Norman Van Aken's Florida Kitchen

Award-winning chef and restaurateur Norman Van Aken invites you to discover the richness of Floridas culinary landscape. This long-awaited cookbook embraces the history, the character, and the flavors of the state that has inspired Van Akens famous fusion style for over forty years. Drawing from Floridas vibrant array of immigrant cultures, and incorporating local ingredients, the dishes in this book display the exciting diversity of Van Akens New World Cuisine. Recipes include Key lime beignets; cornbread-stuffed quail with strawberry-ancho-guava jam and sweet and sour parsnips; Spanglish tortillas with hash browns, creamed spinach, and serrano ham; pork stew with raisins, tamarind, plantains, and chiles; and fully loaded cracked conch po boys. While preparing these dishes, readers will enjoy advice and stories straight from the kitchen of a master chef. Van Aken infuses his recipes with tips, techniques, and personality. He reveals the key to a good gumbo, praises the acidity of a pickled peppadew, connects food innovation to jazz and blues music, describes hitchhiking adventures across the state with his wife, Janet, and tells the tale behind the Mustachioed Swimmer, a cocktail named for Tennessee Williams. Norman Van Akens Florida Kitchen is a delicious read the definitive guide to the historic past and multicultural future of Floridas abundant foodways. With its forward-thinking blend of old and new, thoughtful step-by-step instructions for wonderful meals, and plenty of friendly conversation, this book is a rare immersion in a culinary artists world.