Archive For The “Books” Category
One may not recognise the author, Fanny Singer, but any food lover will know of her mum, Alice Waters. Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes and Stories is a soft and charming memoir offering an intimate view of a celebrated chef. Alice Waters is an American chef and restaurateur and the owner of Chez Panisse, a…
Home Charcuterie: Make your own bacon, sausages, salami and other cured meats So many more people are becoming interested in home food preparation. It could be making bread, baking cakes or growing veggies. Home Charcuterie: Make your own bacon, sausages, salami and other cured meats has been published in timely fashion to give advice on…
Has it something to do with the lockdown? Seems like everybody is baking and a few are showing off their latest sourdough loaf. There is no need to feel left behind as How to raise a loaf and fall in love with sourdough is a book penned to give assistance to the novice who might…
On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen is the long-awaited cookbook from Chef Jeremy Fox. He is the chef’s chef who has a reputation for having a winning way with veggies, and now he brings his passion to domestic kitchens across the globe. In 2008 Jeremy opened Ubuntu in Napa, a restaurant which celebrated…
We live in strange times and just now gardens are more important than ever. Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots: Planting Advice & Recipes from Great Dixter will thrill those of us who are lucky enough to have a garden. One doesn’t need a lot of space to grow vegetables. Grow Fruit & Vegetables in…
That’s quite a title – Cooking in Marfa: Welcome, We’ve Been Expecting You. Marfa sounds like it could be a Mediterranean island with sun-kissed beaches and a whole load of lemons, but it is in fact a rather stylish small town in a desert in Texas, and not far from the Mexican border. In the…
Dishing it Up: The Story Behind Twenty Icons of French Food & Drink is by one of my favourite food writers. Paola Westbeek isn’t French, but she is a prolific and skilled writer on the subject. Food, like perfume, has the power to evoke memories, to comfort and console. Each family will have its favourite…
Signature Dishes That Matter? Well, that is a title to fill one with expectations. This is an imposing tome with a substantial hard white cover with simple crisp text in black and gold. Edges are marbled in blue and white. The book is definitely of gift quality, although I personally wouldn’t give my copy away….
Aelbert Cuyp Exhibition 27 September 2020 to 14 March 2021 To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Aelbert Cuyp (1620–1691) the Dordrechts Museum is organising a major exhibition to celebrate the Dutch artist and his impact on English landscape painters. In the light of Cuyp: Aelbert Cuyp & Gainsborough – Constable – Turner…
Here is a real winner of a cookbook from Lorenz Books, and it would make the perfect gift for any Chinese food lover! China – A Cookbook is a large and imposing tome which oozes quality. The red cover is emblazoned with a golden dragon and what could be more appropriate for this Chinese…
If you are an avid UK food TV viewer then you will no doubt have watched Market Kitchen. It’s the food magazine programme that took the place of the dearly-missed Good Food Live. It’s a popular hour-long show reflecting recipes for fresh, seasonal produce. Its ever-changing cast of guests helps to keep the audience returning…
How to Drink Gin! That’s a curious name for a book, isn’t it? One would think it’s a simple process. Step 1 – Fill glass with gin. Step 2 – Throw head back and pour aforementioned beverage into open mouth. Step 3 – swallow. But there is much more to enjoying gin than that. How…
What a great little book. My Winter Kitchen: Warming Recipes for the Coldest Months is a book for cooks. Its small format makes it ideal for the kitchen book-stand and that’s where it will live with pages smeared with sauce. I am working my way through each of these delicious recipes, which are written in…
The Whisky Dictionary, or to give this book its full title – The Whisky Dictionary: An A–Z of whisky, from history & heritage to distilling & drinking, is the discerning sipper’s guide to everything appertaining to whisky as well as whiskey. The difference between those is also explained. Everything from American rye to bourbon spirits…
The Black Book of Gin Cocktails is by Brockmans who distil, in my opinion, one of the best gins … and there are a lot out there. This slim gift-quality book is black in both name and appearance. The black cover is embossed (or is it etched?) and that dusky theme continues inside with full-page…
Did you ever watch the movie ‘Moonstruck’ with Cher? It’s one of my top ten films of all time. Much of the action is set in the family kitchen – a room of significant proportions and a great deal of charm. We witness breakfast being made (in fact a couple of those) and dinner being…
Champagne: Wine of Kings and the King of Wines by Tom Bruce-Gardyne introduces the reader to the colourful story of how this delicious sparkling wine became the centrepiece of any smart party or event, and almost anywhere in the world. Champagne has universal appeal. This impressive tome looks at the essential and celebrated method of…
Glorious Game by the celebrated Face Publications is well up to their very high and exacting standards. It is a substantial tome in full colour with gold-edged pages. This is a sumptuous cookbook of recipes from one hundred and one of the UK’s and Ireland’s best-loved chefs and food writers, and they offer the whole…
Chinatown in Soho London throngs with tourists and locals every day of the week. This isn’t, however, the first Chinatown in London. The original Chinese area was in the East end of the capital in Limehouse. That run-down neighbourhood suffered severe bombing during the Second World War, forcing many Chinese to find another home. The…
Holidays in the UK are becoming more popular. The shrinking pound has perhaps encouraged people to look at what England has to offer. The Lake District is beautiful, mostly tranquil, and perfect for outdoor pursuits. Those who have already visited will return year after year. It must have something special! Marco Polo Guides has a…