Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simple and exquisite food, 9 Feb 2007
Skye Gyngell is the chef at Petersham Café, a heavenly café-restaurant in the middle of Petersham Nurseries. In the old greenhouses, surrounded by plants, flowers and many a ravishing household accessory, you will eat simple but exquisitely prepared food.
`A year in my kitchen', Skye's first book, is a real labour of love written with great warmth, thoughtfulness and a serious concern for the seasons. Feeding friends - or customers - is in part about the right attitude; a `generosity of spirit', so she positively encourages us to put our hearts and souls into our cooking.
The basis of her recipes is her `culinary toolbox', a range of flavours that are the starting point for her dishes. The toolbox is based on `sky and earth' flavours that range from leafy green herbs, citrus zest and vinaigrettes (sky) to the earth-bound, woody herbs, toasted nuts or roast spices that add depth to winter meals. Trust me, it does make sense once you have read her explanation and it is far less airy-fairy than it sounds.
Truly a treasure to be absorbed and used throughout the year, "A year in my kitchen" focuses on choosing fresh seasonal produce and preparing it with flair and individuality. It will excite and inspire you and - should you feel the need - put the passion back into your cooking. It will also leave you itching to get in the kitchen to try Skye's ideas.
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43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wonderful book, 16 Nov 2006
Although I have not tried many recipes from this book as yet all those I have tried have worked and been wonderful. This book is a delight to read and Skye's prose is quite inspirational. She tends to compose simple recipes with a careful use of sweet, sour salty etc and the end result is very good indeed. I hope to use this cook book a lot, however, some of the recipes are prohibitive in terms of the ingredients. There are nevertheless many ideas that I hope will make it into my kitchen. Great book.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Possibly the most beautiful cookery book ever written, 5 Sep 2007
This is probably the most beautiful cookery book ever written.
I have a feeling that this book was not written for profit. This book is a mere result of her love for seasons, the gardens in Nurseries, natural ingredients from the mother nature, and the food to put a smile on your face.
I always feel that Australian cooks understand the essence of Oriental cuisine very well - the importance of contrasting textures in a dish, and the importance of balance in saltiness/ sweetness/ sourness/ bitterness/ spiciness/ umami in flavour. I think they excel at throwing this essence into European dishes to come up with something outstanding.
As below reviewers already mentioned, this book is not for beginners (if you are, go for "The First-Time Cook" by Sophie Grigson. A great book. Fun to read too), and some ingredients are hard to get if you live far away from big cities (well, but, looking at he sunny side of life, you stand far greater a chance to be able to pick wild garlic).
Having said that, this book is brilliant just to have on the bed side. The pictures are so wonderful and it is a sheer joy just to look at them. It makes you feel the world is still a nice place, and there is something you can look forward to making for lunch at the next weekend.
I am going to the Cafe in Petersham Nurseries one day soon!
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