Booknote: Salsas!

Glenn Andrews, Salsas!  North Adams (MA): Storey Publishing, 1997.

ISBN: 978-0-88266-729-4

Genre: Nonfiction
Subgenre: Food and cooking, recipes.

I have provided the ISBN for the paperback edition. I read it as an e-book using my public library's Overdrive offerings, which actually come from the Kentucky Libraries Unbound. It's stuff like that that makes me like state library consortial deals (though I do have an opinion about Overdrive, but that is another post for another day). Let's get on to my booknote.

This short book contains some brief notes on peppers, followed by some salsa recipes, then some other recipes that integrate salsas such as Haddock with Citrus Salsa or Salsa-Glazed Spareribs. I mostly checked this book out because I wanted to find some easy recipes to attempt making salsas at home. In that regard, the book does not disappoint. It does feature some pretty easy to make recipes. However, there are one or two recipes that stretch the definition of salsa; fruit salsas are fine, but I would not consider guacamole a salsa.

We must also note that the book is not all original; a good number of recipes are excerpted from other cookbooks, making this book more of a compilation. I have no problem with that. To be honest, I like that they are clear when a recipe came from elsewhere, which seems more honest than other recipe books that lift recipes left and right without attribution (actually, there are rules, or at least some etiquette, on this matter). Still, this is a decent basic book if you want to try your hand at making a salsa or two. Most salsas are made to be consumed fairly soon; they may last a few days in your refrigerator at most. However, if you wish to preserve some of your creations, say to give a nice jar to your favorite aunt as a holiday gift, the book does include some basic steps on canning and preserving.

The book is part of the County Wisdom Bulletins published by Storey Publishing, a series that features other topics such as growing tomatos, pickles and relishes, and using garlic.