The best cook book so far
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I am a keen cook. Self taught in most things, hit or miss with almost everything I cook,but always appreciated, I found this book very helpful.
Felt like I have a good teacher to keep m right.
Yet to come across another on the same par as this.
Feel like it lets you in on a lot of top little cooking secrets and tips that make all the difference.
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For both beginners and advanced cooks
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Just a fantastic book. Beautifully presented, with step by step instructions for the beginner, but also more adventurous things to try for the established cook. Highly recommended.
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Great in places but very sparse in others
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Got to be honest here - from the previous tip-off about the high street shop bargain, I went to look at this, physically, at £6.....probably worth it at that price but I hadn't heard of a number of the contributors.
Thanks to amazonreviewer for higlighting the actual chef names in his review, because I think the general blurb gives the impression that this is a collection of well-known chefs - ok not of the celebrity nature, granted.
The Asian, Thai, Chinese and Japanese cooking sections are only a few pages long so if you think you are going to master the art of these from this book, you'll be very disappointed. You get the impression that these areas have been given two sides of A4 sheets to get their spotlight whereas others have had the benefit of ten!
I'd suggest that this boook should have been two volumes - one mastering British techniques and the other dedicated to Asian cooking.
Whereas Norman is editor-in-chief of this book and therefore accredited with it, she is only just another person who 'borrows' other people's ideas and sticks them in a book, like the Elizabeth David anthologies - it is not a talent, really?
If contemplating buying at this price, from Amazon, I would suggest saving your money and look at it first - the basic techniques are covered more diligently elsewhere and I woud add that this is just another attempt, albeit unique, in getting another book to the publisher!
Sorry!
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A Collection of Recipes from 18 Selected Chefs
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:- Ferran Adrià , Rick Bayless, Stephan Franz, Paul Gayler, Peter Gordon, Pierre Hermé, Shaun Hill, Ken Hom, Atul Kochhar, Dan Lepard, Greg Malouf, Christine Manfield, Michael Romano, Hisayuki Takeuchi, David Thompson, Charlie Trotter, Norman van Aken and Marcus Wareing.....
`from various countries of the world who have expressed their tastes and discoveries through the techniques they have used and the signature dishes they have created.....
While some recipes may touch on classical greats, each is enhanced by a modern twist.
The result is a reliable reference book that is equally at home on the shelf of any Chef de Cuisine, and in the kitchen of any one who appreciates the arts of cooking, wants to know more, and is keen to develop cooking skills......The techniques are clearly written and many have step-by-step photographs that give an excellent picture of how to complete each stage - it is so much easier to compare your progress and technique to photographs than to words alone....
A weighty tome with no less than 648 high quality pages, split over chapters, each penned by one of the featured chefs:-
Sauces and Dressings
Foams
Stocks and Soups
Flavourings
Latin American Cooking
Eggs & Dairy Produce
Fish & Shellfish
Japanese Cooking
Poultry & Game Birds
Indian Cooking
Meat
Chinese Cooking
Vegetables
Pasta & Dumplings
Asian Noodles & Dumplings
Thai Cooking
Grains & Pulses
Breads & Batters
Mexican Cooking
Pastry & Sweet Doughs
Middle Eastern Cooking
Desserts
Cakes
Fruit & Nuts
with foreword from Marcus Wareing, `Introducing the Chefs', from Jill Norman -plus a `Useful Information Section', along with a glossary and a full index.
Each chapter opens with relevant text and is followed by basic techniques, such as `preparing fish and shellfish`, which is a particularly good section, spanning from pages 154, with `preparing round fish (gutting through the stomach)' to `removing the meat from a cooked crab', on page 181.
Each recipe is clearly laid out with the title, a description, list of ingredients and a numbered method. Most are enhanced by `Chef's Tips boxes', and `Variations', some have `rescue remedies', such as `rescuing curdled mayonnaise' or in extreme cases...`the ulterior choice' ....such as with 'over whisked egg whites' - `they will have to be discarded`.
The numerous recipes include:-
Prawn & Sea Bass Soup
Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse
Coddling Eggs
Cheese Soufflé
Baked Plaice Fillets
Micro-waved Salmon Steaks
Prawn Tempura with Beer
Making and Hand-shaping Sushi
Southern-Fried Chicken
Chicken Braised in Red Wine
Onion Bhajis
Coconut Curry Sauce
Roast Rib of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding
Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary & Garlic
Shepherd's Pie
Beef Wellingtons
Irish Stew
Braised Oxtail
Boiling a Ham Hock
Steak & Kidney Pudding
Stroganoff
Coleslaw
Mushroom & Tofu Skin Pastries
Paella
Semolina
Pasta e Fagioli
Boston Baked Beans
Simple Leaven Bread
Pizza
Pitta Bread
Oatcakes
Pancakes
Pastry
Tarte au Citron
Croissants
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chantilly Tuile Baskets
Hot Apple Sabayon
Sponge Roulade
Cheesecake
FlapJacks
Banana Mousse
Nougat Montelimar
The recipes are interspersed with easy to identify `Signature Dishes', from the relevant chef.
Jill Norman is the editor for the late Elizabeth David, and a cookery writer in her own right, with a number of her own books, so it is no surprise that this is a knowledgeable and concise publication ......on most of the areas it sets out to cover.
However, I think it would be fair to say that although the techniques featured are very useful and detailed, some of the chapters have lost out in favour of this, and could prove to be on the slim side for some readers, particularly those interested in the `foreign' chapters.
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Bargain at £6
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This is a fantastic book. I love to cook but need explanations of the terminology used in some cookbooks. This is basically the Dictionary for all other cookbooks!
I bought it from WH Smiths for £6! Bargain!
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