cover image Secret Ingredients

Secret Ingredients

Michael Roberts, Micheal Roberts. Bantam Books, $19.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-553-05320-3

Roberts, chef/partner of Los Angeles' trend-setting Trumps restaurant, maintains that there are no ``secrets'' in the kitchen, only secret ingredients that ``mysteriously'' improve ``the flavor of a dish without calling attention'' to themselves. In a seafood dish, brandy can make ``the sherry taste more prominent'' than even an addition of sherry would. Mint ``cuts the fatty sensation of lamb,'' and white wine can ``embolden'' herbs in fish sauces. When flavors are ``layered'' in a dish, this ``makes the food we taste more interesting because each mouthful is different.'' Roberts explains the logic of his methods with warmth, wit and authority, and the results are mostly convincing, from plantains and caviar with black bean puree to game hens with roast garlic and candied anise. Whimsically imaginative dishes include lemon and rosemary steamed pudding, chocolate lamb sausages and eggplant pancakes. Though seemingly exoticRoberts was among the first to improvise combinations of ethnic ingredients with varied cooking stylesmost recipes are easy to prepare and made of readily available ingredients. (Nov.)