Comments on: Tamarind Crab and Secrets of the Red Lantern Cookbook giveaway!

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:02:58 +0000

I like either. I certainly have many cookbooks that are only recipes, but my favorites to read have a bit more to them. Like the travel stories from the Alford/Duguid books and James Oseland’s Cradle Of Flavor. What you are describing though reminds me of The Elephant Walk (Longteine de Monteiro’s memoir of growing up in and escaping Cambodia and opening a restaurant with her husband in the States accompanied by recipes) cookbook which also made me cry.

By: Tracy Griggs

Tracy Griggs — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:14:18 +0000

Well! I would love to own this cookbook..as a devoted foodie, and former vegan and vegetarian personal chef, I discovered that asian and asian inspired foods are the best thing to cook on the planet..bar NONE I happily discovered your blog yesterday and was thrilled to find another tofu fan.

I like cookbooks that offer stories and notes from the chef that are personal in nature. Let’s face it, in its most basic form, food nourishes the body, but my personal philosophy is that it should also nurture the soul. I like that you admitted the cook book required a box of tissues as a companion as you perused its pages. Wonderful photography (like the many inspired shots on your blog) is also a plus for any cookbook worth its proverbial salt. It sounds like this book is a “must have” have folks devoted to this wonderful cuisine.

Kind regards, and Happy New Year!
Tracy

By: Lesliebee

Lesliebee — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:58:11 +0000

I like a mix of reading and recipes in a cookbook. One of my old favorites is “California Home Cooking”. In that one you often get a history lesson along with your dinner.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:52:41 +0000

I like stories and recipes together. It feels more like a relationship that way.

By: Jill, The Veggie Queen

Jill, The Veggie Queen — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:55:25 +0000

I love cookbooks and how they feel in my hand. What I look for– readability in typeface, along with a smattering of stories and easy to prepare recipes. I don’t need photos as sometimes it’s more fun to imagine what it looks like than to actually see it.

Since I write cookbooks and I am a Registered Dietitian, I don’t want or need nutritional information. If you use real food in the recipes, that’s enough for me.

By: Susanna

Susanna — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:59:51 +0000

I definitely enjoy stories in cookbooks because it gives you a feel of where the inspiration for the recipe came from, and makes you feel like someone actually MADE the recipe and enjoyed it! I also like information about the foods involved, whether it’s history of the use of a spice, or health benefits, or tips on how to prepare things, etc. And as many people mentioned, good pictures always draw you in.

By: Anthony Nguyen

Anthony Nguyen — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:03:05 +0000

I love cookbooks with lots of pictures. This book sounds like it is well suited for immigrant American-Vietnamese folks.
Please enter me into the drawing.

Fish Sauce Rules!
AAN

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:25:12 +0000

wow you guys are generous, i’d love to have this cookbook. thanks for the contest.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:23:25 +0000

The best cookbooks combine either well-written history or personal stories about the recipes with solid technique. As far as ingredients go, these are obviously necessary, but I like it when cookbooks are able to trust the reader/cook to make their own decisions about amounts. Baking being the obvious exception.

By: Hui Peoh

Hui Peoh — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:13:58 +0000

Hello Diane and Todd : Happy Lunar New Year.

I was led to your site by Tea and Cookie and I`m very intrigued and awed by the amount of effort you put into your garden. Many of the plants introduce are all very familiar to me. Bookmarked your site right away! And the food definitely look yummy

I was born and raised on a little island in South East Asia called Singapore. My memories of childhood was mostly of food and eating; come to think of it I was eating on an average of 6 meals a day: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, tea time, dinner and finally late night supper before heading off to bed. (It`s amazing I didn`t become obese with so much food. This is probably the virtue of Asian food: eat and stay fit!) Food was so much an integral part of our live that we don`t greet friends or relatives with a “How are you?” but inquire of each other well being with a “Have you eaten?”

However, I can only reminiscence on these lovely memories now. I left my beloved Island-country for Undergrad studies in the States and later married and migrate to Japan. Every now and then I would crave for the lovely smell of spices and all those exotic food that I`ve taken for granted as a kid.

Whenever I`m hit with those pang of cravings for the food I love, I find myself in the kitchen cooking up a storm, improvising and substituting ingredients to get as close to the dishes I love. Surfing the web for recipe of food that I grown up with. During one of the “hunts” I stumbled upon “The Raffles Hotel Cookbook”. It features many food that I love and has since become one of my favorite cookbook. I`ve tried several recipes in it which have brought me many compliments among mine Japanese and Americans co-workers. It`s more of a history like cookbook with plenty of lovely pictures both of food and the hotel: past and present.

Your description of the Red Lantern is making me want to possess and thumb thru the book right away (^^) Vietnamess Noodle soup is one of my favorite food and the rice paper roll too! I definitely need to get a hold of this book to get to know more about the food and culture. I strongly believe that culture, language and food cannot go without one or another; in order to capture the true essence of the cuisine one need to understand the culture to truthly appreciate the taste.

Please, please, please choose me as the winner. It will definitely make a very good Anniversary present for me. My husband and I held our traditional Chinese wedding ceremony in Singapore 12 years ago which also happened to also be the year of Ox!!!! My mom being a believer in fortune telling was told that our marriage will last long and happy if we tie the knots in the year of Ox. I went along with her to please her even tho` I don`t believe much in fortune telling.

Isn`t it very coincidental that I was led to your website in 2009 and revisited your site again just to learn about this lucky draw on the closing day !!

Even if I didn`t win, I would still like to thank you for introducing this book.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.