Cookbook ramblings, part 347...

[mrph]

It hasn't been a terribly productive evening. I've tidied the house a little, growled at The Silver Spoon and failed to do much else.

However, I'm currently sitting here with a glass of Amontillado and leafing through The Perfect Marriage.

It's an odd cookbook. The stated aim is to show how different sherry styles can be used to partner different meals. Contributions come from over a dozen different chefs, including Fergus Henderson, Anthony Flynn, Vicky Bhogal, Marcus Wareing and Heston Blumenthal. You have to look quite carefully (or read the page at the back) to realise that it's also a charity effort, raising funds for The Parkinson's Appeal.

As a cookbook where you actually decide to cook the recipes, it's possibly not a complete success. As a book to make you think about the glories of food - and a source of ideas for your own innovations - it's much better.

But for me, the really interesting bit is getting a look at what some of the less-published chefs contribute. Not just the recipe, but how it's written. Some are very detailed instructions - some have a quite informal tone, some are understated but definitely channeling the author's personality... and some are very dry, numbered steps that are almost written like a technical manual.

Interesting to see Anthony Flynn's contribution, in particular - Anthony's gets compared to The Fat Duck fairly often, so it's nice to finally see a little more about his style of food...

Comments

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

You've got the Perfect Marriage? We did an extract of it in the mag so I got a free copy. I can highly recommend the Vicky Bhogal chicken tikka (only needs a blender and an oven) and aloo tikki bites. I used to turn leftover mash into bubble-and-squeak but would be stuck if we had no cabbage - now it's tikki bites all the way.

I've just had a copy of the Spanish cookbook 1080 Recipes from Phaidon, which also publishes the Silver Spoon, but if you like Spanish food at all I'd recommend Janet Mendel's books. Not big on pictures, but full of superb recipes. She's like a contemporary Elizabeth David.

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Yep, I picked it up after seeing Fergus Henderson interviewed about it. I'm easily swayed by his involvement, as St. John Bread and Wine is still one of my favourite restaurants. :)

I've haven't tried any of the Vicky Bhogal recipes yet, but she's one of the contributors who comes across really well... I'll be picking up one of her other books sometime soon, I suspect.

I saw 1080 Recipes and briefly flipped through a copy in the local Waterstones, but I wasn't immediately struck by it - it's a similar format to Silver Spoon, but I think I'm more willing to give Italian food the chance, as I know I like a lot more of the basic recipes/ingredients/techniques...

Janet Mendel, hmm? I shall investigate. Thanks!

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

My husband likes 1080 Recipes, but then he's never read one of Mendel's books. We've usually got a chunk of serrano ham and cooking chorizo in the fridge (it's softer than the slicing chorizo) and I've got saffron, smoked paprika and ñora peppers... I do like Spanish food a lot. We got The Silver Spoon because we don't really know much Italian beyond Britalian spag bol and carbonara. All our friends seem to go to Italy, but we're always visiting Spain.

Have you read the Moro cookbooks? The food's Spanish and Muslim Mediterranean and very tasty.

Pete will be very jealous that you've been to St John Bread and Wine! What sort of things have you eaten there?