An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

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Inspired by the book, I sauteed up the shallot, bell pepper and garlic, added the tomato and let that cook down.

Gourmets are satisfied: the seductions of rice are whispered of; it can be topped with buttered spinach and Parmesan or shaved with white truffles, and to the palates of children who still think eating a beastly reality of life rice remains agreeably anodyne.By wresting cooking from doctrine and doldrums, Tamar encourages readers to begin from wherever they are, with whatever they have. That’s where Tamar Adler can help—her area of culinary expertise is finding delicious destinies for leftovers. Adler immediately states that Fisher is an influence, but in my opinion, she does not add anything new or unique to the dialogue about thoughtful, economical, and graceful cooking. Instead of feeling intimidating or boring or terribly utilitarian, Adler’s recipes and guiding principles for reinvigorating leftovers are warm and enticing.

She recommends turning to neglected onions, celery, and potatoes for inexpensive meals that taste full of fresh vegetables, and cooking meat and fish resourcefully. Through the insightful essays in An Everlasting Meal, Tamar Adler issues a rallying cry to home cooks. I feel forever indebted to her for fanning into flame a passion for meal making and serving others with simple but intentional food.She used quality ingredients, fresh and in season, always prepared correctly -- and always with an eye to using the leftovers in the next meal. It's about how to cook with frugality, economy, efficiency and most of all Grace because we all make mistakes in the kitchen. Not the usual recipe collection with prettily photographed dishes but a very useful everyday guide for people who are learning to cook, but also people who already think they know what they are doing.

The chapter on beans was especially eye-opening, as I do not cook beans nearly enough (usually I just reach for the canned ones at the last minute). That said, this was a mildly successful book, in that it did teach me some things, while also boring me through some chapters of stuff I already know. The Everlasting Meal Cookbook shows us how to create desirable, simple meals out of what we have in our cupboards, refrigerators, and freezers. So, this book is for people who like traditional French and German food, with a hippie twist that makes it low-protein and low-spice.Some other reviewers have complained about the writing style, but I found Adler to be fun and literate without being pretentious.