FOODIE BOOKCASE - COOKBOOKS TO INSPIRE YOUR INNER chef
One Perfect Ingredient Three ways to cook it– Marcus Wareing
For anyone lucky enough to have eaten at Petrus, Marcus Wareing needs no introduction. He gained his first Michelin star aged just twenty five and at Petrus he now has two. Even the Queen knows of Marcus; on her 80th birthday she ate his Custard Tart, the winner of Best Dessert in the Great British Menu.
Of course celebrity chef cookbooks aren’t thin on the ground though, so what makes Marcus’ special? A novel angle and a focus on ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen, that’s what. The emphasis in each of the recipes is on simplicity; just see what you fancy and choose from three ways to cook it. Just what it says on the cover, in fact. Take the first ingredient we come to, Broccoli. Famous for being George Bush senior’s least favourite vegetable it needs only to be cooked correctly to keep its colour and texture. Here Marcus prepares it as a soup with a stilton crumble, as a pesto sauce and as a salad with bacon and pine nuts all of which I would happily eat anytime.
The same is true of prawns, which are so easy to pick up in even the smallest supermarkets although as Marcus quite rightly points out, they have to be raw to avoid the mushy textire the cooked ones always display. And as he says, if they come with heads and shells so much the better; a good fish stock is all the better for being made with these ‘waste’ materials. I made the prawn bisque and it was luxuriously creamy and heady with the liquorice waft of Pernod. Best of all it was simple.
Dishes here are fancy and not so fancy – a lamb baguette with fresh mint sauce is definitely the latter in presentation, but as the bread absorbs the lamb juices and mint and runs a little bit down your arms, you’re too busy enjoying it to worry about appearances.
At the back of the book Marcus lays down some tips for basic store cupboard essentials and quick fixes from them - things like a variety of lentils for soups and curries, plus flour both ordinary for baking and ‘00’ for pasta, and good quality dark chocolate for fast desserts. Even the humble tin of golden syrup, which for most of us is normally glued to the shelf at the back of the cupboard, is shown to have great potential in delivering quick sticky treats. And of course pasta, which has to be best quality and please don’t use the fast-cook stuff. It’s horrible.
All through the book is seasoned with classy photography and Marcus’ clear and comprehensible instructions and advice. One perfect ingredient is one perfect cookbook.
Find this book on Amazon.co.uk
Win a free copy of One Perfect Ingredient.
Publishers Dorling Kindersley have been kind enough to offer London-eating readers five free copies of this great cookbook which normally retails at £16.99.
To be in with a chance of winning just answer this simple question.
Is Petrus a wine, a cheese or a type of bread?
Send you answer to competition@city-eating.com to arrive no later than March 31st. Winners will be contacted soon after.**
Bite Size book reviews
Whiskies - from confused to connoisseur - Dominic Roskow
What are your thoughts on Whisky? A drink for old men or Scottish people only? When was the last time you asked for a whisky in the pub? Most of us know there is blended whisky and single malt, but there are in fact four styles of whisky made in Scotland and the 'single' only means that the whisky comes from the one distillery. 95% of Scottish whisky sold is of the easy drinking blended variety but it's in the single distilleries that the true connoisseur sticks his nose. There's even more to whisky than Scotland, and while this authoritative book devotes most space to listing Scottish distilleries, it also covers American bourbons, Irish whiskies and even Japanese and Canadian versions. Each distillery has a description of its location, visiting details and who to contact and even more importantly devotes time to explaining how best to appreciate whisky through colour and smell and even how to drink it. With ice? With water? With nothing at all? Dominic Roskrow is the former editor of Whisky Magazine and runs tasting classes across the country and this book will mean you won't settle for one of those bizarre whisky blends you can buy at the airport ever again. Slainte Mhath! (Good Health!)
Find this book on Amazon.co.uk
The Mezze Cookbook - Maria Khalife
We've all done it, gone into a Middle Eastern restaurant, pigged out on
the never ending, endlessly tempting mezze
and
then gazed horrified as the waiter then brings plates and plates of grilled
meats to be consumed. And that's before the belly-dancer has made an appearance
and you've been grilled yourself by the wife about where your eyes are focussing.
I love mezze for their variety, their aromas and textures and the way you
can share so easily. What I've never done is cook them at home, assuming
it was all too tricky for the average Western cook. Well this book changes
all that with over ninety recipes for hot and cold mezze from Greece, Turkey
and Lebanon that are simple, tasty and healthy. Try Hot Chilli Tahini and
stuffed cabbage leaves or CIrcassian Chicken and Vine leaves with Rice stuffing.
How about Stuffed mussels or Kebab in pastry? The original names are often
unpronounceable, but you can happily get your tongue around all the food
here including tasty salads and pastries. Maria Khalefe has written over
seventy cookbooks and is an expert on Middle Eastern food having started
the first private cookery school in the Lebanon. This book is a treasure
trove of the tastes to be found beyond our normal culinary borders.
Find
this book on Amazon.co.uk
Chicory challenge - bringing hope to unborn children
The Dutch Produce Association, the organisation behind the Chicory Challenge competition, has launched its Chicory Challenge recipe book to raise money for charity.The book includes a selection of the competition's top entries and the recipes from the three finalists.
The recipe book will be sold by the competition's chosen charity, BDF Newlife the UK's leading child health charity specialising in research and support to aid those affected by inborn conditions, otherwise known as birth defects. In addition to funding research, the charity also offers support services operated by specially trained nurses.
Last year BDF Newlife backed calls for folate (folic acid) to be added to bread ensuring good levels of folate in people's normal diets. Folic acid has been shown to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Women are advised to start taking folic acid supplements, as well as consume natural sources of folate, from the time they stop using contraception because folic acid is particularly important in early pregnancy. Chicory is rich in folate. The Chicory Challenge competition offered amateur and professional cooks in England the chance to win up to £5,000 for a charity of their choice. Its aim was to draw attention to chicory's potential and inspire English cooks to create some great new chicory recipes.
Chicory is little known and little used in the UK but it is a versatile vegetable which can be used raw in salads or cooked in a wide variety of dishes. In continental Europe, people eat far more chicory than we do in the UK. This cookbook should help spread the word and buyers will be supporting the work of BDF Newlife
