V Street: 100 Globe-Hopping Plates on the Cutting Edge of Vegetable Cooking

Well, I heard the NPR interview, *and* actually ordered and read the book before writing this review!I also ordered (and read, and reviewed) their other book:  Vedge: 100 Plates Large and Small That Redefine Vegetable Cooking I am tough on cookbooks. I've had my recipes featured in cookbooks, I write recipes, I have a few recipe websites, and I collect cookbooks. I won't give a cookbook one more star than it deserves, and in my (not so humble) opinion, this cookbook deserves 6 stars (but I could only give it 5, so there you go).Because this book is based on their travels around the world, finding and eating vegan street food in a variety of places, the chapters are not your usual appetizers/soups/salads/entrees/sides/desserts line-up.Rather, this books chapters are divided into sticks, snacks, salads & slaws, market, plates, bowls, and sweets. Also there are chapters for cocktails, and sauces/spice blends/marinades.You will find that there is a fairly heavy Asian influence to these recipes (by which I am also including India, etc.). So things like Kimchi Tofu, and Tandoor Zucchini. But there are also recipes that found inspiration closer to home including not only the Caribbean and Mexico, but even the good ole U.S. of A. (such as Fried pickles with spicy ketchup). And then there is the occasional out-of-left-field region, such as the recipe for Black garlic pierogi (ok, so not so much out-of-left-field as out of Poland).And all of the recipes are vegan, although meat-lovers will love them too!The cool thing is that I guarantee you that even if you had hundreds of cookbooks (veg or otherwise) like I do, you will not find a *single* one of these recipes in any other cookbook. In part that is because the authors own their own restaurants, and these recipes are from their restaurants, but much more it's because they have a flare for creating wholly unique dishes and recipes. They are, in a word, *amazing*.Consider, in addition to those recipes already mentioned above, the Churro ice cream sandwich, Chocolate peanut butter waffles with curry-banana ice cream, Szechuan soft pretzels, Scallion pancakes, and Jerk-spiced cashews.And they have a recipe for Dan Dan sauce! (One of my favourites!)I only wish that I lived closer to Philadelphia so that I could actually visit their restaurants! (Their restaurants are V Street, after which this cookbook is named, and Vedge. If anybody reading this has been to either, please let me know about your experience!)

To me, this cookbook is elegant simplicity. I requested, and received this and another cookbook from the authors, for my birthday after we ate at V Street in Philly. The recipes are straightforward and easy to create and don't require hours at the chopping board and standing over a hot stove or grill. What I like the most about the simplicity is that I can easily figure out how to substitute other ingredients (say, broccoli for cauliflower) and not lose the point of the recipe and can reuse the sauces for other dishes the next day. I am usually frustrated by other cookbooks where the "stars" of the show are so integrated into the recipe that it becomes challenging to make changes without damaging the texture and overall taste of the recipe. I don't agree with some other reviewers that the recipes are too complex and that the ingredients are too obscure. Of course, since I live in the northeast with a certain high end grocery store chain, ingredient availability may be easier for me than for others. Perhaps if you are looking for an instant vegan dish, it might not be what you need.I have been looking for a way to add more plant based food to my diet and have been unimpressed by recipes that seem to try to substitute plant based foods for meat based foods ("Look at this no meat hot dog!") and their approach is to make the vegetables stand on their own. This means that I can learn from them.So, from my perspective, you should buy this cookbook and work your way through it.

I wish I could make more of the recipes but I'm having trouble finding the ingredients. I'm usually pretty resourceful and can find anything I need online but this book has me stumpt on a few items, the one I'm really having trouble finding is "pickled chile paste" it's in a lot of recipes and I can not find it anywhere! I wish they would have mentioned a brand name or a resource for where they buy it, same goes for Piri Piri peppers, and Malagueta pepper sauce.If anyone could help me find the "pickled chile paste" I sure would appreciate it. I wish I could give this book more stars but it's frustrating not being able to make all the recipes.I don't regret buying it and still recommend it, it's worth it just for the Dan Dan Noodles recipe, which is insanely delicious!

I heard about this book on NPR and I couldn't wait to get a copy. I am a vegan, I love to cook - I have a cookbook addiction actually! - and this book more than met my expectations. I love to learn about new flavors, cooking techniques, and foods. Everything I've made out of this book so far is a winner in my book, but if all you make once you have this in your hot little hands is the ramen, you will have changed your life for the better forever. I've made the carrots asada, the mushroom bulgogi, the dan dan noodles, and more .... all excellent. The last section is about a number of spice blends you can make which are used in the cookbook --but frankly, you could use to control the flavors of any dish you want to try out. I can't wait to try more recipes! TIP: If you are thinking of buying this book, buy some black vinegar as well. I'd never heard of it - they use it a lot in the Asian dishes - and it is amazing!

Excellent recipes and text. I don't know how many things I will make from here in the entirety and how many I will use just a part of such as sauces and marinades. The recipes are veggie or vegan but many either don't need meat for any reason or seem easily adapted to using with beef, chicken, pork, or fish rather than the tofu and tempeh recommended (though, if you are trying new ideas and recipes, give the non-meat ingredients a try and you may very well be pleasantly surprised). There are a lot of unusual ingredients listed but if you try the recipes one or a few at a time you may find there are only a few of the less common things to get. Many of the recipes are fairly simple so that once you have the necessary ingredients they won't be hard to prepare.

The book is an interesting read. However I found too many ingredients unattainable that I didn’t feel inspired to do any of the recipes. It was a great idea but perhaps not practical as a cook book.

Great book. Easy, yet delicious meals. Does require alot of niche ingredients you may not have in your kitchen already.My book arrived quickly yet the pages were wavey & warped, as if the book had got wet and then dried out. Not a massive issue as its going to get a bit messed up in the kitchen anyway.

Decent but boring recipes

This is one of the best cookbooks I have ever purchased. I have made around 15 things from it so far and have yet to find a disappointing recipe. All of the dishes I've tried from this cookbook are packed with amazing bold flavour - nothing bland or boring here. The recipes can take time, may require a few special ingredients, and often have sub-recipes embedded within them, but it is 100% worth the effort.Minor issues: It appears that the recipes have been developed in a commercial kitchen and some of them are not perfectly adapted for household stoves and ovens (e.g. suggested cook / bake times are sometimes unrealistically short, and a few things are a challenge without a proper fryer) so you need to pay attention and adapt accordingly. Also, for some reason a few of the recipes call for tablespoons of curry powder (which would be inedible with the curry powder that is sold near me), so watch out for that.Those are just very minor issues though - overall this is definitely one of the top 3 cookbooks I've ever owned/borrowed/used. There are so many new and unexpected flavours in the recipes.Buy this book!

As with Vedge, the vegetables are the stars of these recipes. The ingredient list is helpful and the uniqueness of each dish is fantastic. I would highly recommend it to those folks tired of steamed veggies