Trader Vic's Pacific Island Cookbook [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION MY PURPOSE in writing this book is twofold. First, I want to tell you about the foods I have encountered during my travels the past few years. Second, I want to suggest ways in which you can adapt these recipes from other lands to your own use; give you some ideas for making everyday meals festive; tell you how to give successful parties that let you have fun, too. The history of foods and cooking has always fascinated me. I have been intrigued by the history of bread-making, the foods of the early Greeks and Romans, as well as the foods of primitive peoples. No matter how far back you delve, one fact stands out: man's social structure has always revolved around food and its presentation. The basis of hospitality, yesterday and today, is the sharing of food and drink with friends and acquaintances. The success of entertaining depends upon three factors: how well you coordinate your food with your decor; how attractively you present food and drink to your guests; but most important of all, how you welcome your guests and how comfortable you make them feel. The pleasure of entertaining is doing something you have created and planned, and it isn't necessary to spend days or weeks doing this. Some people make cooking a project and take hours to prepare a dish or meal. That's goofy. You are too busy nowadays to make cooking the drudgery it was in the past. Most recipes, excluding those for cakes, breads and certain classical sauces, need not be followed exactly. They can be altered or varied. That's all most recipes really are—just guidelines. The most fun in cooking is improvising and experimenting. In this wonderful country of ours, we are blessed with the greatest array of fresh, frozen, canned and prepared foods in the world. There are spices, condiments and imported specialties