A Cook’s Tour of Scotland: From Barra to Brora
in 1 20 Recipes
Sue Lawrence 0000
For Cook's TOur. food writer and cook Sue Lawrence travelled around Scotland in search of good quality food and interesting recipes incorporating it. Some recipes come from grannies. some from chefs. some from fishermen, some from old
cookbooks. Not all are historic.
by any means: frittata with smoked salmon or haggis lasagne don't come from granny's kitchen. but Lawrence's art is to offer a simple but flexible engagement With food that retains Sufficient elements of the traditions to give it a clear Scottish identity. With a repertoire including ‘hairy tatties' (salt fish and floury potatoes). ‘Smokies
salade Nicoise'. ‘Lorne sausage casserole and ‘cloutie dumpling ice cream'. the book offers honest to goodness Scottish food for the modern age. The title of the book is a wee bit misleading as it's presented not. in fact. as a geographical low. but with recipes grouped together under the heading of certain foodstuffs — salmon, beef. cheese — as well as less obvious tepics such as black pudding. kale and oats.
The essential formula is straightforward and commendable: identify some of the great produce of our land and those who make it. thrill in the encounter. and create some fairly uncomplicated food based around it. Oh that we saw these sorts of dishes served in pubs and cafes and bistros in Scotland. (Donald Reid) I Head/me. [‘20
EAT&DRINK
Pie
Angela Boggiano 000 While that eternal question ‘who ate all the pies?‘ remains unanswered. Angela Boggiano drops a few unsubtle clues that she could be responsible for gnashing the crusty stuff. such is her passion for pastry. This book indulges in a little culinary social history. tracing the roots of Melton Mowbray.
Bread Matters:
the Sorry State of Modern Bread and
a Definitive Guide
to Baking Your Own Andrew Whitley 0000
Our daily bread is in a pretty sorry state according to this hefty tome by Andrew Whitley. founder of the Village Bakery near Penrith. The vast majority of British bread. he says. is
‘a nutritional. culinary. and environmental mess'. Not only that. it is also culpable for the rise of gluten intolerance. For some 50 pages. the fonhright Whitley rails against the ills
of the modern loaf. Then he calms down and explains
the simplicity and joy of real bread and how to bake it. (DR) I Fourth Estate. £20
In Search of Perfection coo
Chef Heston Blumenthal's moleCUlar approach to Cuisine isn't everybody's cup of tea. It's slightly soulless. But there is a fascination for many in the way the ‘Culinary alchemist' (with three Michelin stars) creates some memorable dishes. Of course. perfection is only an aspiration but some
London eel pie shops and even the traditions of humble football pie. And while these moments are brief and breezy. Boggiano balances them with a passion and froth in her descriptions of the recipes.
of which there are plenty. sourced from everywhere from Lancashire to the Catalan. Sure. pages and pages of crusts can get a tad repetitive
of it might well rub off on readers. (BS) I B/oomsbury, £20
Tom Aikens Cooking .0.
This Chelsea-based. Michelin- star chef may be the next to break out on a national scale. Aikens has the temperament we demand from our celebrity chefs. being a little hot-blooded — plus he spots a James
Dean quiff. This book offers
an assortment of French- influenced dishes. rated ‘easy' to ‘challenging'. (BS)
I Ebury, [‘25
Cook with Jamie .00.
His ‘guide to make you a better cook.‘ this is Saint Jamie in Delia mode. with
a 160-recipe cookbook. featuring ‘how to . . .' asides. for all people and for all time. At the tender age of 31. has Oliver penned his magnus opus? Perhaps. The Essex- born geezer is already so affluent he can afford to give the proceeds from the book sales to his registered charity. the Fifteen Foundation. (BS) I Michael Joseph, E25
visually, but Boggiano's energy for the subject and her willingness to let the food be the focus rather than the cook is a welcome change. Finding a food group that hasn't been fully exploited in book form is an achievement in itself, and Pie is a novel. if not essential. addition to the cook's bookshelf. (Mark Robertson) I Casse/l l/Iustrafed, £20
Culinary Pleasure: Cookbooks and the flansformation of British Food oooo Nicola Humble
If you're trying to make sense of the deluge of books on food. then sneak off with this wee book. Nicola Humble provides
a thoroughly readable and authoritative histOry of how cookbooks have influenced food culture. from Mrs Beaton and Elizabeth David to Delia. Jamie. Nigel et al. But Cu/inary P/easure is enlivened by Humble’s astute take on subjects such as Delia's social climbing. (88)
I Faber 8. Faber. E9. 99
Tana Ramsay’s Family Kitchen 0..
Unlike many of her hubby's concoctions. Tana Ramsay's recipes are blissfully simple. Paella with chicken and prawns is about as complicated as it gets.
The best angle and attitude she offers is ‘cooking from the cupboard'. (BS)
I HarperCo/li‘ns, E20
16—30 Nov 2006 THE LIST 101