Superior Flavours is a local cookbook with a twist—it includes a taste tour that is basically a challenge to eat at each of the 20 locally owned restaurants that contributed recipes with the chance of winning $1000 in gift certificates for those same restaurants. The recipes are original creations, like Cheer’s The Village Pub’s ultimate stuffed mushrooms, Bistro One’s seared sea scallops with glazed garlic and a maple syrup/Champagne sauce (a true mouthful!). Priced at $29.99, the book is a bit pricey for a total of 36 recipes, but the price is justified in the introduction: proceeds are offsetting the start-up costs of Split Tree Publishing, who donated the profits from their first book to the Canadian Cancer Society. The best part is the ability to taste test a recipe before or after attempting to duplicate it in your own kitchen—”oh, this is how it is supposed to taste!”
[rating:3.5]
-Margaret Ryan