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Reviewed
by Toni
Martin, MD -
Consumer
Health
Interactive
Celebrity
Chefs Across
America: The
Ingredients
for Managing
Diabetes
By Anthony
Dias Blue
SmithKline
Beecham
Pharmaceuticals
Readers
familiar
with low-end
diabetic
cookbooks
that feature
desserts
concocted
out of
artificial
sweeteners
will be
relieved to
find that
this book is
a cut above.
There are a
few
fruit-based
desserts,
but the
emphasis is
on hearty,
moderately
trendy
meals.
Although
aimed at
people with
diabetes,
this is the
kind of
heart-healthy
food we
should all
be eating.
And a
forward by
Ginger
Kanzer-Lewis,
president of
the American
Association
of Diabetes
Educators,
lends a
stamp of
approval for
diabetics.
Blue has
assembled
recipes from
chefs in six
regions
across the
country to
ensure a
variety of
tastes to
tempt the
virtuous
palate. (I
recognized
Martin Yan
from public
TV in my
region, the
West. I
suspect most
of the chefs
will be
familiar to
those who
consider
themselves
foodies.
Others
include
Emily
Luchetti,
executive
pastry chef
at Farallon
in San
Francisco,
and Marcus
Samuelsson,
executive
chef at
Aquavit in
Minneapolis.
The only
chef who
mentions a
connection
to diabetes
is Michel
Nischan,
whose son
has Type I
diabetes.)
Blue has
taken care
to choose
recipes with
the home
cook in
mind. He
does not
assume a
kitchen
staff or a
pot of
homemade
stock. The
instructions
are clear
enough for a
beginner,
although
some
techniques,
like
roasting
peppers, are
not typical
first steps
in the
kitchen.
This is not
the book to
choose,
however,
when dinner
has to be on
the table in
half an
hour. The
time
estimate for
Alaskan
Halibut with
Asparagus
is 40
minutes of
prep time
and 40
minutes of
cooking
time. This
seems
excessive
for a dish
that is
essentially
sautéed fish
fillets
garnished
with
mushrooms
and
asparagus,
all of which
cook
quickly.
Maybe it
takes that
long for the
cup of port
wine to cook
down to 1/8
cup for the
optional
garnish, a
step I would
be tempted
to skip.
Stews like
the
Navajo Green
Chile Stew
and
Chipotle
Black Bean
Turkey Chili
do require
time for the
flavors to
blend.
While I did
not check
the calorie
and nutrient
breakdown
offered at
the bottom
of every
recipe, the
numbers seem
in the
ballpark.
The author
does not try
shave
calories by
decreasing
portion
sizes
unrealistically.
Not every
single dish
makes it in
under 30
percent
calories
from fat, so
the reader
needs to pay
attention to
the
information
about meal
planning at
the back, to
make sure
that daily
totals don't
mount up too
high. For
adults with
Type 2
diabetes,
lowering fat
to prevent
heart
disease is
as important
as watching
total
carbohydrates.
The book's
publisher,
SmithKline
Beecham, has
included
promotional
material for
the diabetes
drug Avandia
in some of
the
introductions
to the
regional
recipes and
an
information
page about
the drug at
the end.
This might
confuse some
readers:
People with
Type 1
diabetes
have to take
insulin, not
pills,
because
their bodies
do not make
insulin.
Anyone
giving this
book to
someone with
Type 1
diabetes
should
clarify this
point (which
is made, in
fine print,
on the
information
sheet). The
healthy
recipes are
just as
useful for
people with
Type 1
diabetes as
for those
with Type 2.
The trouble
with
adopting a
healthy
lifestyle is
that it is a
choice that
has to be
repeated
meal by
meal, day by
day. Blue,
who is a
cookbook
author and
Wine and
Spirits
Editor of
Bon Appetit
magazine,
has chosen
recipes with
bold flavors
and ethnic
roots to
overcome the
bland "I'm
not allowed
to eat that"
blues. For
those of us
who want to
celebrate
the holidays
by cooking
lightly but
eating with
gusto, they
come just in
time.
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