Cook books

[Gerard Clarke]

As noted in a thread elsewhere, every bloke should own this book:-





Otherwise, Elizabeth David (complete works), a bit of Jane Grigson, a Larousse, Andre Simon, at least one Nigel Slater, maybe one by Jamie O, and Blanc Mange (by the eponymous Raymond). Also Marcella Hazan, and Cucina Italiana by the Academy of Italian Cooking. No Nigella, no Delia.

Others for the shelf?

[Gerard Clarke]

From Len D;-

[Dave W]

"Good choices", says t'missus. She also says that you forgot Stéphane Reynaud. Like Len D, he sprinkles his writings with his own drawings - helpful, and frequently humourous.



She also says, emphatically, "NO **** JAMIE!" and "OUI MICHEL!", and recommends Fergus Henderson's Nose to Tail Eating.

[Flyin'Dutch']

Totally 'unter kewl' I know but for the actual cooking guidance I prefer to use the net and sift through recipes, including their reviews, until I find what I want.

Admit that this is no good for the bookshelves nor gives blagging rights.

Results in yummy food though.

[Peter Pan]

As above, but with Silver Spoon (Italies 'Larousse')


Forget Delia (although every home should have a copy) and get a copy of Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery School cookbook.

[Rich T]

I took up meat-eating again about 4 years ago (after a break of some 20 years) and found this book invaluable.



It starts with a discussion of the ethics of meat-eating, and concludes that it's OK to kill to eat as long as you respect the creature, both in life (by treating it well) and in death (by cooking it well and not wasting any bits). My reason for abstinence was based in animal welfare, so this pretty much describes my views.

More importantly, HFW describes the principles of meat cookery rather than merely recipes for slavish adherence. As I'd given up meat round about the time that I started cooking, I'd never learned many techniques such as roasting, so I needed to understand the first principles. Invaluably therefore, after the ethical discussion, there follow sections on each type of animal, the various different cuts, and the broad differences in treatment that each meat and cut demands.

The "recipe" part of the book is divided into sections by cooking style, including roasting, slow cooking, fast cooking, curing, and thrift. Each section again begins with a discussion of the principles of that type of cooking - about 10 pages on achieving the perfect roast, for example.

Other than this, the original unillustrated English Seafood Cookery by Richard Stein (not Rick in those days) is a great compendium of recipes, including an excellent one for eel in red wine sauce - delicious!

The kitchen shelf in Tebb Towers also contains Elizabeth David, The Silver Spoon, and 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi.

[Peter Pan]

I forgot to mention 'Meat' - possibly the most used recipe in the Pan household. I recommend the Picadillo recipe - make it on a Thursday night and have it on Friday before and inevitably after Friday night in the pub!