A new cookbook by chef Pete Evans and it’s all Paleo! I am Paleo, so I was very excited to get this book. And even though I had high expectations it did not disappoint. You know how having too high expectations can lead to an anti-climax. ”The Paleo Chef” starts off with a short chapter on Paleo, why it is a lifestyle and not a diet or fad. Why it is so much better for you to eat Paleo, and why quality of food matters. Very condensed, but the basics of the Paleo lifestyle are all covered.
The recipes are great, the ones I have tried were all easy to make and super yummie. Maybe not a beginner’s book, I did not find it completely ”easy” and ”fast”. Probably for a real chef they are, but for a run-of-the-mill home cook they are quite involved. Actually very exciting!!! Be prepared to add to your grocer’s list: all recipes have quite a large number of ingredients, even though I already have a Paleo Pantry, this book gave me more to discover. It is definitely quite ”haute cuisine”. For me that is part of the appeal of this book, I already have more simple Paleo cook books.
The dessert section will delight. You really don’t have to miss out on delicious food when going Paleo. Try it for a month, and then have a real good look and sniff at that bread you used to love so much, quite possible you will find it nasty and musty tasteless stuff. The only times I still eat some bread is when I go back to Europe and get juicy full grain and seed artisan breads hot from the baker’s oven.
I made the breakfast dish ”Asparagus with soft-boiled eggs & bone marrow broth” as an hors d’ oeuvre for a dinner party. It was delicious and the guests loved it. I did not mention the bone marrow until everybody had said how much they liked it because some people get squeamish when it’s not the same old boring red meat. But I must say nobody batted an eyelid. This must have been because the dish was so very good. And as an extra I finally managed to cook the perfect soft-boiled eggs.
I am really happy to have a cookbook which tackles stuff like bone marrow and liver as well as your normal cuts of meat. Pete Evans advocates nose-to-tail eating.
I noticed one little mistake, on page 180, (”Mark Sisson’s chocolate bark”, a favorite!) when it’s about boiling ”au-bain-Marie”, it says ”make sure water isn’t touching bowl”, of course they must have meant ”should not touch the pan” the whole point of au-bain-Marie is that your inner bowl or pan only touches the water.
There is one recipe per page, a beautiful large photo on the other page. Every recipe has a short introduction, which is interesting and fun, a (long) list of ingredients, and the instructions. Simple and easy to work with.
I like the layout, the recipes are divided in chapters:
- Breakfast
- Vegetables, sides and snacks
- Seafood
- Poultry
- Meat
- Dessert
The hard cover book is beautiful, case bound, quality paper with full color large photos. I am glad it is so well bound because this book will get a lot of use.
Click here for info about the publisher
I was given this book for free by the publisher in return for a review, however, the views given in this review are entirely my own.
Aafke.Art 