The Glorious Noodle: A Culinary Tour Around the World

The author tries to cover the entire world of noodledom and most of noodle history, and considering the huge possibilities of the ambitious subject, does a fair but uninspired job. Merinoff provides centuries-old recipes for sweet noodle dishes and exotic custards, soups and ""nests'' using noodles from the four corners of the earth, and also includes Chinese dumplings, spaetzle, couscous and other essential noodle dishes beyond pasta. Unfortunately, the book gives relatively short shrift to the Italians and is weakened by writing that, in its attempt to cover a vast topic, sometimes becomes a blur of meaningless detail or innocuous generalities. Illustrations not seen by PW. (April 17)