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The International Breakfast Book CLICK
HERE TO ORDERCoffee and toast. Cereal and milk. Lacking in taste, texture, color, and variety, breakfast hardly seems worth getting up for. Forced to down rubbery, unadorned scrambled eggs before leaving for school each morning as a child; that's exactly what food writer and chef Martha Hollis thought--until she tasted her first authentic New York bagel with cream cheese, accompanied by a fragrant, steaming cup of perfect coffee. Fueled by her new breakfast consciousness, Hollis began to travel the world, waking up raring to eat and stopping strangers to ask, "What did you have for breakfast?" The result is THE INTERNATIONAL BREAKFAST BOOK (Macmillan USA; December 1997), an enticing slice of morning life for cooks eager to start off each day with a taste of adventure. A self-proclaimed morning globetrotter, Hollis shares the distinctive fare on the breakfast menu in select places on every continent--including China, Japan, Malaysia; Australia and New Zealand; Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom: Israel; Turkey, Persia and India; Morocco and Ethiopia; the Caribbean and Mexico; Brazil and Venezuela; the South Pole; and the United States, from New Mexico to Virginia. Whether visiting a traditional teahouse in Hong Kong, whole grain bread bakeries in Amsterdam, or peppercorn farmers in the jungles of Borneo; whether indulging in a leisurely meal at an upscale hotel or hanging out with busy breakfasters on the street, Hollis found ample food for thought--as well as to eat. "There is one rule for breakfasting--eat whatever is available and eat whatever you want," the author emphasizes. "If you skip breakfast, you are missing a joyous way to begin every day." Rich in anecdotes revealing a bounty of breakfast rituals and traditions, THE INTERNATIONAL BREAKFAST BOOK entertains and enlightens as it tempts the palate. Each chapter is conveniently organized by ingredient--whether it's eggs, bread, cake, cereal, potatoes, beans, fruit, fish, meat or a wet, wild, and wonderful beverage. With stops at open air markets, street carts, farms, gourmet shops, and five-star restaurants around the globe, Hollis serves up recipes and culinary adventures to perk up any morning. The author shows how to create such unexpected dishes as Greek Tomato and Feta Scrambled Eggs, Mexican Chicken Chilaquiles, Jamaican Escoveitch Snapper, Indian Dosai with Curried Potatoes, Cape Breton Gaelic Oatcakes, Swedish Sunflower-Carrot Rye Bread, Viennese Marzipan Breakfast Cake with Chocolate Chips and Ginger, and Queensland Fresh Pineapple Fritters--as well as how to brew the ultimate cup of English Tea. But the surprises go beyond the kitchen. Readers will discover:
Additional features include sample breakfast menus from different countries to inspire entertaining; a helpful glossary of common cooking terms; and a list of mail order sources for unusual ingredients. Waking up world of possibilities beyond frozen waffles and fast-food sandwiches, THE INTERNATIONAL BREAKFAST BOOK brings a little-known truth to light: the most important meal of the day can also be the most entertaining.
Cacao beans were brought back to Europe by the new world traders. In short time they enhanced the product with sugar starting the world's passionate love affair with chocolate. Adding milk created a beverage enjoyed today by both children and adults. In the Hotel le Crillon, one of the truly luxurious venues of Paris, Les Ambassadeurs, the two-star Michelin rated restaurant, Chef Christian Constant's cadre of chefs prepares a beverage much closer to chocolate mousse than the thin hot cocoa of my childhood snow days (back when the only stars I knew were either in the sky or in movies). The Parisian waiter at the Hotel le Crillon immaculately attired in jet black suit and stiffly starched white shirt politely queried "cafe, tea, ou chocolate, Madame?" Being so close to the site of infamous Marie Antoinette's finish, I opted for her favorite late 1700's breakfast beverage--chocolate. The Crillon, elegantly sits in the Place de Concorde where the guillotine operated during the French revolution. The Place de la Concorde (meaning harmony) today has a 3300 year old obelisk from the Temple of Luxor in Egypt which replaced the original statue of Louis XV. The hot chocolate is a beverage so rich, creamy and heavenly that one's natural inclination is to look upward towards the Crillon's ceiling, perhaps to a divine source of inspiration. Here the painter, using naked young boys depicts every trade of importance in the rebuilding of France's major edifices. Surrounding the paintings are marbles faces, five different varieties, with gold gilded decorations. The ceiling itself is in gentle colors of pink and turquoise in a cloud-like setting. The breakfast meat selection is quite extraordinary with ox tongue, sliced veal, rare roast beef, Parisian ham, chicken, smoked salmon. A bevy of fresh juices including squeezed plum juice. In addition to aged Gouda and other hard cheeses are a number of soft, beautiful breakfast cheeses an yogurt. Bowls of cereal and freshly sliced fruits provide a closer touch to the morning fare of the nonroyals. The staff of forty chefs works in one of the most beautifully sumptuous kitchens in the world--a decor quite unlike the usual commercial, somber stainless steel. The sides of the cook tops are all in marble surrounded with brass. The work tables are surrounded with brass rails, all requiring and receiving daily hand polishing. To match this mousse-in-a cup, amongst this regal splendor, Marie Antoinette's quip "let them eat cake," came to mind. The pastry chef from the Alsacian region of France had already anticipated this. On a multilevel silver tier server with chocolate cake and other pastries sat a kuglehoff studded with sultanas (raisins) and a golden brioche, the rich buttery bread with a thick crust and an incredible delicate interior. Chilling in a silver bowl were bottles of mineral waters including Perrier and a bottle of Tattinger champagne. The Tattinger family's holding including the Crillon as part of the Concorde Hotel group, Baccarat crystal, Haviland China, and Antal Gouillant perfumes, along with other distinctive lines. The Baccarat collection is particularly evident right up to and including the chandeliers. Entering the lounge and tea area to the restaurant are two six-foot tall candelabras by Baccarat. In the center of the room, carefully protected in a glass case, is the show stopper:a crystal elephant carrying a golden basket with decanters for liquor--an incredible stunning mastery of the art of crystal. The potent, rich chocolate from the Isle of Guanaja, sugar and cream are cooked to create the "starting elixir." In the morning a magic portion of this is mixed with heavy cream and heated. Immediately it is placed in the silver service pot and presented in royal tyle. Hot milk is passed for anyone not quite fanatic enough to handle this mousse-in-a-cup. 4 ounces dark, bittersweet chocolate 1 cup sugar 2 cups heavy cream hot milk, to taste In a heavy pan or double boiler melt chocolate, sugar and 1/2 cup of cream. Stir until completely mixed and creamy for about 5 minutes. Just before service time add remaining cream and heat. Pass hot milk separately for individual blending. Serves 4 Note: The ancient Mayans would often rise before dawn and have hot chocolate or a hot corn drink, atole with tortillas or tamales. Usually their chocolate was unsweetened, had no dairy products and was served with spices. |
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