Customer Reviews

The Three Chimneys: Recipes and Reflections

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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This is a marvellously evocative book reminding me of my Scottish childhood with recipes for Scottish staples such as rumbledethumps, clapshot, and cranachan. In addition, Shirley Spears provides some wonderful modern twists on traditional recipes serving an Autumn Pudding (as opposed to Summer Pudding) and turning the staple ham and haddie into an elegant souffle. The recipes are interspersed with personal reflections of her life in Skye and setting up the world famous Three Chimneys Restaurant which anyone interested in good food will enjoy.

We have been lucky enough to visit The Three Chimneys on two holidays - once for several dinners over a decade ago, from whch point we were fans, & more recently to stay for a week. Bought the book there & Shirley was good enough to sign it. Having ourselves seen The Three Chimneys at two very different stages in its' evolution, reading the book was a window into how Shirley & Eddie lived that experience. The setting is extraordinary enough but what these two have achieved there is more extraordinary still. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book - it is witty, fascinating, entertaining & a great insight into the realities of setting up & running such a challenging business. Oh & the recipes are, of course, mouth-watering.

We had a wonderful meal at Three Chimneys last summer, and ordered the cookbook immediately.The photography is stunning, and Ms. Spear's reminiscences are frank, robust and touching. The recipes are true to the restaurant: simple ingredients cooked with care and precision. Ms. Spear is merciful to the home cook by suggesting how best to order tasks in these multi-stepped recipes -- many of the meals here are based on a series of inter-related, enfiladed recipes. But, as a cookbook, it is not perfect: We are almost never told how many servings to expect from a recipe, for instance. Many recipes call for oatmeal, but no guidance is given as to the type (steel-cut or flaked?) or whether or not the oatmeal is raw or cooked. The index is useless, and I have not yet discerned the book's organizing principle (seasonal? menu-driven? alphabetical?) However, in a way, these faults contribute to the book's considerable charm. There is nothing of the slick professional food-writer here, just a gifted, harried-sounding woman trying to communicate her life's passion.

Just finished reading Shirley's lovely book. My partner and I recently ate at the Three Chimneys and enjoyed one of the best meals we've ever had. Thus the book is a delight both as a souvenir of our visit, and in and of itself. Shirley's reminiscences are a joy to read - I loved hearing how she and her family took their dreams and made them a reality, and her evocative musings on Skye, fresh, seasonal produce, and life at the restaurant. And her recipes are also wonderful - and includes one for the Famous Hot Marmalade Pudding, which, believe me, is divine. The food photography is also good enough to make you salivate.

I have one or two niggling criticisms: for me, the format is too large - it is such a personal book I think it would work better as a smaller, thicker format, like a book you might read and cook from, the editing could be a bit tighter in one or two places (three mentions in as many pages that langoustines are alternatively known as prawns - once is ample), and I think it's a mistake to hold back content for a second book and repeatedly tell the reader so, then leak little scraps of it anyway - this feels like less of a 'tease' and a bit more like cheating the reader of content, or, more simply, poor organisation. Neither works well.

However, that's perhaps a little pernickety when, overall, the book is such a delight to own. I recommend it - and do of course look forward to Shirley's second offering.

What a great cook book and life story all rolled in to one .This book is now out of print and secondhand copies are fecthing big money ,so this was areally good buy but worth it at almost any price .

Visited the Three Chimneys last month & ordered the book to arrive in time for our return. Great to see that it contains recipes for the delicious marmalade pudding we so enjoyed !