Como Hotels publishes signature cookbook

Como Hotels and Resorts launched its first cookbook, “The Pleasures of Eating Well,” which features signature Como Shambhala Cuisine created for its award-winning properties around the globe

Como Shambhala Cuisine offers a gastronomic journey through Como’s exclusive hotels in Bali, Bhutan, the Maldives, Miami Beach, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Thailand, the U.K. and Australia.

The cookbook comprise 147 classic recipes that have been meticulously reconfigured to introduce Como Shambhala Cuisine to home cooks.

Fashion and hospitality entrepreneur Christina Ong has always believed food should deliver pleasure and confidence, as well as health and energy. This approach to cooking evolved out of her family home to inspire the kitchens of her award-winning Como Hotels and Resorts worldwide. Called Como Shambhala Cuisine after her holistic wellness brand, Como Shambhala, the philosophy embraces all that is seasonal, pure and sustainable in delicious, nourishing combinations.

COMO Hotels cookbookThe cuisine, developed by Christina Ong and Como’s group executive chef over a 10-year period, is based on the theory that a proper healthy diet avoids calorie counting but instead requires enjoyable food, intelligent portions, variety and balance. The recipes focus on a perfectly calibrated mix of raw and cooked ingredients with specific nutritional purposes. The resulting dishes please the palate while helping to boost concentration and energy, balance blood sugar levels, and cleanse the body from the outside in.

The cookbook includes recipes such as freshwater crayfish and pomelo salad from Thailand and fragrant pumpkin and tempeh curry from Indonesia. Other dishes are built around star ingredients reflecting seasonal bounty from Como destinations, such as the prized matsutake mushrooms from the Himalayan forests around Como’s Bhutanese hotels lending their aroma and texture to carpaccio of yak.

Spanning no-cook juice combinations and raw salads to luxurious dishes suitable for entertaining, the recipes are organized in logical chapters for easy navigation. Each recipe’s nutritional benefits are clearly highlighted.

The Como cookbook is the latest in a succession of hotel cookbooks.

The NoMad Hotel in New York published its cookbook last fall. Written by Chef Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, this uniquely packaged cookbook features savory and sweet recipes from the restaurant with a separate cocktail book written by bar director Leo Robitschek tucked into the back pocket.

COMO Hotels cookbookSmall Luxury Hotels of the World published a cookbook with 221 recipes, some of which are also found on the company’s website. Categories include meats, desserts and baking; vegetarian, fish and foie gras, with recipes such as garlic fried crayfish with peach and baby cos salad and buttermilk dressing; cod soufflé in baked tomato on coriander cream; and warm apple tart tatin.

Norma’s at Le Parker Meridien in New York developed the “NORMA’S Breakfast Done Right” cookbook, which features 18 of the restaurant’s best sellers. An oversized coffee-table book filled with not only recipes, but characters, the cookbook is designed to provoke a laugh.

InterContinental Hotels Group has taken the cookbook idea one step further with the free InterContinental Kitchen iPad App. Users can access recipes from around the world created by the executive chefs of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. The app also allows users to create individual recipes, ranging from appetizers to main courses and desserts.