Catherine, I know about this Slovenian chef and his food is amazing. But honestly — this is not the kind of book you should be writing about and promoting here on MAHA Report! This is America where people today think cooking is opening a prepared meal from TJ’s and putting it in the microwave. These are complex dishes that even I, a skilled home cook, would not bother with. The ingredients are hard to source in America and the techniques required are crazy hard. This is a very bad choice on your part if you want to inspire people to start cooking real food. A much better cookbook for the beginner MAHA home cook would be one of Chris Kimball’s Milk Street or America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks or Shred Happens: Easy, So Good by Arash Hashemi.
The Test Kitchen cook books are complete, great instructions and ideal for getting into cooking from the start or even if you have been cooking for years. The red/white Betty Crocker binder cookbooks can still be found in thrift stores and online. I still refer to them and if you can find one from the l980s you have a winner. I did not like the Slovenia recipes because first: not enough food for a meal, photos of food were hard to identify, not relatable foods. The only person I know who likes Octopus is my son. Bringing sea and farm to the table was the identifiable factor to MAHA. Memories of not having enough food or only limited choices, is a first for me to see as the basis for recipe development. Not a persuasive reason for me to run to this cookbook.
I personally think "Slovenian Cuisine" is just the kind of book you should be reviewing and promoting. The photos alone, so beautiful that you can practically smell the meal they present, will help wean people off processed foods. The recipes will make people realize that preparing a meal is not only one of the most important things anyone can do, it is also deeply pleasurable and creative. And the fact that this is done with just 20 easy to find ingredients is pure inspiration. Please keep such reviews coming!
Unless you have a Chinese food market or live next to the ocean in your community would anyone find fresh Octopus. The photos did not iMO, represent a reason to change from processed foods. The photos appear to sway someone to not try making a new recipe. I was not even persuaded. The egg with oil especially did not appear appetizing. It seemed like an over emphasis on a unique presentation of food on a plate rather than foods with high nutritive density that could benefit your health which can be presented to be appealing and inviting to want to make yourself.
I was about to write the same thing as Polly Frost (comment above). "Slovenian Cuisine" is a gorgeous book that contains interesting and distinctive recipes--*but*--by promoting a book with ingredients that are so unfamiliar to most of your readers, I'm afraid that you're missing the boat completely. If you want the average American to make dietary changes, you have to make it easy; otherwise, the new food pyramid, MAHA, and even RFK, Jr. will be dismissed as hifalutin and naive about how most people live. Instead of suggesting beautiful books of recipes from a country that most readers of The MAHA Report will never visit, why not instead suggest a book of traditional/regional dishes based on the new food pyramid? Or one based on our country's various ethnicities? Or one showing an average (not wealthy) Americans using recipes from their ancestors? If you want the country to actually adopt the new food pyramid, make it easy for us to do by focusing on cost, availability, and simplicity. "Slovenian Cuisine" and Chef Janez Bratovž's approach will turn off most of the people who you're trying to reach. I think the reaction many (most of us) had when seeing the new food pyramid for the first time was, "Great. Love it--and certainly agree--but: how to afford it? In future reports, please answer that question.
Jennifer - You're absolutely right that not everyone reading the book/article is an average American, culinarily-speaking. That's why, since the MAHA agenda and the new food pyramid are still relatively new to most Americans, it may be important, in future issues of the MAHA Report, to make specific cooking suggestions as welcoming to readers as possible. I'm not suggesting focusing on corndogs and diet Pepsi, but: presuming that the *majority* of readers will be interested in (rather than disinterested in/chagrined by) recipes calling for ingredients such as "cuttlefish chips, kombu, homemade plum jam, fleur de sel, and meat of unstressed animals" doesn't seem like the best approach either. Culinarily? Yes, sure: super-fun. Health-wise? Absolutely; count me in. But: financially and from a PR point of view? Don't think so. I want to finish by wishing all readers and fellow cooks joyful, nurturing, lovely meals ahead. Peace and bon appetit!
How to afford nutritively dense food is my big question. Bison is one of the highest forms of nutrition and is $12 a lb, grass fed organic beef is also expensive but choosing cheaper meats in the long run is not as healthy as the organic. I tried Jumbo SUMA Citrus mandarins for the first time last week and they were absolutely so delicious I would eat one everyday but because of their unique growing needs they are around $2.50 each. They are very high in Vit C and other valuable nutrients. This is the big challenge for our country.. finding means to lower food costs. I can’t even imagine what the cost would be for a family of two adults and five children and as big families are, also includes relatives and friends of children. Finding lesser foods is not the answer. Creating immune strength and building strong bodies is consistent excellent nutrition every meal every day. IMO promoting the highest density of nutrition in specific foods is the track to stay focused on. So many Americans are just depleted. Yes they need to be attractive and delicious.
I don't believe this was a turn off for most people, quite the opposite. Showcasing the art of food and how other people eat is lovely. I am sure MAHA will post other articles about other chefs and other world cuisines which would be terrific. They can also showcase how America cooks with all its versions.
Catherine, I know about this Slovenian chef and his food is amazing. But honestly — this is not the kind of book you should be writing about and promoting here on MAHA Report! This is America where people today think cooking is opening a prepared meal from TJ’s and putting it in the microwave. These are complex dishes that even I, a skilled home cook, would not bother with. The ingredients are hard to source in America and the techniques required are crazy hard. This is a very bad choice on your part if you want to inspire people to start cooking real food. A much better cookbook for the beginner MAHA home cook would be one of Chris Kimball’s Milk Street or America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks or Shred Happens: Easy, So Good by Arash Hashemi.
Perhaps this was simply for showcasing a terrific chef and his artistry. I thoroughly enjoyed the article.
I enjoyed it, too, but it belongs in a magazine like Sunset or Bon Appetit, not The MAHA Report.
I will respectfully agree to disagree.
The Test Kitchen cook books are complete, great instructions and ideal for getting into cooking from the start or even if you have been cooking for years. The red/white Betty Crocker binder cookbooks can still be found in thrift stores and online. I still refer to them and if you can find one from the l980s you have a winner. I did not like the Slovenia recipes because first: not enough food for a meal, photos of food were hard to identify, not relatable foods. The only person I know who likes Octopus is my son. Bringing sea and farm to the table was the identifiable factor to MAHA. Memories of not having enough food or only limited choices, is a first for me to see as the basis for recipe development. Not a persuasive reason for me to run to this cookbook.
I personally think "Slovenian Cuisine" is just the kind of book you should be reviewing and promoting. The photos alone, so beautiful that you can practically smell the meal they present, will help wean people off processed foods. The recipes will make people realize that preparing a meal is not only one of the most important things anyone can do, it is also deeply pleasurable and creative. And the fact that this is done with just 20 easy to find ingredients is pure inspiration. Please keep such reviews coming!
Unless you have a Chinese food market or live next to the ocean in your community would anyone find fresh Octopus. The photos did not iMO, represent a reason to change from processed foods. The photos appear to sway someone to not try making a new recipe. I was not even persuaded. The egg with oil especially did not appear appetizing. It seemed like an over emphasis on a unique presentation of food on a plate rather than foods with high nutritive density that could benefit your health which can be presented to be appealing and inviting to want to make yourself.
Thank you
I was about to write the same thing as Polly Frost (comment above). "Slovenian Cuisine" is a gorgeous book that contains interesting and distinctive recipes--*but*--by promoting a book with ingredients that are so unfamiliar to most of your readers, I'm afraid that you're missing the boat completely. If you want the average American to make dietary changes, you have to make it easy; otherwise, the new food pyramid, MAHA, and even RFK, Jr. will be dismissed as hifalutin and naive about how most people live. Instead of suggesting beautiful books of recipes from a country that most readers of The MAHA Report will never visit, why not instead suggest a book of traditional/regional dishes based on the new food pyramid? Or one based on our country's various ethnicities? Or one showing an average (not wealthy) Americans using recipes from their ancestors? If you want the country to actually adopt the new food pyramid, make it easy for us to do by focusing on cost, availability, and simplicity. "Slovenian Cuisine" and Chef Janez Bratovž's approach will turn off most of the people who you're trying to reach. I think the reaction many (most of us) had when seeing the new food pyramid for the first time was, "Great. Love it--and certainly agree--but: how to afford it? In future reports, please answer that question.
Everyone reading is not your average American culinarily.
How is it possible to turn the readers away?
Jennifer - You're absolutely right that not everyone reading the book/article is an average American, culinarily-speaking. That's why, since the MAHA agenda and the new food pyramid are still relatively new to most Americans, it may be important, in future issues of the MAHA Report, to make specific cooking suggestions as welcoming to readers as possible. I'm not suggesting focusing on corndogs and diet Pepsi, but: presuming that the *majority* of readers will be interested in (rather than disinterested in/chagrined by) recipes calling for ingredients such as "cuttlefish chips, kombu, homemade plum jam, fleur de sel, and meat of unstressed animals" doesn't seem like the best approach either. Culinarily? Yes, sure: super-fun. Health-wise? Absolutely; count me in. But: financially and from a PR point of view? Don't think so. I want to finish by wishing all readers and fellow cooks joyful, nurturing, lovely meals ahead. Peace and bon appetit!
How to afford nutritively dense food is my big question. Bison is one of the highest forms of nutrition and is $12 a lb, grass fed organic beef is also expensive but choosing cheaper meats in the long run is not as healthy as the organic. I tried Jumbo SUMA Citrus mandarins for the first time last week and they were absolutely so delicious I would eat one everyday but because of their unique growing needs they are around $2.50 each. They are very high in Vit C and other valuable nutrients. This is the big challenge for our country.. finding means to lower food costs. I can’t even imagine what the cost would be for a family of two adults and five children and as big families are, also includes relatives and friends of children. Finding lesser foods is not the answer. Creating immune strength and building strong bodies is consistent excellent nutrition every meal every day. IMO promoting the highest density of nutrition in specific foods is the track to stay focused on. So many Americans are just depleted. Yes they need to be attractive and delicious.
I don't believe this was a turn off for most people, quite the opposite. Showcasing the art of food and how other people eat is lovely. I am sure MAHA will post other articles about other chefs and other world cuisines which would be terrific. They can also showcase how America cooks with all its versions.
I get that learning about other cultures is great and all - but what does this have to do with the US? Not really the type of cuisine seen here.
I heard a year or so ago that our pigs in America have been vaccinated with the Mrna process