Seven Spoons

Seven Spoons speaks to me on a couple levels, the first of which = the fact that it was published on the 21st of this month, which happens to be my birthday…and the author’s birthday! I haven’t come across a birthday twin in a while, so I thought that was kinda awesome. She also talks about Sara Forte’s Bowl + Spoon (see my review + a recipe!), which is a cookbook that I really loved!

In Tara’s entry, you can really feel how much time + love she poured into this book–it’s a collection of all her favorite recipes over the years–hers, her family’s and friends’–and she writes that she wanted it to be “as useful on special occasions as it was in the day-to-day.” <3

Seven Spoons By Tara O’Brady

Genre: Cookbook
Pages: 296

I love the way it’s broken down to follow a day’s worth of meals. There’s a really nice variety of all sorts of different foods, so there’s something for everyone in here–assuming that you like minimally processed, whole foods. (Translation: If you are a die-hard Twinkie fan and that’s all you’ll ever consume, you probably do not want this book.) She tries to buy food as locally as possible, cooks seasonally, and is “less about innovation and more about getting supper on the table.”

Tara includes an aside on how to best use Seven Spoons, stating that she hopes “to share the experience of cooking with you as best I can through the page.” The book reads almost as if you’re conversing with her, and there are some recipes where she’ll leave the ingredients or instructions to your interpretation (because all our tastes are different). She includes a section on stocking your pantry, with a discussion on dairy & alternatives, oils, vinegars, salt/spices/herbs/condiments, sweeteners, grains/beans/lentils, flours, and nuts + seeds.

Truth be told, she kinda makes me want to move to a place similar to where she’s living (somewhere in Canada!). Her father taps trees for his own maple syrup, gets eggs straight from a local farmer, and has access to raw, local honey. (Have I mentioned that I still haven’t found a place to recycle here and that I live in between 3 factories?)

Breads & Breakfast

If you are of the belief that breakfast food is the best food…you’re not alone in this opinion, and will definitely love this section! Examples from this section include Seeded Boule (tis a beautiful loaf of bread), Savory Steel-Cut Oats with Cheese and Spinach, Berried Breakfast Batter-Style Cobbler, and Chocolate Olive Oil Zucchini Bread.

Huevos A La Plaza de Marcado (a version of huevos rancheros)

Lunch

I never had an allowance, but back in high school, I did get lunch money, so I’d often skip lunch and bring my own food so that I’d have spending money to buy gifts for friends/family. The author says she failed at lunch as well, but is catching up! (From these beautiful food pictures, I cannot imagine her failing at any sort of meal.)

Examples include…Salad Rolls with Sesame Dressing & Tamari Dipping Sauce, Baked Eggs (North Indian-Style), and Avocado Toast!

A Burger Treated Like A Steak (I loved this title, haha)

Soups, Snacks & Starters

My friends jokingly called me the “bag lady” in med school because I always had a ginormous bag of food with me. (It helps to be prepared for hunger pangs, alright?!) These mini-meals would probably make everyone super jealous. Examples include…Blitzed Ricotta with Peas, Naan, Pakora (Indian Vegetable Fritters), and Trail Mix Snack Bars.

Feel-Better Curried Soup with Crispy Chicken

Suppers

If you’re a fan of Indian food, you will probably love this section the most! Examples include Specialty Restaurant Lentil Kofta Curry, Everyday Yellow Dal, Fuss-Free Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs, Bee-Stung Fried Chicken, and Moussaka.

Five-Spice Steak

Vegetables and Sides

Turmeric Fried Okra, Baked Irish Mash, and Broccoli Rabe with Bagna Cauda…

Roasted Carrots with Harissa Aioli & Dukkah

Sweets, Treats & Sips

Caramel Apple Pie, Fig Toasts with Buttered Honey (photo is on the cover!), Blood Orange Stout Cake, Whiskey Self-Saucing Pudding Cakes, and Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream…

Coconut Kheer with Bronzed Pineapple

Staples

This section is for the recipes that complement the ingredients stocked in Tara’s pantry–you can learn to make your own legit butter or compound butter (e.g. chile garlic butter, harissa butter, sweet fennel pollen butter…), labneh (a Middle Eastern fresh cheese), ricotta (with a paneer variation), or citrus miso tahini dressing!

Although I really enjoyed this cookbook, I would not recommend it to anyone just starting out in cooking. I should also mention that since I live in a place that’s fairly limited in terms of food diversity, getting a number of the ingredients that these recipes call for would be difficult. Her recipes are more labor- and time-intensive than I’m used to, since I still consider myself a fledgeling cook and tend to gravitate toward quick + simple recipes that won’t break the bank.

Since I’m not a hardcore-enough foodie, I haven’t heard of a lot of the foods mentioned/made in Seven Spoons. These recipes would not be at all out of place at a fancy-schmancy restaurant, and I’d love to be able to recreate em’ at home, but am somewhat doubtful of my skill level. I plan to start with the simpler ones and work my way up!

That being said, the food photography in this book is absolutely gorgeous, and left me wishing that there was more of it–you won’t find a photo for every recipe in the book, and there is more text than I’m typically used to seeing in a cookbook, but since I tend to be equally as verbose, I didn’t mind at all, and look forward to sitting down with this one day to really delve into it.

I know I usually include a recipe with my cookbook reviews, but I’m currently in the middle of a grocery ban and don’t have the necessary ingredients. I’m also on call for surgery, and studying for my shelf exam next week, so I’ll have to share one later! <3

Check out my other book reviews!