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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fairly Impeccable!,
By Marine Blue (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Heston Blumenthal at Home (Hardcover)
As other reviewers have noted, it's a handsome well-produced book. I have found the writing style excellent: clear, almost conversational, and friendly. The chapter introductions alone give you great explanations about the subjects to follow. I also really like the typography and layout. The font used is classic, and very easy on the eye, and reminds me of some of the better books my mum used in the 70's. The recipes themselves are not broken down into too many steps, and are nicely padded with white space, which all helps to put you at ease, and keep the metaphorical temperature down. The photos are amazing too.I much prefer this to the "In Search of Perfection" books, where single recipes spanned a chapter, and often several days preparation. The recipes I have tried so far have been superb, although I agree that the "roast chicken" mentioned by another reviewer reads a little unsettling (I haven't tried it yet). At one end of the scale, the US FDA recommends a minimum internal temp of 74C for poultry, at the other, an excellent German book I have devoted solely to low-temperature cooking of meat suggests an OVEN temperature of 75C for chicken breasts! In the same way that it's become permitted/encouraged to serve pork with a glimmer of pink now, which never used to be the case, I think the boundaries are being "investigated" when it comes to chicken too. The big unknown is the true quality & condition of the bird in your fridge... Equally, as most people are still hard-wired to recoil from chicken with any hint of pink (unless it's tandoori pink!) the good cook will use their nous to prepare it in a way that is most palatable to their diners, as that reviewer did. I also like the fact that some real sweet recipes are included, i.e. like you'd get from the sweetshop, not just desserts. That's always been a slightly mysterious subject, and the recipes here are a relatively easy way of surprising and confounding people who might otherwise be sceptical of this type of cooking. Drinks, snacks and side-dishes are here too, so you can jazz up even the simplest get-together with a few clever touches. Other than the sous-vide stuff (which is only a small section anyway), the equipment demands are fairly modest. The only disingenuous note was that "dry ice can now be bought online". Yes it can, but the best offer I could find had a "minimum order value of £120" and was about 40kg. Which is going a bit far for 4 portions of ice-cream. Maybe some enterprising suppliers will take note and produce a CO2 Gift Set ;-) All in all, highly recommended.
74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Precision Simplified,
By
This review is from: Heston Blumenthal at Home (Hardcover)
This book is absolutely stunning. I had been losing faith in Heston with his every so slightly gimmicky TV shows of recent past. However this book has completely restored my faith in him.I have been inspired more by this book than most on my book shelf of 100. Yes the recipes tend to take a lot of time and some use not so traditional methods, but everything is backed up with reason and each technique has a through explanation, each of which make you excited to use what you have just learned. Moreover, every recipe is possible at home (which maybe the exception of a few sous-vides and dry ice items) and will achieve great results. I have completed two recipes from this book so far, the pea and ham soup and the chicken and ham pies. Both have been extremely successful and some of the best food i've cooked at home. Follow the instructions and buy good ingredients and you will take your cooking to another level. Overall, one of the greatest surprises i've had when buying a cook book. Highly Recommended
60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Willy Wonka's own cookbook,
By
This review is from: Heston Blumenthal at Home (Hardcover)
This is really a brilliant, well presented and excellently photographed tome. I have enjoyed leafing through and reading this book and being prepared to cook some of these marvellous recipes.The book is a well made and study hardcover, running to just over 400 pages. There is no softcover and the book is very robust and (with coated pages) well able to survive the rigours of a busy kitchen. It nicely includes a cloth bookmark (several would have been nice) and as noted earlier there are plenty of illustrative photographics, almost all of the food and several of the chef. The book starts with a dose of theory on flavour with a number of fun exercises demonstrating some of the theorhy behind Hestons wonders. From them we enter the book proper with chapters on Stocks, Soups, Starters, Salads, Meat, Fish, Sous-Vide, Pasta and Grains, Cheese, Sides and Condiments, Ices, Desserts and sweets, Biscuits, snacks and drinks. Each chapter contains a section on theory and technique such as how to make a good stock, how to cook meat etc. All very relevant and attainable at home with a minimal of skills, as Heston says - most good cooks will already have most of the equipment. Each chapter then contains 10 - 20 recipes which allow one to push the boat out with ones repetoire of fun, or even dinner party food (tip - Practice first). Nothing is overly difficult and should be attainable by any decent cook. There are a few recipes which call for some really specialist ingredients such as Whiskey Ice Cream; however most ices and sorbets (for example) will work in an Ice Cream maker. This book is wonderful and magical. In its pages you will find delicious recipes which will help you grow as a cook, but above all they are fun. Highly recommended
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