Kyotofu

March 16, 2015
In this beautiful cookbook, Bermensolo, owner of New York’s Kyotofu restaurant and the pastry brand of the same name, aims to introduce readers to her approach to “familiar, Western dessert formats” with a Japanese twist. Arranged by ingredient rather than type of dessert, Bermensolo offers up such classics as chocolate chunk cookies, mont blancs, cheese cake, and chocolate tarts with distinctly Japanese ingredients like sesame, rice, and yuzu. Where the book really shines, however, is when it presents ingredients not usually thought of as being dessert friendly—think tofu and miso—and introduces them into recipes that Western readers all know and love. With helpful advice on where to shop and what to buy, this book offers a cornucopia of recipes to liven up classic Western desserts. Note that Bermensolo barely offers anything as ancient as the city for which the restaurant and book are named; those interested in classic Japanese dessert recipes are better off looking elsewhere.

April 1, 2015

Bermensolo, who owned the now-closed restaurant for which the book is named, and Dunn (Glazed, Filled, Sugared, and Dipped) here focus on Japanese desserts that are slightly adapted for the North American pantry and palate. Kyotofu opened in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in 2006, introducing Bermensolo's unconventional take on Japanese desserts. She explains her approach and the history of these kinds of sweets in her introduction. Recipes are organized by ingredient, not by dessert type, with sections on soy, miso, green tea, sesame, rice, and yuzu. Many of the recipes, such as dark chocolate brownies with miso, ginger mousse, or jasmine milk chocolate sweet tofu, can easily be created by a home cook using ingredients that would be found in a well-stocked pantry. Others, such as black sesame "rare" cheesecake, spring anmitsu, or passion fruit mochi ice cream, require more unusual ingredients, a higher level of skill, or both. VERDICT This beautifully photographed cookbook will be a great addition to cookbook collections in which patrons have an interest in global cooking.--Claire A. Moitra, Rhode Island Sch. of Design, Providence

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