Rick Stein's Fruits of the Sea: Over 150 Seafood Recipes for Every Occasion - Softcover

Going only by the enthusiasm bursting out of this cookbook, the easy money says that Rick Stein, author of Taste of the Sea (and star of a British TV cooking show of the same title), is to seafood cookery what Richard Simmons is to weight loss. Stein opened a seafood restaurant in 1975 and has witnessed the rise in popularity of fish and shellfish in Great Britain in the intervening years. The same rising arc is true for the United States.

Stein breaks his cookbook into sections dedicated to choosing, prepping, and cooking techniques as well as basic recipes for stocks, sauces, flavored butters, and dressings. The fish and shellfish recipes he divides into oily fish, Mediterranean fish, round fish, flat fish, large fish, crustaceans, shellfish, and then a collection of soups, stews, and pies. He includes a list of fish alternatives for the American and Australian markets, where some of the British and European fish won't be available.

Take equal measures of passion for seafood and delight in brilliant flavors from Asia, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and North Africa, and you'll have a sense of how Stein enlivens his seafood recipes. Sure, you'll find salmon in sorrel sauce, or seafood thermidor, but that's just the comfort food side of this book. Look also for a Thai seafood salad, a Goan shark curry, and a Dover sole with cilantro, cumin, and chiles. This book is a good place to start for those who need a little extra nudge in the seafood direction. --Schuyler Ingle

Rick Stein is a well-loved and respected chef, TV presenter and author who has produced an array of award-winning books and television series, including Rick Stein's Seafood, Seafood Lover's Guide, Taste of the Sea, Food Heroes, French Odyssey, Mediterranean Escapes, Coast to Coast and Far Eastern Odyssey. All of his books and programmes show a commitment to good-quality produce, sustainable fishing and good husbandry. Rick owns four restaurants, a delicatessen, a patisserie, a seafood cookery school and forty guest bedrooms in the small fishing port of Padstow, Cornwall. In 2003, Rick was awarded an OBE for services to West Country Tourism. He divides his time between Padstow and Australia, which he regards as his second home.