Chop, Sizzle, Wow
The Silver Spoon Comic Cookbook
This cookbook disguised as a comic book lends itself to hours of learning the art of Italian cooking in a pleasant and entertaining style.
Chop, Sizzle, Wow is a fun, colorful, and informative cookbook. Set up as an innovative comic book, these fifty step-by-step kitchen adventures educate as they entertain.
The book is divided into sections on Appetizers, Pasta, Main Courses, Desserts and Baking, and Extra Stuff, with a helpful introduction offering insight into Italian cooking and eating. The final section incorporates recipe notes, techniques such as scaling and cleaning fish, a helpful glossary, menu ideas by season or occasion, and an index. The recipes are classic Italian, including Rigatoni with Meatballs, Spaghetti Carbonara, and Tiramisu. They are all made from scratch, with simple ingredients.
Each recipe is formatted interestingly—ingredients are listed at the top, with pictures, and a step-by-step recipe follows in comic book style blocks, illustrations, and font. There is movement and flair in the drawings, making them fun, with oil pouring into a hot pan and a knife moving to show chopping. The pictures give enough detail to guide sophomore cooks. The comic book approach continues, as in the Sweet-and-Sour Caponata, where a block states “Meanwhile … in another pan.”
The introduction explains how the legendary cookbook The Silver Spoon is basically the bible of Italian cooking. But “Like the Bible, it is very, very long, so we’ve picked out the best of the best.” Shopping tips are also included to get the best Italian experience.
Filled with bright and colorful yet realistic illustrations, Chop, Sizzle, Wow! creates a fun atmosphere, rarely found cookbooks. The changing font of the recipe titles are lively in their bubbly, block letters and drop shadow formats. All in all, the popularity of Italian cooking and the approachability of this project will help this book appeal to whole new generations of food lovers, home cooks, and kitchen-counter travelers.
Reviewed by
Beth VanHouten
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
