Let There Be Llte: An Illuminating Guide to Delicious Low-Fat Cooking
Jay Disney. Overlook Press, $23.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-87951-576-8
Diet-conscious Dallasites who use the author's home-chef service are eating well indeed, judging by the wide assortment of recipes presented here. After explaining (convincingly) ``How to Cook for the Week in Three Hours,'' which is the basis of his business, Traveling Lite, Disney sidesteps the usual low-fat revisions of high-fat dishes and instead provides original recipes derived from ethnic cuisines the world over. Here are Chervil-Laced Carrot Soup, Quiche Athenee and Imperial Navies. There are plenty of Mexican entries and quite a few parading the flavors associated with the cooking of China, India and the Middle East. ``I've never had a low-fat dessert that triggered the same emotional response to that of standard, high-fat desserts,'' Disney admits, so the dessert section is admittedly ``skimpy.'' (He advocates eating half or one-third of a creme brulee, say, rather than foregoing it or having a dismal substitute.) An engaging raconteur, Disney serves up philosophy, commonsense cooking tips and belly laughs as well. ``The Dog Chapter or, The Lowest Point in My Culinary History'' about a promotional gimmick gone all wrong, provides an uproarious ending to a book worth savoring on many levels. (Dec.)
Details
Reviewed on: 02/27/1995
Genre: Nonfiction