Review: Timpla: A Beginner's Guide to Great Cooking by Marilen Fontanilla

SUMMARY FROM BACK COVER:

Get ready to overcome your kitchen anxieties and be on your way to preparing the perfect meal that is properly flavored and seasoned. This cookbook brims with easy recipes, cooking techniques and handy tips. Timpla will guide you to a simple yet flavor-filled cooking journey.

MY TAKE:
I've had this book for awhile but it was only recently that I got around to trying recipes from the book.

Timpla features a whole host of recipes for Filipino favorites plus other easy-to-cook food. There are also tips and tutorials for beginners, such as how can you tell if the oil is hot enough for frying, and which oil works best for which technique.

So far, we've tried two recipes from the book: Roast Tamarind Chicken, and Baked Chicken Rice. The Roast Tamarind Chicken was delicious. My husband said it was like a combination of roast chicken and sinigang. The Baked Chicken Rice was my favorite, though. It was like baked macaroni and cheese with chicken, but with rice instead of pasta. You don't really notice the difference, though, as the cheese and spaghetti sauce coats the rice quite well. My mom did note that it would be better with a bit more chicken bits.

THE GOOD:

1. There are plenty of helpful tips.
2. The recipes are easy enough to follow.
3. The food produced is pretty delicious.

THE BAD:

1. The cookbook is sort-of sponsored by a company, so there's a product appendix at the back showing the products from the company that can be used for the recipes.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

This dish takes inspiration from combining leftover fried or roasted chicken with a spaghetti sauce base and layering it with rice to make a complete meal.

READ IT IF:

1. You are a beginner at cooking.
2. You want to learn how to cook Filipino food.
3. You are looking for easy recipes.

RATING:


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