Archive For May 2009
To the untutored this might seem an uninspiring proposition, but it’s perfectly possible to eat noodles every day and perhaps even several times a day without feeling as though it’s an endurance test. Corinne Trang is a US based author, radio and TV broadcaster on the subject of Asian food. She is a well respected…
This is an amazing work of international, classic and delicious food and it happens to be vegetarian. There are 200 recipes in World Vegetarian Classics which have been tailored to the needs of the western home cook. It’s more than just a cookbook though. This is an archive of some of the best vegetarian food…
Isn’t there something comforting about a dip? They are uniquely versatile, either being the focus of a solitary evening alone (you, the TV, a dip and dippers) or being classy dishes on a special buffet table (for dozens of well-dressed guests with differing tastes), and all events in between. There are few foods that can…
I have wanted to review the Step-by-Step cookbook for ages. Good Housekeeping have a marvellous range of books and I’ll be reviewing more in future but the Step-by-Step cookbook is rather special. I already have the Good Housekeeping Cooking Compendium which was first published in 1952 with reprints till 1959. That book with its thousands of…
This must surely be the most celebrated of Thai restaurant empires. It would be diminishing the class and the quality of the group to describe them as a chain. This is far from the KF Mac Hut of the Thai food world – think sumptuous and exotic and thoroughly impressive. The Blue Elephant has a…
We chose a Tuesday evening to visit this little corner of Clapham, and it had all the makings of an uninspiring event. The weather was cold and dull (this is England in spring so what do you expect) and the restaurants we passed along the way were mostly devoid of clients. Those eateries that had…
This is a collaboration between two of India’s finest sons of the culinary arts. If you have not heard of Sanjeev Kapoor (Sanjeev is probably the most celebrated of Indian chefs, presenting Khana Khazana on India’s Zee TV) then you must have been living under a rock with no access either to cookbooks or the…
There are few things in life that are predictable. Death, taxes, bad weather at weekends, a ladder in your tights when you’re going out to dinner, and the quality of Grub Street books. They have developed the knack of selecting the most appealing of volumes to republish. Home Baked by George and Cecilia Scurfield is…
Just the title evokes visions of hot steamy nights with the exotic (and for me exciting) aroma of damp vegetation and soil. The atmosphere that assures one of tempting and flavourful food. Michal Haines has had a warm relationship with spices for all of her life. Her Chinese grandfather, Stan (you know that any Chinese…
I review books by many new authors, many smart young foodies and quite a few old stagers, who each have lots to offer the culinary opus. Elizabeth David is, depending on your viewpoint, either a shining star in a dazzling firmament or a treasure island in the sea of mediocrity. It’s true that Elizabeth David…
Sanjeev Kapoor is the popular and charismatic host of the Indian TV show Khana Khazana. He has been presenting this award-winning programme since its birth back in 1993 and it has been the vehicle that has made Sanjeev a household name in India. It has also allowed him to take centre-stage promoting Indian food worldwide…
You should expect something special when you are presented with a Sanjeev Kapoor cookbook. Low Calorie Vegetarian really is something a bit different and this could start an exotic diet trend. Sanjeev is probably the most celebrated of Indian chefs, presenting Khana Khazana on India’s Zee TV. It’s been airing since 1993 and its 600th…
Well, dear reader, if you are a regular here (and why wouldn’t you be?) you will know of my warm and close relationship with pies. It’s no surprise therefore that I am delighted to have in my warm and still-pie-crumbed hand a book which is filled with nothing but pie. Janet Clarkson is the author…
Pepita Aris is an authority on Spanish cooking, both traditional and the lesser known regional dishes. She lived in Spain for many years, writes for magazines and newspapers including Bon Appétit, and she is the founder editor of Taste as well as a contributor to the British edition of Larousse Gastronomique. Pepita has made frequent…
The Miss Dahl mentioned is none other than Sophie Dahl who, I must confess, I had never heard of (I don’t move in the right circles). But you find me here writing a review of a book that has been both well written and which I have found to be thoroughly entertaining. Sophie started her…
It’s possible that you might not have heard the name Charita Jones but viewers of UK Kitchen Nightmares will certainly remember this characterful lady winning over the tough and abusive Gordon Ramsay – her food was never in question. Ms. Jones has another more familiar name – Momma Cherri. Soul in a Bowl presents the…
The author, Maria Khalifé, has been made a household name in the Middle East thanks to her Soufra Daimeh TV cooking show. Soufra Daimeh has a huge following with more than 2000 episodes being aired on major TV networks in Lebanon and Arab countries since it started in 1996. Maria also opened the first private…
This is another in The Australian Women’s Weekly series of chunky books which explore fast but delicious food (see more here). There are 180 recipes that will only take you 35 minutes to cook …no, not all at the same time, but one meal in just over half an hour is pretty good going. Fast…
This is probably my favourite kind of book – that which combines travel and food. That’s not meals on wheels or in-flight refreshments – this is taking a trip and finding culinary gems along the way. Barbecue Road Trip is one of the most mouth-watering travel/food books around but it will delight and disappoint many…
If you are British and in any way interested in organic produce, free range poultry and eggs, and low food miles then this could well be the book for you. Grown in Britain is a veritable encyclopaedia of information on seasonal vegetables, organic producers and it has 200 or so recipes to encourage you to…