Supper Club: Recipes and notes from the underground restaurant [Kindle Edition]

This book is unique - not only is it incredibly beautiful, full of Kerstin Rodgers' whimsical style (think French vintage with an edgy, slightly subversive twist), it is also eclectic in terms of recipes. This is because it is based upon The Underground Restaurant - the author's supperclub which is never allowed to rest on its laurels, but is constantly coming up with interesting themes. The book includes some of these, including a Midnight Feast of black food (Black Russians, Squid-ink Tortelloni, Marmite Chocolate Cupcakes) and Elvis Night (Deep-Fried Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwiches, Blackened Catfish) and the ridiculously pretty Flower Menu (Stuffed Courgette Flowers, Marigold Bread, Elderflower Fritters, ice cream served in a Flower Ice Bowl). Other interesting ideas include making butterscotch schnapps with Daim bars, vodka and your dishwasher, flavouring popcorn with butter, chilli and lime as well as taking lots of things back to first principles - candying citrus peel, for example.

This is a lovely cookery book, full of things I personally would like to try, but it's also an excellent read, offering as it does a glimpse into what is clearly a fascinating life.

I have only attended one Supper Club - Frernandez and Leluu's, and after that, fell completely in love with the idea of Supper Clubs. Kerstin Rodger's (AKA Ms Marmite Lover) book couldn't have come at a better time. Although I'm not brave enough to want to start one up myself (just yet), I loved every minute of reading Kerstin's accounts of endless evenings entertaining and feeding complete strangers in her home. Another bonus for me, is that Kerstin is infact vegetarian, and so although there are guest recipes from other Supper Club owners, all of her recipes are veggie friendly (although some also include fish). Please don't be mistaken into thinking that I myself am a veggie - I LOVE MY MEAT! but I often have vegetarian friends over for dinner parties and spend weeks frantically trying to find something that doesn't feel like they've just been handed a load of side dishes, or that something makes for an interesting menu that everyone would be pleased to enjoy. This book takes a lot of that hastle away.

I own almost a hundred of recipe books, from celebrity chefs to strange little finds in second hand shops, but I can safely say that I've never bothered to actually read any of them all the way through from cover to cover. I tend to just use them to flick through and get inspiration/ideas. However the Supper Club was different. I didn't want to put it down, and read the whole thing in just two days. It takes you through the 12 steps of setting up a Supper Club, the hard lessons learnt by Kerstin, a brief autobiography of her foodie life so far, and contains lots of great sounding and unusual dinner menus and recipes, as well as top tips... like how to make a bowl out of ice and flowers!

Don't think that you have to have been to a Supper Club to be able to enjoy this book, but expect to be gagging to want to attend one after you've read it! Photo's of Kerstin's kitchen make it look more like a creative artists studio with her Aga as the main masterpiece than just a home kitchen, or clinical restaurant kitchen.

In summary, Kirstin sounds like an amazing lady, who loves her daughter, her cooking, socialising and her Aga very much indeed and I can't wait to try out a few of the recipes from her book myself, and to hopefully attend her Supper Club in the near future. The beautifully illustrated Supper Club will be taking pride of place on my dining room dresser for all to see and enjoy.Supper Club: Recipes and notes from the underground restaurant

A excellently produced, and first ever supper club book. Beautiful photography throughout - with recipes that work. It's my new favourite cookery book, and hopefully I can recreate a little of The Underground Restaurant magic myself!