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Virgin to Veteran: How to Get Cooking with Confidence [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Sam Stern
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
RRP: £20.00
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Book Description

10 May 2012
www.virgintoveteran.com

Virgin to Veteran is a cookbook with a difference. Written by Sam Stern, the twenty-year-old prodigy with 5 successful cookbooks already to his name, this is a contemporary cookery masterclass designed to get today's teens, 20- and 30-somethings into the kitchen and cooking with confidence. The way Sam sees it, there are only so many meals you'll ever cook, so you really should learn how to make each one special. From mastering the basics to insider tips and techniques, Virgin to Veteran will teach you everything you need to become a confident cook. Starting with Virgin Kitchen Set-Up (the stuff you need to know to set up a workable kitchen) Virgin to Veteran moves on through 10 chapters each focusing on a particular ingredient or food group. Diagrams and step-by-step guides demonstrate relevant skills such as knife work, sauce making and baking, while other key areas such as sourcing and substituting ingredients, seasonality and the secrets of great presentation are also covered. From fast food to slow, food to go or eat in, healthy to greedy, there's something in the over 100 Masterclass recipes featured to match every mood, budget and lifestyle. Once you've learned how to cook using a particular ingredient or technique, Sam will show other ways that you can put your newfound skills to good use. Learn how to master a Tagliatelle Ragu, for example, and you'll have added a Classic Lasagne to your culinary arsenal too. Get your head around Coq au Vin and you'll soon be making a delicious Chicken Pie. Crammed full of information presented in an engaging, accessible way, Virgin to Veteran teaches you the classic skills, techniques and recipes, updates them to suit how we live now and will have you turning out brilliant meals without too much fuss, cost or effort before you know it.

Frequently Bought Together

Virgin to Veteran: How to Get Cooking with Confidence + Sam Stern's Student Cookbook : Survive in Style on a Budget + Sam Stern's Eat Vegetarian
Price For All Three: £26.59

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd (10 May 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1849491143
  • ISBN-13: 978-1849491143
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 25.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 77,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Product Description

Review

'Always tries to create practical, achievable meals' --The Guardian, G2, May 24 2012

'Sam Stern has fulfilled his aims, this is a great guide to cooking basics and becoming a competent cook' for Virgin to Veteran --The Bookseller, Feb 2012

'Championed by Jamie Oliver, he's helped make cooking hip for teens while offering tips that even experienced cooks can benefit from' for Virgin to Veteran -- --Eat In, June 2012

“Kids heading off to college? Arm them with these easy recipes and expert advice from Edinburgh University student and cookery writer Sam Stern” September, Waitrose Kitchen

“Send any student off to university armed with a copy of Sam Stern’s latest cook book and you’ll give them a good start!” September, Sainsbury’s Magazine “Do-able recipes from a cool guy.” Sunday Times (Ireland), September

About the Author

20-year-old Sam Stern is studying Politics, Sociology and Business at Edinburgh University. He is also the author of 5 bestselling cookbooks which currently dominate the teenage market, and has been cooking for as long as he can remember. What started as a personal passion for cooking (and fierce kitchen competition with his older brother) turned into a mission to inspire his generation to cook. Cooking Up A Storm (2005), Real Food Real Fast (2006), Get Cooking (2007), Sam Stern's Student Cookbook (2008) and Eat Vegetarian (2010) were published by Walker Books to great critical acclaim while Sam was studying for his GCSE's and A levels. Cooking up a Storm has been translated into 14 languages, with worldwide sales nudging 700,000 copies. The books and associated activity have attracted global media attention and have given Sam a unique status as the voice for aspiring young cooks. Author Location: Edinburgh

Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars High quality, uniquely styled cookbook 27 July 2012
By K. Wright VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
`Virgin to Veteran,' is a great place to start for beginner cooks as Sam Stern introduces the reader to kitchen essentials, before the book splits into 10 sections: Vegetables and Salad; Chicken; Beef; Pork; Lamb; Fish and Shellfish; Eggs and Dairy; Pasta, Noodles, Rice and Couscous; Bread and Cakes; and Puddings.

Each of the chapters are introduces with what to look for when buying the key ingredients including different cuts of meat, how to store, prepare and cook each foodstuff and my personal favourite the `friends,' section where you can find out what flavours go best with broccoli or pork, for example. Nutritional benefits are also provided here. These introductory sections are uniquely laid out in black and white with a focus on paragraph lay out, pictures and fonts to guide the eye around the pages.

These are then followed by a number of `classic,' recipes with one page for ingredients, methods and tips, and the facing page with a full colour photo. There are also many ideas of how to adapt recipes, substitute ingredients, or save time. Following on from these are other similar recipes with the heading `Now try this...' where the ingredients and methods are similar to help enable you to build up your skill set in a particular area. Whilst these sound like great recipes, a photo is not always supplied which is disappointing in such a lovingly crafted book. The recipes range from the very simple `Eggs 3 Ways,' to the more complex cakes and puddings.

Besides the main recipes, I really liked that recipes were supplied for many accompaniments to the dishes, such as sides, sauces, salsas and dips. For example the recipe for Aromatic Lamb Madras comes with instructions for Honey Mint Raita, Simple Spinach Dahl, Bombay Crush and Naan Bread.

As the name suggests, overall there is something for everyone, whatever your level of culinary skill. It is a high quality book with a great variety of recipes, although it could have been vastly improved by including photos of every dish.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent cookbook 19 Sep 2012
By Lova VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
This is a very enjoyable cookbook. Reading this book is like taking a cooking class with the authour. He starts by showing how to set up an efficient kitchen, what tools are really useful and how to organise your kitchen and what to stock in your pantry to make like easier for you. There are lots of delicious but achievable recipes. The book is a bit different to other cookbooks as the author encourages you to be creative with the recipes: each recipe comes with tips on how to adapt it and make something a bit different from it so that you never get bored with the same old menus. Overall, I'm very glad I have this cookbook as it is greatly helping me improve my cooking skills at home.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Arriving late to the party 7 Sep 2012
By J. A. Walls TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I'd never heard of Sam Stern before this book and was surprised to discover that this is his sixth cook book! I may arrive late but I get there in the end!

As soon as I opened the book it landed on a fried egg sandwich, I was both happy and disappointed, I liked the basic element but didn't really want a whole book of it. Thankfully he didn't go down this route as much as the title and description would make you believe

There is a lot of description and techniques in the book which does make it absolutely perfect for a beginner, but the recipes themselves are going to appeal to everyone whether accomplished in the kitchen or not. I have a lot of cook books and the winning ones are the ones which I know I will go back to and this book is one of them. It contains a lot of information about produce and meats which I know I will come back to for tips and inspiration

The layout is designed for a (dare I say it) younger audience. Lots of different size fonts and "cool" language slightly reminiscint of early Jamie Oliver but without the underlying arrogance

Overall I am really impressed with this book, I enjoyed the freshness and enthusiasm, and it would be absolutely perfect for a student off to university, or someone's first real cookbook. But as I said earlier, don't let the beginner approach out you off, I genuinely think everyone would get something out of this book
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Virgin to Veteran: How to Get Cooking with Confidence
I enjoyed this cookbook, mostly because i'm pretty rubbish at actual meal cooking and this book really holds your hand with regard to what everything is and how to prepare it. Read more
Published 14 days ago by S. Bruch
5.0 out of 5 stars An instant favourite
Sam Stern has managed to create something special here. Its both an inspiring recipe book and a genuinely helpful guide to numerous cookery skills and culinary know-how. Read more
Published 1 month ago by bomble
5.0 out of 5 stars Joke present turned good
This book was bought as a joke present for my Husband and he absolutely loves it. One of the best cook books he has and he has many.
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. G. Swain
4.0 out of 5 stars A cook book for beginners and improvers
This book is like a cookery course for beginners. It starts with a simple recipes, you follow it, it succeeds. So you gain confidence. Read more
Published 1 month ago by JoMaynard
4.0 out of 5 stars Good if trying a bit hard
Reaching any kind of adult age without being able to do basic cooking seems to be becoming less and less socially acceptable. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Supertzar
5.0 out of 5 stars a nice cook book
I know some have commented on the style of the book but I quite liked it.

It was an interesting way to view the recipes. Read more
Published 3 months ago by the lambanana
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for students
Purchased for son heading off to Uni this year. The book is great and provides ample information which is easy to comprehend. Read more
Published 4 months ago by julie philpot
5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves to be a best-seller - realistic, appealing recipes.
This is simply a cracking cookbook. Designed for the novice cook, it's got a lot of imaginative recipes that almost everyone who likes to create meals from scratch will enjoy... Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. I. McCulloch
2.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive cookbook that is more useful for the veteran than the...
I am definitely at the virgin end of the spectrum when it comes to cooking and I've sadly come to the conclusion that this isn't the book the help me develop my culinary skills. Read more
Published 5 months ago by S. P. Moses
4.0 out of 5 stars Not just for young men.
This book is mainly aimed at young men, not young men who hate cooking, but young men who want to cook interesting food, but have no idea where to start. Read more
Published 5 months ago by rollerskate
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