Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul
Starred Review. British author Henry (The Gastropub Cookbook) presents a soul-stirring collection of winter comfort food as warm and welcoming as a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy day. Henry warms readers with mulled wine, rich Onion and Cider Soup and a Camembert-topped slice of toasted bread, a pumpkin tart with spinach and gorgonzola and Stuffed Quail with Marmalade and Whiskey. Henry's Eurocentric lineup includes regional favorites like Romanian Bean, Smoked Bacon and Sour Cream Soup, Sorbronade (essentially a simpler cassoulet) and a Tagliatelle with roast pumpkin, sage, ricotta and smoked cheese from northern Italy. She also offers dishes from this side of the pond, such as a Quebecois Mussel Chowder with Cod and Cider as well as classic baked beans. A tendency to ramble, waxing poetic about the wonders of pears or cranberries, but is all a part of Henry's charm. Peppered with snow-filled snapshots, the work as a whole makes a kind of greatest wintertime hits.