What is Sammy’s Partying Cookbook?

The cookbook “Are we having any fun yet? The cooking & partying handbook” by Sammy Hagar, dives into his food and traveling experience. This is a celebrity chef cookbook by Sammy Hagar. Sammy’s recipes are based off of the three places he traveled to Maui, Mill Valley, and Cabo San Lucas. The cookbook is based on foods from traveling as well as some good alcoholic drinks he learned to make. As well as a bunch of recipes, Sammy explains the backstory behind each recipe. Sammy Hagar is an American singer and songwriter AKA the “Red Rocker”. He was also the lead singer of Van Halen from 1985-1996. He also owns a grill restaurant chain Sammy’s beach bar, and a line of rum “Sammy’s beach bar rum”. He also founded Cabo Wabo, a night club started in Cabo San Lucas, as well as “Cabo Wabo Tequila” brand. (Red Rocker, 2015)

(Toby Keith, Celebrity Recipes)

Who should buy this book?

This cookbook was published fairly recently in 2015. As far as the intended audience would be ages 21 and up due to their being alcoholic beverage recipes in the book. In terms of level of difficulty for the cooking, I feel like the skill level needs to be above beginner so an average cook could do it. I would say you have to understand how to cook meat, work a grill and understand how to chop veggies and cook rice and such. An example is cooking a recipe called Sammy’s Asada, it calls for grilled steak, beans, rice and salsa 3 things that I think an average cook could do correctly. (Hagar,2015,pg 97) One thing I will say is that most of the chefs these recipes come from are male. But I do believe the actual dish that the recipes are not “gendered”. From a social and income status point of view, the dishes in this book are not tailored for a person of lower income. Some ingredients are somewhat pricey for some people, but I think a person could possibly find cheap alternatives if they are creative enough. As far as food and taste goes, I think almost anyone from any culture or taste preference could find something in this book that they enjoy eating. With options like carne asada, a BLT, omelette, and guacamole there is a good option for any taste bud. (Hagar,2015,pg125)  With cooking and food preparation there is not anything I found that is too obscure of a cooking tool. The book calls for tablespoons, teaspoons, cups, bowls, grill, oven, knife, fork, spoons, cutting boards, just today’s normal cookware. But for making alcoholic drinks it may be helpful to have a cocktail shaker.

(Heckathorn, J. 2020)

Food and Culture

Culture is very predominantly brought out in this book, with Sammy diving deep into the foods of Mill Valley, Cabo San Lucas, and Maui. There is a great backstory at the beginning of each recipe and that story talks about the culture and where the food comes from. Lots of the dishes are made from local and geographical specific locations as well, the word fresh is used a lot while describing the food. Also most of the chefs in this book are from the geographical location of where the food originates. He owns Cabo Wabo cantinas and there are 4 of them in LA, Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegan, and Lake Tahoe. He talked about how he lets chefs have basically free reign on what they cook so not every restaurant is the same. He mentioned a Mexican chef named Ruben Chachuaga, and he created south of the border buffalo wings, and a chile rum sauce that is delightful. It shows a person who shared his cooking culture with people in the United States, while bringing people together with food. Every Cabo Wabo location has a different chef, as well as another chef with a Mexican heritage in Las Vegas.

(Rock C., 2015)

Description of Food

In this book there is indeed rhetoric language used, but in a good way.  Every dish Sammy describes as “the best chicken”, or the “freshest ingredients, home made” like every single dish is the best, and I can’t really say no until I try it. But for a picky eater I feel it would be hard to decide if a dish is worth trying. He does explain how spicy a dish can be, but nothing about the flaws the dish may have. Health is not really brought up in the book, or how nutritious a meal may be, but for a knowledgeable person you can see that actually most ingredients are very fresh and there are no processed ingredients, so I guess for a health conscious person they would be fine with all the dishes. And the food is described as fresh, homemade, cultural and very tasty, and in the book he even described an egg needed for a recipe as “1 very fresh egg”. (Hagar, 2015, pg 102)

(Battelle L. 2020)

Culture Continued

There are different cultures as well as different types of cuisine, and that results in different cooking techniques. Authenticity of food is also shown and proven in the book with different people creating foods from their culture and ethnicity, as in a mexican chef showing how to make his recipe of homemade guacamole. The author Sammy Hagar also showed off his food background with his own wabo shrimp recipe. 3rd place in a lot of beaches and a possible surf shop where people from the city hang out and congregate that is non food related but since most of the places is near an ocean that indeed tends to be the 3rd place people hang out at. (Hagar, 2015,pg 55)

(People Staff, 2016)

Citations 

Hagar, S., Sens, J., & Lagasse, E. (2015). Are we having any fun yet?: The cooking & partying handbook. New York, NY: Dey St., an imprint of William Morrow.

 

Sammy Hagar: Sammy Hagar (The Red Rocker). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.redrocker.com/bio/sammy-hagar

Pics

Pietsch, L. (2015, July 01). Interview with Sammy Hagar from Cabo Wabo Tequila. Retrieved from http://tequilaaficionado.com/2015/07/02/interview-with-sammy-hagar-from-cabo-wabo-tequila/

Heckathorn, J. (2020, October 20). Sammy Hagar Debuts his Maui Rum. Retrieved from https://www.honolulumagazine.com/sammy-hagar-debuts-his-maui-rum/

Rock, C. (2015, November 27). 2015 – The Burning Questions: Who Let Sammy Hagar Loose In A Kitchen? Retrieved from https://www.loudersound.com/features/2015-the-burning-questions-who-let-sammy-hagar-loose-in-a-kitchen

Battelle, L. (2020, December 15). Marin chefs join others to create giftable charitable cookbook. Retrieved from https://www.marinij.com/2020/12/15/marin-chefs-join-others-to-create-giftable-charitable-cookbook/

Image result for Toby Keith Wedding Pictures: Sammy hagar, Celebrity recipes, Country music artists. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/403775922833027740/

27, P. S., & Staff, P. (n.d.). Spicy Tequila Lime Shrimp Recipe from Sammy Hagar. Retrieved from https://people.com/food/spicy-tequila-lime-shrimp-sammy-hagar-recipe/