Amazon.co.uk Review
The British kitchen door is wide open these days, it seems. For five years Alastair Little and Richard Whittington--a chef and a food-writer--jointly wrote a weekly newspaper column in which they addressed a huge variety of cookery questions sent in by readers. The thousands of letters they received have borne fruit in the
Daily Mail Modern British Cookbook, a highly eclectic and wide-ranging collection of recipes, advice and "kitchen know-how" that demonstrates just how broad Britain's taste in food and cookery is these days. We all know why this should be--travel, television, new types of restaurants opening all the time---but it's fascinating to see it reflected in this way. Ingredients range from ackee (Jamaica) to zampone (Italy); explanations of cooking methods run from a thoughtful account of the theory and practice of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding to Cantonese Roast Duck, in which the skin of the bird is inflated with a bicycle pump then glazed with maltose ("a strange thick purplish substance that looks like hair gel"). Between these extremes lie over 500 recipes and dozens of tips. Even the simplest recipes rarely fail to illuminate what are often very well-known dishes. Ultimately, perhaps, the authors' intention is really to teach us to be better cooks, not simply slavish followers of brass-bound formulae. --
Robin Davidson
Product Description
Based on the authors' Cookery Doctor column in the "Daily Mail", this book contains over 200 recipes, ranging from traditional favourites to the more exotic. It also includes a global glossary and advice on stocking a kitchen for an eclectic style of cooking.