What cookbook should I buy?

[trashpony]

I have a 20 quid Waterstones voucher and would like to splurge on a new cookery book. I like Nigel Slater, the first Nigella (have none of the others) and old Delia (don't laugh - she's good for cakes ). I have no other sleb chef books at all.

What should I buy? I like most kinds of food but don't go a bundle on pasta. And things need to be easy ideally - I don't have time to spend 40 mins chopping before I do any cooking.

Any suggestions clever suburbanites?

 

[Orang Utan]

Get that fat Spanish one or The Silver Spoon.

Or just get more Slater - you can't go wrong there

 

[mattie]

Much as I dislike him, Jamie Oliver's are quite good. I've got a Delia one, and the instructions are buried in narrative and it's very easy to miss or misinterpret some of it when skipping back and forth. Oliver's ones are much, much clearer, and he doesn't use half as much bloody cream and butter.

 

[idioteque]

I've got Gino di Campo's 'Fantastico' one, and it's really very good. I can see myself cooking nearly everything in it, nearly all the ingredients are readily available and it's a good all-rounder.

Nigella's new one is good too, the red prawn and mango curry goes down a treat. Eat Yourself Thin is alright if you're looking to lose weight like me.

 

[cesare]

Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery - and you'll have enough left over for another book

 

[northernhord]

The Alice B Toklas cookbook, fuckin ace, loadsa piece of piss french recipes inside

 

[Badger Kitten]

Most of Delia's ae online now. I second jamie Oliver, I can't stand him on TV but the recipes are good. Nigel Slater is the most sauce-splattered and stained. Low Carb Gourmet is good if you want to lose weight - have just got back into low-carbing and a decent recipe book makes it much easier.

 

[oryx]

Much as I dislike him, Jamie Oliver's are quite good.

I was going to say that. The Naked Chef is good. Irritating though a lot of people find him, his enthusiasm is hard to resist.

 

[Badger Kitten]

Ms T has a library of cook books - like a whole dresser full of them so she should be able to give you some good ideas.

 

[Xanadu]

I've got Gino di Campo's 'Fantastico' one, and it's really very good. I can see myself cooking nearly everything in it, nearly all the ingredients are readily available and it's a good all-rounder.

Nigella's new one is good too, the red prawn and mango curry goes down a treat. Eat Yourself Thin is alright if you're looking to lose weight like me.

I really hate Gino di Campo.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

European Peasant Cookery I bought that and it's wikkid!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/European-Pe...bs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202846340&sr=8-2

It's well good and everything I've tried is just authentic and yummy! You'll never need another cook book.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

I really hate Gino di Campo.

Me too! He's an excitbale twunt.

I was watching him make some meatballs. he didn't even fry off onions before putting them into the meatballs. I ALWAYS fry the onions off becasue you just end up with meatballs with raw onion in.

Thinks he can get away being a cookery guru just ebcaseu he's italian and some women think he's nice to look at (I think he looks like a smarmy git)

 

[Orang Utan]

I've never heard of him - what channel is he on?

 

[Dillinger4]

1001 spanish recipes - aka the fat spanish one.

I bought it and its the best one that I own.

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

some of the jamies dinners recipes are fab
Im not so keen on his latest one Jamie at home though

 

[trashpony]

I've never heard of him - what channel is he on?

Me neither. Which Spanish book do you mean OU? I've got the 2nd moro one but not the first.

Hmm have been thinking about Oliver but he's so annoying I would worry just his mere presence in my kitchen would irritate me.

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

I've never heard of him - what channel is he on?

This Morning!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_D'Acampo

TWUNT!

 

[Xanadu]

Me too! He's an excitbale twunt.

I was watching him make some meatballs. he didn't even fry off onions before putting them into the meatballs. I ALWAYS fry the onions off becasue you just end up with meatballs with raw onion in.

Thinks he can get away being a cookery guru just ebcaseu he's italian and some women think he's nice to look at (I think he looks like a smarmy git)

Only reason he's on TV is cos some producers think the late-20s mums will fancy him.

 

[Orang Utan]

Me neither. Which Spanish book do you mean OU? I've got the 2nd moro one but not the first.

Hmm have been thinking about Oliver but he's so annoying I would worry just his mere presence in my kitchen would irritate me.

The one Dillinger4 mentions

 

[Orang Utan]

This Morning!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino_D'Acampo

TWUNT!

Who watched telly in the morning? I've never got that! Especially to watch someone cooking

 

[Orang Utan]

Me neither. Which Spanish book do you mean OU? I've got the 2nd moro one but not the first.

Hmm have been thinking about Oliver but he's so annoying I would worry just his mere presence in my kitchen would irritate me.

Why is he annoying? He's charming and sincere and a great communicator

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

The Hairy Bikers Cookbook is quite good too. But I still place my money on Eastern European Cookery - Honestly it's well good. Make a note of it and have a look in your local bookshop.

The Hungarian food is well authetic - just like my mum and grandma make . They say don't use flour which makes me Most cookbooks tell you to put flour in a goulash which makes me , and the French cassoule is to die for..

 

[avu9lives]

Anything by Pat Chapman

If your into youre curries that is

 

[trashpony]

Why is he annoying? He's charming and sincere and a great communicator

I disagree with you that he's charming. Anyway - I shouldn't let prejudice get in the way of a good book. I will have a look at that spanish one you recommended too.

I know Ms T has hundreds of cookbooks BK - was hoping she'd contribute to the thread.

 

[idioteque]

I like Gino d'Acampo, his recipes always work out really well. Who gives a shit what he looks like or if he's excitable? He makes awesome food and chucks out some good recipes, which is what he's meant to do. If looks and a likeable personality are what makes a celebrity chef, what the hell are Brian Turner and Clarissa Dickson-Wright doing on TV?

Oh, and I forgot, this book is absolutely brilliant:

 

[madamv]

My latest crush is Tamasin Day Lewis.....

Although I havent got her books, they're on my wish list.

Mrs Beeton is a firm staple in my kitchen because pretty much everything 'normal' is in there, plus different region sections...

My sister reckons Delia is the winner!


Boooooo

 

[Ms T]

I disagree with you that he's charming. Anyway - I shouldn't let prejudice get in the way of a good book. I will have a look at that spanish one you recommended too.

I know Ms T has hundreds of cookbooks BK - was hoping she'd contribute to the thread.

Ahem.

Books that I like:

Wagamama: Ways with Noodles

The Divertimenti Cookbook (great for entertaining)

Home Cook by Alistair Hendy (I use this quite a lot)

Arabesque - Claudia Roden (used this one when you came for lunch with Bee and Spangles)

Kitchen Diaries - Nigel Slater (anything by him actually)

A Taste of Thailand - Vatcharin Bhumichitr

Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch (everything I've cooked out of this has been fantastic but it's not every day cooking)

Passione - Gennaro Cotaldo (taught Jamie everything he knows)

The Daily Mail Cookbook - Prue Leith

Olive Magazine Cookbooks (there are four of them - they are little books which are ace for after-work cooking)

Great Asian Food - Australian Women's Weekly (good all-rounder)

Week In Week Out - Simon Hopkinson (a lovely read but haven't actually made anything from this yet )

Kitchen Seasons - Ross Dobson (loving this one at the moment)

Essentials of Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan ( a classic)

Bistro Cooking - Patricia Wells (une classique)




Out of those, my favourites at the moment are The Divertimenti Cookbook, Kitchen Seasons and the Olive cookbooks.

Jamie Oliver's quite good, but I find I rarely use his books for some reason. The River Cafe Easy books are good too.

 

[Xanadu]

The Divertimenti Cookbook - that's on my list of books to buy.

Problem with Mr Oliver is that everyone does his stuff. If it's just for inspiration, then great, but otherwise, you'll end up with an identi-kit meal.

I'm a huge Nigel Slater fan. I quite like Anthony Boudain, but mainly cos of Kitchen Confidential.

I feel the need to exercise my culinary muscle

 

[Spark]

I like the new Jamie book. It's good if you grow some of your own veg, because it's partly about, which I think is a nice combination.

There's a good book by Madhur Jaffrey called Curry. It's recipes of curries from all over the world. Some of the recipes are a bit fiddly, but there are some really good ones too.

Also another vote for Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries.

 

[Ms T]

The Divertimenti Cookbook - that's on my list of books to buy.

I really like it. You can get it dead cheap from The Book People.