Amazon.co.uk Review
"The title of this book,
Obsessions, was chosen in part as a rude gesture to mimsy journalists who, content with GM-adapted, irradiated, badly raised meat, reared without fat, suggested that we are obsessed, "Clarissa Dickson Wright writes in the introduction to this, the final book written by The Two Fat Ladies. "Perhaps we are, but anyone who has witnessed Jennifer's joy at the sight of 'a good little grouse bird', her enthusiasm for a sweetbread or my ecstasy at the sight of a cardoon will realise that it is a very fulfilling obsession." Jennifer Paterson died on 10 August, 1999, peacefully, painlessly and full of caviar. The king of roes, unsurprisingly, was one of the ingredients selected by Jennifer to feature in this book. "Lumpfish roe is a very poor substitute for caviar, but looks pretty as a garnish. However it is the only [roe] that I don't relish. Why is it so gritty?" Other ingredients among those chosen by television's most opinionated and eccentric cooks include salt, chillies, anchovies, offal, cream, walnuts, eels, tripe, pheasant and oysters. Never shy of controversy, they include a recipe for a delicious beef on the bone "Oxtail Casserole" and "T-bone Steaks À La Floors Castle". Their hearty and homely style is typified in "A Simple Sausage Ragu" and "Chocolate Marshmallow Ice-Cream". "We hope that over the years a bit of our obsession has rubbed off on you, that you take the choice to travel that bit further to a good butcher or fishmonger, that you look for the best local sources of supply," Dickson Wright writes. "If you will keep the faith then our obsessions have not been shared in vain. Always remember that food is to beloved, laughed over and, above all, enjoyed in the company of your friends." --
Dale Kneen
Product Description
Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson are two opinionated, forthright, eccentric ladies; they also know an awful lot about food. In this totally reformatted book (once again tied-in to their primetime BBC, Food Network and ABC TV series), they turn their attention to what turns them on, choosing 30 of their favourite ingredients from cherries and asparagus to steak and scallops. Including over 150 recipes, the book provides unique insight into how these formidable women cook and goes a long way to explaining why they are passionate about what they do.