The Bamboo Cooks!

Christy Conte is a member of the Parents Advisory Committee at the
YMCA’s Parent and Child Enrichment Centre, and a journalist.

In keeping with the popular Toronto nightclub’s reputation, The Bamboo
Cooks! is everything it should be: fun, funky, and hot. The Bamboo,
which has been a Queen Street West fixture since 1983, is known for its
great music (mostly jazz, reggae, and African) and for its spicy
Thai/Caribbean menu. Owners Patti Habib and Richard O’Brien have
produced a culinary keepsake for loyal fans that the uninitiated will
find equally captivating for its eclectic recipe mix.

The almost 50 recipes offered in the collection include such signature
dishes as Thai Spicy Noodles, Orange Cashew Chicken Jerks, and various
Satays. Recipe instructions are clear, concise, and accurate. Specific
storage and reheating tips for each dish are a bonus. Given the
far-flung origins of the cuisine in question, it’s not surprising that
the authors have also included a glossary of ingredients. Unfortunately,
some of the more exotic items (cho-cho or galangal, for example) are
probably unobtainable outside downtown Toronto.

Barbara Klunder, the artist responsible for the club’s pulsating
posters, menus, and murals, also provides the illustrations that bring
this book’s text to life. The Bamboo Cooks! is a visual and culinary
treat.