Customer Reviews

Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a super collection for any cook(amateur or otherwise). Unlike some other books in the same vein his advice is never patronising and the receipes easy to follow(I've made a few without disaster). He simply wants to encourage people to get in the kitchen,enjoy it and to try something different

My experience of this book only goes as far as the dessert section.

I am a moderately experienced cook, but have used a number of different books and I must say I'm very disappointed in this book's dessert recipes. I have friends who back up my experience so I this is not an 'unfounded conspiracy theory' by a lone, grudgeful lunatic chef.

I have two main criticisms:

1. Inaccurate cooking times: Carrot cake takes between 2.5 and 3 hrs, not 50 minutes. It seems Oliver did not try this using a domestic cooker but a flash professional convection oven. I used a quality oven thermometer so I know I had the right temperature. Pastry for his chocolate tart was supposed to be ready in 15 minutes, takes more like an hour. Ice cream might solidify in 2hrs in a pro freezer, not a domestic one - try up to 4 hrs.

2. Wasteful use of ingredients: you are asked to use ingredients significantly in excess of what's needed and often in non-standard quantities: 285g of butter while a normal supermarket pack contains 250g = pointless waste of most of a second pack. Most of the time this is pointless, too: using the recommended amounts for the '15 chocolate tart' base I had enough mix to fill 1.5 10 inch tins - waste. Meringue - again, about 50% more than needed. Supermarkets must love you, Jamie, environmentalists steer clear. Still driving that Chelsea Tractor?

I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that Jamie cooks in a restaurant kitchen rather than at home and so has huge catering packs of ingredients and industrial equipment (he puts vanilla pods in everything!). How exactly you're supposed to learn how to be a better cook from someone who doesn't seem to understand the home cooking environment is difficult to see.

Browse Amazon for the many fine cook books by established authors and look at the success of recipes in reviews, rather than the latest flashy recipes that should impress your friends but actually never turn out and end up costing more than in a quality patisserie.

Jamie has lots of useful tips on how to sharpen knives, select kitchen equipment, and so on. His recipes look great but, because I live in Korea, many of the ingredients are nearly impossible for me to find. Still, as he says, "Use what you've got." I'm sure his recipes will help me to make the most of what I can find in the supermarkets here.

I BORROWED THIS BOOK FROM A FRIEND AND FOUND IT SO EASY AND INFORMATIVE I HAD TO OWN ONE MYSELF. I DON'T PARTICULARLY LIKE COOKING BUT THIS BOOK CONVINCED ME TO GIVE SOME THINGS A GO! STRAIGHT FORWARD WITH NO NONSENSE.

Every newlywed should own this book, it is easy to understand back to basis is what we need, and even my granddaughter was able to follow his recipes. Mind you she was surprised that potatoes are from the ground and can be peeled and chopped by us mere humans and not in a dish with instructions to heat for 3 mins blah, blah.....

An easy to follow book I would recommend for every one young and old

Finally a cook book that you can relate too, it's good for imaginative everyday cooking. With not too much hassle you can whip together some very tasty eating for the whole family.

Not only this but it also allows you to be creative in your own way as the recipes are flexible, you can integrate your own ideas and become your own naked chef.

HATS OFF TO JAMIE ONCE AGAIN, Thanks for making me a great cook!!!

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I really respect jamie, and what he has done for kids, but this book seems to be a rehash of some italian recipies featured in other books, and from his friends book passione.i

I have bought many cook books and this is by far one of the best very informative and value for money....

Just a bit patronising for me. Not as good as his books that just focus on recipes. Bit disappointed, but he;s a millionaire so i;ll bet he won't be too upset!

Hello all,
please be aware that the ISBN of 1856130002 appears to bring up both the Jamie book and an "Eyewitness to the 80's" book - I'd suggest checking with who you order from first which of the two books that they have in stock - to avoid disappointment with the wrong book turning up.