Review: New and Improved!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 5, 2012
UPDATE:  I originally published the review below, givingDelicious German Monk Meals - Taste a Small Piece of Heaven2 stars because of the difficulties I outlined below. Ben Cook, the author, responded almost immediately and has gone to a great deal of trouble to fix the problems, so early this morning I deleted my original copy (there is apparently no way to overwrite the old copy) and bought a new one.  This newer version is as well done as the first, without most of the problems.The book is still mostly in the metric system and I think that is fine.  I struggled for years trying to change recipes I had received in metrics into standard American cups and frankly, the attitude of some that  they won't bother with a cookbook that doesn't give both quite annoys me.  Here in the US virtually all of our liquid measures (the clear ones with the lines on the outside) have metric volumes on one side and US standard on the other and these days digital scales are inexpensive.  I've given up worrying about converting recipes and simply cook in whatever measuring system the recipe comes in.  I recommend you do the same.  Trust me here - if you can spend money you can learn the metric system.I have found one little thing you'll need a bit of explanation for. In most of the English speaking world outside of the US what we call hamburger or ground beef is referred to as "mince".  A couple of these recipes call for "mince" - in one case "mixed mince" which would mean part beef and part something else like lamb or pork.  The 500g (grams) of mince called for is just over a pound of hamburg.  You'll want to buy 85-90% lean beef.Great job Ben!  I can't wait to see more from you!_____________________Having lived in Germany for several years, I am a huge fan of German food, so I was delighted to findDelicious German Monk Meals - Taste a Small Piece of Heaventhis morning.  The author has done a nice job laying out the Kindle book and accompanies each recipe with a picture. Yes, there is a functional Table of Contents too.  However, there are a number of problems that make this book of little or no value here in the USA.First, the measurements are done in such a way that a digital scale that measures in a variety of measuring systems is a necessity.  It does appear that perhaps the author changed common packaging sizes (1 Liter to 17ish ounces), but other conversions (31 ounces of sugar in the recipe for Star Cake) are not so readily explained.There are a number of terms used that will sow great confusion, even among many who have cooked for decades and are comfortable with terminology from the other side of the pond.  Let me list some of the most problematic for you -The recipe for German Meat Strudel calls for 17.6 ounces of mixed mince . . . . .  and fails to mention that making strudel dough is not for the faint of heart or those with smaller kitchen space.The Yoghurt Cream with Lemon Balm recipe calls or 1 cup of white gelatine.  I have no clue at all what "white gelatine" one can measure by the cup might be and I've read every word of more than 600 cookbooks and been cooking for over 50 years.The Star Cake (which does look marvelous) calls for 4 teaspoons bicarbonate.  Bicarbonate is Sodium Bicarbonate, otherwise known as Baking Soda here in the US.  However, I have never seen a recipe (even one using 6 cups of flour as this one does) that calls for 4 teaspoons of baking soda.  I would really want to be sure of that before I wasted an entire quart of yogurt and expensive marzipan.The Liver Dumpling Soup recipe calls for 4 stale buns or other white bread.  I presume that "stale buns" refers to the fantastic water rolls that are so prevalent in Germany and so impossible to find here.  Unfortunately, even knowing that does not give me the slightest clue as to just exactly how much this is. Some will also find the "bovine liver" called for in the recipe very hard to find at the market.  This is beef or calves liver.German Mushroom Lasagne calls for "4 square lasagne slices used for cooking that stay hard when you bake them."  I've not seen any square lasagne slices offered for sale in the US.  I would presume that the author is referring to the No-Boil Lasagne noodles now available (and what a lifesaver those are!) but those do not stay hard when you bake them.Here's hoping that Ben Cook will edit the book so that it is actually of some use on this side of the pond.  When he does I'll be happy to take a look and modify my review.  Until then, it remains mostly a curiousity.