book is a good place to start for those who need a little extra nudge in the seafood direction.

Schuyler Ingle

Stephen Pile, The Daily Telegraph:
The greatest food writers, Elizabeth David and M. F. K. Fisher, give a euphoric sense that food is part of life, one pleasure among a whole bundle that includes love and the smell of rain and so forth. Stein does exactly this.

Simply cooked fish from a down-to-earth cook! (27 September 2005)
Reviewer: amazonreviewer

'In 1995, Rick Stein brought the taste of fish into thousands of British homes with his ground-breaking TV series and best-selling book, 'Taste of the Sea'. Reluctant fish-eaters were won over by the simple flavours and no-fuss approach of Rick's cooking, and by the sheer enthusiasm of this charismatic cook. 'Fruits of the Sea' contains over 100 fabulous new fish recipes to cater for all occasions and palates. As well as contemporary recipes, Rick has created some hot and spicy dishes inspired by his travels in Asia and Australia. To encourage us to include more fish in our diet, but realising that most cooks are busy people, Rick provides a range of recipes that can be prepared in half an hour. For more adventurous cooks, and those really special occasions, there are a selection of exquisite and elegant dishes. And to end, by popular request from his Cornwall restaurant devotees, Rick provides a selection of the most tempting desserts imaginable, such as 'Baked Chocolate Mousse with Cornish Clotted Cream' (WOW!!!).

With his classic 'Taste of the Sea' and now its perfect new partner, 'Fruits of the Sea', Rick has at last restored fish cookery to its rightful place on Britain's culinary map.'

224 high quality pages with colour photographs throughout. Split into chapters:- Intro, Preparing Fish, Unusual Ingredients, Soups, Stews and clear Broths, Light Lunch Dishes, Hot and Spicy Fish, Deep-fried Fish, Summer Fish and Salads, Fish from Colder Climates, Elegant Fish Dishes, Quick and Simple Fish, Hand-held and Pastry Food, Food to Finish With, Basics, Listing of American, Australian and New Zealand Fish, Alternative Fish, Concise Index.

Our favourite recipes:
'Cullen Skink', 'Seafood Paella', 'Fillet of Bass on a Crisp Risotto Cake with Saffron Sauce', 'The Finest Seafood in a Small Ragout with a Deep Red Wine Sauce', 'Mussels with a Cream and White Wine Sabayon', 'Whelk Fritters'and 'Mussels with Tomato, Celery and Saffron Butter'.

And as for those puds:
'Pear Bavarois with a Fresh Passion Fruit Coulis', 'Creme Brulée Ice Cream', 'Hot Bread Pudding with Armagnac Sauce' and ......, wait for it..........'Sticky Toffee Pudding'.....!

A superb book and at a brilliant price, as always, on Amazon today.

A superb introduction to seafood (5 June 2005)
Reviewer: Reviewing ceased (Scotland)

I have to admit it, I love Rick Stein . . . purely platonically, you understand. He presents some of the most distinctive and thoroughly enjoyable cookery programmes on British television. I love seafood . . . . purely gastronomically, you understand. As a Scot it would be a treasonable offence to suggest that I did not. And Stein brings to the cooking of seafood a cerebral, acerbic, yet almost visceral passion which is more infectious than a hospital superbug and which inspires you to venture into new experiences and new flavours.

Fortunately, I have an excellent fishmonger in the centre of town. That helps a lot. There are few areas in the British Isles which are more than a few miles distant from the seashore (or loch, lough, lake, river, or stream). One of Stein's most potent messages is his frequent exhortation to make use of your local fishmonger and support local seafood restaurants. We can all play a part in encouraging local fishing and sustainable harvesting of the seas and rivers.

Stein offers an excellent introduction, here, evoking the flavour of a small fishing port, extolling the virtues of fish as a healthy foodstuff, and talking the reader through the subject - the book pictures a wide variety of seafood and parallels this with an apprenticeship in how to prepare each. As I say, visceral pleasures (the gutting of squid is a particularly amazing experience). But, for the squeamish, a good fishmonger will tackle the beheading and evisceration for you!

Stein offers a wide range of recipes - he describes fish stocks and sauces, leads you into the wonderful adventure that is soup, talks you though stews and pies, and on to stand alone fish dishes (if you can cope with the notion of a fish standing). He looks at indigenous British seafood and Mediterranean varieties - flat and round, shellfish and crustacean.

The pages are beautifully illustrated, the recipes well explained and easy to follow. It's a book which is complemented by watching Stein on the TV - try to capture some of that amazing enthusiasm and passion. It's never mentioned in any recipe, but the one thing you need to bring to fish cooking is passion - sprinkle each meal with love. Treat the fish with respect - nurture the flavours and offer them up as a benison.

The value of the book, the value of Rick Stein's television programmes is in stimulating that passion, encouraging you to enjoy, to experiment, to explore, to get a feel for your local food suppliers. If you're inexperienced in cooking, you can feel self-conscious about asking your fishmonger (or butcher, or greengrocer) for advice: most are only too happy to help, and the good ones are a mine of hints and information. Rick Stein's Taste of the Sea is one of my favourite cookbooks, one to which I regularly return for ideas and inspiration. Mouthwatering!

Essential (13 April 2005)
Reviewer: A reader

I have used this book so many times that the pages have become completely covered with stray ingredients, and I am thinking of boiling it up to make a nice stock.

Mouth watering seafood recipes (4 March 2005)
Reviewer: "ringgo11"

Oh my! If I had access to fresh seafood, I wouldn't mind trying many of the recipes. I read this book like a novel, front to back!! I did manage to try a few simple recipes, like the salt and pepper prawns. Maybe not as many photos of the recipes as I would have liked, but the ones pictured were superb.
A constant reference, and gives a good guide for preparing seafood in the beginning.

If you want to order a copy of the book - click here (USA)

If you want to order a copy of the book - click here (UK)

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