The Curious Cook at Home: Recipes and Secrets from an Adventurous Cook

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Ever wonder what a chef eats at home? Dee Hobsbawn-Smith will tell you.
She’s a professional chef and food writer who has watched the Canadian
culinary scene improve dramatically for both professionals and
non-professionals. But she scoffs at the idea of amateur cooks trying to
duplicate restaurant meals in their own homes. Even chefs don’t cook
restaurant-style food at home, so why would others want to try?

What Hobsbawn-Smith does want is for amateurs to learn how to cook the
way a chef might prepare a meal for friends and family. She offers an
interesting selection of recipes from around the world. These include
Tiger Prawns in Crispy Jackets with Thai Dip, Apple Muffins with
Pecan-Maple Streusel, Hot and Sour Soup, Sui Choy in Coconut Milk,
Roasted Pepper Salsa, Wild Roast Boar, Bison Curry with Coconut and
Cilantro, Spanish Chicken Sausage, Salmon and Fennel Pasta Sauce,
Grandma Doris’s Shortbreads, Triple Ginger Spice Bars, Double
Chocolate Mocha Bread Pudding, and Stampede Shortcake with Ginger Spiked
Yoghurt Cream. Between the recipes are scores of sidebars that explain
everything from the five “High C’s” (Indian spices cumin,
coriander, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon) to the “12 Step Program for
Novice Cooks,” which helps new cooks understand how easy it is to
prepare professional-quality meals. Most of the accompanying pictures
are artsy black-and-white background photos, but there are 16 full-page
colour photos that will make any foodie’s mouth water. This is a book
that both beginner and advanced cooks will want to read from cover to
cover.