Great British Grub [Hardcover]

..........initially researched and aimed at filling the gaps left behind from 'Brian Turner's Favourite British Recipes:Classic Dishes from Yorkshire Pudding to Spotted Dick', this book combines great recipes and history snippets, (although it should be noted that there are some duplicated recipes).

In this new book, 'Great British Grub - A Glorious Collection of the Nation's Favourite Dishes', one also finds the good old favourites, such as 'Prawn Cocktail', 'Toad-in-the-Hole' and 'Bakewell Tart' along with the less familiar, e.g.- 'Brown Windsor Soup', 'Beef Cecils' and 'Twelfth Night Cake'.
In a somewhat unusual layout, this new publication highlights specific 'traditional themes' in the first five chapters and selected 'festivals' in the latter three.

From the introduction:-

'What I have done, really, is try to go through a typical calendar year of British eating, unearthing the history and any snippets I thought interesting.....While once again exploring the traditional foods of Britain...I have gone a little further as well, recognising and acknowledging the influences that have been absorbed from other cuisines into ours......'

Nostalgia also plays a large part:-

'This book...contains recipes that my Mum and Grandma would have known and which they would have hoped would not disappear.
It is vital we look to the future, but at the same time we must not forget the past.
I hope the recipes here - some of which are old, some new, some familiar, some apparently strange - will please you. None of them is too difficult to achieve, for many of them are not sophisticated in the least (good food can be made from simple ingredients and simple techniques), and quite a few use up leftovers. Finally in the testing, I was delighted and relieved to find out how 'good' all the recipes taste. I hope that you will enjoy this book - use it well, and cook and eat well.'

Being based on home-cooking, there is that inevitable slant towards using seasonal produce, (along with a dig at 'the supermarket') but although B.T. does endorse the idea of using local produce, whenever possible, he is quick to recognise that his London cooking days would have been seriously compromised if the theory had been applied too rigidly!

So, in an attempt to return to the good old days:-

A good old 'pie' adorns the durable hardboard cover which opens to 256 high quality shiny pages, split over 8 chapters :-

(1) Breakfasts & Brunches
(2) Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea
(3) Sunday Lunches
(4) Picnics & Barbecues
(5) High Teas & Suppers
(6) Hallowe'en & Bonfire Night
(7) Christmas & New Year
(8) Easter

sandwiched between the aforementioned introduction and a concise index, which is usefully enhanced with the highlighting of 'Vegetarian Recipes' ('Vegetarian recipes include eggs but exclude suet and gelatine').

Each chapter opens with a double-page spread:-

an introduction on the left
title and colourful illustration on the right
The main colour featured on the right hand page usefully follows through in the headings/sub-headings of the following recipes, showing that a reasonable amount of thought has also gone into the layout of this book.

Each recipe is clearly laid out with an informative note, the number of servings, the list/s of ingredients and a numbered method.

This volume is littered with culinary advice and interspersed with illustrations......although........not that many........which might prove a little negative to those of us who like to see what we are aiming for on the plate!

A small taste of the 160 recipes contained within:-

Kedgeree
Crispy Bacon with Mushroom Pancakes
Irish Soda Bread
Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding
Madeira Cake
Victoria Sponge
Poacher's Pie
Sea Bass with Fennel Butter
Blackberry Blancmange
Flummery
Salad of Scallops with Bacon
Mutton Ham
Chicken and Pork Brawn
Bacon and Egg Pie
BBQ Spare Ribs
Scotch Eggs
Angels on Horseback
Bubble and Squeak
Prawn Cocktail Cakes
Sardines and Tomatoes on Toast
Fish and Chips
Sausage and Bean Stew
Stuffed Spring Greens
Cauliflower Cheese
Pumpkin Rice
Mulligatawny Soup
Sage and Onion Stuffing
Steak Plate Pie
Pork Faggots
Pancakes

and with Christmas, just around the corner (at the time of writing this review):-

Roast Turkey and all the Trimmings
Christmas Pudding
Rum Sauce
Mincemeat Rolls with Clotted Cream Custard

My favourites so far.......tried and tasted..... is the delicious 'Fish Pie', serving 6-8, from pages 56 & 57, making good use of one of my many Le Creuset cast iron dishes......and Brian usefully identifies that as not all diners like cheese with fish........he offers some useful alternatives!

I also like the spin on his tasty 'Ham and Eggs'.....in the oven!

A useful book of British fare which is easy to read, absorb ......and cook from.....making it a good 'first', if something similar doesn't already occupy a space on the kitchen bookshelf.

Brian Turner is a chef who cooks traditional food and the receipes in this book are traditiona.

They are easy to follow and written in such a way that you do not have to have a degree to understand them.

Well done Brian for a superb book.Great British Grub

Brian Turner is a lovely chef on TV, who I believe is renowned for his love of good British food and this book, does not disappoint you.

The recipes in this book are split into subdivisions, which makes it uncomplicated and very user-friendly. There eight subdivisions in the book: Breakfast and Brunches; Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea; Sunday Lunches; Picnics and Barbecues; High Teas and Suppers; Halloween and Bonfire Night; Christmas and New Year; Easter

In addition, each recipe and subdivision in the book encompasses factual information like for instance kedgeree that is thought of as old English is actually a vegetarian Indian dish that was adapted to include fish and eggs. This dish dates back to the `Raj' period in old India.

Many of the dishes in this book bring nostalgic memories of when I was growing up in a family that placed great importance to special weekend breakfasts, Sunday roasts to delicious puddings of apple crumble or pie with custard. Now these are the traditions that I want my family now to experience and grow up with.