Authors: Antony Worrall Thompson & Paul Rankin

Published by: Infinite Ideas Ltd

Rating:

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.