Title: “Nadia G.’s Bitchin’ Kitchen Cookbook: Rock Your Kitchen — And Let The Boys Clean Up The Mess”
Publisher: skirt! Books
Price: $19.95
Available at: Bookstores and online
Summary: Comedienne and chef Nadia Giosia is the creative mastermind behind “Bitchin’ Kitchen,” currently the No. 1 online cooking show on the Internet. The Montreal-based Giosia offers up 60 delectable recipes broken into amusing themes like “One-Night-Stand Breakfasts,” “PMScapades,” and “Broke-Ass Dishes,” along with clever anecdotes, Italian-American slang and pictures of Giosia’s half-naked male cooking assistants. Along the way, Giosia offers up prime “Nadvice,” which can be anything from how to make stracciatella to deducing if your mate is “the one” by sniffing his armpits.
What’s to like: “Bitchin’ Kitchen” is today’s cynical single girl’s cookbook. Awesomely, hilariously sarcastic, Nadia G. is most definitely the girl that your mother told you to stay away from — she’s crass, she’s angry, she’s just an all-around bad influence. If the recipes — yummy stuff like filet mignon with chocolate balsamic reduction, mascarpone-honey toast and penne arrabiata — don’t grab you, her witty opinions on relationships, anxiety and the holidays will. And if all that stuff isn’t entertaining enough, the glossy color photos of the chef’s helpful assistants — named “The Spice Agent,” “Hans The Hunky Himbo” and “Panos the Fish Guy” — certainly are.
What’s not to like: Because Giosia refuses to conform, everything about this cookbook is nontraditional. Every single inch of white space is covered in pops of color, block text or a half-naked man. While amusing, it can be distracting if you’re just trying to follow a recipe. Also, photos of the finished food products tend to be extremely close-up, making it difficult to figure out what your dish is supposed to look like once it’s ready to be served. And those who hate potty mouths certainly won’t want to pick up “Bitchin’ Kitchen” — it’s rife with curse words.
Bottom line: Definitely not for the faint of heart, the traditional chef or anyone over the age of 35. But in a world of Martha Stewarts, Rachael Rays and Paula Deens, Nadia Giosia is quickly making her mark — and it’s probably a black eye.
Check out a video clip from Nadia G.’s “Bitchin’ Kitchen” online at www.baltimoreexaminer.com.
– Emily Campbell ECAMPBELL 12/18/08
