Margaritaville: The Cookbook

February 15, 2018

Jimmy Buffet's iconic song "Margaritaville" is associated with numerous commercial ventures, including resorts, retail stores, and a restaurant chain. Sernaglia, concept chef for Margaritaville Holdings, LLC, teams with best-selling author Turshen (Feed the Resistance) for this tie-in cookbook, which takes inspiration from laid-back locales like Key West, the Gulf Coast, New Orleans, and the Caribbean. All the foods you'd expect to find on an island paradise are here, from lime and coconut-infused beverages and breakfasts to casual and sophisticated seafood dishes. In addition to easy recipes (e.g., spicy breakfast quesadillas, quinoa and mango salad with seared tuna, summer grill surf and turf, banana cream pie with caramel rum sauce), the book includes menu suggestions for parties, beach outings, tailgates, and other occasions. VERDICT Recommended for readers seeking foods that bring to mind vacations and island living.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 19, 2018
Margaritaville’s concept chef Sernaglia and James Beard Award–winner Turshen (Small Victories) offer 125 official Margaritaville-brand recipes that are festive and easy to prepare. Perfect for entertaining, the recipes are mashups of global tropical cuisines with “Gulf Coast Florribean roots.” Seafood lovers will delight in the appetizers, with options for crab, shrimp, oysters, octopus, and conch (ceviches and frittered). Soups and salads include gazpachos, seared tuna, and chowders. New Orleans muffaletta, blackened fish, and stuffed burgers are hearty sandwiches (and, yes, there’s a recipe for Cheeseburgers in Paradise), joined by several steak options, a jambalaya, and guava-glazed baby back barbecued ribs for mains. Along with sides of cilantro lime coleslaw and lobster hash browns topped with jalapeño cheese, there are rum, coconut, and tropical fruit–laced desserts such as Crispy Bananarama, a deep-fried taco strudel. Not surprisingly, the book contains several cocktail and margarita options. Jimmy Buffett fans will undoubtedly enjoy this cookbook, and even non-parrotheads will find lots of solid, go-to recipes. Kari Stewart and Esther Newberg, ICM.