The Hot Flash Cookbook

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Lucchetti Home on the Range, 1993 mixes fashionable cookery with food therapy to address menopause, which she considers "one of the lifestyle issues of the nineties." Although she researched menopause to introduce her recipes, Lucchetti's comments are not particularly illuminating. Noting, for example, that exercising "vigorously" may reduce the intensity of hot flashes, she also observes that "excess aerobic activity can deplete estrogen sources." Neither "excessive" nor "vigorous" is defined. Her premise is that consuming foods rich in vitamin E and phytoestrogens mild forms of plant-based estrogen found in some foods, e.g., soy milk, thyme and licorice as part of a well-balanced diet may ameliorate some symptoms associated with menopause. Her personal claims to success are modest: "the hot flashes seemed to recede." The fairly sophisticated and diverse recipes, on the other hand, have more to offer. Appetizers include Hijiki Crab Cakes, and Power Dose Orange Saut sliced oranges, tomato, balsamic vinegar. Many of the soups Creamy Asparagus Soup with Fennel or Green Apple and Almond Soup, with yogurt and entres Grilled Lamb Tenderloin with Fennel Gremolata or Spicy Pecan Halibut with Asparagus are unusual; desserts are based on fruit. A few dishes call for less common items such as licorice twigs Chilled Licorice-Pear Soup or asafetida powder and mango powder Asparagus with Asafetida. Lucchetti's recipes are of greater interest and substance than the medical context in which they're presented. Aug.

Library Journal

As baby boomers hit menopause, and as Americans in general turn away from total reliance on allopathic medicine in favor of more natural remedies, a cookbook that features recipes to aid in controlling hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause should find a large audience. Luchetti, winner of the James Beard Award for Best Writing on American Food, began collecting these recipes when she first experienced symptoms. Featured are foods such as fennel, yams, and tofu that are high in vitamin E and phytoestrogen. In a lengthy introduction, she discusses menopause, estrogen, plant estrogens, and the foods used in the recipes. Many of these recipes are quite simple, such as roasted butternut squash with hazelnuts four ingredients; others are projectsthe list of ingredients for pan-roasted chicken with ginger is two pages. This book is worth having just for its list of foods to use and foods to avoid. Recommended for health and cookbook collections.Carol Cubberley, Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg