Review: Aliya LeeKong’s Exotic Table: Flavors, Inspiration, and Recipes from Around the World–to your Kitchen

By Valerie Blackwell, Contributor —

 

If you are looking for a cookbook that will help add an international flair to your daily cooking routine or if you need some ideas for a special night, I strongly recommend Exotic Table: Flavors, inspiration, and recipes from around the world–to your kitchen by Aliya LeeKong.

I cook for my family every day and sometimes I just don’t want to make the usual fare. Exotic Table is an inspiring work and an opportunity to expose my husband and son to different flavors from around the world.

The recipes that Ms. LeeKong has published in this beautifully produced volume are inspired by her life and travels. The dishes are well explained with steps that are easy to follow for people with different levels of experience.

For me, the most intimidating aspect of cooking exotic foods is knowing what to have in my pantry. Ms. LeeKong addresses this issue in Chapter 1 entitled Spices, Ingredients and Equipment, telling readers what they should buy, where they should buy it and in what kind of recipes it will be used.

Another chapter I really liked was the one dedicated to poultry. Chicken and turkey are the proteins I cook most and finding new ways to prepare them really excites me. One recipe I’m particularly eager to try is Moroccan Chicken Pie on page 149. I didn’t even know such a thing existed and now I have the recipe at my fingertips.

Exotic Table is delightfully peppered with Ms. LeeKong’s personal anecdotes – from her weekly “indulgence” in calamari when she was a college student in Rhode Island to the simple but wonderful quinoa soup she dined on in Peru.

Exotic Table: Flavors, Inspirations, and Recipes from Around the World — to Your Kitchen, by Aliya LeeKong (Adams Media; November 2013; $35) is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Get the hardcover version (hurry, only 6 left in stock).

Get the Exotic Table: Flavors, inspiration, and recipes from around the world–to your kitchen Kindle Version.

Thank to Adams Media for sending a sample cookbook. This post contains affiliate links. Normally we do not review cookbooks, but this one caught our eye.