Looking for gift ideas for the gourmand readers in your life (other than, naturally, all the latest Zagat guides)? Fret not, here are some recent books from top toques around town.
The Big Fat Duck Cookbook, Heston Blumenthal (Bloomsbury Publishing £100): This book is definitely “big” and “fat” with 532 pages, a grey cloth binding and slipcase, and beautiful photography and stunning illustrations throughout. It tells the story of the meteoric rise of Heston and The Fat Duck, and explores the chef’s obsession with the science of cooking. Read recipes for 50 of his signature dishes such as snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream.
British Seasonal Food, Mark Hix (Quadrille Publishing £25): The owner of Hix Oyster & Chop House has created simple recipes – think prawn cocktail and haddock fish fingers – with seasonal ingredients organized month-by-month at their peak. There are no endless lists of ingredients here – just inventive recipes accompanied by eye-popping photography and original drawings.
The Clatter of Forks and Spoons, Richard Corrigan (4th Estate £25): The chef-owner of Bentley’s and the recently opened Corrigan’s likes to keep it simple with his imaginative British and Irish recipes, many of which are provided here. He even includes the one for his fabulous Irish soda bread.
Cooking for Friends: Food from my Table, Gordon Ramsay (HarperCollins Publishers £25): Ramsay’s latest book offers more than 100 modern British recipes to cook for friends and family. Each recipe is introduced with an insight into why he’s chosen it and includes tips on how to re-create it perfectly. With an emphasis on simplicity and seasonal ingredients with a low-carbon footprint, the majority of the recipes are short and easy to cook.
Curry: Classic and Contemporary, Vivek Singh (Absolute Press £20): In his third book of modern Indian cooking, Singh (Cinnamon Club and the recently opened Cinnamon Kitchen) shares recipes for old classics and contemporary interpretations accompanied by mouth-watering photographs.
Fish, Tom Aikens (Ebury Press £25): This beautiful fish and seafood book from the man behind Tom Aikens and Tom’s Kitchen provides a guide to which fish we should be eating, which to avoid and why. Its 200 recipes are organized by cooking methods such as grilling, barbecuing and one-pot dishes, and it also offers step-by-step photographs of techniques such as de-scaling and filleting.
Made in Great Britain, Aiden Byrne (New Holland Publishers £25): The former head chef of The Grill at The Dorchester, Byrne is now at the helm of his new country venture The Church Green Pub/Restaurant. His book showcases the best of British ingredients with 150 recipes and gorgeous photos, and also offers stories about Byrne's visits to a micro salad plantation in Wiltshire and a rare-breeds farm in Gloucestershire. Not to be missed: a photo of Aiden in a wetsuit hand-diving for scallops.
Today’s Special, Anthony Demetre (Quadrille Publishing £20): Demetre, chef/co-owner of Wild Honey and Arbutus, has stocked his book with recipes from his restaurants and plenty of wonderful photos. Like any good bistro chef, he makes use of cheaper cuts and wastes nothing. And for the cocoa-inclined, don’t miss the Warm Chocolate Soup recipe.
– Susan Kessler