My copy of The New Sonoma Cookbook arrived yesterday, and I promptly stayed up way too late browsing through it and flagging the recipes I want to try
I don't have the old edition, but this one says it has 200 new recipes, so it should be worthwhile for those of you who liked the old one. I didn't spot any overlap with the recipes in the main diet book, either, although I didn't compare them closely. There are not many vegetarian main dishes, but I found lots of meat dishes that I will be able to adapt.
There were only two things that irritated me a little. Firstly, the cookbook does not specify which recipes are suitable for which Wave, so if you are on Wave 1, you would have to be a little careful. There are even a few recipes in there that have potato in them, which would make them only suitable for people Wave 3, which is probably not most of the people who would buy this cookbook. Secondly, there are some inconsistencies between the diet book and the introductory text. The most significant one is that in the cookbook, Connie Guttersen describes the "Sonoma Smart Plate" as 50% veg, 20% grain, 30% fruit - which are the proportions for Wave 1 in the diet book - but she says it is for Wave 3. There is no mention anywhere that I could see of the 25/25/25/25% proportions for Waves 2 and 3. Between this and the inconsistencies in the diet book itself, I really feel the books could use a better sub-editor, ideally one who has actually tried eating Sonoma-style for a while.
Overall, though, I'm pleased with my purchase. Judging by the number of recipes I flagged as things I want to try, I think I will get more use out of it than I do out of 90% of my other cookbooks, which is pretty good going for a cookbook that isn't purely vegetarian.
The New Sonoma Cookbook - review
