Cooking with Dom Deluise

Leisure

Cooking with Dom Deluise (Allegro New Media) blows away the memory of Julia’s suave presentation in a flurry of unexpectedly flaming skillets and the occasional obscenity. There are no gourmet aspirations here; cheesecake, omelets, and asparagus are three typical recipes. In reality, this fun-filled disc would be more useful on a daily basis than Julia’s. This double disc set covers a wide selection of recipes, including Meats, Fish, Poultry, Pastas, Vegetables, Salads, Desserts, and Breads, and offers many thoughtful extras, like a built-in timer (in case you’re actually cooking while you run the CD-ROM), and an English to Metric converter. Mr. Deluise seems more jovial and rotund than ever, even doing an impressively biting (yet technically inept) impression of Julia Child. He is certainly not taking himself too seriously on these discs, which is fine – the interface and content are clear and cohesive, and the touch of humor leavens the proceedings nicely.

– November 1995