Tessa Kiros: Falling Cloudberries

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Tessa Kiros' Falling Cloudberries (Andrews McMeel 2009) poses an interesting question: what part of her cookbook, a culinary voyage through her life, resonates most with you? Her recipes and memories wander through her Finish, Greek, Cypriot, and South African childhood cuisines, and travel on to Italy (where she and her husband live) and the food of other lands that have touched her. You may be drawn to what is new or what resonates with what you have already tasted and remember – but all of it comes with memories, photographs and the enjoyment of good food. Tessa like Barack Obama and increasing numbers of Americans, has parents and grandparents who came from vastly different cultures, and she has added her own multiculturalism to the mix. Rather then turn to politics (like the President) she has woven together (to some extent) these cultures by means of collecting recipes, flavors, and memories. The handsomely presented Falling Cloudberries starts with a family tree of drawings of her grandparents and relatives and identification of the country where they live. How would you use the recipes? Choose an ingredient and see how each cuisine handles it. Tessa is a lover of meatballs and ground meat. The Finnish Meatballs with Allspice, Sour Cream and Lingonberries (p. 33) is made with ground pork and beef smothered in a creamy sauce. Don't want sauce? Use the same ground meat to make Keftedes (p. 156) the fried Greek meatballs flavored with mint and (unusually)) apple. Don't want to fry? Then try Tessa's Cypriot Sheftalia (Ground Meat Parcels) (p. 179) that have the same pork and beef, but this time wrapped in pork caul fat and barbecued. The Italian section (that lacks a meatball recipe) is rich in pastas like the Linguini with Asparagus and Shrimp (p. 293) perfect for the spring, and Pasta with Sardines and Wild Fennel (p. 298) for which you need to find fresh sardines, and the wonderfully named Julietta's Pasta with Spinach and Calamari (p. 303) flavored with white wine, garlic and chile. Throughout the book are stunning photos of city streets and countryside, ingredients and finished dishes by Manos Chatzikonstantis. As for the cloudberries in the title, they are part of her memories of Finland: There were so many wild berries _ strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cloudberries, greenberries, raspberries, gooseberries…just berries, berries, everywhere. They would eat them plain at first then, later, press them into juice or stir them until they turned into jam. (p. 69) Tessa captures a life rich with ingredients, dishes, smells, and tastes – a personal history in food. Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews --> back to Cookbook Reviews --> back to Super Chef