Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simple but tasty and elegant food!, 5 Jun 2002
This is a great book. It crosses the boundary between a cookbook and a lifestyle guide. The ethos of the book is that good food doesn't have to be complicated. I like the photographs and the layout of the book, particularly the suggested combinations of recipes for entertaining.The recipes themselves are clear and all the ones I have tried so far have worked perfectly. I think this is the most important test of any cook book, particularly for those who haven't been cooking for a long time like myself.The layout of the recipes follows Starters (to begin), Soup, Eggs and cheese, Pasta and Risottos, Shellfish and Whole Fish, Poultry, Meat, Potatoes and Grains, Salads, vegetables, Purees and Sauces, the cheese course, puddings. There are further chapters on equipment and kitchen design and other ways of simplying the process of cooking and entertaining. All in all a superb book which I highly recommend.
|
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars for food, 9 April 2007
There is only one reason to give this book 5 stars, and that is that the recipes are delicious. The instructions are clear to the point of didactism - there is none of the relaxed Nigel Slater "handful of parsley" here. But, whilst you may not warm to the martinet style, it is confidence inspiring, because you know that everything is going to turn out OK.
Almost half the book has been handed over to architect John Pawson, who writes long reams of recommendations for the most stylish crockery or the best cast iron casserole. Although I don't share his taste for minimalism, I don't object to reading his thoughts. He does know what he is talking about (even though I could not dream of spending the kind of money that he thinks is necessary). Actually, I found his martinet assertion that only this particular brand of vase, or whatever it was, would do, pretty amusing, because he does not seem to inhabit the same world that I live in.
The photographs are attractive, the layout is clear, the food has clean fresh flavours, easy to find ingredients and tastes fantastic, even for the novice cook. Unlike most cookery books, which I buy and then only cook two or three recipes from, this is one that I have gone back to and tried different things time and again.
Take the bossiness on the chin, buy the book and give it a try.
|
|
|
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Living and Eating, 4 April 2005
By A Customer
Stealthily and without fuss, this book has changed the way I entertain with food. The recipes are simple and spot on - all those I have tried have worked fantastically well. It has great ideas on how to pull together bought items to create fabulous starters and ideas on accompaniments to different cheeses. I particularly enjoy the menu planning ideas. Apart from the faintly patronising blurb about what candles it is acceptable to have in one's home, I would recommend this book to anyone who is jaded with 'dinner party' entertaining and who wants to inject a new stylish simplicity into those potentially torturous (in a culinary sense) evenings.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Deyan Sudjic
by Annie Bell
by Annie Bell
by Nigel Slater
by Yotam Ottolenghi
