The Storm Gourmet: A Guide to Creating Extraordinary Meals Without Electricity by Daphne Nikolopoulos is the Floridian’s guide to eating well during power outages. The recipe ingredients in The Storm Gourmet are as critical reviewers have stated. Many of the ingredients are unusual and many are fresh fruits, herbs, and avocadoes that many Floridians have in their yards. For some ingredients, there is no shelf stable substitute. Most people are not going to have the unusual ingredients in their pantry, but they are items that can be found, especially if you have a foreign foods section in your grocery store. The point is, though, that you need make sure you have them to be able to use the recipes. The recipes in The Storm Gourmet were developed for 2 to 4 people. Very few call for an entire can of food, therefore, you have to figure out what to do with the leftovers if there is no refrigeration. Do I give it to the dog, my teenage son, or throw it out? A nice feature of the recipes, though, is that none of them require cooking.
As a cookbook author I am sensitive to recipe layout and instructions. I feel the recipes could be better organized and more clearly stated, especially the ingredients list.
If I had to choose between Apocalypse Chow and The Storm Gourmet and had an alternate cooking method, I would definitely choose Apocalypse Chow. I think it’s a better book all around and much easier to use and find ingredients for.