Cookery
The Lazy Cook's Family Favourites by Mo Smith
These days I get very nervous when I hear about books for 'lazy' cooks, or how to cheat when preparing meals. There's a very simple reason for this: good food, prepared using seasonal ingredients which don't break the budget needs skill and knowledge and neither are the prerogative of the lazy. Mo Smith might like us to think that she's lazy, but take my word for it – she isn't. She might have learned a few tricks for making good food quickly, but she's a woman who knows her onions and all sorts of other food. Full review...
My Bread: the Revolutionary No-work, No-knead Method by Jim Lahey
It's a long time since I did Home Economics at school, but a major part of it was learning methods, which, I was assured would stand me in good stead for the rest of my life. A Victoria sponge was a careful progression of creaming and gently adding flour and eggs. A white sauce had a couple of these methods, but essentially it meant working through a series of instructions until they became second nature. Bread was the worst requiring fermenting, kneading, proving and then more kneading and rising. Full review...
Mma Ramotswe's Cookbook by Stuart Brown
I expect there will be a few people who spot this book on the shelves and wonder who Mma Ramotswe is, but Alexander McCall Smith's legion of fans certainly won't be amongst them. This cookbook is a nice tie-in to the books, written with a foreword from AMS himself, and full of flavoursome recipes that are spoken of in his series of books about Mma Ramotswe and her Number One Ladies Detective Agency. Illustrated with beautiful photography, lots of quotes from the books, and lots of information about Botswana's rich variety of food it's a wonderful mix of being both a cookery book, a reference book and a companion work to the Mma Ramostwe books. Full review...
Ani's Raw Food Desserts by Ani Phyo
I'm always keen to try new desserts. I'm also - in a low-key kind of way - quite a fan of raw-food eating. I read a couple of books on the topic some years ago, and was inspired by the medical anecdotes, and also the 'green' aspects of eating primarily raw food. But most of the raw food recipes I've come across are over complex. So most of the time I made raw juices and smoothies, and eat some salad and fresh fruit and nuts, but my diet is mainly non-raw. Full review...
Stirred But Not Shaken: The Autobiography by Keith Floyd
I grew up with television cookery programmes and still have some recipes in my childish handwriting, which begin 4oz SR fl 2oz marg 2oz C sug… as I battled to copy what was on the screen before we retuned to the presenter. Programmes stagnated as the cook spoke to camera and lectured the viewer on how to make sponge cake or a fish dish. Then we were shocked awake. There was a man, quite good-looking in a raffish, slightly dangerous sort of way, who cooked on the deck of a trawler or wherever the whim took him, always glass in hand and who was quite capable of berating the cameraman about how he was doing his job. Like him, or hate him – you could not help but know that he was Keith Floyd, or Floydy to millions. Full review...
The 30-Minute Vegan: 150 Simple and Delectable Recipes for Optimal Health by Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray
I am a committed vegetarian, who strongly believes in the health benefits of a meat free diet. I have in the past been tempted to go completely vegan, but the lure of chocolate and cheese proved too strong. I have no will power. Full review...
Phil Vickery's Puddings by Phil Vickery
I have a weakness for puddings and whilst I wouldn't consider buying a ready meal I will happily trawl the aisles for a good desert when I haven't the time to spend in the kitchen. So, the opportunity to read a book with the sub-title every pudding you have ever wanted to make was simply too good to pass up. I have two favourites when I think of puddings – Tarte Tatin and Crème Brulee – so I was keen to see Phil Vickery's recipes for these classics. Full review...
Vegan Lunch Box Around the World by Jennifer McCann
I am a long-time Vegetarian but sometimes flex up (or down, depending on how you look at it) to Vegan since I don't like eggs unless cleverly disguised as a cake, and don't drink milk. Not having either in the house most of the time means cooking some recipes can be a pain, so I was keen to have a look at this book for ideas of what I could use as substitutes. Full review...
Soup For All Occasions by New Covent Garden Food Co
I love soup. It's more filling than a drink and less time-consuming than a meal but with all the flavour you could ask for. I don't mind good quality canned soup such as Baxter's or New Covent Garden, but I do prefer to make my own, so what could be better than a recipe book from New Covent Garden Food Co? It's not a book of recipes for the soups they sell, but a series of recipes from their staff which will take you, as the title says, through all occasions. Full review...
Wild Cooking by Richard Mabey
It's become fashionable now to make do, to cut back - even for those who have no need to do so. Conspicuous consumption is frowned upon and thriftiness is the new black, so Wild Cooking, previously published in hardback as The New English Cassoulet is going to appeal to the mood of the moment with its approach of 'busking in the kitchen' and making do. Some of it might seem a little extreme – I really can't imagine that I will ever slow cook a Peking Duck in front of a fan heater simply because it might as well cook the food whilst it's heating the room – but I love the idea of using a glut to make broad bean hummus, or even of gathering up vegetables which have been left when the field has been harvested. Full review...
Fish Pies and French Fries, Vegetables, Meat and Something Sweet...Affordable, Everyday Food and Family-friendly Recipes Made Easy by Gill Holcombe
Following on from her success with the book with the atrociously long title Gill Holcombe has given us another long title and more easy recipes aimed at busy people who live real lives. The principle is the same – few people have unlimited time and/or money and these recipe books go some way towards proving that it is possible to prepare food simply and quickly without breaking the Bank. She promises 'simple, wholesome and nutritious recipes' – does she deliver? Full review...
How to Drink by Victoria Moore
A friend who saw me reading this book was moved to ask if I really needed the advice and was quite surprised when I explained that it was about the whole range of liquid intake from the humble glass of warm water (try it – it's wonderful first thing in the morning) to rare spirits costing hundreds of pounds a bottle. It's completely unpreachy with not a word about how much liquid you should be taking in each day to how few units you should be consuming each week. It's about getting the best (which isn't always the most expensive) and enjoying it – and most importantly, enjoying a drink when that's the drink you want. Full review...
Delia's Complete How To Cook by Delia Smith
At the end of the last century Delia Smith produced her How to Cook series – three volumes which gave the inexperienced cook the grounding that they would need to put good food on the table for any occasion. Produced in three volumes (volumes 1, 2 and 3) it always seemed to me to be a reworking of her Complete Cookery Course which began life in a similar manner. There were some new recipes, some reworkings of old favourites and some that were well known. The books were directed at the novice rather than the experienced cook, but found favour with both as this was a time when Delia could do no wrong. Full review...
The Thrifty Cookbook by Kate Colquhoun
Using left-over food can, as Kate Colquhoun says, become something of an obsession. I've done it for years and I do occasionally wonder if I ever eat a meal which doesn't owe something to the day before – or even the day before that. Tonight we're having chicken (from yesterday's roast) and roast vegetables (the last of the selection in the vegetable rack) followed by queen of puddings (the end of the loaf which made chicken sandwiches for lunchboxes, the last of a pot of jam and a couple of eggs). The carcass of the chicken made stock and whilst that was simmering I used the steam to make the custard for ice cream with the last of this week's eggs, the end of the weekend's cream and some milk. It's all good food, but you do need to know what you're doing and how you can make best use of what's in the kitchen. That's where The Thrifty Cookbook comes in. Full review...
Shooting the Cook by David Pritchard
David Pritchard would have you believe that he was a bumbling TV producer and that he, almost by accident, discovered two men who would go on to become celebrity chefs. The first, Keith Floyd, was a revelation to viewers as he slurped a glass (or two) of wine, said exactly what you thought he shouldn't have said and cooked amazing food in one exotic location after another. After the stultifying programmes made by the likes Fanny Craddock he was a breath of fresh air and like or loathe him there was no way that you could be ambivalent. The second man, Rick Stein, was an entirely different, er, kettle of fish. Quiet, thoughtful and decidedly more erudite – it was difficult to imagine two more diverse personalities, but he brought out the best of both and made programmes which stay in the mind years later. Full review...
Bread: River Cottage Handbook No 3 by Daniel Stevens
Have you ever been tempted by a bread recipe in a magazine and thought that it looked so easy you really ought to give it a go? Have you followed the instructions to the letter – or so you thought – only to find that you produced a solid mass fit only for the birds and even they took it as an insult? Me too. 'Bread: River Cottage Handbook No 3' was to be my final attempt at bread making and if that failed then I would have to make the regular trip to the local artisan baker. Full review...
Delia's Frugal Food by Delia Smith
Following a lamentable lack of ability to predict the way that public opinion was heading when she published How to Cheat at Cooking it's good to see that Delia's returned to form with an updating and reissue of her original classic bestseller, Frugal Food. Frugal Food was first published in the nineteen seventies when we were having a little local financial difficulty and it caught the mood of the times with its preference for spending time in the kitchen to produce economical meals rather than spending money to buy time. Full review...
Coast to Coast by Rick Stein
You know what you're going to get with Rick Stein. There's a good reason why he's a television chef, successful restaurateur and author – he delivers, on the table, on the screen and on the page, the sort of food which people want to eat. In his early days it was all about fish but in his latest book he gives recipes for food from land and sea inspired by his travels across the world. Full review...
How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even If You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans ... - Unless You Count the Garlic Crusher... by Gill Holcombe
These days few people have the luxury of unlimited time in which to prepare meals. Jobs, children, families and life all seem to get in the way. The same is true of money and when you put the two factors together it's easy to see why people are tempted to buy cheap convenience food. It's on the table without much effort, requires little in the way of equipment and superficially it looks a lot cheaper than buying all the ingredients to make a family meal. In How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy, Balanced Diet… gill Holcombe sets out to prove that it's possible to put good food on the table without breaking the Bank. Full review...
Cupboard Love by Laura Lockington
There's something extraordinarily refreshing about a book by someone with whom you can empathise – not a celebrity, a victim or an axe-grinder, but a real person leading the sort of life which you can recognise. It's even better when that someone unashamedly loves good food and wants to share that love with the reader. Meet Laura Lockington, writer, playwright, bon vivant and feeder of a greedy fridge. Full review...
Citrus and Spice: A Year of Flavour by Sybil Kapoor
It's not often that a cookery book keeps me awake at night but Sybil Kapoor's Citrus and Spice did just that. The cause of the problem was the need to sort out in my own mind what, exactly, I understood by the word 'flavour'. For me it's always been a combination of various senses – taste, smell, texture on the tongue, even the visual impact of the food – which gave a dish its flavour. It's the overall experience of the food. Sybil Kapoor wants me to think differently. Full review...
Is This Bottle Corked? The Secret Life of Wine by Kathleen Burk and Michael Bywater
Now, I'm the first person to admit I am not a wine buff. I know a lot more now than I did before my current relationship, but she is right to say I have a very masculine (ie dead weak) sense of smell. Added to that a blunt sense of taste and I'm left saying I know what I like when I drink it, and that's it. Full review...
Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No 2 by Pam Corbin
I was born not long after the end of the Second World War, at a time when some foods were rationed and a banana or an orange was a treat. Preserving was simply one of those things that you did to store one season's bounty to help you through less generous times – and all this without the help of a freezer or even a fridge. Freezers have undoubtedly made it easier to save food but it's not the greenest solution and I have long wanted a book which extended my range of recipes, most of which I inherited from my parents. Full review...
The Kitchen Revolution by Rosie Sykes, Polly Russell and Zoe Heron
I've been cooking regular family meals for over forty years. For more than 95% of those nights I've prepared a meal from scratch and sometimes it's just plain drudgery. It's not just the cooking either – there's all the thinking, the planning and the buying to take into account too. Rosie Sykes, Polly Russell and Zoe Heller have come up with a solution. Full review...
A Late Dinner: Discovering the Food of Spain by Paul Richardson
Although subtitled discovering the food of Spain, this excellently written, engaging and interesting book is about so much more. Yes, the focus is on food, mouthwateringly described, but it is also about culture, people, travel, tourism, history and geography. Full review...
Easy Indian Cookbook by Manju Malhi
Have you ever thought that you'd like to make good Indian food but you don't really know where to start? Have you ever worried about over-spicing or under-spicing your dishes? Have you ever wondered what foods work well together and which don't? If you have, this third book from Manju Malhi will provide all the answers.
Indian cuisine is perfume for the nose, relish for the lips, nourishment for the body and nectar for the soul. Full review...
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop
On her first trip to the orient Fuchsia Dunlop is appalled at the preserved duck eggs served as hors d'oeuvre in Hong Kong. Her description of this first encounter with the Chinese delicacy is rich with words like filthy, revolting, nightmarish, translucent, oozy, mouldy, toxic, slime… Full review...
Delia's How To Cheat At Cooking by Delia Smith
I don't often begin a review by saying who shouldn't read a book, but I think it's important with Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking if there are not to be a lot of disappointed readers. If you've ever sighed because you know that your home-made soup would have tasted so much better if you had gone to the trouble of making a decent stock, if you've ever made a quick soufflé for lunch with a friend then you shouldn't even look at this book as you will end up besmirching the name of St Delia and that would never do. Full review...
Moro East by Sam and Sam Clark
Imagine an area of land bordered on one side by the River Lea and on another by the Grand Union Canal. You'll have approached with care because you had to go through some rather insalubrious areas to get there but once you were over the bridge you were in the Manor Garden Allotments – a tiny part of the Eastern Mediterranean in East London – where the Clarks grew vegetables for seven years, but, perhaps more importantly became part of a community of Turks and Cypriots who showed them how to make use of every part of the plant. You'll notice that I've spoken of this in the past tense. Have the Clarks given up, moved on? No – the Manor Garden Allotments have been bulldozed to make way for a hockey stadium for the 2012 Olympics and this book shows the last year of vegetable growing on the site and the glorious food that has been eaten. Full review...