Essential British Cookbooks

[Carlovski]

Truth is stranger than fiction!

[balex]

My favourite cook book title is

"I'm glad I ate when I did, because I'm not hungry now'

which I think is very deep

[Suzi Edwards]

here's a link (i had to check....)

link to buy everything tastes better with bacon

[bloviatrix]

Jane Grigson's Fruit Book and Vegetable Book. Years ago I was told they were essential for every cook's library. They are fanstastic resources.

[The Lady Pleaser]

Hey

I know its a bit non-foodie.

Even so I suspect you all have a copy.

Ainsley Harriott's Barbecue Bible by Ainsley Harriott the chef and TV personality

It has over 120 recipes, two which stand out are "Chargrilled Pineapple Chicken Kiss-Kiss" on p. 59 and "Beef 'Bourguignon' Kebabs" on p.71. I can heartily recommend the book as a way to transform those summer BBQs...so get sizzling.

A bit different I know but some of those lists needed a bit of spicing up.

Be brave.

TLP

Edited July 29, 2004 by The Lady Pleaser (log)

[The Lady Pleaser]

Here it is on Amazon, you can get it for £5.99 second hand although I can't understand why anyone would be selling their copy. Perhaps they got another as a present or something.

BBQ Bible-click here

Good luck

TLP

Edited July 29, 2004 by The Lady Pleaser (log)

[tony h]

Even so I suspect you all have a copy.

Ainsley Harriott's Barbecue Bible by Ainsley Harriott the chef and TV personality

not even if it were free

[CheGuevara]

I've just bought The River Cottage Meat book and that looks excellent.

i'm almost half of the way through it and it is quite a work. the writing is weak, yet its passionate and not tedious, and thus does its job very well - and is thorough as hell. you'll thoroughly enjoy it, and i suggest you read it as you would a novel.

i am disappointed he makes no mention of argentine meat - clearly the best in there is - but since it's of scottish decent i'll let it pass.

-che

[offcentre]

went to see Hugh at the Brighton festival this year talking about Meat. Wasn't impressed with him as a public speaker - you could have condensed all he had to say in the hour and a half into about ten minutes, although I totally agree with "his" philosophy.

I have a couple of his books - the river cottage cookbook and yearbook, and like them both. Quite handy for me as I have a (at the moment, very productive) allotment, and some of his vegetable recipes are good.

[Bapi]

My tuppence worth:

The River Cottage Cookbook- Huge Furry Whippingtool- marvellous

River Cottage Meatbook- Ditto - A Carnivore bible

Thai Cooking - David Thompson- Excellent photography, good recipes and an interesting read.

Larousse Gastronomique- Everyone should have one

Le Gavroche- a beautiful book- Michel Roux Jr

Sauces- Michel Roux Snr - Indispensable- The sauce Nantua recipe - takes ages to make only a smallish amount of sauce - but lord it's worth it.

How to Eat- Nigella Lawson-Patronising title, but a good book- Ham cooked in Coca Cola under the White Trash lunch section is a favourite of ours

How to Cook Better- Shaun Hill - Top Bloke- well written and easy to use.

Moro-cook book- The Clark's - a well conceived and packaged book

[MobyP]

i am disappointed he makes no mention of argentine meat - clearly the best in there is - but since it's of scottish decent i'll let it pass.

I hear that also about Argentinian beef - but how do we test it?

Where's the place to go in London?

[JasonCampbell]

This isn’t exactly an answer to your question, but I tried some Argentinean beef a few years ago, I was impressed. However it was from Tesco, back when the beef scare (the BSE one) was happening, and really I was comparing it to their normal offerings (which we know to be dire).

Anyway, in an attempt to keep my post on topic, thus removing the risk of it being deleted, a book that I have enjoyed is Leith’s Latin American Cookery by Valeria V. Sisti, not sure if it’s still in print.

[YKL]

if I'm allowed to add more suggestions then I would also point you in the direction of Margaret Costa's Four Seasons cookery book - which was reprinted a few years back. I'm generally quite a fan of the grouping by ingredients approach to recipes - suits my "oh ... I have a glut of apples ... or I fancy something with mushrooms" moments and style of feeding. For the same reason, am also a fan of the Simon Hopkinson Roast Chicken books already mentioned. Sybil Kapoor does something similar with "modern british food" and "simply british". however, these latter suggestions may be unhelpful since a quick trawl on amazon showed they were a bit harder to get hold of.

For a good basic book - then I do think Delia or the ever reliable Good Housekeeping general ones are hard to beat.

Moby mentioned the pudding club book a bit earlier - I've a much thumbed copy, which sits alongside similar - "summer pudding club" and "the book of old tarts" on my bookshelves. The latter was a xmas present and a pretty bloody cheeky one at that!

[Hallie]

Ham cooked in Coca Cola is a favourite of ours

Well, I might have guessed all along...

[fisherman]

went to see Hugh at the Brighton festival this year talking about Meat. Wasn't impressed with him as a public speaker - you could have condensed all he had to say in the hour and a half into about ten minutes, although I totally agree with "his" philosophy.

I have a couple of his books - the river cottage cookbook and yearbook, and like them both. Quite handy for me as I have a (at the moment, very productive) allotment, and some of his vegetable recipes are good.

you use of " " seems to suggest you doubt whether hugh is actually a man!

as for ainsleys barbeque whatever, er, no thanks.

i'm not sure where this myth about argentinian beef comes from, i agree they do oproduce some very good meat, but i've eaten scottish, welsh and english beef that is just as good, and in some cases better.

back on topic, my most used books are meat, river cottage year, appetite, seafood odyssey, coastal journey and an old delia one i forget the name of

Edited July 30, 2004 by fisherman (log)

[CheGuevara]

i am disappointed he makes no mention of argentine meat - clearly the best in there is - but since it's of scottish decent i'll let it pass.

I hear that also about Argentinian beef - but how do we test it?

Where's the place to go in London?

can i say first that i'm appalled at my spelling...as to the place - it would have to be at my place. no argentine restaurant does it jsutice.

unfortunately legislation does not allow for meat on the bone to be imported into the country, and those are the best cuts. we do an "asado de tira" which are the ribs cut lengthwise so you're left with a long, thin strip of beef - bone - beef- bone - beef - bone...you get the idea; it is like nothing else. there happens to be some in my freezer, i have no idea how it got there.

other than that, you can get quite excellent argentine meat at smithfields - and some butchers. (i know of one)

-che

Edited July 30, 2004 by CheGuevara (log)

[tony h]

Any really good vegetarian/vegan/raw books out there worthy of adding to the must haves?

[Matthew Grant]

This isn’t exactly an answer to your question, but I tried some Argentinean beef a few years ago, I was impressed. However it was from Tesco, back when the beef scare (the BSE one) was happening, and really I was comparing it to their normal offerings (which we know to be dire).

Anyway, in an attempt to keep my post on topic, thus removing the risk of it being deleted, a book that I have enjoyed is Leith’s Latin American Cookery by Valeria V. Sisti, not sure if it’s still in print.

There was Argentinian beef in my local Tescos a couple of days ago, not specially advertised or priced. They also had Brazilian beef in boxes and it actually looked fairly decent!

[chefwoody]

Dessert/Pastry Book: Oriol Balaguer - Dessert Cuisine

Wowie-Food Photo Books: Michel Bras and el Bulli

Great Recipe/Methodology Book: French Laundry

Great Home-Cookin'/Practical Cookbook: The Foods & Wines of Spain

As for a good raw book: RAW by Roxanne Klein & C.T.

[curlywurlyfi]

Whats the availability of that?

Do I have to get it from Books For Cooks?

I think you do have to get them from Books For Cooks - there are currently five or possibly six of them (they've kind of done a 'one-a-year' thing), they're about £6 each.

here is a link to the BFC's under-construction website but it does at least give opening times/phone no/email.

[CheGuevara]

I think you do have to get them from Books For Cooks - there are currently five or possibly six of them (they've kind of done a 'one-a-year' thing), they're about £6 each.

they are up to #6 now - was in there over the week-end. the first three are in one book.

-che

[Charlie O]

I too find the Conran book indispensible.

Other books that I use often are:

The Cranks Bible - which is great for vegetarian recipes (obviously);

Bareham's A Celebration of Soup - already mentioned;

French Regional Cooking by Anne Wilan - out of print but available via Amazon or Abe Books.

Am thinking of getting How to Cook Cetter by Shaun Hill and the River Cottage Meat book.

Though here's a thought: with all the accumulated knowledge and recipes on eGullet my compulsion to buy cookbooks has decreased considerably.

[Gary Marshall]

for actually cooking out of.....

nigel slater: started with 30 min cook, now mainly use appetite as contains virtually all of the recipes/themes from his previous books.

river caf: italian kitchen, mini C4 tie in, and first book too.

jamie oliver: naked chef & return of. Decent recipes, inspired a generation, no-matter what people may think of him now.

hon mention for nigella lawson- how to eat, her spaghetti carbonara is our store cupboard meal, judging by the paucity of her later offerings i think she gave away all her best recipes a bit too quickly.

for the basics...... leith's cookery bible- has everything in it.

For Looking at......

Marco Pierre White: white heat- just brilliant, saw one for £2 in a bookshop the other day so bought it again for a mate! everyone should have this, look closely and see a youthful gordon ramsay in the kitchen at harvey's.

formulas for flavours- john campbell look closely and see both nathan 'black pig' outlaw and tony 'anthony' flinn in the background. best restaurant/cookbook crossover.

gordon ramsay - chef for all seasons & a passion for flavour - again forget the tv and realise just how hard he pushed in the early days.

larrousse gastonomic- never cooked anything out of it though!

Most Ridiculous........ Bras- michel bras, in french, Mark askew at GR RHR showed me it, of course i had to have it, much more use to the head chef of a 3 * kitchen than me looking to rustle up tea

most recent purchase....... how to cook better - shaun hill because bapi and i were being chef groupies and shaun signed them for us.

will buy...... river cottage meat book - just not got round to it yet.

most embarassing..... delia's how to cook one AND two, nigella 'bites' (must have been cheap) 'low fat, no fat cookbook'

I also have an ainsley's 'big cook out' , if anyone can recommend a decent bar-b book i would be grateful!

gary

edit: got the wrong ainsley and nigella, despite them being my constant reference

Edited August 3, 2004 by Gary Marshall (log)

[Andy Lynes]

I also have an ainsley's barbeque bible, if anyone can recommend a decent bar-b book i would be grateful!

Ainsleys book is perfect for bbq's. My copy burnt nice and slowly all afternoon and provided a nice smokey edge to the food.

[Suzi Edwards]

Most Ridiculous........ Bras- michel bras, in french, Mark askew at GR RHR showed me it, of course i had to have it, much more use to the head chef of a 3 * kitchen than me looking to rustle up tea

LOL

I feel the same way about my French Laundry cookbook and that's in English. That said, sometimes you realise that something isn't as hard as you thought it might be (Salmon Cones) and something that seems really easy (Parsley Oil) turns out to be a complete disaster.