The Gourmet Garage Cookbook

Book excerpt: From New York's hottest and fastest-growing chain of gourmet food stores, a cookbook bursting with new flavors. Founded in 1992 as a supplier of fresh and exotic ingredients to the chefs and restaurateurs of New York, the Gourmet Garage became a retailing leg when it opened its doors to the public a few years later. Now, award-winning cookbook authors Sheryl and Mel London and the experts of the Gourmet Garage show you how to select from the dizzying array of both everyday and sometimes unfamiliar ingredients, transforming them into simple, wonderful meals in your own kitchen. Unlike other cookbooks, The Gourmet Garage Cookbook is organized by ingredient and takes you through every section of a specialty food store that is just one step away from the farmer. From the fruit section, papaya and lime combine in a relish for grilled shrimp. Gourmet yams are accompanied by pears, crystallized ginger, and distilled figs. Of particular interest to the home cook are the "Shop Smart" tips in each chapter which tell the reader how to choose the best and freshest products in the marketplace, and "Notes for the Cook," containing dozens of helpful hints for making the most out of fresh ingredients.