My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own: A Cookbook by Alice Waters

My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own: A Cookbook Reviews

• 
  Melissa

  Alice, I love you, but I'm not making any of this stuff.
• 
  Ivonne Rovira

  As a reviewer, I cannot in, all fairness, assign a rating to My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own. Alice Waters is a goddess in the restaurant and cookbook worlds; however, I had never read a book by her, and, to be honest, I bought My Pantry because I confused Alice Waters of Chez Panisse with vegetarian restauranteur
  Mollie Katzen.
  
  How can you know if this cookbook is for you? Easy! If your reaction to the following excerpt is delight, this is a five-star read for you:
  
  

  I’ve been making my own red wine vinegar for the past thirty years. Once a year, I fill a 10-liter oak barrel (you can get this online or at a winemaking supply store) with vinegar mother [vinegar starting scum] and all of the unfinished bottles of wine that I’ve accumulated over the past six months — a lot of red, but also rose, white, sparkling, whatever I have.

  
  Alice Waters then lets it ferment in that oak barrel for a year. If your response to this is perplexed horror, Alice Waters’ My Pantry is not for you. Actually, it’s really not for the faint of heart at all. Using the cookbook requires you to befriend a bean farmer and track down peach leaves, fresh anchovies, Marash peppers, fennel pollen, ghee, red quinoa, buckwheat groats, amaranth seeds — well, you get the picture.
  
  In addition to vinegar, Alice Waters makes her own apéritifs, cheese, yogurt, almond milk, tahini, hummus, vanilla extract, gravlax, corn tortillas, salted fish, pickles, spices and more. And more power to her! However, my life is so busy that, when I need ricotta, tortillas, tahini, hummus or any type of vinegar, I think of my local grocery store or Costco, not a DIY job. If you’re like me, this book is not for you. There’s two or three recipes you can make visiting the Kroger, Safeway or Publix; however, unless you get it from the library or as an Amazon Kindle Deal, I wouldn’t bother.
• 
  Mary

  My pantry, Alice Waters
  I did learn several things in this small volume, but I’m not sure they will ever be put to use. I had never heard the term “vinegar mother”. My taste is not so refined that I will ever invest in a 10 quart oak barrel and make my own vinegar....although I may seek out a farmers market that offers homemade vinegar. Not simple. Not easy, IMO. Buying a few bottles of vinegar is infinitely easier. I also don’t like seeking out all the necessary starters and other unusual ingredients. I will try the recipes for pita and flat bread, but there were no photos to tempt me to make anything else. Photos for me are essential in a cookbook.
• 
  Chloe

  Short and sweet. I don’t know how much of this I’ll be able to use in my own kitchen, but it gave me some wonderful ideas and goals, and her lyrical writing and the beautiful illustrations make it worth a read.
• 
  Vishal Katariya

  Fun book. I liked Alice Waters' metaphors in the introduction.
• 
  Tricia

  I enjoyed reading about Alice Waters' homemade pantry staples. So far I've made the chili salt and oat pancakes--both delicous!
• 
  Jessica

  A pleasant and inspiring read with lovely little illustrations (done by Alice Water's daughter!)
  
  It was the time for me to redo my pantry & cellar foods, and this was the ideal book to pick up. I love the organization of the book: Spice Mixtures & Condiments, Nuts, Beans & Other Legumes, Savoury Preserves, Whole Grains, Preserved Fish & Meat, Cheese, and Sweet Preserves - my favourite chapters were those on savoury preserves (though not necessarily mindblowingly unique recipes, it was a nice selection of mostly pickled things) and whole grains (a great collection really focused on whole grains specifically, which was one of the things I'm trying to improve in my own pantry).
  
  I've already made the Quick Garlicky Dill Pickles, though I won't taste them for another month or so as they set. I will say this recipe was drastically lacking in brine - there was less than half the brine I needed to fill all the jars, based on the recipe (I had to frantically boil up some more to get them filled). Alice Waters does tend to be a do-EVERYTHING-yourself chef, so I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book, but I still found some suggestions a bit amusing. No, I don't have a kitchen hearth where I could cook beans over the fire. And what if I want to make the hummus recipe but I don't have any preserved lemon? Or is there an alternative to a crepe pan for the buckwheat buttermilk crepes? (I wish there were alternate options listed for some of these).
  
  I do have a few more recipes flagged that I intend to try out before I need to return my copy to the library:
  - That previously-mentioned Hummus with Preserved Lemon, except without the preserved lemon
  - All-Purpose Pickling Brine (to throw in whatever little veg I have!)
  - Whole-Wheat Flatbreads
  - Oat Pancakes
  - Ricotta (which I've made before, but I like the directions here)
  - Farmer's Cheese
• 
  Patti

  I like to cook and I like to read cookbooks. Some I know I will never use and others I use until they fall apart.
  
  Alice Waters has been around the cooking scene for awhile now and this is the first book I've read by her. I plan on making some major changes to my pantry and boy did I learn a thing or two.
  
  The way she writes about food makes me want to get in my car and drive to her house for dinner. She knows what herb can go with what food and then ten other ways to use it. I can't wait to implement all that I learned!
• 
  Ariel

  Will I make even 50% of the recipes in this book? Probably not. But, Alice Waters is lovely. I admire her approach to food, honoring simple ingredients and desiring to maintain the integrity of whatever ingredients she’s working with.
• 
  Sarah

  Accessible and #able for most of us who want to undertake these kinds of things.
• 
  Janel Gradowski

  This is a lovely, in so many ways, little book about some of the staples in chef Alice Waters’ pantry. While my pantry has far less sophisticated ingredients, I can’t wait to add more gourmet fare using this cookbook. Recipes range from spice blends to homemade cheese. Some recipes, such as the Espelette Hot Sauce, add to your pantry stash. Others, like Lebanese-inspired lentil soup and whole-wheat flatbreads, use ingredients from the pantry. I have a feeling the multigrain porridge, containing brown rice, millet and quinoa, will be a mainstay breakfast for me this winter. For adventurous cooks there are instruction for accomplishing tasks such as making wine vinegar in oak casks, salt-preserving kumquats, and curing gravlax.
  
  This book is like a cookbook jewel. Small in size. Charming illustrations, the full-page pantry drawing before the Table of Contents is wonderful, all drawn by Waters’ daughter – Fanny Singer. Many of the recipes have variations, which I greatly appreciate. Everything is woven together with Alice’s thorough instructions. It’s a book that would be right at home on a pantry shelf, next to the vinegars and flours, to be called on like a trusted friend.
  
  I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
• 
  Cissa

  This book is so inspirational! I was reading it at night when I had insomnia, and it was all I could do to stay in bed and not get up and cook stuff!
  
  The recipes and text are both very straightforward- not at ALL fussy!- but complete, and all of them have exciting variations both in making them and in ways to serve them. Almost all of them can be done with minimal kitchen equipment, and they're designed for lasting- I think the shortest-lived ones would last maybe a week, refrigerated, but much last far longer.
  
  It's definitely worth reading all the text rather than just diving into the recipes. Waters's thoughtful context makes the recipes themselves even more exciting.
  
  Very recommended indeed for cooks who like some straightforward DIY that allows us to bring unique flavors to even simple dishes, made with excellent ingredients.
• 
  Kimberly

  Oh my, I love this book. I have preserved food from my garden every year. I have even made some of my own mixes but this book takes it even farther. The book includes spice mixtures like cumin salt (yum) and Nico's Pork Seasoning (so good).
  There were also recipes for Nuts, such as Almond Paste and Almond Milk; Legumes, Preserves, Whole grains - corn tortillas and the uses of cooked brown rice (so helpful); Preserved fish and meat; cheese and, of course, sweets in the form of Sweet Preserves. This last one had so many that I loved such as raspberry syrup (this from someone that does not like raspberries off the brambles), and so much more.
  
  I can see this as a resource in my kitchen for years to come.
  
  Thank you so much for sharing this book with me Blogging for Books who gave this book to me in exchange for my honest review.
• 
  Joe

  I admire Alice Waters. So I wish I could say I read this and thought, oh, I could do that! But mostly I thought, wow, that really seems like a project. My worry is that by the time I shopped, prepared, and stored these homemade ingredients, the meals they contributed to would no longer feel so simple. The red wine vinegar, yes, once I get an oak barrel. The cheeses and yogurts, maybe. But the rest—see, for instance, the recipe for hummus—I'm not sure that I'd ever get to preparing an actual meal.
• 
  Correen

  
  Alice Waters presents her esoteric tastes combined with some common sense ideas. She argues the worth of her diet in terms of environmental responsibility, nutrition, and economy then goes on to make some foods that would likely have a limited appeal. I am certain that the food is delicious but I would not have the time, resources, or desire to attempt most of it. It is an interesting book anyway.
• 
  Claire

  In this pretty little volume, Alice Waters offers several handfuls of recipes for stocking a pantry. Although I'm eager to try many of the recipes--za'atar, Nifouler's Masala, Apple Peel Cider Vinegar, Tomato Confit, and Mia's Vin d'Orange--it is really the "pantry principle" Waters proposes here that inspires my attention. The basic idea? With a few simple, flavorful staple pantry items one can always prepare unique, flavorful, and uncomplicated meals at a moment's notice.
• 
  Donna Azure

  Alice Waters is the has had tremendous influence on the way food is sources and prepared in our country today. She has been a promoter of "food to table" since the 1960's. In this book, Alice tells how to cook, really cook, with good, fresh ingredients and basic techniques . A must have for any "foodie" as well as anyone interested in really understanding the process of putting great meals on the table. Stellar!
• 
  Holly

  Only Alice Waters could make me read and enjoy a book about what's in her pantry.
• 
  Debra

  I received an email alerting me that I could purchase the Kindle version of My Pantry by Alice Waters for only $2.99. I jumped at it. This is a slim volume (I'm assuming) because I read it and skimmed the recipes in that setting. I will revisit this book again and again if simply for the spice section with recipes for Za’atar, Cumin Salt, Chile-Lime Salt, and Niloufer’s Masala. I can't wait to try Fanny’s Superfood Granola (included in the whole grain section) which combines buckwheat groats, red quinoa, nuts, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds along with warming spices and honey.
  
  I loved that Waters has a 10-liter oak barrel in her kitchen that she makes wine vinegar in. She dumps in all the leftover wine, no matter what color or region. She even dumps in sparkling wine. She also includes directions on making your own apple cider vinegar with peels and apple cores.
  
  Other sections in My Pantry includes "Nuts," "Beans and Other Legumes," "Savory Preserves," "Preserved Fish and Meats," "Cheese," and "Sweet Preserves." I do have to say that I found some of her preserving instructions a bit suspect. I'm not sure I would actually can anything from this book but I would certainly make some to store in the refrigerator.
  
  
• 
  Shari Henry

  I am likely to never preserve meat or make my own cheese, but reading the introduction to chapters on how to do these things make me understand why others would. Alice Waters once again shares her knowledge and her love for cooking, but more, she shares how ingredients we use evolve over time, and play a part in identifying who we are. Her words made me realize, indeed, that the ingredients in my pantry, and which ones I choose to make for myself or purchase from others, say as much about me as the clothing I wear or the way I furnish and decorate my home.
  
  I'm inspired to eat more simple meals made from rice and beans, and to learn more about the variety of beans I'm guessing I yet know nothing about. Making hummus has become a part of my Sunday routine, and I use Alice's pickling brine frequently. Next up for me will be creating more of my own spices and condiments, trying my hand at pita bread, and most definitely want to make Mia's Vin d'Orange (an enticing mixture of oranges, vanilla, wine, vodka, and sugar.
• 
  Nina Leung

  Normally, I don't read cookbooks as I would a regular book, but this one is different, it reads like a novel. There are great descriptions, little side notes about how she came about certain types of foods and how to prepare them, reminisces about favorite recipes. I definitely plan on using about half the recipes in the book. I'm a little intimidated by canning and fermenting, but I think I might try making my own yoghurt and ricotta cheese. Sounds fun and easy.
  
  I especially enjoyed her suggestions on how to use all of the essentials she uses in her pantry. Sprinkling cumin salt on eggs in the morning, for instance. Of course there are many more good ways of using these essentials. It's written very casually and makes all the instructions seem easy. We'll see when I actually make some of this stuff, but from someone who has written so many books, I don't doubt it will be easy to follow.
• 
  Mandy Crumb

  I am not going to give this a star rating because it is a nice book with lovely illustrations but I am not the target audience.
  I am all for making things at home but this book takes it a bit far for me. The time involved, sourcing the ingredients, and the recipes themselves are just not to my tastes. There's nothing here that I would ever make or have any interest in making if I had an extra year to do so.
  My kitchen and palate are different than yours, so you do you. If you are interested in making your own spice blends, cheese, vinegar, and sugared rose petals please be my guest. Don't invite me over for dinner though!
• 
  Shelby Stevens

  make no mistake--this book is a loving cookbook that explains the what, a bit of the how, and a bit of why concerning made-at-home alternatives to common pantry items plus some things alice keeps in her pantry that you may not. it's an accumulation of techniques gathered throughout years of reading cookbooks that alice has listed at the end of her book--all lovingly illustrated by her daughter. this book is gorgeous and practical and soon-to-be my new bible. it's not just a collection of recipes, it truly is a way of life & a value system; which is something that many cookbooks claim to be though few leave the kind of indelible mark that this book has left on me.
• 
  Deb Nielsen

  This was a quick little read with enjoyable illustrations. It’s mostly recipes with a few words from Alice at the beginning of each section. At this point I wouldn’t want to make a lot of the recipes, but there are some I’d definitely like to try, and overall it still stoked my renewed interest in cooking with fresh foods.
• 
  Paula ϟ

  An enjoyable read by the renowned Californian chef with exotic, yet simple taste. Alice Waters is the renowned chef of Chez Panisse which is arguably the restaurant that sparked the "farm to table" movement. I loved her approach to use raw and in-season ingredients. Her section on mixing your own seasonings was really cool and something I'd love to do more. I will say that a good handful of the recipes seemed a little out of reach for me, but I liked reading about her approaches to cooking and some of the stories behind the recipes.
• 
  Nathan Paul

  Not very practical but some of the concepts and recipes are very good. Very hit and miss book but there are some good gems in there. Enjoyed the Vinegar and preserving section but feels like it needs to be it's own book.
• 
  Cobagibu

  At this point I'm not sure it it's simply a matter of the fact that I'm an avid cookbook reader or the climate, but there was nothing new or surprising in this book.
  
  Unless you're simply a Waters fan, don't waste the read.