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All posts in Books For Cooks

Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the Languedoc

by Andrew on October 16, 2012 in Books For Cooks with No comments

Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the LanguedocIn Sud de France, Caroline Conran explores the food and cookery of the Languedoc, that province bounded by the Rhone, the Massif Central, the Pyrenees and the Garonne. The food is as rich and variegated as the history, the architecture, the landscape and the climate.

“There are warm, sustaining dishes to fuel a strenuous day in the winter’s cold, the dishes that reflect the influence of the Arabs, the Catalans, the French and later the Italian immigrants to the ports of Sete or Agde, the dishes that are as Mediterranean as can be or which look over the mountains north and south to other countries and other cultures”.

A book packed with recipes and background details. Few illustrations, no glossy full coloured food-porn here, but easy to follow, relativly simple recipes each accompanied by a little anecdote or two. Poulet aux Pyrenees (Chicken with Almonds and Pine Nuts) is a simple dish, cooked in one pot that returns a tasty, winter-warming dish expecially when accompanied with Pommes paillasson a l’ail (Doormat Potatoes with Garlic). Follow this perhaps with a Tarte au Chocolate, rich, lightly baked chocolate on a puff pastry base… delicious.

Next up to try from Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the Languedoc is Magrets de Canard Aux Pommes (Duck Breasts with Fried Apples) and a Tarte aux Chataignes (Chestnut Tart) for a true taste of autumnal France.

“This is not polite France, this is ‘in your face’ France; it’s history buried amidst the Crusades and Cathars, its towns and cities - Nimes, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Perpignan, Montpellier, Beziers - making up a fiecely independent region. Its people are passionate about rugby, about hunting and foraging, with a cuisine of their own, more Southern, simpler, more earthy, and less influence by the Michelin style of cooking than the rest of France. There will be information on the particular specialities such as chestnuts, sweet onions, Bouzigues mussels and oysters, salt cod, poufres (baby octopus), charcuterie, salades sauvages (salads of wild plants), the rose-coloured garlic of Lautrec, wild asparagus and local mushrooms. There are descriptions of places where oysters, truffles chestnuts or calcots - a giant spring onion, eaten roasted on a fire of vine-prunings - are the obsession of everyone in the community.”

Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the Languedoc is currently available from Amazon for £19.


Celebrity Bake Book

by Andrew on August 30, 2012 in Books For Cooks with 1 Comment

celebrity bake bookWho would have thought that Twiggy loves a slice of Coconut Cake or that the Duchess of Cornwall’s favourite bake is a healthy Sultana Flapjack Bar?

And did you know that former Spice Girl Emma Bunton likes to indulge in Squidgy Chocolate Cake while Joanna Lumley’s favourite dessert is Fancy Bread and Butter Pudding?

These are just a selection of the 150 politicians, actors, singers, models, TV personalities and much loved chefs who have donated recipes to the Celebrity Bake Book which is raising money for the Ben Kinsella Trust to increase awareness of knife crime amongst young people. .

With a foreword and recipe from Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry and sponsorship from food entertainment TV channel Food Network UK, the Celebrity Bake Book is rising to the challenge of becoming the must-have cookbook for Christmas.

Recipes include:

  • Gok Wan’s Chinese Steam Pudding
  • Lauren Goodger’s Rocky Road
  • Lorraine Kelly’s Dundee Cake
  • Gareth Malone’s Orange Almond Cupcakes
  • Mary Berry’s Best Chocolate Fudge Cake
  • Nigella Lawson’s Birthday Custard Sponge
  • Barbara Windsor’s Sour Cream Topped Cheesecake
  • Samantha Cameron’s Figs with Barbados Cream

Other famous faces include Jane Asher, Lauren Goodger, Fearne Cotton, Claudia Winkleman, Samantha Cameron, Russell Grant, Leona Lewis, Anneka Rice, Harriet Harman, Rachel Stevens Tamsin Outhwaite, Loose Women Jenny Eclair and Lynda Bellingham, national treasure Barbara Windsor, Downtown Abbey’s cook Mrs Patmore – alias actress Lesley Nicol – and TV’s top celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, The Hairy Bikers, Gino D’Acampo, Michel Roux Jr, Marco Pierre White and Ainsley Harriott.

All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to The Ben Kinsella Trust.

The Celebrity Bake Book can be pre-ordered from Amazon for £10.49

Food For Friends

by Andrew on August 1, 2012 in Books For Cooks with 1 Comment

gourmet food for friendsIn the second-hand listings on Amazon you can pick up this recipe book, Food for Friends, for under £2. An absolute bargain if you are a lover of great tasting, ‘bistro’ style dishes, easy to prepare that look stunning on the plate.

Published back in 2002 Food for Friends by the Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine is an excellent collection of recipes – from entrees through to desserts that, to me, really encapsulates the summery, fresh, vibrant lifestyle of Australia with a subtle mix of European and Asian influences.

“Kathy Snowball and her gifted team of food writers present a second collection of more than 100 recipes with the unmistakable Australian Gourmet Traveller hallmark.

Food for Friends covers entrées, main courses and desserts for all occasions, from celebrations and dinner parties to barbecues and casual snack meals, with wine notes and menu suggestions accompanying the recipes throughout.”

Example recipes include Poached Quail With Noodles and Spinach, served with a New World Pinot Noir and Caramelised-onion and Leek Tart with Watercress and Walnut Salad, served with a lovely delicate rosé or full and rich Pinot Gris.

Gourmet Food for Friends (“Australian Women’s Weekly” Home Library)

Catalan Cuisine: Vivid Flavors from Spain’s Mediterranean Coast

by Andrew on June 8, 2012 in Books For Cooks with 1 Comment

According to the book, Catalan Cuisine: Vivid Flavours from Spain’s Mediterranean Coast, calcots are green onions…

“but they’re hardly the everyday supermarket variety. They take as long as a year-and-a-half to grow starting with seed onions planted in September or October (always when the moon is waning, say traditionalists), then transplanted about two months later when the shoots have pushed up through the ground. In late June or early July, they’re harvested and stored in a dry place while they germinate again; then in August or September, they’re trimmed and replanted – this time in trenches. As they begin to sprout once more, earth is packed around the new growth to blanch it – and this is how calcots get their name, from the berb calcar, to put on shoes or boots. (The Catalan word for shoe in fact , is the almost identical calcat).”

And I’ve never seen them outside of Catalonia.

Catalan Cuisine, eschews the use of food-porn photographs, for masses of such information and dozens of recipes related to the rich culinary background of the region.

“With 200 showstopping recipes that are easy to prepare and sure to amaze – plus fascinating facts about the traditions, history and culture of Catalonia – Catalan Cuisine is required reading for any adventurous cook of Spanish food aficionado.”

Although American in origin Catalan Cuisine is highly recommended; it was incidentally itself recommended to me by a British newspaper journalist while on a trip to Barcelona where the joys of visiting Freixenet, sampling the Freixenet Cavas and still wines, in addition to consuming copious quantities of Calcots were ‘endured’.

A recipe from the book, but using miniature leeks rather than the impossible to find Calcots, is available on SpittoonExtra: Calcots Fregits (Deep-Fried Calcots). There is also details on how to make a perfect Romesco sauce.

Catalan Cuisine: Vivid Flavors from Spain’s Mediterranean Coast is the perfect source for authentic recipes to accompany wines from the region - Cordorniu Cava, Freixenet or from Scala Dei for example. The book is available from Amazon.co.uk for £9.09.

The Little Tapas Book

by Andrew on June 6, 2012 in Books For Cooks with 2 Comments

the little tapas bookAn absolute bargain of a book. No lenghtly pre-amble to distract from the dozens of recipes; a book packed with atmospheric photographs of Spanish bars, market stalls and sights of Spain in addition to each recipe having its own tempting dish displayed in mouthwatering detail.

The Little Tapas Book is divided into sections offering recipes on meat, seafood and for the vegetarian. Most are simple to prepare, have limited ingredients but result in the most delicious of dishes. Increase the quantities and you have a full-sized mela if the thought of sampling multiple dishes too much.

“Tapas, or little snaks may have originiated in Spain but the cutom of lingering over three or four delectable mouthfuls – empanadillas, perhaps, or chilli olives, say – with a glass of wine or two has heen happily embraced in countries all around the world. Inspired by Spanish cuisines and many others, this little book of goodies will keep the tradition alive and well”

Recipes include Garlic Lamb Skewers, Chilli Beef Quesadillas, Cordoban Pork Balls, Chorizo in Cider, Broad Beans and Jamon, Prawns and Romesco Sauce and Zucchini and Haloumi Fritters.

The Little Tapas Book is available from Amazon.co.uk for just £5.19.

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