“Big Small Plates,” by Cindy Pawlcyn, with Pablo Jacinto and Erasto Jacinto (Ten Speed Press, $35)
The Napa Valley super chef and entrepreneur’s praiseworthy – and successful – attempt to bring the small-plates trend into the home kitchen.
You need several of these dishes to make a meal, and all of them are meant to be shared among family and friends. The book, Pawlcyn’s third, gives a great deal of credit to her co-authors, brothers from Oaxaca who are chefs and partners in two of her Napa Valley restaurants, Mustards and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen.
The color photographs are earthy rather than artsy, which fits the robust fare: ahi and shiitake mushroom wontons in broth; bubbly baked Brie and asparagus with toasted hazelnuts; salmon, halibut and scallop ceviche with coconut; mini tres leches cakes with Mexican chocolate sauce. At the end of the book, Pawlcyn suggests menus for the four seasons and for a few themed parties. |Karola Saekel, The San Francisco Chronicle
