Readers of my Kitchenist blog will probably be able to guess at the outcome of this review; I’ve been harping on about Rachel Allen’s Home Cooking ever since I first found it under the Christmas tree. In fact, out of the four cookbooks I received this year (thanks honey), this one was the biggest, and best, surprise. Read more…
Tag: 4 stars
Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache
By Harry Eastwood, published by Bantam Press, 2009
When my sister pressed her copy of Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache into my hands last weekend, it came with a warning. “Give it a chance” she urged me, knowing that I was already slightly biased against this book.
“I will, don’t worry” I answered. But inside, I was skeptical. Come on- cakes made with vegetables instead of butter? Who’s buying that one? Read more…
Tender, Volume I: A cook and his vegetable patch
By Nigel Slater, published by Fourth Estate, 2009
Oh, to eat at Nigel Slater’s table. That’s what I think (wistfully), and what I imagine any sane person would think, on leafing through the food writer’s new book Tender. Published to coincide with the TV series Simple Suppers, I received a copy for my birthday last month (thanks, Hil!), and have been dreaming of its contents ever since. Read more…
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
By Deborah Madison, published by Broadway Books, 1997
Last year, when I decided to give up meat for good, there was one thing I felt it absolutely necessary to do. No, I wasn’t going on a weird pre-veg cleanse or ridding my house of all animal products; this was something far simpler. I just needed to buy a cookbook. Read more…
The Silver Spoon
Published by Phaidon, 2005
First published in Italy in 1950 under the name Il cucchiaio d’argento, The Silver Spoon is widely regarded as one of the most popular Italian cookbooks of all time. A bestseller since its original publication, it went through eight editions in Italian before being printed in English for the first time in 2005. My mum insists that “every Italian bride” receives a copy upon getting married (can any Italian corroborate this?), but I received mine with no strings attached, as a Christmas gift last year. Believe me, when I unwrapped this baby, I was so excited. Read more…
The 30-Minute Cook
By Nigel Slater, published by Penguin, 1994
My mother is a huge Nigel Slater fan. So much so, that if I don’t give this book a glowing review and top marks, I’m bound to hear about it. In Mum’s kitchen, Nigel’s Word is The Gospel, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with Him. (This includes my father, who’s more of a Mark fan.) So when I mentioned a recipe I’d made from The 30-Minute Cook, I was surprised by her reaction. “What?” she practically shrieked, “I haven’t seen that book, are you sure you have the name right?” Not to worry though- she ran out and bought it before the week was up. Read more…
Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating
By Mark Bittman, published by Simon & Schuster, 2009
I’m a little late with my book review this week (in fact, it’s now a whole other week), and that’s partly because I wasn’t quite sure how to approach this one. Not quite a cookbook, not quite a diet book (and thank God for that), and not quite a political manifesto, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating is Mark Bittman’s attempt to roll all of these into one neat little package. Read more…
Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking
By Madhur Jaffrey, re-published by Chronicle Books, 2007
When I received this book as a Christmas present from my aunt in 2007, I was equal parts thrilled and sceptical. Andrew and I love Indian food (it’s the national cuisine of Britain, after all) but I found the idea of actually cooking it somewhat intimidating. The long lists of ingredients, the hard-to-find and hard-to-pronounce items, the confusing techniques. Aside from the odd curry of dubious authenticity, I hadn’t ventured much into this territory at all. Read more…
How to be a Domestic Goddess
By Nigella Lawson, published by Chatto & Windus, 2003
Now, I didn’t really plan on reviewing another Nigella book so soon after my review of Nigella Express. But, knee-deep in recipe testing for upcoming reviews and desperate to get something up on the blog this week, I’m turning to an old favourite. Read more…
