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“When we eat, we travel.” So begins this irresistible tour of the cuisines of the world, revealing what people eat and why in forty cultures. What’s the origin of kimchi in Korea? Why do we associate Argentina with steak? Why do people in Marseille eat bouillabaisse? What spices make a dish taste North African versus North Indian? What is the story behind the curries of India? And how do you know whether to drink a wine from Bourdeaux or one from Burgundy?
Bubbling over with anecdotes, trivia, and lore—from the role of a priest in the genesis of Camembert to the Mayan origins of the word chocolate—The World on a Plate serves up a mélange of recipes, history, and culinary wisdom to be savored by food lovers and armchair travelers alike.
Bubbling over with anecdotes, trivia, and lore—from the role of a priest in the genesis of Camembert to the Mayan origins of the word chocolate—The World on a Plate serves up a mélange of recipes, history, and culinary wisdom to be savored by food lovers and armchair travelers alike.
464 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2014
About the author
Mina Holland
5 books4 followersMina Holland is co-editor of Guardian Cook.
Mina Holland es periodista, escritora y especialista gastronómica en The Guardian. También ha colaborado en medios como The Observer, Waitrose Kitchen o Stylist. Su primer libro, El Atlas Comestible, ha sido traducido a siete idiomas y se ganó la admiración de cocineros como Ferrán Adrià o Paco Roncero. Actualmente es editora de Epicure, el suplemento de la revista Men’s Health.
Mina Holland es periodista, escritora y especialista gastronómica en The Guardian. También ha colaborado en medios como The Observer, Waitrose Kitchen o Stylist. Su primer libro, El Atlas Comestible, ha sido traducido a siete idiomas y se ganó la admiración de cocineros como Ferrán Adrià o Paco Roncero. Actualmente es editora de Epicure, el suplemento de la revista Men’s Health.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
February 10, 2020
Food lovers and armchair travelers alike will savor this tour through the world’s regional cuisines and trademark dishes. As editor of the Guardian’s "Cook" supplement, Mina Holland has traveled all over the world. No matter where she goes, though, “food is a common language.” In her first book, she introduces 39 cuisines with larder lists, a rundown of crucial flavors, and one to four recipes. Maps and diagrams show which spices and chilies are used in different areas. Sidebars present key ingredients such as smoked paprika for Spanish food and salt cod for Portuguese. An especially helpful section discusses minor variations in the sofrito, or lightly fried base of stews, in each cuisine – onion, garlic and celery in Italy vs. onion, pepper and chili for the Caribbean. An explanation of the North/South divide in Indian cooking is another highlight.
Of course, one could split hairs endlessly over the decisions here. For instance, Holland splits France and Spain into four food regions each but lumps together all of Eastern Europe and all of Scandinavia. Poor Germany is reduced to just three cabbage recipes. The book strives for a balance of common imports (hummus and guacamole) and unknown dishes, all the while prioritizing both authenticity and reproducibility at home. Chapters on less familiar food traditions – Middle Eastern, South American and African – may prove more useful than those on Europe. Still, there are recipes to drool over throughout, including Catalan hazelnut soup, gumbo, peaches in white wine and jerk chicken.
Of course, one could split hairs endlessly over the decisions here. For instance, Holland splits France and Spain into four food regions each but lumps together all of Eastern Europe and all of Scandinavia. Poor Germany is reduced to just three cabbage recipes. The book strives for a balance of common imports (hummus and guacamole) and unknown dishes, all the while prioritizing both authenticity and reproducibility at home. Chapters on less familiar food traditions – Middle Eastern, South American and African – may prove more useful than those on Europe. Still, there are recipes to drool over throughout, including Catalan hazelnut soup, gumbo, peaches in white wine and jerk chicken.
July 24, 2015
I'm sure it's absolutely no surprise by this point that I love food. Reading about it, cooking it, eating it, traveling to find it. I am constantly trying to learn new things about different ingredients and cuisines, which is why I thought this book would be perfect. Plus, the cover is absolutely gorgeous. However, I was overall left disappointed with this book.
This collection of facts and recipes is divided first by continent, then by country, then by either the city or the region. I did appreciate the specificity, but I thought the layout was needlessly complicated. But I appreciate the organization factor, so I wasn't bothered too much by this.
Part of why I didn't enjoy reading this is the tone. Often times, when I read memoirs or food-travel books, the tone sucks me into the story, and makes me feel like I'm with them, or makes me want to be with them, enjoying the food alongside them. This wasn't the case for The World on a Plate. The overall tone was snobby and a bit condescending. This was heightened by the use of uncommon ingredients without much explanation, or without much information on how to substitute or work around those ingredient restrictions.
I also wasn't really a fan of the representation of regions by their dishes. I can only speak for America, since I have only lived in this country. But if you were to represent our nation's diverse set of cuisines, there is way more than just Louisiana and California- the only two states included in our section. Similarly, there's bias shown in the included recipes, where she states that she doesn't like ingredients of these traditional dishes, and offers HER take on it- which isn't always traditional at all, so I'm not too sure on the authenticity of some of the dishes that are in here. Plus, some of the representative dishes don't really need recipes at all- things like salad, baked cheese, and tapenade.
It's clear that this book is way more about the ingredients than the travel itself, but somehow it manages to still focus more on fact than the recipes themselves. Like I said, there are few advise pieces on how to adapt or substitute things, and there are also no pictures, which is something that I look for in each cookbook I purchase. It's true that there are 100 recipes in here, but I felt like they weren't very well thought out or appreciated to the extent that the text in between was.
That being said, there are recipes included in this collection that I would definitely love to make and try. Some of these include Upside Down Plum Cake (France), Borscht (Eastern Europe), and Coconut Fish Curry (India). Despite the lack of development and pictures, this book still includes a wide variety of recipes from different places, using different ingredients, and that require different levels of skill. Some are quite complex, while salads and the like are quite basic. I appreciate this amount of difference.
no pictures
There's lots of good ingredient facts and information as well, including a list of further reading which I will have to take a closer look at.
I think this is a nice gift for the well seasoned traveler or Eat, Pray, Love fan, but not so much for those wanting more of a standard cookbook. I feel new cooks will be put off by the tone and uncommon ingredients, while the more seasoned cooks will find new appreciations for different cuisines.
I received this book in exchange for my honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.
This collection of facts and recipes is divided first by continent, then by country, then by either the city or the region. I did appreciate the specificity, but I thought the layout was needlessly complicated. But I appreciate the organization factor, so I wasn't bothered too much by this.
Part of why I didn't enjoy reading this is the tone. Often times, when I read memoirs or food-travel books, the tone sucks me into the story, and makes me feel like I'm with them, or makes me want to be with them, enjoying the food alongside them. This wasn't the case for The World on a Plate. The overall tone was snobby and a bit condescending. This was heightened by the use of uncommon ingredients without much explanation, or without much information on how to substitute or work around those ingredient restrictions.
I also wasn't really a fan of the representation of regions by their dishes. I can only speak for America, since I have only lived in this country. But if you were to represent our nation's diverse set of cuisines, there is way more than just Louisiana and California- the only two states included in our section. Similarly, there's bias shown in the included recipes, where she states that she doesn't like ingredients of these traditional dishes, and offers HER take on it- which isn't always traditional at all, so I'm not too sure on the authenticity of some of the dishes that are in here. Plus, some of the representative dishes don't really need recipes at all- things like salad, baked cheese, and tapenade.
It's clear that this book is way more about the ingredients than the travel itself, but somehow it manages to still focus more on fact than the recipes themselves. Like I said, there are few advise pieces on how to adapt or substitute things, and there are also no pictures, which is something that I look for in each cookbook I purchase. It's true that there are 100 recipes in here, but I felt like they weren't very well thought out or appreciated to the extent that the text in between was.
That being said, there are recipes included in this collection that I would definitely love to make and try. Some of these include Upside Down Plum Cake (France), Borscht (Eastern Europe), and Coconut Fish Curry (India). Despite the lack of development and pictures, this book still includes a wide variety of recipes from different places, using different ingredients, and that require different levels of skill. Some are quite complex, while salads and the like are quite basic. I appreciate this amount of difference.
no pictures
There's lots of good ingredient facts and information as well, including a list of further reading which I will have to take a closer look at.
I think this is a nice gift for the well seasoned traveler or Eat, Pray, Love fan, but not so much for those wanting more of a standard cookbook. I feel new cooks will be put off by the tone and uncommon ingredients, while the more seasoned cooks will find new appreciations for different cuisines.
I received this book in exchange for my honest review. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.
April 3, 2015
Mina Holland is an acting editor of Guardian Cook and the author of this incredible book which can only be described as deliciously appetising. I am hopeless in the kitchen and I have never read a book on cooking, but as its name suggests a good amount of traveling is involved in this novel.So bear in mind that this is the review of a lay person, more interested in traveling and eating than in cooking.
" When we eat, we travel " is the first sentence of the introduction and that is something that cannot be denied. We may travel as far as a distant country or we may just travel to another region of our own one, but it is thanks to food that we get to know a great deal about the culture of a country and its people.
The cuisines of 39 regions are described in this atlas with great accuracy in my opinion. At the end of each chapter two recipes appear which will enable any amateur cook to recreate foreign delicacies at home.
In the chapter about France , the Loire seems to the author" ....a landscape of storybooks and fairy tales , with knight on colourfully decorated steeds, damsels with plaited hair and courtship in the mazes of the immaculate chateaux gardens..."
These are the gardens of the beautiful Château de Chenonceau located in that area.
In the chapter about Catalonia , the author mentions a very simple and typical dish:..." pa amb tomaquet (literally bread with tomato) lightly toasted crusty bread onto which a little garlic is rubbed,oil drizzled and a whole tomato squeezed and emptied from its skin into a kind of light red mush.."
This was my clumsy attempt to makePa amb Tomaquet, I should have squeezed the tomato harder.
Continuing with Spain , we learn the difference between two famous types of ham:"jamón serrano (younger,lighter,pinker ham which is cured at high altitudes ) and jamón ibérico ( made from the meat of acorn-fed black hoofed pigs , which makes it darker and richer)." She also talks about buñuelos de bacalao (salt cod deep-fried in a crisp batter) which Mina had in Málaga.
The chapter about Italy was one of my favourite ones, since I love Italian food. According to the writer the best way to make tomato sauce is : " to empty a tin of tomatoes into a saucepan with two halves of an onion face down and a generous chunk of butter, all of which must be covered and left to simmer on the smallest flicker of flames for 45 minutes".
One of the many things that I didn't know is that the cheese Grana Padano comes from the town of Piacenza and it is used as a cheaper alternative to Parmesan cheese; but I happen to prefer the first one because of its original flavour.Blood oranges, however , are said to have originated in Sicily because of the changes in temperature caused by Mount Etna.
Gnocchi with cheese from a restaurant in Piacenza.
The description of Vietnamese cuisine could not have been complete without including my favourite soup : pho" a light brothy and highly restorative noodle soup", there is even a recipe for beef pho which will certainly appeal to food lovers.
Delicious Beef Pho eaten at the Vietnamese restaurant in Suria KLCC
Argentinians eat beef in a very different way, since asados (grilled meat) are a traditional dish in that country. "Big asados are things of horrific beauty, mosaics of flesh , from hunks of tenderloin or slow-cooked ribeye stead to twists of sausage (morcilla blood sausage or chorizo, often alongside a wedge of melted cheese known as provoleta),mollejas (sweetbreads) and a whole host of offal." Vegetarians should abstain from even looking at it , but carnivores will enjoy themselves thoroughly.
Most of the desserts in Argentina include Dulce de Leche, made with condensed milk,which readers can make following the recipe that appears in the chapter and those who lack the ability can buy in a shop that sells foreign products . It is difficult to find and pricey but worth the trouble. A teaspoonful after a long day is heaven in your mouth.
The chapters about China are preceded by this Cantonese proverb: Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible.Although this saying could apply to many cultures , if you have been to China , you know that it is especially true there.After reading it I craved for dim sum from Hong Kong and those delightful glutinous rice balls (tang yuan) from Chengdu.
Dim sum for breakfast in Hong Kong.
Glutinous rice balls in a street stall in Chegdu.
Would you like to read the end of this review and see the pictures of more strange street food that crawls, my first homemade edible sushi and a good Mexican meal? Continue reading it on The Leisure Diaries
" When we eat, we travel " is the first sentence of the introduction and that is something that cannot be denied. We may travel as far as a distant country or we may just travel to another region of our own one, but it is thanks to food that we get to know a great deal about the culture of a country and its people.
The cuisines of 39 regions are described in this atlas with great accuracy in my opinion. At the end of each chapter two recipes appear which will enable any amateur cook to recreate foreign delicacies at home.
In the chapter about France , the Loire seems to the author" ....a landscape of storybooks and fairy tales , with knight on colourfully decorated steeds, damsels with plaited hair and courtship in the mazes of the immaculate chateaux gardens..."
These are the gardens of the beautiful Château de Chenonceau located in that area.
In the chapter about Catalonia , the author mentions a very simple and typical dish:..." pa amb tomaquet (literally bread with tomato) lightly toasted crusty bread onto which a little garlic is rubbed,oil drizzled and a whole tomato squeezed and emptied from its skin into a kind of light red mush.."
This was my clumsy attempt to makePa amb Tomaquet, I should have squeezed the tomato harder.
Continuing with Spain , we learn the difference between two famous types of ham:"jamón serrano (younger,lighter,pinker ham which is cured at high altitudes ) and jamón ibérico ( made from the meat of acorn-fed black hoofed pigs , which makes it darker and richer)." She also talks about buñuelos de bacalao (salt cod deep-fried in a crisp batter) which Mina had in Málaga.
The chapter about Italy was one of my favourite ones, since I love Italian food. According to the writer the best way to make tomato sauce is : " to empty a tin of tomatoes into a saucepan with two halves of an onion face down and a generous chunk of butter, all of which must be covered and left to simmer on the smallest flicker of flames for 45 minutes".
One of the many things that I didn't know is that the cheese Grana Padano comes from the town of Piacenza and it is used as a cheaper alternative to Parmesan cheese; but I happen to prefer the first one because of its original flavour.Blood oranges, however , are said to have originated in Sicily because of the changes in temperature caused by Mount Etna.
Gnocchi with cheese from a restaurant in Piacenza.
The description of Vietnamese cuisine could not have been complete without including my favourite soup : pho" a light brothy and highly restorative noodle soup", there is even a recipe for beef pho which will certainly appeal to food lovers.
Delicious Beef Pho eaten at the Vietnamese restaurant in Suria KLCC
Argentinians eat beef in a very different way, since asados (grilled meat) are a traditional dish in that country. "Big asados are things of horrific beauty, mosaics of flesh , from hunks of tenderloin or slow-cooked ribeye stead to twists of sausage (morcilla blood sausage or chorizo, often alongside a wedge of melted cheese known as provoleta),mollejas (sweetbreads) and a whole host of offal." Vegetarians should abstain from even looking at it , but carnivores will enjoy themselves thoroughly.
Most of the desserts in Argentina include Dulce de Leche, made with condensed milk,which readers can make following the recipe that appears in the chapter and those who lack the ability can buy in a shop that sells foreign products . It is difficult to find and pricey but worth the trouble. A teaspoonful after a long day is heaven in your mouth.
The chapters about China are preceded by this Cantonese proverb: Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible.Although this saying could apply to many cultures , if you have been to China , you know that it is especially true there.After reading it I craved for dim sum from Hong Kong and those delightful glutinous rice balls (tang yuan) from Chengdu.
Dim sum for breakfast in Hong Kong.
Glutinous rice balls in a street stall in Chegdu.
Would you like to read the end of this review and see the pictures of more strange street food that crawls, my first homemade edible sushi and a good Mexican meal? Continue reading it on The Leisure Diaries
November 2, 2014
The recipes seem interesting, but as a whole the book was rather disappointing - in fact a bit boring. Much to my surprise, because the subject does interest me. Beautiful lay out though.
September 14, 2015
To say I was excited about The World on a Plate would be an understatement. It's a collection of all the things I love in life -- talking about food, cooking, and learning about different cultures. So, when I got the email that I'd been approved for an advance copy, I was almost giddy.
The book wasn't really what I expected. It's more of separate informational pieces than anything else. This isn't a bad thing, and I actually learned a lot while reading it. I also got a few ideas for what to do with my CSA vegetables this year, which coincidentally begin on May 26, this book's official release date.
In general, I find it really hard to review nonfiction. What do you say? I guess the main thing that I noticed was that the facts were all there, but everything felt a little haphazard.
There wasn't really any flow between one region and the next, and I couldn't figure out the rationale for the recipes chosen. They're not the most famous or the most popular. Perhaps they're just the author's favorites?
The selection of recipes left a lot to be desired. Take Peru, for example. Ceviche I get, it's a classically Peruvian, very well-known dish. But Peruvian rice? Really? I'd have preferred to see something like lomo saltado, ají de gallina, or even chicha morada! In the section on Ethiopa, injera is mentioned several times, and the author even goes on to suggest where you might find a recipe, but for some reason didn't see fit to include it in her book. She did, however, feel the need to include the Korean soondae (blood sausage encased in pig intestine) only to turn her nose up at it.
I also felt that some of the sections dragged as the descriptions of regional variations became tedious and monotonous. Some chapters come across as almost a little pretentious, as if the author feels that she needs to prove that she knows everything there is to know about Moroccan or Japanese or Thai food. Her (multiple) soliloquies on curry felt a little over-the-top as well. In addition, something was wrong with both versions of this book that I received -- the Kindle copy was garbled almost beyond understanding starting around 80%, and the PDF I received crashed at Africa and refused to keep going. I hope that the final version for sale doesn't have these problems, but it caused me to skim the majority of the last 20%.
Of course, there was some good. There are several recipes I would love to try, provided that my advance copy doesn't expire too quickly. I did also enjoy the realization that cuisine around the world isn't too different. Sure, the proteins might be different, and a spice or two may have changed, but the building blocks are very similar.
Final rating: a low three stars
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy! This book will be released on May 26, 2015.
[see all my reviews at the bibliophagist]
May 15, 2015
An enjoyable literary travelogue on diverse global cuisine and its cultural influences.
Anytime a food writing book includes recipes, I can’t help but feel I’m getting a bonus. She takes it one step further by providing a “pantry list” after each chapter – an added bonus. In addition, she also references other food writing books.
Most fascinating were the historical references – how such events gave birth to emerging palates, and how that then influenced parts of other continents. I appreciated that the author quotes from novels, for example Middlemarch, Things Fall Apart, and The God of Small Things.
Although the book was sectioned off by continents, it felt a bit disjointed. It was broken out further into subsections (for example, a brief monologue on grapes, chilies, spices) and regions. However, once I gave up trying to figure out the lay of the land, I pretty much took each chapter for what it was – the author’s take on the region’s authentic cuisine.
For those who enjoy food literature, truly a great reference to have on your shelf.
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for a fair review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
Anytime a food writing book includes recipes, I can’t help but feel I’m getting a bonus. She takes it one step further by providing a “pantry list” after each chapter – an added bonus. In addition, she also references other food writing books.
Most fascinating were the historical references – how such events gave birth to emerging palates, and how that then influenced parts of other continents. I appreciated that the author quotes from novels, for example Middlemarch, Things Fall Apart, and The God of Small Things.
Although the book was sectioned off by continents, it felt a bit disjointed. It was broken out further into subsections (for example, a brief monologue on grapes, chilies, spices) and regions. However, once I gave up trying to figure out the lay of the land, I pretty much took each chapter for what it was – the author’s take on the region’s authentic cuisine.
For those who enjoy food literature, truly a great reference to have on your shelf.
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for a fair review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
July 25, 2020
Un libro con el cual haces un paseo gastronómico por el mundo y, al mismo tiempo, aporta datos históricos, anécdotas y vivencias personales de la autora. Hay también apetitosas recetas ambientadas en el contexto de los diferentes países.
“No son solo las grandes obras de la humanidad lo que conforma una cultura, sino también lo cotidiano, como lo que come la gente y la forma de servirlo” Laurie Colwin.
“No son solo las grandes obras de la humanidad lo que conforma una cultura, sino también lo cotidiano, como lo que come la gente y la forma de servirlo” Laurie Colwin.
April 22, 2021
The early chapters are clearly the strongest and very enjoyable but it's clear when the author is not as knowledgeable.
Louisiana is one of only two US cuisines included and she almost gets her facts right. BUT while she rightfully calls gumbo a stew in her narrative, she calls it a casserole when she gives her recipe.
So when you hear me mutter casserole to myself whilst dismayed, you will know why.
Louisiana is one of only two US cuisines included and she almost gets her facts right. BUT while she rightfully calls gumbo a stew in her narrative, she calls it a casserole when she gives her recipe.
So when you hear me mutter casserole to myself whilst dismayed, you will know why.
January 19, 2023
Mina Holland takes us on a foodie trip around the world, sharing the cuisines and histories of the cuisines of 40 different cultures. She focuses a great deal of the book on European cuisines, especially France and Italy.
July 12, 2017
Fun idea but not executed well. Had this book for awhile and decided to continue on my food theme to get rid of my to-read piles. The book is what it says in the title: recipes from around the world and the stories behind them. From pho to jerk chicken to gomen stew, etc. the author looks at foods around the world, gives us sample recipes and talks a bit about the specific regional specialties, quirks and sometimes why a food is special to her.
It sounds like a fun, thoughtful idea but the book is awfully boring. Her writing isn't particularly engaging, there are no pictures of the recipes (which didn't bother me but I'm sure it would be a concern for others), and her breakdown is well, bizarre. France, Spain and Italy get specific regional breakdowns while India is divided into North and South India, the US is represented by California and Louisiana (??? as someone who can really only speak on US cuisine this was far too few and narrow of a selection) and many countries like Brazil, Ethiopia, Korea, etc. don't get any region-specific cuisines either.
Yet we get countries lumped together with sections for "West Africa" and "Eastern Europe". I fully realize that many foods can carry over across borders but I just wasn't sure exactly how or why she chose to organize her book the way it was. I suspect it has to do with her familiarity (she lives in London and works for the 'Guardian' newspaper according to the flap) with the country/region but that was odd.
That's about it. It might be a fun book but I think it might have been better if the author had made it more of a memoir of her own personal experiences rather than trying to be general and cover everywhere. She shares some nice memories like how her grandfather used to travel to Thailand and the food she associated with visits. Those bits and pieces were nice but they were also rare (she spent time studying abroad in California, for example, but I really don't know about the recipes she chose).
It was a bargain buy but as you can probably tell I wasn't enthusiastic about it. It might be fun if you really like exploring cultures and countries via food but I'd be skeptical. There are other books that do this better so I'd recommend the library if you're really that curious.
It sounds like a fun, thoughtful idea but the book is awfully boring. Her writing isn't particularly engaging, there are no pictures of the recipes (which didn't bother me but I'm sure it would be a concern for others), and her breakdown is well, bizarre. France, Spain and Italy get specific regional breakdowns while India is divided into North and South India, the US is represented by California and Louisiana (??? as someone who can really only speak on US cuisine this was far too few and narrow of a selection) and many countries like Brazil, Ethiopia, Korea, etc. don't get any region-specific cuisines either.
Yet we get countries lumped together with sections for "West Africa" and "Eastern Europe". I fully realize that many foods can carry over across borders but I just wasn't sure exactly how or why she chose to organize her book the way it was. I suspect it has to do with her familiarity (she lives in London and works for the 'Guardian' newspaper according to the flap) with the country/region but that was odd.
That's about it. It might be a fun book but I think it might have been better if the author had made it more of a memoir of her own personal experiences rather than trying to be general and cover everywhere. She shares some nice memories like how her grandfather used to travel to Thailand and the food she associated with visits. Those bits and pieces were nice but they were also rare (she spent time studying abroad in California, for example, but I really don't know about the recipes she chose).
It was a bargain buy but as you can probably tell I wasn't enthusiastic about it. It might be fun if you really like exploring cultures and countries via food but I'd be skeptical. There are other books that do this better so I'd recommend the library if you're really that curious.
February 29, 2020
I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The World on a Plate by Mina Holland is an epicurean journey. Ms. Holland guides readers through a virtual trip around the world.
The cookbook is organized by continent, and each chapter includes interesting facts about the area and the native cuisine. Of particular interest are the discussions of grape regions in France and the regional spice mixtures from a variety of areas in the Middle East and India. The selection of recipes representing each area of the globe are mouthwatering. My stomach was growling from the Apple Tart Normande to Boeuf en Daube from Provence. Zucchini cream soup from Spain, Portoguese Almond Cake, and Tagliatelle Bolognese will have readers running to the kitchen to try these lip smacking delights. I have to attempt the Bubble and Squeak from the U.K. just because the name is intriguing!
I love Baba Ghanoush and can’t wait to give that recipe a try. The Middle Eastern and Indian recipes all sound exotic. The dishes from the Americas are amazing. From Argentinian Skirt Steak with Chimichurri to Peruvian Ceviche to Jamaican Jerk Chicken the recipes excellently represent the cuisine of the Americas.
Travel enthusiasts and foodies will thoroughly devour this book!
The World on a Plate by Mina Holland is an epicurean journey. Ms. Holland guides readers through a virtual trip around the world.
The cookbook is organized by continent, and each chapter includes interesting facts about the area and the native cuisine. Of particular interest are the discussions of grape regions in France and the regional spice mixtures from a variety of areas in the Middle East and India. The selection of recipes representing each area of the globe are mouthwatering. My stomach was growling from the Apple Tart Normande to Boeuf en Daube from Provence. Zucchini cream soup from Spain, Portoguese Almond Cake, and Tagliatelle Bolognese will have readers running to the kitchen to try these lip smacking delights. I have to attempt the Bubble and Squeak from the U.K. just because the name is intriguing!
I love Baba Ghanoush and can’t wait to give that recipe a try. The Middle Eastern and Indian recipes all sound exotic. The dishes from the Americas are amazing. From Argentinian Skirt Steak with Chimichurri to Peruvian Ceviche to Jamaican Jerk Chicken the recipes excellently represent the cuisine of the Americas.
Travel enthusiasts and foodies will thoroughly devour this book!
June 29, 2015
I can definitely appreciate the background provided by the author on local ingredients and how certain cuisines came to be. It's interesting but not as much as a "travel" book as it's purported to be. The author's biases are prevalent, not only in her descriptions, but also in her omission of many countries. She clearly does not care for some parts of the world, and not just because of their substandard food, according to her. Also, while some countries are addressed individually, others are grouped into regions. At the end of each section, the author includes recipes, some authentic, others "inspired by" the area with her personal modifications. This would have made sense in the context of hard-to-find ingredients but seemed to be a matter of her personal preference. In some recipes, she lists an obscure ingredient with no suggestions for a substitute. I expected a fun, foodie travel book, but her biases were overbearing.
December 30, 2016
The book is an interesting reading for people that like to travel and to eat traditional food.
Every cuisine is introduced with a brief description, traditional food products and spices, and some classical recipes. There are plenty of curious facts. For example, the Italian "Prosciutto di Parma" is made from pigs, fed a strict diet that includes whey from locally made Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, special cereals and chestnuts. And the Spanish "Jamon Iberico" is made from pigs, fed with acorns.
The book emphasizes that 'food is like a journey' and I totally agree with.
Every cuisine is introduced with a brief description, traditional food products and spices, and some classical recipes. There are plenty of curious facts. For example, the Italian "Prosciutto di Parma" is made from pigs, fed a strict diet that includes whey from locally made Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, special cereals and chestnuts. And the Spanish "Jamon Iberico" is made from pigs, fed with acorns.
The book emphasizes that 'food is like a journey' and I totally agree with.
January 27, 2017
Sounded like a great concept. However, the writing was weak (lacking imaginative descriptions) and the recipes banal. Perhaps good for a quick bite at the beach, but lacking substance for a cozy winter dinner!
January 7, 2018
This is a wonderful book to reference for home cooks and people who love food. It's a bit difficult to sit and read in one go since it would be an attempt to retain all the worlds' cuisines in one go, but definitely a staple read I'll go back to in years ahead as I travel and eat more.
October 14, 2018
Loved the premise of this book, but found it jumped a little in style and really got annoyed with the sheer volume of things in footnotes rather than woven into the narrative. This is reflected in the sheer length of time it took me to finish it!
September 29, 2014
Seems like an interesting read. I skimmed it more than read, though, and put it with the recipes books for later and now I feel guilty about not doing it justice.
May 26, 2015
A perfect book for the traveler, historian, and foodie in your life. Mina Holland's writing will simultaneously give you wanderlust and make you hungry.
Longer review to come.
Longer review to come.
December 16, 2015
Part travel book, part cookbook, this is a great read. Enjoyed it, and will try some recipes.
November 9, 2021
I started on a high with this book - the first chapters were enthralling, and it was patent the author holds France, Spain and their cuisines dearly in her stomach and heart. Somewhere towards the end of the Italian section, my enjoyment started a slow decline. Still, only once I came upon Germany, I found myself picking up another book more often than this, which resulted in a longer than usual finish time for me.
Dont get me wrong, I didn't dislike the book; it just started to feel a little monotonous and lacked the author's passion for the leading cuisines. I gained an insight into some countries food I wasn't aware of and enjoyed seeing different cooking tecnşques - I just needed a little more garnish.
With regards to Turkey, I felt a slight letdown. The author stated she chose to explore Instanbul's cuisine rather than other parts of Turkey "because you find there a true cross-section of Turkish food, as in many capital cities...' Moving over the capital city err I don't disagree with her sentiment: Istanbul is a cornucopia of regional influences due to the movement of so many millions of people, both Turkish and foreign, but I think that misses the beautiful specialities that some much of Turkey offers and it would have been wonderful for that to have been explored the way that France, Spain and Italy was.
Turkish cuisine often gets lumped under the heading of Middle Eastern food (mostly correctly, but there should be some sidenotes), and it feels like there is a constant emphasis on meat dishes. Meat from homemade kofte, slow pit-roasted to flavoursome kebabs are of course legendary and done well unforgettable, but there is so much more. On the other hand, Turkey was set aside but so much off the ingredients attrıbuted to other middle eastern countries in the later chapters connected to Turkey and their use here, but they were completely overlooked.
Some vegetable-based dishes were mentioned in the chapter but mainly concerning Ottoman and again Istanbul. It felt like a gaping hole, to not say the comforting butter-laden corn favouring Blacksea with its famous anchovies, nuts and honey. The seafood and greenery rich Aegean and Medieterainian diets, the seasonally adaptive inner Anatolia and the border cities have so much neighbouring influence in the local fare.
Turkish recipes included deep-fried anchovies 'hamsi' - Great and not always found and Beef meatballs 'Köfte', so predictable! (Well maybe lamb would have been more so).
I can't help wishing the author had more time to explore Turkish cuisine, which made me question how detailed the other cuisines were. I'm glad to have read this book, but I think it could have had a little more passion injected into the other countries.
3,5 Stars: Somewhere between I liked it and it was OK
((5 Stars for the simple tomato pasta sauce, though - that was exactly what I'm looking for. ))
Dont get me wrong, I didn't dislike the book; it just started to feel a little monotonous and lacked the author's passion for the leading cuisines. I gained an insight into some countries food I wasn't aware of and enjoyed seeing different cooking tecnşques - I just needed a little more garnish.
With regards to Turkey, I felt a slight letdown. The author stated she chose to explore Instanbul's cuisine rather than other parts of Turkey "because you find there a true cross-section of Turkish food, as in many capital cities...' Moving over the capital city err I don't disagree with her sentiment: Istanbul is a cornucopia of regional influences due to the movement of so many millions of people, both Turkish and foreign, but I think that misses the beautiful specialities that some much of Turkey offers and it would have been wonderful for that to have been explored the way that France, Spain and Italy was.
Turkish cuisine often gets lumped under the heading of Middle Eastern food (mostly correctly, but there should be some sidenotes), and it feels like there is a constant emphasis on meat dishes. Meat from homemade kofte, slow pit-roasted to flavoursome kebabs are of course legendary and done well unforgettable, but there is so much more. On the other hand, Turkey was set aside but so much off the ingredients attrıbuted to other middle eastern countries in the later chapters connected to Turkey and their use here, but they were completely overlooked.
Some vegetable-based dishes were mentioned in the chapter but mainly concerning Ottoman and again Istanbul. It felt like a gaping hole, to not say the comforting butter-laden corn favouring Blacksea with its famous anchovies, nuts and honey. The seafood and greenery rich Aegean and Medieterainian diets, the seasonally adaptive inner Anatolia and the border cities have so much neighbouring influence in the local fare.
Turkish recipes included deep-fried anchovies 'hamsi' - Great and not always found and Beef meatballs 'Köfte', so predictable! (Well maybe lamb would have been more so).
I can't help wishing the author had more time to explore Turkish cuisine, which made me question how detailed the other cuisines were. I'm glad to have read this book, but I think it could have had a little more passion injected into the other countries.
3,5 Stars: Somewhere between I liked it and it was OK
((5 Stars for the simple tomato pasta sauce, though - that was exactly what I'm looking for. ))
June 25, 2022
I loved the premise of this book - though it immediately sets up a wealth of challenges that Holland seems content to stumble over at every opportunity. The lack of balance between cuisines explored is the first thing you notice. France and Spain each have four chapters exploring regional cuisines; Italy has five. Meanwhile the entirety of Africa must suffice with just three chapters, and Eastern Europe is roundly summed up in one collective chapter that is just four and a half pages long.
Holland's writing on certain nations is either painfully naïve or brutally ignorant. There is little to know mention of Palestinian cuisine, bar a throwaway line about how the biggest 'influence' on Israeli food is 'that of the Palestinian Arabs with whom the population shares home soil'. Elsewhere, Holland reels off names of native Mexican chillis, telling us that they sound like 'members of a drug cartel'.
The writing, too, is incredibly repetitive - often explaining concepts or dishes several times over in one chapter, and then doing so once more just for fun in the footnotes. A real waste of what should have been a fascinating and enlightening trip around the world of food.
Holland's writing on certain nations is either painfully naïve or brutally ignorant. There is little to know mention of Palestinian cuisine, bar a throwaway line about how the biggest 'influence' on Israeli food is 'that of the Palestinian Arabs with whom the population shares home soil'. Elsewhere, Holland reels off names of native Mexican chillis, telling us that they sound like 'members of a drug cartel'.
The writing, too, is incredibly repetitive - often explaining concepts or dishes several times over in one chapter, and then doing so once more just for fun in the footnotes. A real waste of what should have been a fascinating and enlightening trip around the world of food.
August 16, 2022
Esse livro é uma delícia, não só pelas receitas que traz, mas principalmente pelas histórias que conta.
A autora, Mina Holland, entrega exatamente isso: "Uma Volta ao Mundo em 40 Cozinhas".
Que privilégio da Mina Holland poder viajar pelo mundo experimentando essa culinária tradicional... Comida do dia a dia dessas regiões.
São muitos detalhes legais sobre as culturas por trás dessa culinária... Isso é a parte mais legal... Os pratos vêem repletos de história e cultura que justificam sua existência...ou seria o contrário? Kkkk... Quando aborda o Brasil fica uma pequena imprecisão ou outra, mas não deixa de ser interessante o olhar dos estrangeiros sobre nossa cultura/história/culinária, as vezes sabendo até mais do que nós mesmos em algumas especificidades sobre nosso gigantesco país...Legal também foi o termo "paneladas" para pratos como feijoada e bobó de camarão. O que não deixa de ser verdade, mas que raramente nos referimos desse modo.
De qualquer forma, esse livro foi inspirador... Deu mais vontade ainda de fazer aquilo que um cozinheiro amador mais gosta de fazer: "Experimentar".
Mãos a massa e panelas ao fogo!!!! E quem sabe tirar meu passaporte também?😳🤭😅
A autora, Mina Holland, entrega exatamente isso: "Uma Volta ao Mundo em 40 Cozinhas".
Que privilégio da Mina Holland poder viajar pelo mundo experimentando essa culinária tradicional... Comida do dia a dia dessas regiões.
São muitos detalhes legais sobre as culturas por trás dessa culinária... Isso é a parte mais legal... Os pratos vêem repletos de história e cultura que justificam sua existência...ou seria o contrário? Kkkk... Quando aborda o Brasil fica uma pequena imprecisão ou outra, mas não deixa de ser interessante o olhar dos estrangeiros sobre nossa cultura/história/culinária, as vezes sabendo até mais do que nós mesmos em algumas especificidades sobre nosso gigantesco país...Legal também foi o termo "paneladas" para pratos como feijoada e bobó de camarão. O que não deixa de ser verdade, mas que raramente nos referimos desse modo.
De qualquer forma, esse livro foi inspirador... Deu mais vontade ainda de fazer aquilo que um cozinheiro amador mais gosta de fazer: "Experimentar".
Mãos a massa e panelas ao fogo!!!! E quem sabe tirar meu passaporte também?😳🤭😅
June 14, 2020
It's not often I give a good book less than a 4... and truthfully, I'm probably leaning closer to a 3.5 on this one. I enjoyed the information, and I finished reading it, so there's that. Some great recipes and some wonderful knowledge on regions and ingredients.
Sadly, America was relegated to Louisiana and California only - which she did warn the reader would be her focus... it just felt lacking in really showing the diversity of American cuisine. This made me wonder how much of the other regions was misrepresented by a clear bias.
Her obvious biases and food snobbishness leaves me feeling like I was just reading another article from an out of touch haute cuisine magazine. Maybe that was her target demographic. I was going for recipes that had ingredients I could find... and was often disappointed with this one.
I'm glad I read it... the info was good... just clearly wasn't written for me.
Sadly, America was relegated to Louisiana and California only - which she did warn the reader would be her focus... it just felt lacking in really showing the diversity of American cuisine. This made me wonder how much of the other regions was misrepresented by a clear bias.
Her obvious biases and food snobbishness leaves me feeling like I was just reading another article from an out of touch haute cuisine magazine. Maybe that was her target demographic. I was going for recipes that had ingredients I could find... and was often disappointed with this one.
I'm glad I read it... the info was good... just clearly wasn't written for me.
June 2, 2017
An interesting jaunt around all parts of the globe, combining information, personal stories, and recipes.
I was surprised by some exclusions (notably Malaysia and Indonesia) but I suppose it is dependent on the author's own experiences. I also would have preferred to see more references to local chefs rather than foreigners, even if they have mastered a certain cuisine. The Thai section, for example, referred to only David Thomson and Rosemary Brissenden - there are many, many Thai chefs with recipe books who could have been included. A shame.
I was surprised by some exclusions (notably Malaysia and Indonesia) but I suppose it is dependent on the author's own experiences. I also would have preferred to see more references to local chefs rather than foreigners, even if they have mastered a certain cuisine. The Thai section, for example, referred to only David Thomson and Rosemary Brissenden - there are many, many Thai chefs with recipe books who could have been included. A shame.
February 18, 2021
Okay liked the book for homeschooling. We are doing around the world in geography and cultures. I try to make different foods from different countries to introduce my kids to. My main downfall was trying to get some of these ingredients in rural Minnesota in the winter. I was able to substitute or skip certain things in some of the recipes. I get misfits market so I was able to source some of the more obscure veggies that we normally would not eat nor be able to get where we live. We tried about 25 recipes from the book.
September 29, 2022
So, I've been telling my girlfriend for ages that I wanted to read a book about the history of culinary.
I've always wandered: how old is this dish? What people created it? Why they chose to cook it this or that way.
She thought this might be THE book. Unfortunately it wasn't.
Buut that's not to say it was all for nothing. This is a really nice cookbook with recipes from all over the world. Plus some personal travel experiences from the author that you might or may not find interesting ( I didn't).
I've always wandered: how old is this dish? What people created it? Why they chose to cook it this or that way.
She thought this might be THE book. Unfortunately it wasn't.
Buut that's not to say it was all for nothing. This is a really nice cookbook with recipes from all over the world. Plus some personal travel experiences from the author that you might or may not find interesting ( I didn't).
November 20, 2018
What a delicious journey around the world! Although each continent only features a few popular countries or regional cuisines, it's certainly a fantastic introductory window into some less well travelled kitchens. I particularly appreciated the links between the development of a region's cuisine and history. A fantastic whistlestop tour!
March 8, 2020
This is a pretty standard cook book.
Holland divides a map up by continent and then by county and shares recipes from the identified countries. There is history of the region and recipes that are shared.
I was hoping for more photos and historical context for the recipes. It reads sort of like a recipe book/travel memoir.
Overall it wasn't what I was expecting.
Holland divides a map up by continent and then by county and shares recipes from the identified countries. There is history of the region and recipes that are shared.
I was hoping for more photos and historical context for the recipes. It reads sort of like a recipe book/travel memoir.
Overall it wasn't what I was expecting.
September 24, 2022
No idea who this is aimed at. Anyone who loves food, and enjoys food writing will already know of the dishes, recipes and cuisines. And anyone who doesn’t wouldn’t pick up a book like this. The writing wasn’t charming enough or interesting enough to overcome. It feels like it’s been cobbled together with no real thought
April 10, 2019
If I, in my long list of things I'd like to write about, could write a book a book like this i'd be mighty happy. An impressively concise read, Mina Holland writes like a very wise friend who has excellent taste and just wants to share her joy with you.
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