Best British Dishes
Marguerite Patten is surely the most celebrated
cook and food writer in Britain. She is probably the most respected by her
fellow professionals, who would all be familiar with her recipes, skill and
passion for food. Marguerite serves as a model for those who truly care about
British cooking. She remains an icon because her work is solid and she has paid
her dues at the altar of hard work.
This is a collection of, as the lady
says, the Best British Dishes and there are over 400 of them. I am sure the
cynics will be surprised at that number but we have outstanding food within
these isles. This amazing lady has penned over 170 books which have mostly
concentrated on traditional dishes. It’s thanks to her that there are still
chefs and cooks who are not ashamed to present a home-grown bill of
fare.
Best British Dishes has classic recipes. They are not dull and
flavourless as the aficionados of all things foreign would suggest. We have a
history of using spices and strong condiments such as mustard and Worcestershire
sauce. Our vegetables can be good quality and we have an amazing choice of
cheeses which feature to good effect in this volume.
It’s difficult to
pick favourite dishes from this book. There is so much here that transports me
to my own first attempts at cooking. Cornish Splits are sweet rolls filled with
clotted cream and jam. These make a lovely alternative to scones for a
traditional afternoon tea. Eccles Cakes are another delicious treat which dates
back to the reign of Elizabeth I and probably before. These are a cross between
a pie and a cake and I think they are quite unique, as is Bread Pudding. This is
the old-fashioned Bread Pudding (rather than the much lighter Bread and Butter
Pudding more frequently offered today) which is rib-sticking and substantial and
often baked by my grandmother who had a large brood of ever-hungry children to
feed.
Marguerite will be introducing a new generation to the delights of
home-made Cornish Pasties, real Lancashire Hotpot, Black Pudding with Apples
(that’s a “must try”), Beef Wellington (expensive but memorable), Kedgeree for
breakfast, and Fish Cakes which are elevated to near-luxury when made with
salmon. I could go on but suffice it to say Best British Dishes is a veritable
treasury of temping foods that seem to be sadly overlooked these
days.
Jamie Oliver says “What a wonderful book that celebrates the
fantastic, historical diversity of cooking in Britain.” Best British Dishes is a
book typical of the charm and quality of Marguerite Patten’s writing. One of the
best British cookbooks around. Delightful!
Best British
Dishes
Author: Marguerite Patten
Published by: Grub Street
Price:
£25.00
ISBN 978-1-906502-23-2
 The Complete Traditional Recipe Book
This is a
hefty tome that will make you smile as soon as you flick through the pages. It’s
a pure joy and Sarah Edington’s collection of over 300 recipes
represents the best of British cooking. It’s from The National Trust and that
always means a seriously good read.
There is probably nobody better
placed than Sarah to write The Complete Traditional Recipe Book. Besides food
writing, she is a London qualified Blue Badge Tourist Guide and she arranges
London-based food tours, on foot or with wheels, historic or otherwise. These
have included a walking tour in historic Southwark coupled with a visit to
Borough Market, in-depth visits to the Tudor kitchens of Hampton Court, and a
tour of the service quarters of Petworth House in Sussex.
Cookbooks are
big business these days and there is the temptation to change traditional
recipes just to update them, to make them seem modern and trendy. Perhaps we
should consider that anything that has been around long enough to be called
“traditional” has lasted because it was good to start with. Sarah has kept faith
with the original recipes and they are everything that you would
expect.
This is the cookbook you will snuggle down with when it’s cold,
wet and windy (probably a Wednesday in August) and want some cheering. The
recipes are mouth-watering and unadulterated comfort. They are familiar and the
sorts of dishes our grandmothers would have made. Good tasty fare with not a
sniff of an over-boiled Brussels sprout.
Let me tempt you with some
recipes! At last, a recipe for Haslet, a delicious and simple loaf of pork,
onion, sage and mace. Much tastier than the shop-bought variety. Maids of Honour
are scrumptious little tarts (now, that sounds unkind!) which were originally
baked at the time of George II and Queen Caroline. But my very favourite is
Homity Pies. These lovelies are so flavourful that they would entice
card-carrying carnivores onto the path of vegetarianism... at least for an
afternoon.
The Complete Traditional Recipe Book even feels like an
old-fashioned quality cookbook. The pages are open and uncluttered. The recipes
are clear and straightforward and they work! You’ll buy this book for its
practical instruction and classic British food. I have a large collection of
cookbooks but this will be amongst the dozen or so that stay in the
kitchen.
The Complete Traditional Recipe Book
Author: Sarah
Edington
Published by: Anova Books
Price: £25.00
ISBN
10-190540042X
Great British Food
“The Brits can cook – it’s official”, says John Burton Race. We
always knew we could, but it’s nice to see it in print from time to
time.
This is a chunky, large-format volume that encourages you to curl
up with a nice cup of tea and have a good read. All the recipes, and there are
over 150 of them, are from BBC Two’s Great British Menu. This series followed
the chefs who were competing to be part of the team to create, initially, a
special lunch to celebrate the Queen’s 80th birthday. It’s a compilation of the
best recipes from Great British Menu (the book) and Great British Menu Cookbook.
There are twenty-one chefs represented and all of them have made the
best of fine British produce. It’s a book that show-cases not only great
recipes, both new and more traditional, but also the top-quality ingredients
that we are fortunate enough to find in the UK.
The book is divided by
course, with each chef contributing one or several recipes. Perhaps that is what
makes this book so interesting. The recipes are as diverse as the chefs. The
Fish chapter has 54 delicious recipes from twenty or so chefs and covers sea
fish, shellfish and fresh water fish. Every cooking method is included:
pan-frying, poaching, sousing, braising, searing and grilling.
The
dessert chapter illustrates very well the different approach each chef has
taken. Atul Kochar has Passion Fruit Bhapa Doi with Chocolate Mousse and
Pistachio Kulfi. Yum! Marcus Waring presents Custard Tart but with Garibaldi
Biscuits. (Was Garibaldi British? Was he Garry Baldy?) Although the dishes are
smart and chefy, they would all be easily made by a home cook.
There is a
useful section at the end of the book: British produce – what’s in season when.
People tell us to eat fruit and veg when it’s in season but unless you have an
allotment or a vegetable patch in your garden you might not know when leeks are
in season. There is also a chef directory so you can find out more about the
authors of these scrumptious dishes.
Great British Food will be welcomed
by anyone who loves British food but equally by anyone who just enjoys good
food. The recipes are superb and not an over-boiled sprout in sight!
Great British Food
Authors: Various
Published by: Dorling
Kindersley
Price: £22.00
ISBN 978-1-4053-3318-4
The People’s Cookbook
UKTV
Food was on to a winner with The People’s Cookbook. It wasn’t just a cookbook
(the one you see before you) but a TV series of the same name. The judges for
the competition, for competition it was, were Antony Worrall Thompson and Paul
Rankin, but the authors of this book are the Great British Public.
The People’s Cookbook
represents what good food is all about. It’s good ingredients, family and
friends, and recipes that people love. These recipes are not just a list of
instructions but more documents of history and heritage, and a catalyst for
stories of joy, tragedy, courage and fun. You’ll know that these recipes are
going to be good because they have stood the test of time. If grandma’s bread
pudding had the texture of a brick then it’s unlikely that the next generation
would have bothered to preserve the recipe.
I could happily tuck into any
of these dishes and I can understand why people are proud of them. They don’t
just cover the spectrum of traditional British fare but reflect the ethnic
diversity that truly is modern Britain. Some recipes have been adapted from the
original if the ingredients were hard to find in the UK, but the recipes don’t
seem to have suffered for that.
Ann Keeling has a recipe for Chicken
Earl. No, this isn’t a scaled down version of Chicken a la King but a delicious
bake of chicken, bacon and vegetables. It’s the recipe from Ann’s home economics
teacher Mrs. Earl. A great dish to fill up a family of four boys.
Bill
Meswania came to the UK as a refugee from Uganda. They were sent to a camp on
Dartmoor before being relocated and the food was a shock. Bill offers Beteta
Wada Spiced Gujarati Potato Balls which are delicious with a tangy mint and
yoghurt dip.
This is a heart-warming and charming book. It has recipes
that are easy to follow and not over-taxing. It has delightful pictures not only
of the food but of parents and grandparents who are the originators of most of
the recipes. The contributors are passing on their culinary memories and that’s
a gift usually reserved for family members. It’s a lovely book and a treat to
read.
The People’s Cookbook
Authors: The British Public with the
help of Antony Worrall Thompson and Paul Rankin
Published by: Infinite Ideas
Ltd.
Price: £9.99
ISBN 978-1-905940-75-2
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