Lonely Planet the World's Best Street Food (Lonely Planet) (General Pictorial) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

I eagerly anticipated receiving this book. I enjoy watching the type of TV travel show that involves discovering authentic, local life that tourists usually don't see. It's especially enjoyable when that involves indigenous foods. Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri are two hosts who have done similar shows.

First off, the book is beautiful. The quality of the printing is a cut above and the layout is fun and informative. Each location has a two-page spread - one page describing the street food, with history, local custom and in many cases, where to get a good example of that food. The opposite page gives a detailed recipe how to actually make that food yourself, usually accompanied by a photo of what it looks like.

Having read through from cover-to-cover in a couple of hours, I noted a lot of inconsistencies in how the material was presented to the reader.

A few things you should know, some of which may affect how valuable this book is to you.

1. I assumed the author was well-known British food writer Tom Parker Bowles and that he personally visited each place where each food was served. Mr. Bowles is the son of Camilla Parker Bowles (wife of Prince Charles) so he certainly has the financial means and food experience to take on such an endeavor. But no, Mr. Bowles is only the author of the book's introduction. Each food report is actually written by one of 31 contributing authors. The book does not make clear which, if any, actually ate the foods at the place illustrated.

2. One might assume that the photos of the foods were taken by the person writing about them. Again, not a good assumption. The credits at the end of the book list dozens of photos obtained from stock photo sources like Getty Images.

3. The book appears to be partially put together by British and Australians (and printed in China). If you are an American you may be a bit puzzled by some of the terms used for some of the food items.

4. Some countries have numerous items (India has 9) but curiously some countries aren't even represented. This can be a dilemma for some readers. If one is from Australia or England, a taco may be considered an exotic food, but for most of the Western Hemisphere there are very likely more interesting street foods. France is a gastronomic paradise, but is represented by only one food item ... a crepe. Africa and South America are almost ignored (I would have loved to learn what kinds of street foods can be found in some of the more remote places in Africa). The U.S. is represented by a hot dog, a knish, lobster roll, a pretzel (?) and most curiously ... a New Mexico breakfast burrito. Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and many other places are missing entirely.

5. Not only do the publishers seem to over-emphasize certain countries, but I believe the editors could have done a better job with showing a more diverse range of foods. There are a few items that, despite the fact they represent different countries, are extremely similar to each other. Everyone knows that virtually every culture in the world has its own version of pelmeni / ravioli / dumpling/ jiaozi / pierogi / gundi / pasty / maultaschen or other pocket filled with almost anything the cook wants to put in it.

6. Speaking of pasties, I had a good chuckle when one of the authors went to great lengths to point out that the Cornish Pasty absolutely MUST be crimped on the side, NEVER the top ... but the accompanying stock photo showed it crimped on the top.

Going back to my original thought about TV travel/food shows, on the day I read the book there coincidentally was a show on The Travel Channel named "Street Foods International". While they only covered 7 cities, a few of them were of the same types of foods. To me, seeing real people actually eat the foods is more interesting than seeing stock photos in a book. A great example was the "stinky tofu" ... there is no way seeing a picture of it can compare with seeing the faces of the people on TV trying to eat it. Really, the video and the book complimented each other well and I could see a value in the concept of a book/DVD combo.

This review may sound quite critical, but the net result after reading the book is that it is educational and entertaining and it has motivated me to try my hand at actually preparing some of the recipes in my own home and taking notes with me if I travel to try as many of these street foods as I can.

For the information contained and the quality of presentation I recommend it with 4 stars.

The wonderful introduction got me excited and I eagerly paged through this book. But I soon realized the recipes aren't good enough to make this a great cook book, and the pictures aren't good enough and the written information too general to make this a great travel book. (And there's nothing about this book that would qualify it as a "coffee table book".)

Understand that there is no author for this publication. So, an editor came up with the idea to put together a book on street food from around the world. Sounds like a great idea. Then the editor went to work looking for opinions on what street food is the "best" and what street food is "authentic" to a particular region. With those opinions in hand, the editor went looking for pictures and recipes of the so-called "best" street food and paired them together. But a problem arises when there is no one expert or creator that will take responsibility for the validity of the opinions of "best" and the authenticity of the recipes and make sure you can create the recipes in your home and have it look even close to what you see in the pictures.

Street food is not synonymous with simple and easy food--okay, yes, maybe easy to eat, but not easy to make. And, for the most part, these recipes are not suitable for the average-experienced home cook. Most of these recipes sound like they'll taste great, but in most cases, there is a long list of ingredients, some unusual and hard to locate (some impossible to find) ingredients, and a great amount of prep work that will make these recipes major projects.

I live an hour away from (and work very close to) a vast variety of ethnic food sources and I'm always willing and eager to head out on a "field trip" to find special ingredients. Plus, I'm an experienced home cook and I own more than my fair share of pots, pans, utensils and small appliances. And I mention this to you because it makes the following statement a bit alarming: These recipes seem--to me--daunting. There are a few that I'll try, but not enough to warrant sparing precious space for this book on one of my cook book shelves. When I want to create any one of these dishes, I can find an adequate recipe on the internet.

I also want to mention that there are several recipe titles in this collection that I am very familiar with (pierogi and tamales to name two) and I question the authenticity of the versions of the recipes presented here.

As for the pictures, they are on the small side; some show people eating, some show people making the dish and some show finished dishes--nothing special.

I dream of traveling to different world locations and trying out all the excellent foods available, preferably while in the company of locals. Some of the best food I have learned to make came from our exchange students making the simple and delicious meals they have learned from their mothers. So I was particularly excited to see this book. Having had a chance to read the whole thing and to make a couple of the recipes, I can honestly say that I *remain* excited!

The book is divided first into Savory and Sweet categories. Honestly, the savory is by far the largest. From there, the recipes are listed in alphabetical order. Each recipe takes two facing pages - the first page all kinds of wonderful information, and the second page has the actual recipe. The top of the informational side lists the name of the recipe, where it originated, some small images that show whether the recipe is easy, medium or complex, what sort of utensils to eat it with, whether it is a spicy recipe, and whether it is vegetarian. There is also a small blurb about the food. Then comes the sort of wonderful information that Lonely Planet does so well - What is It?, Origin, Finding It, and Tasting categories, along with photos, are almost like having a local right at your hand. There are also tips at the bottom of the page that vary, depending on the recipe.

The actual recipes are generally very clear and easy to understand. If there are ingredients that might not be familiar to some, they are highlighted in blue, then an explanation is given in the back glossary. The recipes seem very authentic, at least as much as they can be with our ingredients. A few of the ingredients will be difficult for many to locate - I live in a fairly decent area for finding foreign ingredients, and powdered saffron is still eluding me. However, most of the ingredients can either be sourced online or a substitute will be mentioned.

I made two of the recipes - the Currywurst (from Germany) and the Pupusas (from El Salvador). The recipes were both very clear, and each turned out delicious. With the Currywurst, the recipe does ask for hot paprika, and the best place I have found locally (and online) to get that is Penzey's Spices. The Pupusas left the flavors for the fillings open - it basically gave some ideas and then said "...invent your own!". So I did - our filling was shredded pork, grated Mexican cheese and spiced whole black beans. They were delicious, and the Curtido that was part of the recipe was absolutely wonderful. It truly made the dish. I also have several other recipes marked to make, and so does my husband.

This is an excellent book - I literally read it through, cover to cover, like one would a novel. The information was fascinating, and the recipes (so far) delicious. It will definitely find its place on my cookbook shelves, and I don't see it being dislodged any time soon.