I accepted an offer to check out a cookbook called Trading Dishes ($20.50, CreateSpace), primarily on the fact that it features an “exotic collection” of international recipes. Those recipes are sourced by the team behind the show that’s also called “Trading Dishes.”
In that show, Chef Steven Ferneding travels in Asia and teaches locals (and viewers) about healthy dishes using produce available locally to them. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College, Chef Ferneding spent more than 10 years as a private chef in homes and yachts around the world.
His cookbook is categorized by countries–India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bali–and each section comes with a story and lots of photos. As a result, Trading Dishes is more like a travel diary that happens to include recipes, and that makes this cookbook more enjoyable to page through.
I’ve made two dishes so far. Pokhara’s vegetable curry (p. 37) was a pleasant surprise. Other than salt and pepper, the recipe from Nepal did not call for any seasoning. That’s because the mixture of potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cilantro, green beans and onions, all cooked in ghee, generated enough flavor.
I felt an obligation to make the Bangkok shrimp pad thai (p. 75), since it’s one of Chef Ferneding’s favorite dishes, according to his bio. I appreciated the dish for its simplicity. Unlike other pad thai I’ve eaten, this version wasn’t drowning in sauce, letting the ingredients stand out on their own, just like the vegetable curry. I liked it so much that I’ll probably make it again.
In the near future, I plan to make the Bombay fresh fruit yogurt parfait (p. 21) and the Jungle Bites pineapple fritters (p. 52).
Trading Dishes is available online on its website. A portion of the royalties goes to a non-profit organization called Practical Action and to the United Nation’s World Food Programme.
