Italia: the recipes and customs of the regions

Author: Antonio Carluccio

Published by: Quadrille Publishing Ltd

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Antonio Carluccio is one of the better known Italians in the UK, though in case you were wondering the cover of the book is not a picture of the author – he has not had a sex change, yet. This cookery book is a celebration of Italy and its regions, giving the reader an insight into the specialities from the various Italian regions and providing background to the produce that is particular to them.  

There is something about the cover of the book that seems a little dated and this feel continues throughout; however it could be said that it adds to the charm of the book. This is not a book for anyone looking for modern, delicate restaurant food– this is a book about the joy of real Italian food; something for families to sit down and share.

The book goes through region by region with the author recounting stories from his life; telling us about the region’s produce – such as a cheeses of the region section for each region - and a mixture of recipes for regional classics. The recipes cover a huge spectrum,  set out in a easy to follow way. Having tried a number of the recipes I can confirm that they are extremely easy to follow. Carluccio has selected recipes that translate easily to a cookbook and that can be explained easily; that is not to say that the flavours are simple. The rabbit ragu was divine.

The majority of dishes in this book could be put together for a supper, or with those with a longer cooking time a great Sunday lunch. Carluccio’s passion for food and his country come through on each page and few people would not learn something from this book.

This isn’t a flash or pretentious book; it instead has a genuineness and simplicity that I find endearing. I doubt this is everyone’s cup of tea, however for me it is a book that I will return to again and again. 

Gordon Ramsay Three Star Chef

Author: Gordon Ramsay

Published by: Quadrille Publishing Ltd

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Three Michelin star food is never going to be something that most home cooks will be looking to cook, or be able to for that matter. That is not to say that there isn’t however a great interest in how these culinary feats are constructed. It is clear that when being put together it was appreciated that most people who pick up the book will probably never attempt a complete dish. In light of this the book is split into two distinct sections; the first half is a series of pictures of each of the dishes; accompanied by quotes from Ramsay about the dishes, his approach to food and anecdotes about his kitchens; alongside quotes from other internationally renowned chefs saying how amazing Ramsay is all brought together by a narrating voice.  

The pictures are wonderful and simply flicking through the first half of the book is a joy. The commentary is at times interesting however the narration is rather sycophantic and the quotes from other chefs portray Ramsay as something of a higher being – seeing as it seems to have been put together on Ramsay’s behalf one could see it as rather self-indulgent.

Having moved past the wonderful pages of pictures you then come to the recipe section, this sets out a detailed recipe for each of the dishes that have been set out in pictures in the first half of the book. What you soon realise is that the reason the food looks so good is because it has taken hours to put together – it is interesting in itself to see the numerous constituent parts of the dishes.

Having tried three or four of the recipes I can say that they are manageable for a home cook; however I did try some of the easier dishes. They tasted good, though I certainly couldn’t get the presentation to come out quite like the pictures. The dishes are generally hugely time consuming; certainly long enough to ensure that these will not be cooked midweek by anyone that is in employment.

Though this is not an everyday cookbook it is interesting and there are those occasions when you could have a great evening (with a day ‘s preparation) eating your own attempt at a three star meal. For me, I will certainly dip into the book for inspiration, possibly taking one element of a more complicated dish and entering that into an everyday meal. Not everyone’s cup of tea but an interesting book nevertheless. 

The People’s Cookbook

 

Authors: Antony Worrall Thompson & Paul Rankin

Published by: Infinite Ideas Ltd

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This cookbook was published following a UKTV food programme of the same name, comprising the dishes that the series selected as some of Britain’s finest. It was appauling programming and it has led to the creation of an equally dire book.

The production quality is frightful, a limp paperback book that looks akin to something that you might get through the door for free. The colour scheme is terrible and the pages are see-through. If that was not enough you are subjected to Worrall Thompson’s face on many of the pages, certainly enough to put most people off their food. Each recipe has a vapid comment from one of the authors; such as on the Garlic Karahi Chicken page “This straightforward dish is right up my street, I love big flavours like these – and lots of garlic.”  Frankly could anyone care less? They clearly needed to fill a bit of space on each shockingly bland page so thought this might be a good idea.

The book includes a bizarre selection of dishes from leftover Christmas turkey pie to Nigerian rice and stew. There are a few recipes in there that are interesting and you might cook however many are rather dull – much of it reads like a dummies guide to cooking or ‘how to survive as a student’ cookbook.

It is not easy to navigate, it is hideously ugly, the dishes are so-so and each page is laid out in a way that is so dull it is potentially coma-inducing. 

Tom Aitkens Cooking

Author: Tom Aitkens

Published by: Ebury Press

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The youngest chef in the UK to receive two Michelin stars Tom Aitkens runs his flagship restaurant Tom Aitkens, the less formal eatery Tom’s Kitchen in Chelsea and most recently added another branch of Tom’s Kitchen to Somerset House.

For being his first foray into cook book writing this is an extremely accomplished effort. The book is set out in an extremely helpful and manageable way – vegetables, meat, fish, desserts and baking. The intro is of interest and largely sets out his thoughts on good produce being the basis to good end dish; he has however not chosen to drone on for too long or fill up reams of paper with self-indulgent rambling.

Again very helpfully the recipes are all graded easy, medium and challenging – having tried a number of recipes these gradings seem to have been worked out quite sensibly. The selection of dishes has also been put together intelligently, in the section dealing with pork the recipes make use of shoulder, belly, loin, liver, knuckle and cheeks – providing suggestions for most of the cuts you are likely to pick up at a butchers.

If you want a picture of every dish then this is not the book for you, the pictures are excellent however less than a fifth of the dishes have an accompanying picture. When I have used the book I have not however found this to be a great problem – the dishes are often about the cooking and the produce rather than the presentation. Many of the meat dishes revolve around larger joints or slow cooked items such as oxtail; which require less direction anyway when coming to plate.
The size of the book is perfect, it isn’t too large as to be a pain to navigate and it fits well into cookbook holders.

Throughout there are little notes and tips included which are interesting and helpful, as well as a short introduction to each section.  I don’t like the silver colouring at the top of the pages however this is a minor design criticism that has no bearing on the utility of the book. The only real annoyance I had was being told rather too often to dunk vegetables into iced water – again maybe it is purely a personal thing. Whilst I appreciate that benefit is taken from swiftly cooling the vegetables surely it isn’t necessary for it to be done with pretty much all recipes.

Overall this is a great book that includes a mixture of British and French dishes. There is a good selection of those dishes that you could do for a simple supper or equally other dishes for a great dinner party. Many of the dishes would best suit larger groups; making it helpful and informative. 

The Cinnamon Club Cookbook

Authors: Iqbal Wahhab & Vivek Singh

Published by: Absolute Press.  

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The Cinnamon Club in Westminster has now been serving the finest of Indian food for over a decade; this cookery book bring some of the fine dishes they have to offer within your reach as well as  a whole host more – totalling over 130 in all.

The front of the book sets the tone nicely, a luscious, deep and rich purple that isn’t over the top. The book has a great balance to it, the introduction provides you with 15 pages or so of the authors’ thoughts on food, the origins of the restaurant and the origins of the cooking before getting into a well sectioned book.  

Throughout the book is very well set out; easy to read and colourful – there are even wine suggestions for each dish. The pictures also certainly add to the warmth of the book. I cannot remember the last time that I had my first flick through a cookbook and wanted to immediately go to the kitchen to try so many of the dishes.

With food looking this good and with its Eastern roots I feared that it might ask for too many ingredients that would be a pain to source – this is not the case. Where items might be difficult to source then alternatives are often listed. The descriptions, m easurements and actions are clearly laid out and easy to follow. The home-smoked lamb kebabs, the tandoori style chicken thighs, mussels in tomato and curry leaf broth and steamed halibut in banana leaf have all been excellent when I have tried them and generally turned out like the picture.

This really is a fantastic book and one I will return to over and over again. Madhur Jaffrey has produced some of the finest books on how to make the Indian basics well, this book however seems to take it to another level and I could make 5 dishes from here in the time that it seems to take me when using other books – the results really are sensational. Definitely a good book for the shelf.