The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook By Roger Berkowitz and Jane Doerfer
Broadway Books
320 pages
$26.00
Having started his career sweeping floors, stocking fish cases, selling and filleting fish, Roger Berkowitz knows the fish biz inside and out. In this cookbook, he tells the story of how he has turned what was once a sole-o fish market into an international mega-monger. He also reveals some of his restaurants’ most beloved and famous recipes. In fact, this book does not just tell how to cook fish; it tells everything you need to know about every kind of fish and shellfish – and does so in a style that readable, friendly, and fun.
From arctic char and bluefish to tuna and wolfish, this book covers the entire ichthyological kingdomÂ…and then some! In it, you’ll learn how to distinguish between wild and farmed salmon, how to clean soft-shell crabs, how to age fish properl, and how to microwave lobster (one of Berkowitz’s many claims to fame).
Recipes range from the simple to the exotic, but none are overly fussy or complicated and the cookbook is written in an inviting, informative, and user-friendly style. Veteran food writer Jane Doerfer, co-author of the previous Legal Sea Foods Cookbook with George Berkowitz, repeats that role here. In this follow-up edition, you’ll find simple but lovely dishes like arctic char with pears, cod with olive topping, a one-pot mackerel stew that only takes 20 minutes, and Berkowitz’s favorite dish, shrimp with jasmine rice and broccoli. There are also nearly a dozen salmon and shrimp dishes, including Asian-glazed salmon, and roasted salmon with avocado sauce. The book also offers advice on selecting and storing fish, and methods of preparation like baking, broiling, frying, grilling, microwaving, poaching, steaming, and sauteing. There also are recipes for sandwiches, side dishes, sauces, desserts, and even leftovers.
Berkowitz is an irrepressible raconteur and the cookbook is liberally sprinkled with charming stories of Legal’s history and of Berkowitz’s “learning experiences.” From the very first words – “Fish is my life” – to the last – a scrumptious recipe for butterscotch coconut sauce that’s “a good way to use up coconut milk left over from tropical shrimp and scallops,” Berkowitz’s affable personality and expert knowledge shines through.
Throughout the book are entertaining stories like “Fear Not the Wine List” and “Catering Exploits,” as well as illustrations by famed New Yorker cartoonist Edward Koren, whose work takes the place of the highly-stylized food shots found in many other books of this genre. “We wanted to do something a bit different,” says Berkowitz. And he has – surrounding Koren’s charming illustrations with matte, cream-colored pages and Atlantic-grey typeface befitting an honest, “legal” New England cookbook.
From Inman Square in Cambridge to the world, Legal Sea Foods is one of the most successful family businesses around. And this book demonstrates how and why that came to be so.
It’s the story of an American successÂ…and it’s delicious!