The Foods of Vietnam

With the large migration of Vietnamese to the United States in the late 1970s came an array of food and cooking techniques unfamiliar to most of us. New York City chef and teacher Routhier, born in Saigon to a Vietnamese mother and a French father, captures the simple elegance of a cuisine influenced strongly by China, Thailand and Vietnam's former French rulers. Her recipes evoke meals that could have been eaten at home by typical Vietnamese families or prepared in prewar Saigon restaurants, along with dishes that Americans might encounter in their neighborhood Vietnamese restaurants. The more than 150 recipes range from plain (rice and chicken casserole, stuffed cabbage rolls) to fancy (dilled squid cakes, fried, stuffed bananas). An extensive glossary and a list of mail-order suppliers of hard-to-find Vietnamese and Asian condiments are included. Routhier and Jacobs, a New York City commercial photographer, have created a gastronomical and visual delight. (Oct.)