People have often asked me where I get ideas for my meals and I am an avid reader of all things food. If I’m not eating or making food, I’m reading or writing about food. In fact I have over 70 cookery books and regularly read the guardian and times weekend food sections. So, whilst I am no literary critic I thought I would mention some of my favorite books. These are four of the books I go back to most often, I just love how they are put together and some of the recipes are my failsafe’s.
First up is, Feast by Nigella Lawson, one of my oldest and (probably) most favourite! My Dad bought it for me as a Christmas gift in 2005 and I absolutely love it. Nigella is one of my favorite cook’s, I love that she classes herself as a home cook and not a chef. She cheats where necessary in order to make dishes more achievable and less laborious. Feast is all about food celebrations from Christmas to Eid and Weddings to Funerals. Probably my favorite recipe is the ham cooked in coke. Now I am no fan of coke and I know I shouldn’t really drink diet coke either, but this recipe is delicious. The sweetness of the coke perfectly balances the saltiness of the ham. It also has a chocolate hall of fame and her recipe for wedding meringues is my go-to for pavlova.
Next up is Hawsmoor at Home. Hawksmoor is a chain of London restaurants set up by two friends Will and Huw, and was built out of a love for steak and cocktails. My brother bought me this book last Christmas as he felt it fitted my husband (steak lover) and I (cocktail lover) perfectly. My best friend and I were in London in January and ate in their Air Street restaurant just before a West End show, and that meal sticks out in my mind because it one of the best I’ve had on a long time. Rib-eye steak with a side of mac’n’cheese followed by a warm just-out-of-the-oven salted caramel cookie topped with ice cream. I started with their signature Orange Marmalade Cocktail. What most sticks out was the taste of the steak, just like beef used to taste years ago. Nothing added but salt, pepper and oil. All you can taste is the meaty flavour, that taste is hard to come by these days. A lot of meat tastes bland, unless you do lots to it.
If I’m being honest though, what I really refer to most often in this book are the cocktails. For a long time now I have thought the height of sophistication is a proper grown up cocktail cabinet, with proper glasses and measures, a muddle and shaker, and a selection of drinks you would never drink on their own! In Hawksmoor at Home they have “History of the cocktail in ten drinks” and, my favourite, a section on Anti-Fogmatics!
This brings me to Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food, which was given to me by my husband just shortly after we met. Now I know what some people might say about Jamie, but I love him. He knows how to get great food on the table fast. He has great time & money saving tips, see his 15 & 30 minute meals. I probably have the most Jamie Oliver books out of all food writers, and it surprises me that I constantly return to this one. He has published many others that are probably more popular. His Ministry of Food book is a basic, learning to cook good food book. He takes you right through how to cook fabulous meatballs made with cream crackers (trust me, their delicious) to mince and onion pie. From fruit scones to short-crust pastry. All the basics to make you a better home cook, you literally don’t need to know much before you buy this book.
Lastly I come to Perfect by Felicity Cloake. Felicity is a food journalist who writes for the guardian and published two books last year. One, Perfect Host, is another delightful book I loved reading and the other is Perfect, a collection of her tried-and-tested recipes. As part of her Guardian column she tried lots of different versions of the same recipe from Elizabeth David’s chocolate mousse to Tana Ramsay’s baked beans. Essentially she did all the work for you, she researched the best and published the results! I especially love her Victoria Sandwich, which I read online and informed me that the Women’s Institute weigh the eggs in their shells and that way you know the exact quantity of butter, flour and sugar to add for the perfect result!
I hope this having given you some food for thought when it comes to your next cookery book purchase. There are many more I could list and will definitely do another of these blog posts once I further expand my cookery book collection. Or perhaps I should publish a wish-list, that way those who love me will know what to buy me for my birthday.
Emma x
