Gadzooks! I did not foresee this. I hoped and did not think the book would be a super contender for a prestigious James Beard Foundation award. But it is. And this is how I feel:
I've had the fortune of being nominated before but I never take these things for granted. There are only 12 categories for books and only 3 finalists in each. If you don't have a copy of Ever-Green Vietnamese, learn more about the book here.
If you have the book, please give it a nice shout wherever you purchased the book, including at Amazon. People don't write reviews as much as in the past so each review matters more than ever. People who have used and cooked from cookbooks have real, deep experiences. Please share yours. I greatly appreciate your generosity.
Thank you for being interested in Vietnamese food, healthy cooking, and culture. Your support means the world.
Trang
Hello Andrea. I love your cookbook and your recipe for Bo Nuong La Lot is my go-to weekly recipe. I normally only use fish sauce the filling, so the addition of curry powder, sugar and lemongrass is a pleasant surprise for me.
However, I tried to use all firm tofu without meat. It is still delicious but the filling is a lot more delicate and wobbly and rolling them took double the time. What is your suggestion for more sturdy rolls.
Andrea Nguyen
Hi Trang! In Ever-Green Vietnamese, I combine meat and tofu. On page 260 in the margin note, there's a tip on using alt-beef. The EGV recipe combines includes tofu for a better la lot experience. Going 100% tofu is really hard to do! I tried it so I totally understand your frustration. Hope this helps. It's la lot season now.
Trang
Thanks for getting back, Andrea. Do you have a place to discuss your cookbook?
Andrea Nguyen
Hi Trang! Great question. Are looking for a general discussion with other EGV cookbook users? Or, do you want to ask me questions? If you pose a question here, I'll answer it. Also, you can comment or ask questions here at my newsletter: https://andreanguyen.substack.com/p/ever-green-vietnamese-cookbook-cover
Would be be helpful to you if I started a page somewhere for folks to pose questions, share pictures or comments? I can do that as a chat thread in my newsletter.
Let me know and we can figure something out. Cam on!