Jamie Oliver's Great Britain [Hardcover]

I do love a good cookbook. I read them much like a read a novel. There is much to be learned within the covers of cookbooks - even if I never use a recipe I pick up tips and tricks and taste combinations I might never have thought of. Some of my favorite dinners have come out reading different recipes and combining pieces of them to come up with a whole. I am a collector of cookbooks and my shelves hold one more now.

Jamie Oliver's Great Britain is a beautiful cookbook full of stunning photography. Being a visual person I adore such books. They don't make for better recipes but they do make for more enjoyable paging. It is also helpful to a cook, in my opinion, to have a photo of the finished dish. At least for this cook. Photos, alas, are expensive and many great cookbooks don't have many but Mr. Oliver is a famous chef and his cookbook is crammed with photographs that make you drool. I was a happy woman making my way through the book. A very happy woman.

As to the recipes? They are pretty straightforward but this is not a cookbook for a beginner. It is a book for someone who has a bit of a clue as to what goes on in a kitchen. With instructions that include using a "knob" of butter and a "lug" of olive oil and cooking something until it is done you can certainly see that a certain knowledge would be required. But for a cook comfortable in the kitchen, for a cook that is looking to prepared simple, yet not so basic good English food this is a keeper of a cookbook. It is a collector's cookbook for sure and I am thrilled to be adding to my shelves. There are many recipes that I will try and play with as time goes on. From the simple like the Fresh Tomato Soup I show you here to the Honey Roasted Lemon Rabbit that I will try as soon as I get another rabbit in my hands.

If you are a cookbook lover, if you love watching Jamie Oliver on the TV (and I must admit that I have not seen his show - the horror!), if you have someone that loves cookbooks - this is a great book to buy as a gift or to grace your collection.

Summary

Growing up in his parents' pub, Jamie Oliver learned a lot about food and drink very early on. To say that traditional British food is where he comes from and who he is today would be an understatement. Oliver takes us on a tour of some of the most well known (food-wise) places in Britain and to the roots of various dishes.

What I Liked

The history - not only does Oliver present Great Britain to us (other countries, other cultures) through her food, but he also speaks to British cooks as well (I think). Every generation loses a little bit of history...I worry about that a lot. For example, what is more simple than roast chicken? Pretty much nothing, right? But, how many young brides or even older ones (ahem) know how to cook one...or really even considered cooking one? We all need to support our origins, our resources, our history...and that of others as well. I think Oliver has done that very nicely with Jamie Oliver's Great Britain.

The photos - I MUST have photos...and Oliver doesn't disappoint. There are color pictures throughout this coffee-table like cookbook...of dishes, foods, shops, farms, people, memorabilia, Oliver cooking and people eating.

No sassiness - the food, the tables, the linens, etc. are all simple. Even the most down to earth, non showy cook can see himself/herself serving these dishes to his/her family. There are no special dishes to buy or fancy gadgets...no magic potions or measuring tools...just food, about as natural as you can get and as corny as it sounds, served with love for his country as well as his culture.

The tidbits - did you know "fish and chips" did not become an English dish until the 1800s when Jewish immigrants introduced it?

Dipping soldiers - little "sticks" of bread, toasted or cheesied up for dipping in soups...squeeeee!

The entire section on asparagus :)

Recipes for: Fresh Tomato Soup, Apple and Watercress Salad, Big Beefy Tomato Salad, Crunchy Allotment Salad, Epic Roast Chicken Salad, Aristocrat's Salad (made popular by Queen Catherine of Aragon), Rainbow Jam Tarts, Queen Victoria Sponge, Walnut & Banana Loaf, Worcestershire Beef Sarnie, Seared Peppered Steak, Killer Green Beans, Baked Creamed Spinach, Chocolate Orange Steamed Pud, Quick Horseradish Sauce, Marvelous Mustards, Glorious Flavored Vinegars, Homemade Mayonnaise, Flavored Gin & Vodka.

Sustainability issues specifically when discussing seafood - "As long as your buying stuff that's responsibly sourced you're doing absolutely just fine."

What I Didn't Like

Black Pudding - and anything that touches it. Oliver tries to persuade those of us who "dismiss black pudding" to give it a try...I did. Still don't like it :( You can google it if you want to...I'm not going to talk about it anymore.

No clue what a "rasher of bacon" is :( I'm sure it's nothing I NEED to know...I just can't stand it that I don't know it.

The breakfasts - this is a personal weirdness for me...I had trouble in Ireland as well...give me some eggs and bacon and I'm good...baked beans are for barbeques, people :p

Recipes for: Mighty Mulligatawny (not a curry fan), Happy Fish Pie (specially not one with a fish tail sticking out of it), Easy Essex Haggis, Steak & Kidney Pudding, recipes with lamb, Crackled Pork Belly, 12-Hour Rabbit Bolognese.

Overall Recommendation

Many of us cookbook collectors are really hard to please...we've seen it all and a slapped together, list of ingredients and boring page after page of recipes just won't cut it anymore. This ain't that, people. Not even close. Foodies, history lovers, nature lovers...or those of us who appreciate it all, will love this book, which is so much more than a cookbook. The only folks I'm pretty sure won't really care for this cookbook are vegetarians.

My husband, The Doctor, is originally from a town on the southern coast of England. Over our 16 years of marriage, I've learned to cook some of his favorite dishes and so when I had the opportunity to review Jamie Oliver's Great Britain, I jumped at the chance. I offered it to The Doctor to look at and his first response was, "these are all tarted up". Do you need a translation? He meant that Jamie took normal recipes and made them all fancy. But then, Jamie is a famous television chef and most television chefs take normal recipes and "tart them up". That's fine with me, because I then take all their recipes and tweak them my own ways.

I tagged a lot of recipes to try. The one I made though was Early Autumn Cornish Pasties. I make an awesome Shepherd's Pie, Trifle and Armadillo Pie already, and I've always meant to try Cornish Pasties. They were a hit. My next one to try is Toad in the Hole, but I need to get proper sausages for that, and I had all the pasty ingredients on hand. The Doctor also wants me to make Scotch Eggs.

One thing that I really liked was Jamie's trifles. The Doctor always complains about the way Americans make English Trifle, with all the lumpy layers and pudding, etc. A true English trifle has separate, neat layers that have each been allowed to set up. The Doctor also says that a truly good English trifle will make a suction-type of sound when you scoop it and that sound means you have the right consistency and textures. He makes really good trifles and I have to say that he's right.

This is very much a British cookbook, as many of the terms are British. A rasher of bacon for instance, which is one slice. A knob of butter, which (for my cooking purposes) is about 2 Tablespoons and suet, which is basically meat fat. Jamie also uses black sausage and lamb, which while a favorite of The Doctor, isn't a meat that Americans normally cook with. This is also a cookbook for a bit more experienced cook. I don't think I'll be giving it to any new brides or college students.

I loved this cookbook for the commentary and photos as much as for the recipes. This is a large, thick, heavy book, but it's full of historical and personal anecdotes and explanations of recipes and their origins.

I received a copy for review purposes.