cover image The Instant Ethnic Cook: An Herb and Spice Blend Cookbook

The Instant Ethnic Cook: An Herb and Spice Blend Cookbook

Mara Reid Rogers. Lake Isle Press, $19.95 (191pp) ISBN 978-0-9627403-4-3

``I've always believed that food is much more than nourishment,'' writes Rogers ( Contemporary One-Dish Meals ) in this trip through culinary continents. And so, the author gets us ready for bratwurst, for the outlay in a chapter titled ``India Aromatica,'' for Creole specialties in another, and much else that could feed the imagination. As Rogers observes, ``Many of the traditional ethnic foods are already naturally healthful,'' and she has picked up this cue and taken it further, downplaying meat, advising low-fat versions of various dairy products and doing with less salt compared with other spices and flavors. Her book is meant for the use of families and offers enough ideas to keep cooks occupied for weeks or months, though not laboriously: sidebars recommend time-saving techniques and devices to simplify the making of burritos, for instance, and every recipe lists preparation time and cooking time, as well as noting appropriate do-ahead steps. Line drawings by Nacht are playfully impromptu, suggesting the fun possible in a prolonged culinary adventure. Better Homes & Gardens main selection. (Nov.)