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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great cookbook, 28 April 2008
Don't be put off by the sheer size of this cookbook--almost 400 pages. And if you're looking for the "quick-and-easy" method, this might not be for you. If you want quick, try "Delia's How to Cheat" book which I use quite often. However, when I want to make something for friends or really have a good meal, I turn to THE KITCHEN DIARIES. You won't find a better compilation of recipes and they're not all with ingredients that you can't find either.
But the most amazing thing about this book is the "seasonal" aspect it has--the fact that certain foods should be enjoyed at certain times. The weather and holidays play an intricate part in THE KITCHEN DIARIES and what you should be eating. Highly structured and with some real punch, this is THE cookbook you should have on your shelf. As with all cookbooks, there's a litle more than just the recipe--you know, the "where it came from" type of information or some biographical info. I was reminded of a book I recently came across that poked fun at all cookbooks and at the same time was a great novel wrapped around the actual cookbook---Barring Some Unforeseen Accident---a very funny book, especially if you collect cookbooks. Other than that, I'd recommend "Eating For England."
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161 of 181 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
'Quite Simply, The Right Food, Right Place, Right Time.', 10 May 2006
A chunky tome with 395 pages, on a month-by-month theme, containing over 300 new recipes and interspersed with 'real-time' photography, by Jonathan Lovekin.
However this volume differs because within each month are various dates, reflecting the availability of particular produce within a month itself, with supporting text and a relevant recipe.
Back cover quote (and page 254 in the book):-
'August 9th - 'Fried Potatoes and the Rest of the Mayo'
The sun is so hot I cannot cross the stone slabs in bare feet. I have absolutely no intention of cooking anything much in this heat. Instead, I boil some new potatoes in their skins, drain them and cut them in half. I fry them, cut-side down in olive oil in a shallow pan till their surfaces are crisp, golden and encrusted, then I drain them on kitchen paper an serve them with the remains of yesterday's mayonnaise and a couple of very cold beers.'
Rather more than just a 'seasonal book', 'The Kitchen Diaries' is a month by month diary making full use of the available in-season ingredients, blended in with Nigel's usual home-baking flair.
It is also a book that successfully explores the question of what the word, 'seasonal' actually defines, with perhaps a gentle swipe, or two, at the current attitude to 'supply and demand':-
'Our culinary seasons have been blurred by commerce, and in particular by the supermarkets' much vaunted idea that consumers want all things to be available all year round.....
I worry that today it is all too easy to lose sight of food's natural timing and, worse, to miss it when it is at its sublime best......'
'I wanted to know exactly when I might find something at its glorious, juicy, sweetly flavoured peak. If something is to be truly, remarkably good to eat, then isn't it worth knowing precisely when that moment might be? Spring or autumn has always been too vague for me. There is a vast difference between winter-spring and summer spring. Even labelling raw ingredients by the month in which they are due to ripen is a bit hit and miss. Anyone who has gone to a 'farmers' market' in the first week of May and again in the last will know where I am coming from. It is like two completely different months.'
'Right food, right place, right time - it is my belief - and the point of this book - that this is the best recipe of all.
A crab sandwich by the sea on a June afternoon, a slice of roast goose with apple sauce and roast potatoes on Christmas Day, hot sausages and a chunk of roast pumpkin on a frost-sparkling night in November.
These are meals whose success relies not only on the expertise of the cook but on the more basic premise that this is the food of the moment. Something eaten at a time when it is most appropriate, when the ingredients are at their peak of perfection.... when the food, the cook and the time of year are at one with each other.
There is something deeply, unshakably right about eating food in season:- fresh runner beans in July, a bowl of gently aromatic stew on a rainy February day, roast rhubarb on a January morning, pick-your-own strawberries in June, a piece of chicken on the grill on an August evening, a pot-roast pigeon on a damp, October afternoon or a pork feast in November.
This is more than just something to eat, it is food to be celebrated, food that is somehow in tune with the rhythm of nature.'
Nigel's flair for descriptive writing is something you either love or hate, in a cookery book. It is hard not to admire it and even harder to ignore.
Even if you do possess other NS books on your kitchen bookshelf, 'The Kitchen Diaries' is still worth investing in.
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108 of 127 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Already own some Nigel and want to know if this is worth it?, 20 Mar 2006
I'd like to add a review for those of you who are already familiar with Nigel Slater, perhaps own some of his books and wondering if this is 'different' enough from the others to buy. I was in that situation and bought it anyway and I'd like to reassure you that it is well worth it. The recipes are wonderful - they retain his usual style of home-cooking combining comfort with flair - and there are many new ones in there which inspire me, even though I've already tried many of his other recipes. The chronological postings are a significant difference from previous books, and a great idea. Just now I can flick through recipes from March, say, which reflect the current weather and available foods. For Valentines day I actually followed both his recipe suggestions from that day, and wonderful they were too. In particular if you're looking for a book with gentle ideas concerning a full menu, this does just that, as on days when Nigel's entertaining (or just greedy!), he'll cook two or three courses, and these give you an instant idea of what goes with what. Another great aspect is that it combines structured recipes with fragments or ideas of a meal or snack - similar to some of the 'Ideas' in 'Real Fast Food.' So some day's entries have a recipe with full instructions, others are more along the lines of 'I forgot to buy anything for dinner - bag of chips with a beer tonight, then.' This is one of the things which for me makes it great bedtime reading, if perhaps a little heavy to hold up! In conclusion, Nigel's presented us a new set of recipes, different enough from his old ones to make the book worth buying, but with the same qualities. The day-to-day friendliness of the diary format also has a purpose, which is that you can easily find a menu to fit the current season.
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