Here is the full text of the New York Journal News article about Cooking to Beat the Clock.
Pascale Le Draoulec
May 26, 1999
It's not that I don't trust Sam Gugino. I've had the pleasure of
meeting the restauranteur- turned-food-journlalist, and he seems about as straight as he
is tall. But when Gugino, who writes the "Tastes" column for Wine Spectator,
promised 60 ambitious recipes that could be prepared in 15 minutes or less -- including
the time it takes to chop vegetables -- in his new book, "Cooking to Beat the
Clock," I was un peu skeptical. It's taken me longer than that just to find
broccoli florets in the crisper. On the heels of last week's column urging already
stretched parents to find the time to eat diner with their children, I thought this would
be a good opportunity to get off my soapbox and into the kitchen and put Gugino's promise
to the test.
I picked his San Diego Fish
Tacos recipe because I became addicted to these colorful and tangy beer-battered tacos
when living in San Diego. Once I'd placed all my ingredients -- unclean and unmeasured --
on the counter, I set the timer. Gugino, the former food critic at the Philadelphia Daily
News, says his recipes were timed for one cook in the kitchen. In fact, he shooed his
wife, Mary, into the bedroom while he tested his recipes. Let me confess right off the bat
that I did solicit the help of someone with remarkable cleaver skills to shred the
cabbage into festive ribbons. But I made up for that extra edge by losing a full minute
rattling through the cupboard for my minifood-processor to make the cilantro, onion and
yogurt sauce. My mistake. Gugino recommends having all your tools within hands' reach
before you start the timer -- even if that means resting appliance on the floor, as he
sometimes does in his tiny Manhattan kitchen.
No joke, it took exactly 16 minutes and 33 seconds to get the tacos
on the table. I know I could have done it in a flat 15 if a certain cat who goes berserk
around S-C-R-O-D hadn't tripped me up twice and if I'd planned ahead for a clean dishtowel
to wrap the tortillas in when they came out of the broiler. More than inspired recipes
like cassoulet and Moroccan chicken
soup, Gugino offers concrete, relaxed strategies for pleasureful and satisfying cooking.
For example, always keep your pantry stocked with ingredients that rank high in both
flavor and texture, such as capers and anchovies. For more effective cooking, unlike
Julia, he recommends waiting until after dinner is served to start sipping your
wine.
