Cookbook Reviews

The first cookbook I reviewed was 365 Vegetarian Soups by Gregg R. Gillespie. Gillespie does a great job of establishing his argument by stating facts in the introduction. He mentions that certain people believe vegetarian soups are "rabbit food" and not fit for human consumption. He then goes on to explain the Thai and Chinese influences of the soups in his cookbook. He also provides a listing of the health benefits of vegetarian soups.

This cookbook, targeted at vegetarians, does a great job of adhering to its theme. In addition to well- categorized recipes Gillespie includes tips about the soup making process, including a section entitled "Preparing Great Soups".

365 Vegetarian Soups has a well chosen cover (above) which shows a picture of a soup in a beautiful, shiny black gourd. The recipes inside, in contrast, are simply written in black text with a plain font and include no pictures save the clip-art type gray scale graphics included with a few recipes. This cookbook includes recipes presented simply Gillespie could have improved upon his cookbook by including a few color pictures of soups in every section. The black and white images, however, do not necessarily detract from the cookbook.

I was drawn to the second cookbook not only because of its beautiful cover, but also because of its content. Divine: Heavenly Chocolate Recipes with a Heart was put together by Linda Collister. This is the perfect book for chocolate lovers. Collister establishes her argument by telling the reader the story of the cocoa farmers of Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana, who began their own chocolate company and their own union to battle government oppression. The proceeds from this cookbook go to them. In addition to advertising their chocolate, this cookbook gives an outlet for their story and allows Collister to connect with her reader, a feat not always necessary for the author of a cookbook.

This cookbook is beautifully organized with the different sections separated by title pages the color of rich chocolate and titles in gold lettering. The ingredients of each recipe are written in gold and can be found on the left side of the page, while baking instructions are found in the center.

The visual aspects of Divine are stunning. There are crisp pictures of many of the creations, which make the reader want to bake right after putting the book down. The cover is decorated with beautiful Adinkra West African symbols, all of which Collister provides a glossary for in the first few pages. Divine is a culinary and aesthetic masterpiece.

These are Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies. The recipe can be found in Divine: Heavenly Chocolate Recipes with a Heart by Linda Collister.