A cookbook masked as a comic book. Sounds kind of crazy right? But it actually makes total sense when the cookbook is written by James Beard award-winning chef Ken Oringer and his daughter Verveine Oringer. But to totally understand it a small backstory is needed.
You see, Verveine was diagnosed with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder which affects 1 out of 133 Americans. And those who have a gluten sensitivity/non-celiac gluten intolerance encompasses 15% of the U.S. population. In my opinion both are pretty significant. Especially when you know the symptoms and side effects. And believe me I do.
So, what exactly is celiac disease? It is a disease that damages the small intestine and is triggered by gluten. Ugh! In a nutshell, gluten is a natural protein that can be added to foods to increase protein levels, create texture – think of thickening gravy – adds flavor and holds foods together. It’s why dough is stretchy. This protein can be found in wheat, barley, and rye. Yeah, it is in all the good stuff like pasta, bread, and cereals.
Back to Verveine. Now faced with this condition she and her family did find gluten-free foods that were, shall we say, not so great. A no bueno in my book. But if you look carefully, you can find a bright side to just about every situation and in Verveine’s case it was her chef dad. Together they created many gluten-free recipes and their combined culinary efforts resulted in a totally gluten-free cookbook – Cooking with My Dad, the Chef from America’s Test Kitchen.
On To The Review
Right from the beginning this cookbook is a winner. The pictures of the Oringer family and the comics, which are really cool, provide a personal touch that will keep you wanting to flip the pages just to see what happens next.
We all know the basic categories in a cookbook but this one has recipes specific to eating food with your hands — and for some of us this can be really fun. What a great idea for the young and young at heart!
As with all the America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks this one explains how to use the cookbook and kitchen safety tips. The tips are unique because they are geared to the young chef and adult supervision is more than adequately stressed.
Full disclosure, I am one of those individuals who suffers from a gluten sensitivity and have also tried many gluten-free foods, but like the Oringer’s, I found them less than palatable. Example: I bought a brand of gluten-free pasta and after I cooked it and mixed it in the sauce the pasta completely fell apart. Never mind that it was like chewing wax. The section devoted to their favorite gluten-free pasta, noodles, and flours will definitely make my shopping easier. (I’ve already found a new gluten-free pasta I love). After all, if you can’t trust a chef, who can you trust?
The section of essential prep steps is quite complete and again geared to the young cook. It covers the basics from how to measure liquids and solids to separating eggs and chopping some common ingredients found in many recipes. And it actually answered a question I have when preparing a recipe: What exactly does season with salt and pepper to taste mean? They have the answer.
Let’s Talk Recipes
Each recipe tells you what level cook it is designed for, serving size, and total time. All good stuff to know. The directions are straight and right to the point. I don’t know about you but I really hate reading a recipe more than three times to figure something out. Best of all the pictures of the finished entree are so large there is no doubt about what the finished product should look like. As a cute addition there is a blurb about each recipe from Verveine.
Looking through the book to figure out which recipes to share was difficult. Being a pasta and rice lover Coppa Bolognese (pasta with meat sauce) and Paella caught my eye. Ironically, someone asked if I had a granola recipe the day I was looking at the cookbook and there it was, Celine’s Granola. Take a peek at all three recipes and see what you think.
Disguised as a comic book, Cooking with My Dad, the Chef is a must for any individual suffering from celiac disease or gluten sensitivities. The personal touches throughout the book will make you feel you are indeed cooking with Verveine and Chef Ken right in their kitchen. And now that this cookbook review is done my plan is to skip my bookshelf, put it right in my kitchen and give the Coppa Bolognese a try. Bon appetit!
