- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Abacus; New Ed edition (1 Feb 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0349111324
- ISBN-13: 978-0349111322
- Product Dimensions: 1.9 x 12.7 x 19.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 661,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Historically speaking, British food has been noted for its sophistication a great deal longer than for its mediocrity. Medieval recipes were complex, often involving the pounding of almost a dozen different herbs into a paste before meat and vegetables were even considered. Somewhere along the way, Britain's culinary reputation got lost: before Paul Richardson began to sample British food, his French, Spanish and Italian friends offered him their condolences. But with cookery now occupying record space on our television screens, the tables seem to have turned. Good food is once again on Britain's menu.
Although optimistic, Richardson approached his subject with scepticism, not wishing to be misled by media hype. During the 18-month tour that would become Cornucopia, he talked to both chefs and shoppers, visited cheesemakers, bakers, smokehouses and coffee-houses, and sampled everything from deep-fried Mars Bars in Newcastle to udder in Accrington. The book opens with Richardson leaving Normandy for Sussex--the start of a tour that would take him through England, Wales and Scotland--finishing up in London, a city now citing itself as the "food capital of the world". Richardson interpolates his narrative with fascinating snippets of culinary history, identifying, for example, the obscure food category of "traditional foods produced in village post offices". The book also includes a handful of recipes, including Burnt Cream and Trout With Bacon. Richardson tells his tale with wry humour, employing the occasional food-related metaphor (cities are described as "fried eggs, with a discernible neat logic of centre and outside"). In attempting to assess the state of Britain's national cuisine, Cornucopia comes close to achieving an impossible task. --Daren King
Review
Historically speaking, British food has been noted for its sophistication a great deal longer than for its mediocrity. Medieval recipes were complex, often involving the pounding of almost a dozen different herbs into a paste before meat and vegetables were even considered. Somewhere along the way, Britain's culinary reputation got lost: before Paul Richardson began to sample British food, his French, Spanish and Italian friends offered him their condolences. But with cookery now occupying record space on our television screens, the tables seem to have turned. Good food is once again on Britain's menu. Although optimistic, Richardson approached his subject with scepticism, not wishing to be misled by media hype. During the 18-month tour that would become Cornucopia, he talked to both chefs and shoppers, visited cheesemakers, bakers, smokehouses and coffee-houses, and sampled everything from deep-fried Mars Bars in Newcastle to udder in Accrington. The book opens with Richardson leaving Normandy for Sussex--the start of a tour that would take him through England, Wales and Scotland--finishing up in London, a city now citing itself as the "food capital of the world". Richardson interpolates his narrative with fascinating snippets of culinary history, identifying, for example, the obscure food category of "traditional foods produced in village post offices". The book also includes a handful of recipes, including Burnt Cream and Trout With Bacon. Richardson tells his tale with wry humour, employing the occasional food-related metaphor (cities are described as "fried eggs, with a discernible neat logic of centre and outside"). In attempting to assess the state of Britain's national cuisine, Cornucopia comes close to achieving an impossible task. (Daren KING, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW )
A carefully researched and immensely enjoyable tour of the remaining pockets of gastronomic excellence ... should not, perhaps, be read by those on a diet (Tom Rosenthal, DAILY MAIL )
Manages to enthuse and enlighten, amuse and articulate, encourage and uplift those who enjoy reading about food as a part of life, rather than simply a frivolous drizzle of extra virgin. A joy (Simon Hopkinson )
Highly entertaining...A must for serious foodies. (MAIL ON SUNDAY )
A carefully researched and immensely enjoyable tour of the remaining pockets of gastronomic excellence ... should not, perhaps, be read by those on a diet (Tom Rosenthal, DAILY MAIL )
Manages to enthuse and enlighten, amuse and articulate, encourage and uplift those who enjoy reading about food as a part of life, rather than simply a frivolous drizzle of extra virgin. A joy (Simon Hopkinson )
Highly entertaining...A must for serious foodies. (MAIL ON SUNDAY )
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First Sentence
It was midday by the time the ferry pulled out of Dieppe harbour, and I was already feeling peckish again. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
It was midday by the time the ferry pulled out of Dieppe harbour, and I was already feeling peckish again. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
I enjoyed the book enormously and can heartily recommend it to anybody interested in food and its cultural history. The author was a little severe, I thought, in that slightly cliché way that one has come to expect from francophile Dah-lings that originate from somewhere off the M25. Nevertheless, he was instructive and amusing in equal measure and, on the whole, I think I would not avoid his conversation at dinner. This book is ideal bedside table material, to be sipped one half hour at a time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Many people might be thinking, "Well, what exactly IS British cuisine? Is there such a thing?" That's precisely what Paul Richardson sets out to explore. He dislikes a lot of what he finds, particularly in terms of the general public's eating habits at home, the proliferation of poor-quality food in high street outlets, and the blandness of supermarket produce (and our blind unquestioning acceptance of it).
But he also finds much to celebrate, in top-notch farm produce, passionate restaurateurs, and the persistence of local delicacies and definitive regional signature dishes. The latter is probably the most positive and intriguing thread running through the book, and I really felt a sense of discovery as I followed his journey around Britain while he sampled various foods specific to a region. His mission, to prove not only that there is such a thing as British cuisine but that it includes some genuine gems of real quality, is highly laudable.
However, I don't think this book will capture any floating voters. You already have to have some passion for, or interest in, good produce, farmers markets, and interesting regional oddities in order to go along with him. Very few or no casual readers will investigate this book. I was also mildly irritated by his rather precious, ultra-middle-class manner on occasions; and he unquestioningly champions the wild, the fresh-farm-reared and the organic while universally dismissing that which enjoys popular mass consumption, without going too far into why this situation prevails.
Those caveats aside, I found it a compelling, informative and entertaining read, and you can't help but warm to his passion for the subject. But, sadly, I fear that it will amount to no more than preaching to the converted. However, if you read this review and are interested, I definitely recommend Cornucopia.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
This book must be THE definitive picture of the current state of British food. Richardson covers the whole country and tries every type of food from McDonalds to the poshest London restaurants, Deep Fried Mars bar to Tripe, Jellied Eels to Masala Dosa. His descriptions of the places he visits are absolutely spot on. This is one of those books that compels you to read bits out to anyone who happens to be nearby. It's like Bill Bryson for foodies. And it has recipies!
One difference between Richardson and Bill Bryson, though, is Bryson's self-deprecating manner. Richardson, on the other hand, comes across as exactly the kind of pompous food-critic he criticises himself!
The book ends by imploring British foodies to stop being so fashion conscious and urges them to return to traditional British regional cooking. Hear hear! But . . . traditional British regional cooking *is* the latest food fashion, isn't it?
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