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Product Description
Product Description
The credit crunch is having a massive impact on what we eat. The average family's annual food bill went up by £1000 last year. As the approaching recession forces us to tighten our belts, are we really going to have to face months of grim news with nothing but grim food to sustain us? The answer is 'no!'
Top chefs Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett not only show us how to cut our food bills in half, but how we can eat like royalty at the same time. Economy Gastronomy is about planning ahead, shopping well, spending less and using ingredients ingeniously to create flavour-packed food every day.
The 100 delicious recipes cover breakfasts and lunches, snacks and treats, with chapters to show you how to achieve expensive-looking meals without spending a fortune so you can entertain in style and make something from nothing. Detailed recipes reveal versatile skills you can use in a range of recipes. Form meal planning to seasonal shopping, from loving leftovers to store-cupboard basics, the economy gastronomy system combines traditional skills with restaurant flair.
About the Author
Paul Merrett owns and runs the Victoria Pub and Dining Rooms in Sheen. He has been awarded a Michelin star twice, and is the author of Using the Plot: Tales of an Allotment Chef (2008).He was the presenter of BBC Two's Ever Wondered About Food... series, and co-presented a BBC Two ten-part prime-time series called The Best. Paul is married with two children.
Allegra McEvedy co-founded Leon, the award-winning healthy, fast-food restaurant group. In 2008, she was awarded an MBE for services to the hospitality industry. She is the Resident Chef of the Guardian's G2, and writes a blog column for the Observer Food Monthly. Her second book Allegra McEvedy's Colour Cookbook won the IACP 2007 Cook Book award. She was born and educated in West London, where she still lives.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
160 of 165 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book goes with the TV show on BBC2, which aims to create delicious meals that cost LOADS less. Paul Merrett is a chef I've seen before on TV, very accomplished and knowledgeable about food, but his co-author Allegra McEvedy is my favourite of the two. Tall, blonde, and a bit 'jolly hockey sticks', she shortens all her words, exclaiming "let's get in the kitch!" when she wants to start cooking. She just makes it all seem easy and fun.
There are a hundred recipes in the book, balanced between Merrett's, which are slightly more ambitious and restaurant-y, and McEvedy's which are tasty, tasty, tasty. (I'm not sure macaroni cheese with added artichokes is ever really going to make a truly 'cheap' meal, artichokes are just too pricey, but it tastes amazing.) She is the founding chef of London's LEON restaurant chain which specialise in really cheap delicious 'fast food', so she's great at knowing how to do things.
Most of the money-saving ideas are really good, and I'm impressed by the totting up of how much various households saved switching over to Merrett and McEvedy's system. Totally avoiding food waste is the most important element, with bits and pieces being used up to make stock, flavour soups and so on. And also they are great at sneaking illicit vegetables into dishes for kids who refuse to eat them normally.
This would be an okay book if it just put forward the system, but the recipes from these two fine chefs make it a must-have. Brilliant!
PS you can check out some of the recipes on the Guardian website, google Guardian and Economy Gastronomy and you should get four ways of cooking salmon.
There are a hundred recipes in the book, balanced between Merrett's, which are slightly more ambitious and restaurant-y, and McEvedy's which are tasty, tasty, tasty. (I'm not sure macaroni cheese with added artichokes is ever really going to make a truly 'cheap' meal, artichokes are just too pricey, but it tastes amazing.) She is the founding chef of London's LEON restaurant chain which specialise in really cheap delicious 'fast food', so she's great at knowing how to do things.
Most of the money-saving ideas are really good, and I'm impressed by the totting up of how much various households saved switching over to Merrett and McEvedy's system. Totally avoiding food waste is the most important element, with bits and pieces being used up to make stock, flavour soups and so on. And also they are great at sneaking illicit vegetables into dishes for kids who refuse to eat them normally.
This would be an okay book if it just put forward the system, but the recipes from these two fine chefs make it a must-have. Brilliant!
PS you can check out some of the recipes on the Guardian website, google Guardian and Economy Gastronomy and you should get four ways of cooking salmon.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When I watched this show on the BBC, I was really excited when ideas that I have long held, about saving food for the next day and freezing left overs etc, were actually being suggested. Especially good today, as many households end up wasting food.
However, I was really looking forward to trying the recipe for tarka dahl, as I've never been able to get the spice combination right. I found the recipe in the book and had a look at what was suggested. Unfortunately, I found that the recipe said to use a mix of spices and gave a list of such spices you could use, but no quantities or ratios. You would expect any cookbook to provide you with quantities. Apparently the author felt that the reader would be able to cope with figuring out ratios of spices which aren't typically used in everyday cooking in every household in Britain. I think this shows poor editing.
Also, I have to add... a cookie recipe with an entire pack of butter in it!!!! Most cookie recipes don't require this amount of fat. Also, on a budget, you may just buy margarine (I do) and some of these can be used for cooking as well.
A lot of the ideas and suggestions are good, but on a budget, things like cream and a whole salmon etc, I deem as unnecessary luxuries and the money could be put to good use elsewhere. I wouldn't make many of these recipes because the ingredients aren't standard ones I would buy on a weekly shop without more money in my budget.
However, I was really looking forward to trying the recipe for tarka dahl, as I've never been able to get the spice combination right. I found the recipe in the book and had a look at what was suggested. Unfortunately, I found that the recipe said to use a mix of spices and gave a list of such spices you could use, but no quantities or ratios. You would expect any cookbook to provide you with quantities. Apparently the author felt that the reader would be able to cope with figuring out ratios of spices which aren't typically used in everyday cooking in every household in Britain. I think this shows poor editing.
Also, I have to add... a cookie recipe with an entire pack of butter in it!!!! Most cookie recipes don't require this amount of fat. Also, on a budget, you may just buy margarine (I do) and some of these can be used for cooking as well.
A lot of the ideas and suggestions are good, but on a budget, things like cream and a whole salmon etc, I deem as unnecessary luxuries and the money could be put to good use elsewhere. I wouldn't make many of these recipes because the ingredients aren't standard ones I would buy on a weekly shop without more money in my budget.
176 of 198 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There's little to learn here for anyone but the least experienced cooks - except for a clear method that the cooks claim will save you money. Most of the recipes here are real standards that anyone with more than a handful of cookbooks will already have. Most recipes are very time consuming and not devised for people with limited time on their hands. The 'system' that McEvedy and Merrett advocate - creating a 'bedrock' meal then for days afterwards eating 'tumbledown' meals (ie leftovers) seems kind of crazy. Yes, leftovers are good, but what's on offer here is endless themes and variations on mince that you're supposed to consume across a week that would ensure that me and my family quickly gave up the will to live (or, at least, to eat). Some of the recipes just look plain ghastly. Anyone for Hot Dog Hotpot (frankfurters, egg noodles, white cabbage and a few other things)? No, I thought not.
There are plenty of other books anyone with a real interest in food will find far more useful: for ecomomy meals try Delia Smith's Frugal Food, Jocasta Innes's classic The Pauper's Cookbook or 101 One-Pot Dishes or even Fay's Family Food; for seasonal approaches try Delia's Summer and Winter, Jeremy Round's The Independent Cook, Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall's The River Cottage Year or Valentine Warner's new offerings. I'd recommend this book only to people who intend to rigorously stick to the 'system,'. It's not a recipe book to dip into if you already have the odd copy of Delia, Nigella or Jamie on your bookshelf.
There are plenty of other books anyone with a real interest in food will find far more useful: for ecomomy meals try Delia Smith's Frugal Food, Jocasta Innes's classic The Pauper's Cookbook or 101 One-Pot Dishes or even Fay's Family Food; for seasonal approaches try Delia's Summer and Winter, Jeremy Round's The Independent Cook, Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall's The River Cottage Year or Valentine Warner's new offerings. I'd recommend this book only to people who intend to rigorously stick to the 'system,'. It's not a recipe book to dip into if you already have the odd copy of Delia, Nigella or Jamie on your bookshelf.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Economy! not on your nelly
I don't get it, you can't preface a book with a section about planning your meals and call it an economy cook book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by NLP Mum
Extend Your Meals Shelf Life
Create gourmet meals in your own kitchen and spend less at the same time is the message contained in this book.
Economy doesn't mean skimping. Read more
Economy doesn't mean skimping. Read more
Published 6 months ago by greenecobear
eat better and cheaper
this book from the TV series has helpful advice on making the best use of food and encouraging you to cook at home (instead of raiding the preprepared meals department of your... Read more
Published 7 months ago by ams
Economy cooking
I bought this for my daughter-in-law, she was delighted and we all enjoyed the meals she presented us with (even the grandchildren everything). Read more
Published 8 months ago by Spanish Lady
economy gastronomy review
excellent book, our family live out of it. we have modified some recipes, the braised beef one by tripling the recipe and ending up with 6 meals for 3ppl each time. Read more
Published 20 months ago by J. R. Green
Prompt Delivery & Quality Product
I am very pleased with my purchase and the service I got from the seller was prompt and efficient. No problems at all. Thank you x :)
Published 21 months ago by gemmahedley
Peasant Chef
Love this book, can't laud it's praises enough to be honest.
From Australia and a low income background, always prided myself on being able to look at the shelf of a... Read more
From Australia and a low income background, always prided myself on being able to look at the shelf of a... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Matthew Heath
great book
have tryed many of these recipes they are easy to follow not to many ingredients,[things you never heard of]love the bedrocks recipes,have tryed the braised beef it fed us for... Read more
Published 24 months ago by K. P. Sharp
Awesome food for many a budget
I've had this book for a while now but have since read the reviews on this site and feel sad that so many people don't like this book! Read more
Published on 27 April 2010 by Kirsty L. Mills
excellent value for money - most recipes i have ever cooked from one...
I bought this book after watching the series, inspired by the idea of the bedrock recipes with the subsequent tumble down recipes. Read more
Published on 24 April 2010 by J. Yates
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