In the Kitchen

The Idea: Foreign sophistication in a U. S. cookbook.* The Motive: To surprise U. S. cooks with the knowledge that a few left-over green peppers may be transformed into either Mexican frijoles or Armenian dolmas. The Story: Mrs. Ruth A. Jeremiah Gottfried has assembled in staccato sentences 128 recipes: "The booty that one casual observer in foreign kitchens found practical to bring home and too tempting to leave behind." Each recipe has a catch-eye head- ing--some with snap. Examples: "Pilaf: An Extinct Soup"; "Carme-leis: Swoons in Cream"; "Silde-boller: Hamburger with Fins." Eyes which have been caught but perhaps frightened by pilaf, carme-leis and sildeboller are then directed to a consoling, italicized reassurance: The actual instructions for preparing each dish "... are so constructed that one may read each paragraph, then do as directed, then read the next paragraph, and so on." Even more practical, is "an index in which the recipes are arranged according to their chief ingredients, so that one can see . . . what dishes one can make from what one has on hand." Thus the possessor of a piece of liversausage will turn to page 244 and may produce Swedish smorgasbord (which, after all, is only a piece of bread with a bit of meat, fish or cheese laid on it and served with butter). While some of the recipes thus draw their charm almost entirely from an exotic name, most teem with lucious promise. Even the grossest of non-gourmets might read on after encountering the book's first sentence: "In America the name of garlic is in bad odor." To which the author adds: "This conception is a libel upon garlic and upon the land of garlic eaters."

*THE QUESTING COOK--R. A. J. Gottfried-- Washburn & Thomas ($3).