We grill year-round. I love trying new recipes and adapting them to work on the grill. It’s a great social outlet for us. My children sit outside with me, or guests and I visit while we wait for the grill to do it’s magic. I had the opportunity to review 25 Essentials: Techniques for Grilling Fish (Harvard Common Press, April 2010) and I have now stepped up my grilling game.
This book exceeded my expectations. It is not a cookbook that consists of 25 recipes. It is a book that has 25 techniques centered around grilling fish. What I love about this book is that each technique has a unique recipe to accompany the “lesson”. I love hands on learning and this book really appealed to my curiousity to learn something new, try something new, and do it step by step! It’s a self-help book on how to grill fish and I love that it also expands my horizon by suggesting, through each recipes preface, other types of fish to make the recipe sinfully delicious. This gives me options at the grocery store because let’s face it, Utah is a desert and we don’t have a Catch of the Day option.
Unlike my other books that might fall into this category, 25 Essential Techniques for Grilling Fish is a hardcover book. I love the metal spiral binding and protected spine as it gives me the luxury of having the book flat while I’m going step by step. The pictures are spectacular. Vibrant colors adorn the pages showing me the finish dish on the page adjacent to the tips, techniques and recipes.
The layout of this book is very user friendly. You can see the list of ingredients on the left with the method and step by step directions on the right. It reads like a cookbook, with simple, step by step instructions that won’t bog you down and leave you confused.
There is a technique on skewering, fish burgers, grilling squid, Cod in a foil packet and more!
I enjoy the diversity of this book with recipes expanding the globe. I learned about fish flavor and texture–there’s a handy chart in the front of the book that explains it all in layman terms.It gave me perspective as to what fish my family would not tolerate (they like mild tasting fish). Gotta love anything that makes dinner time simple.
This book is one in a series that hones in on the technique to be successful in cooking. Other books in the series include: 25 Essentials: Techniques for Planking, 25 Essentials: Techniques for Grilling and 25 Essentials: Techniques for Smoking.
I love the simplistic approach, the diversity of recipes and the ability to learn at my own speed something new to make my cooking more expertise. I love that it is specific to fish so that I can have technique and recipe at a glance.
This is a great resource and works well for anyone who wants to learn to cook or who may be an experienced cook. It expands the ordinary to deliver a feeling of accomplishment. 25 Techniques for Grilling Fish is available through Amazon.
I received a copy of the book mentioned in this post in order to faciliate an honest review. No other compensation was received. The opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor. Others experience may vary.