Publishers Weekly
Wells (The Spices of Life and Global Vegetarian Cooking) provides a wide array of appealing and tantalizing vegetarian offerings from all over the globe. From Tanzania's corn-on-the-cob in coconut milk and Greek cheese pies to the Middle East's hummus with several variations and the Sudan's falafel, Wells offers up flavorful and distinctive recipes, most of which are vegan or vegan-adaptable. Main dishes include baked sweet potato casserole from Canada, and creamy mixed vegetable curry from India, among a wealth of others. She also includes appetizing side dishes, sauces, and salads, such as crunchy garlicky potatoes, fiery spinach with chilies, and lentil salad with feta cheese and vegetables. Most recipes are accompanied by luscious full-color photos that serve to whet the appetite as well as demystify dishes for the uninitiated. Ethnic desserts are given their fair due in a wonderful chapter that includes West Africa's banana cake and South Korea's cinnamon buns. Recipes are clear-cut and fairly simple, use mostly easily found ingredients, and do not require a huge amount of time to prepare. Both vegetarians and those simply looking for a way to incorporate more vegetables into their diet will delight in this treasure of a book. (Dec.)
Library Journal
Wells (The World of Street Food) has collected over 120 recipes from readers of the Oxford, UK-based New Internationalist magazine. Cooking directions are in English units and metric, and dishes are indexed by world region, course, and ingredient. The book is filled with color photos of dishes bursting with fresh fruits, beans, and vegetables. Nearly all look lovely but some backfire (the cashew cream in the Fettuccine Alfredo is an unappetizing shade of gray). There is a brief note in the beginning on soy substitutions in place of dairy, but the book offers nothing to those who wish to avoid the many dishes requiring eggs, even in recipes where egg substitutions should be fairly easy, like the Vegeburgers. VERDICT Despite some caveats, this cookbook offers plenty of variety. Dishes are simple to prepare and rarely require more than four steps, a blessing for those just getting interested in meatless cuisine. Recommended.—Mary Schons, Hammond P.L., IN
