Review
Posted in: Books > Cookbooks
03 / 01 / 2008
Recently, Irish born chef Angelo Mc Donnell sent me his latest book, Hot Tomatoes. Angelo is the group Executive chef of the Igor Group, a 32 outlet F&B company in Hong Kong where he has resided for the past 14 years. An avid competitor in competitions he has won numerous accolades for his innovative cuisine and is the Hong Kong national culinary team captain. So when he sent me his 2nd book (Angelo’s first book was Bold Appetizers), I knew it would be good.
As soon as I opened Hot Tomatoes, I was amazed to see bright 4 red and luscious tomatoes being smashed with a rubber mallet in first few pages of the book. I was intrigued and wanted more.
Hot Tomatoes unusually doesn’t have a contents page, but rather launches straight away into tomato recipes. There are over 50 recipes each using tomatoes in one form or another. Beware; Hot Tomatoes isn’t a salad cookbook it’s a cookbook using tomatoes. Each recipe can only be described as innovative with impressive presentation and garnishes.
Some of my favourites were the smoked plum tomato pave, the tomato crusted seared tuna and smoked orange tomato consommé. The homemade ketchup was a good addition and on the alcoholic side, there’s a Ox Heart tomato martini and a Bloody Mary sorbet to cleanse the palate.
Like most books coming out of Asia these days the book is brilliantly photographed with each recipe have at least one or two accompanying photographs. There’s one photograph close up and the other of the entire dish.
Towards the back Angelo has provided a comprehensive and visual guide on many of the popular tomato varieties available, many of which I’d never heard of. Each variety is also brilliantly photographed giving the reader the opportunity to really familiarise themselves with the different shapes and coloured tomatoes available.
Hot Tomatoes is the kind of book that makes you hungry and forces you to the kitchen to try one of Angelo’s recipes.
Hot Tomatoes by Angelo Mc Donnell
Elite Champ Limited
ISBN 978-9889938710
Full disclosure: I received a review copy of Hot Tomatoes from Angelo Mc Donnell.
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