- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Illustrated; 1st ed. edition (5 Feb 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0002202042
- ISBN-13: 978-0002202046
- Product Dimensions: 25 x 19.2 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
116,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15 in Books > Food & Drink > Food Writers > Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Ordinarily the word "lifestyle" is more likely to be applied to slender magazine articles puffing lofts full of Eames furniture rather than books about smallholdings in Dorset. The River Cottage Cookbook, however, is a hefty 450 pages of pure, gumbooted rural lifestyle; and one could not wish it shorter. Cook, broadcaster and food-writer-at-large Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has been ensconced at River Cottage for a number of years, cultivating his vegetable garden, raising chickens, pigs and even cattle for his table and taking occasional potshots at the local wildlife. His achievements have been chronicled on television; now they appear between hard covers.
Although it calls itself a cookbook and does contain a large number of fine recipes, the book's scope is much broader. Really, this is more like one of those "Enquire Within on Everything" volumes 19th-century settlers used to take to the outback with them, full of instructions for mixing whitewash, worming dogs and making a bag pudding. Starting with vegetables, proceeding to livestock and fish (River Cottage does indeed have a river and is only five miles from the sea) and concluding with the wild food, floral and faunal, of the hedgerow, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall explains how he grows, gathers, kills and cooks his own food.
There is a lot of information here, and a lot of hard reality, too: he is very clear and forthright about the place of death in this kind of life. But then this is a very clear and forthright book overall, a very engaging and really quite inspirational manual of how to live the country life so many of us dream about. It's well-illustrated, too, with Simon Wheeler's fine photographs of Hugh at work chasing chickens, skinning eels, carrying piglets and so on. The food in the River Cottage kitchen looks wonderful, too, though the photo of a cod-head glaring resentfully from under a beehive of parsley in a stock pot carries many more resonances than it is possible to summarise here. --Robin Davidson
Philippa Davenport, Financial Times, 17 February 2001
A practical and lively smallholder's bible, essential reading ... I am prepared to bet this will prove one of my favourite cookery titles this year
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
a fantastic book describing all the best (and some of the worst) parts of natural food production. hugh's passion for natural food flies from every page of this book. hugh does a magnificent job of explaining why people hunt,shoot and fish, and gives great recipes for how to deal with the products of these sports. a truly great cookbook, and a highly practical guide to most things!!
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having loved the television series this book was a great read. It's not just a cook book but full of advice on how to be more selective about the quality of food you put on your table. After the introduction I was ready to dig up my hostas and plant cabages and maybe even invest in a chicken or two. The book doesn't preach about organic foods and vegetarianism but instead offers advice to those who object to the way farm animals are reared and tells them to get their own or buy from reputable butchers or farmers markets. The stories are amusing, he admits his faliures as well as sucesses. It's enough to make you want to move to Dorset, if it weren't for the fact that he and Harbour Lights have caused it to become a desirable county for more than just the retired, and house prices have rocketed. I think that we can all, with the help of this book, aim for a slightly better way of living. Oh and the recipies are excellent, if sometimes a little strange.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is set to become a classic.Only two other books, in my opinion, rank in the same catogry. John Seymour`s "complete book of self suffciency" and Monty Don`s "Fork to Fork". Hugh Fernly Whittingstall provides the often overlooked conection between the food on our plates and its origins and process. His opinions reflect the reality of the production process, casting aside the blinkered view of the average supermarket shopper. He also opens up and explores the endless possibilities that lie, freely avialable, on our own doorstep. From cultivation to cookery Hugh`s enthusiasim leaps from the page. So, when is the sequel ?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Comprehensive
Wow, what a cookbook. I advise all budding chefs to only buy a new cookbook after throwing out an old one - never try and get inspiration by reading through a number of cookbooks... Read more
Published 2 months ago by hazza
River Cottage Cookbook
A very good read with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's usual evangelism. The recipes, at least those few that I have tried so far, seem very good and attainable. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Janusz Knepil
GREAT BOOK
THIS COOKBOOK IS A GREAT ITEM TO HAVE, HELPFUL AND INFORMATIVE, TRADITIONAL RECIPE'S, AND FULL OF PRODUCT INFORMATION. A MUST HAVE FOR THE TRADITIONAL COOKS KITCHEN.
Published 7 months ago by a1 toolman 2011
The Foodie's foodie.........
TV chefs tend to fall into one of two categories: the professional (Gordon, Jamie), and the amateur (Delia, Nigella). Read more
Published 10 months ago by penpushing1
Old & tired
This is not a good book. It looks washed out and about 70 years old. I do not recommend it.
Published 12 months ago by thinboyfatter
Great book
I have really found this book informative and useful. There is a lot of practical advice in the book and is not as full of recipes as you may expect - but I love it!
Published 12 months ago by J. Holmes
River Cottage Cook Book
The book arrived the next day in the condition described with a friendly note. I was very impressed with the service!
Published 17 months ago by L. Th.
Bit dated
This book was OK but rather dated. I already have a number of the River Cottage handbooks and feel they are better produced and written. Don't buy this book - buy the new one.
Published 17 months ago by John Melville
classic River Cottage
This is much more then a cook book , if you like river cottage you will like this book , i will be getting all the river cottage books if this one is anything to go by, A great... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ricky White
recommended
The River Cottage Cookbook It was a birthday present for my husband, he is a big fan of River Cottage. He absolutely loved it. We learned about food more than we ever knew :-)
Published 22 months ago by rina
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