Why not catch a glimpse of the launch party too?

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Miss Masala and an Indian Summer

The weekend before I headed off on holiday saw the return of the sun, or at least it did here in this quiet corner of rural Staffordshire. And, the return of the sun could only mean one thing – making the most of the opportunity to barbecue.

Summer barbecues send shivers of excitement down my spine, I simply adore the smell from the food intermingling with the  charcoal smoke as it wafts through the air. Build in a little spice into that heady smokey mix and I’m drooling.

I considered making jerk chicken once again, but as I’ve cooked that a number of times recently I thought I’d ring the changes and make another favourite of mine, tandoori chicken.

Normally I use a recipe from The Curry Secret : Indian Restaurant Cookery at Home by Kris Dhillon but I stumbled across a delicious looking recipe on the Delicious website, and after they called it the “Best Ever Tandoori Chicken” how could I not try it?

The Delicious recipe worked well, but it lacked depth of flavour, despite gaining the blackened patches essential to a good tandoori. It certainly wasn’t the “Best Ever” as claimed, I won’t be returning to it again.

I’d recommend you cook tandoori chicken on a barbecue (even though it is technically possible to fry or bake it) as barbecuing is the closest to replicating a traditional tandoor. Traditional tandoors produce moist, smokey meat because the fierce heat allows protein molecules on the meat’s surface to cross-link and contract, trapping moisture inside – juices fall on the coals along with rendered fat, creating smoke that flavours the food. Should you be feeling adventurous you could always make a tandoor, like Jules & her husband did.

Of course with tandoori chicken you need a cooling yogurt based raita and Indian breads, oh and a huge bowl of salad too.

I would happily spoon raita into me on almost any occasion, any time of year, but, in summer they really come into their own. These dishes of savoury, delicately flavoured yogurt and the perfect fresh, cooling antidote to the spiciness of an Indian meal. Perfect, and especially so in the hot weather.

I used a recipe from Miss Masala Real Indian Cooking for Busy Living by Mallika Basu for the raita. Miss Masala is only a small book, but it is crammed with gorgeous recipes and although limited the photography is stunning, really sultry and exotic. Miss Masala is so much more than just a cookbook, this beautiful handbag-sized journal fuses irresistible Indian recipes with Mallika’s quirky and hilarious tales. In her no-nonsense, best-friend-forever style, she demystifies those glorious, exotic ingredients and spices and shows how easy and rewarding it is to cook Indian food at home. One for reading on the bus as much as in the kitchen, you are bound to laugh out loud.

As per usual, I couldn’t help but make one slight change to Mallika’s recipe, and that was to add a splash of lime juice to give added freshness. The lime really helps to lift the sweetness of the mint and creaminess of the yogurt. My personal preference is to use thick Greek yogurt although you can use any natural yogurt.

Parathas were my bread of choice. I’d never made them before but if I eat at an Indian restaurant it is either paratha or peshwari naan that I tend to pick. I found a lovely recipe over on Mamta’s Kitchen, a fabulous site run as a ‘living cookbook’, but there’s much more to it than just recipes – handy hints and a forum to name a couple of elements, it is a treasure trove of Indian cuisine knowledge; do go have a look.

Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta and literally means layers of cooked flour.

The paratha was first conceived in the ancient Punjab region, but soon became popular all over India (and even current Pakistan), including southern India. The southern Indian states have their own versions of the ubiquitous paratha, the most popular being the Kerala porotta which has eggs in the dough.

Paratha can come plain or filled. Often the filled varieties can constitute a light meal, served with various raitas. They are next on my paratha making journey. Any tips greatly welcomed, so please email or comment.

Tandoori Chicken

1. Make a few 5mm deep slashes on both sides of each chicken leg and thigh, and put into a large glass bowl with the breast pieces. Sprinkle with the lemon juice, paprika and a good pinch of salt, and rub everything in. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the garlic, ginger, oil, cardamom, garam masala and yogurt into a liquidiser or food processor and blend thoroughly until smooth. Pour onto the marinated chicken and mix well. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours.
3. Lift the chicken off the grate onto a plate and brush with the melted butter. Turn off the middle burner or push the coals to either side of the grate. Return the chicken to the grate and continue to cook over an indirect high heat for 3-5 minutes each side or until cooked through – the juices from the thickest part of the leg should run clear when pierced. Divide between plates and serve with a raita, parathas and lemon wedges to squeeze over, if you like.
4. If you are using a charcoal barbecue, light about 30 minutes before you want to cook. If using a gas barbecue, preheat 10 minutes before you want to use it.
5. Lift the chicken out of the marinade, shake off the excess, then thread the breast pieces and thighs onto long metal or bamboo skewers, leaving 3-4cm between each 1 so that the heat can circulate. Brush the chicken lightly with oil, and brush the bars of the grate well with oil. Place the skewered chicken and the legs onto the grate and cook directly over a high heat for 4 minutes each side – use a wide spatula to release them from the grate a few times during the first 1-2 minutes, to prevent sticking. Turn occasionally, so they’re nicely marked by the grate and charred a little here and there.

Plain Paratha

• 250g chapatti flour. 50/50 whole wheat and white flour can be used, if chapatti flour is not available
• 1 tablespoon ghee or butter
• 1/2 teaspoo salt
• Enough water to make dough
• Oil for pan frying

1. Place all ingredients, except oil for frying, in a bowl. Add enough water, a little at a time, as you knead it, and make a soft dough. (If you are new at making parathas, it is better to have a firm dough, which is easier to control while rolling out. Experienced Indian cooks prefer a softer dough, which makes softer parathas but is a little more difficult to roll out).
2. Knead well for 5-6 minutes.
3. Leave to stand for 10 minutes or so. Knead briefly again.
4. Break dough into 10-12 portions (size is your own choice) and roll them into balls, using a little dry flour to dust. Keep covered with a moist cloth.
5. Roll one ball in dry flour and roll it out to approximately 7 cm. or 3 inches diameter.
6. Drizzle a little oil in the centre of the circle, pull the edges in and seal it in the centre. Now you have a ball again.
7. Heat a griddle or tawa.
8. Roll out the ball into a 6-7 inches or 16-18 cm. circle. It should be rolled from centre outwards so that the edges are thinner than the centre. You will need to dip it in dusting flour, on both sides, a couple of time during this process. Parathas should not be too thin, approximately 2-3 mm. thick, as very thin ones do not have ‘bite’. This again is your personal choice, some people prefer paper thin parathas.
9. Put the paratha on the hot griddle/tawa. Turn it over when it changes colour to semi-translucent and you can see a few blisters on the under surface.
10. Cook the other side the same way and turn over again.
11. Brush a little oil on both surfaces, one by one.
12. Press the paratha gently all over, using a flat spatula, coaxing it to fluff up into a ball. If you see any steam escaping, seal it by pressing it with the spatula. This ensures fluffing up of the paratha.
13. Cook until crisp and nicely browned on both sides (the next paratha can be rolled as the previous one is cooking).
14. Repeat until all the paratha are cooked.

Notes

• Parathas can be made in advance, stacked on top of each other and wrapped in aluminum foil. They can be re-heated before serving, either individually on a griddle or in a moderate oven – wrap the paratha in foil and heat in the oven for about 10 minutes.
• They freeze quite well too, but should be defrosted properly before re-heating.
• If you want to make parathas crisper and flakier, add 2 tablespoons of oil to the dough.

Cooling Cucumber & Mint Raita

• 500g natural yogurt (I prefer a thick Greek style one)
• 250g cucumber
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon lime juice

1. Whip the yogurt for one minute until smooth and bubbly.
2. Grate the cucumber, coarsley and stir into the yogurt along the mint and lime juice.
3. Taste and adjust for salt & lime juice.

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I am sure that many of you reading this blog will already be familiar with Simon Majumdar, prolific food blogger at Dos Hermanos. You may or may not know that he is an accomplished author.

Sometime back I donated to the Hope For Haiti raffle and by doing so was entered into a competition – my prize a copy of Simon’s fabulous books: Eat My Globe & Eating For Britain.

What follows is a review of the former book, the latter is on my bedside table for late night indulgence.

Until late 2006, writing about food was just a hobby for Simon, a half-Welsh, half-Bengali, Rotheram-raised fortysomething. He was happy with his highly paid job in publishing, which allowed him to travel to far-flung places and score decent meals on expenses. He was also far from uncomfortable in the smart Hoxton flat he shared with his elder brother and co-blogger, Robin, nicknamed “The Great Salami” – read the book to find out why! It was a life lived well within his tolerance levels “of never being more than 15 minutes away from the nearest source of Madagascan vanilla extract”.

But a midlife crisis – accelerated by the death of his mother and changes at work – slapped him around the face “like a wet haddock – an undyed, lightly smoked one of course, not one of those yellow monstrosities they sell on supermarket fish counters”. He sent out emails to his friends reading: “I hate my job”, quit and after some planning proceeded to pack a backpack to travel around the world on a quest to “go everywhere, eat everything” on a truly planet-sized scale. The result is a amazingly funny and insightful book.

Eat My Globe is a book that will appeal to food lovers and travel lovers alike, if you happen to enjoy both, as do I, you will be in seventh heaven as you allow yourself to vicariously travel with Simon from the comfort of your armchair.

Simon has a writing style that engages the reader from the minute they pick up the book. It is chatty, almost to the point that you feel Simon is speaking directly to you the reader. His gregarious sense of humour is omnipresent and I guffawed at many points throughout my read.

Whilst his wit is regularly aimed at the expense of other cultures, but, in a way that would have them laughing too (I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing with you) he makes most fun of his own girth, gluttony, laziness, big ears, single status and tendency to pontificate.

Of course a book of this nature should have fun with the “eww” and “bleurgh” factor of foreign cuisine, as well as detailing the finer more ‘classic’ points, and Majumdar does not shrink from this requirement. In fact he actively seeks out some of the most stomach turning meals, tasting the parts more squeamish writers might discreetly conceal under their napkins or try and feed to a passing stray animal. He orders, albeit unknowingly, cod sperm in Tokyo, crunches crickets in Manila, experiences elk in Finland, is disgusted by cane rat in China and, although he doesn’t mind the bowl of braised dog that the Chinese also dish up for him, experiences a rare fit of guilt on learning that the dogs are beaten until terrified before slaughter as the butchers believe the adrenalin improves the flavour of the meat. In one of the most cringe-worthy moments Simon picks a snake from a tank in Vietnam to watch it being killed, then sips on the bile milked from its small glands before knocking back its heart in a glass full of spirit laced with blood.

Despite all the travel and eclectic, exotic eating Majumdar’s tastes remain endearingly basic. If he could choose a last meal, it would be fish and chips, washed down with a mug of strong, steaming builder’s tea.

Paperback: 288 pages

Publisher: John Murray (7 Jan 2010)

ISBN-10: 071952024X

ISBN-13: 978-0719520242

RRP: £8.99

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Alice Hart is a young woman who has achieved a lot for someone still in her twenties. Qualified chef and part owner of the esteemed Hart & Fuggle in London, she has also been the youngest editor so far at Waitrose Food Illustrated. Now Alice can add the release of a stunning cookbook to her list of achievements.

Alice’s tone is young and vibrant, yet authoritative. Her guidance on cooking for larger groups, menu plans and timing of dishes ‘hands on time’ helps take the stress out of cooking for friends, and I suspect for the relative ‘newbie’ to cooking would be a Godsend.

Alice seems acutely aware of seasonal cooking and making the most of local ingredients (without preaching), dividing the recipes into Frost and Fireside or Sunshine and Strawberries. Whenever you dip into the book – whether it be in January to find a New Year brunch, during August for a faded summer kitchen supper for friends, or in winter for ideas for a chic drinks party – you will find a selection of inspiring and memorable menus.

Recipes are eclectic and varied, ranging from Boursin Omelette Baguettes (Portable Breakfast for a Crowd), Campfire charred mackerel with red chicory and pomegranate (Summer Camping), Lemongrass pork bun bowls (Autumn Supper), to Toffee Pears with Flaked Almonds (Winter Film Night). All though sound delightful and perhaps most importantly, manageable even in a small apartment style kitchen – all too much of a rarity in many cookbooks whose authors seem to think we are all living in professionally kitted out mega kitchens. One recipe in particular has caught my eye, and no, surprisingly enough it isn’t the brownies (although they do sound amazing), it is the raspberry custard cake.

The book doesn’t contain all that many photos, something that may put off novice cooks as the notion seems to be that it gives them something to aim for in terms of the end result, but for me at least the lack of photos is no bad thing. Few and far between slots of photography leaves the imagination free to run with ideas and you’re not left comparing your plating up to a pro food stylists efforts in the book.

What of the photography there is? Well, it’s stunning. Simply done, my guess is with a tilt-shift lens but that is by the by, uncluttered and allowing the food to really speak for itself. And, with food that good you wouldn’t want to it be anything other than centre stage.

The book is printed on thick paper with a lovely sheen and encased in a ‘eco friendly’ feeling thick cardboard style jacket. The grey cover with sketch artwork with just a splash of colour down the spine gives a modern, contemporary feel without being achingly so.

This book is everything you could want from an everyday, every occasion cook book, but, after all Alice is cooking from the Hart (sorry, terrible pun but I couldn’t resist) and it shows.

With thanks to Quadrille Publishing for the review copy.

Paperback: 192 pages

Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd (2 July 2010)

Language English

ISBN-10: 1844008886

ISBN-13: 978-1844008889

RRP: £14.99

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So often food and in turn, cookery books are often thought to be just about pleasing the stomach, however, many of us buy our cookery books as much for the pleasure of reading them, sometimes they sit ready to be leafed through and salivated over, and, yet never make it into the kitchen to be actually ‘used’.

A Visual History of Cookery is one such book, it is a true feast for the eyes. Presented on thick, glossy paper it feels almost luxurious. The kind of book you want on show, available at all times for an impromptu read while sitting back with your feet up relaxing. It is a book to take your time over and devour slowly.

Billed by the publisher as “a stunning look at food and its visual representations throughout time.” A Visual History of Cookery explores the historical progression of cookery, the global food journey, the development of food branding, and the culture of celebrity chefs; providing the reader with a beautiful look at how culinary imagery has changed over the centuries.

The book, perhaps essentially as the history of food covers many tantalizing courses, covers only the interconnected gastronomic histories of five Western nations: England, France, Italy, Spain and America. Its compilers are far from being fussy eaters: with the book including such wide ranging dishes from foie gras to cornflakes, while both El Bulli and McDonalds are among the referenced to restaurants.

The historical time frame takes us back as far as Roman times, and then covers the historical ground of the following centuries leading us up to modern times presenting our great chefs and their signature dishes to us.

Topics covered range from snippets about recipes and specific food stuffs, to geographical influences on the growing of food, to the impact religion has had on our food culture, to the rise of fast food and the supermarket and their impact on our current psyche.

The main feature of course has to be the stunning artwork and photography, but, it is peppered with such delights as essays from esteemed writers and chefs such as A A Gill, Elizabeth David, Anthony Bourdain and Roland Barthes, and a few recipes to boot – not that I’d expect you to be using this gorgeous tome anywhere near the kitchen mind you – Ruth Pinch’s Beef-Steak Pudding is one that I’ve already bookmarked to try.

The one criticism I have is that although the essays are accredited to their rightful authors, the main part of the text is written exclusively for the book but here there are no authors, nor editors mentioned to pin the texts to and I do find that a bit disturbing.

All in all this is a lovely book and it feeds the social historian in me well. Should a ‘volume 2′ be published detailing other countries or generations, ahh well I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a copy.

With thanks to Black Dog Publishing for the review copy.

Hardcover: 352 pages

Publisher: Black Dog Publishing (11 Jan 2010)

Language English

ISBN-10: 190615550X

ISBN-13: 978-1906155506

RRP: £29.95

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Laura Santtini’s passion for food comes from her Italian grandmother and her parents who launched the Italian restaurant Santtini’s in Belgravia, (which was famed for being Frank Sinatra’s all-time favourite eatery). As an avid cook she has mastered the skills required in transforming every day Italian dishes into unforgettable and simply magical food.

In her book, Easy Tasty Italian, she aims to transform your cooking style, claiming your cooking will never be the same again!

In section one of the book, Laura reveals the secrets of her larder and how to make the most of the powers of umami, the recently identified fifth taste. She then delves into the potential of basic procedures and preparations such as whipping, chopping and pounding, in order to create ‘flavour bombs’ — intense combinations of ingredients that lift simple recipes to new heights of deliciousness. For example she covers a simple recipe such as a red wine marinade before revealing seven spectacular transformations of the original, including mocha chilli barbeque or orange anchovy and cinnamon marinade. Her basic recipe for salsa rossa evolves into pink grapefruit, fennel and pomegranate relish whilst a basil pesto is altered to create a more refreshing rocket, mint and pistachio pesto.

This form of laying out recipes continues into the second section, which covers cooking methods described as Air (antipasti, carpaccio, ceviche and dips), Water (soups, pastas and sauces, risotto and poaching), Fire (grilling, frying, baking and roasting) and Earth (slow cooking and vegetable dishes). Following the ‘elemental section’ is a very small section on vegetable side dishes and following on, the desserts section contains a mere twelve recipes.

There is something a little indigestible about this book. Yes, the recipes sound delicious, the illustrations are succulent and the writing often appetising, in a quirky kind of way; but the essence of a good food book is, well, the food. Admittedly, a good food book can occasionally be something other than a cook book — think Larousse Gastronomique for example; but, for me, Santini overcooks her prose and strays beyond the mark on a few occasions. References to the popular music of her youth, dire puns (‘hey pesto’) and to her relationships (‘this one lasted longer than my marriage’) are just plain distracting and irritating.

The revolutionary core of the book, and its saving grace, is its exploration of the ‘alchemy’ of umami! This may be a cunning sales ploy (given that Santini has produced Umami pastes, which are sold by Selfridges), making us worry that we’re missing out on some radical new discovery, but the combination of spaghetti bolognese and Parmesan cheese used to illustrate the idea has been known about and appreciated for centuries.

This book was not what I was expecting and I doubt anyone who judges a book by its title alone will expect either. I actually think naming this book Easy Tasty Italian is quite misleading.

While the book often looks great, I don’t feel overly enthused to cook from it as it feels a little too chaotic, hard to follow and a bit too girly for me, with all the gold-dust and glitter references, etc. It’ll probably spend more time on the coffee table than in the kitchen.

With thanks to Quadrille Publishing Ltd for the review copy.

Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd (2 October 2009)

Language English

ISBN-10: 1844007553

ISBN-13: 978-1844007554

RRP £20.00

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The New Urban Farmer by Celia Brooks Brown is due for publication in early March 2010. I am sure it will take the market by storm. How can it not? It is surely a gem of a book and one most suited to the current trend of growing your own food.

This book is billed as “a year-round guide to growing your own vegetables and fruit, so that you can enjoy the incomparable taste of homegrown produce, with over 60 delicious recipes” and it really doesn’t disappoint.

Before discussing the book in more detail, happen a little background to growing your own might be helpful.

Prior to the Second World War Britain imported roughly 55 million tons of food a year from other countries; but during the war this simply was not a viable option.

The Ministry of Agriculture launched one month on from the outbreak of the Second World War, one of the most memorable slogans of the whole conflict – ‘Dig for Victory’.

From this point on, the whole of Britain’s home front were encouraged to transform their private gardens into mini-allotments. It was believed, quite rightly, that this would not only provide essential crops for families and neighbourhoods alike, but help the war effort by freeing up valuable space for war materials on the merchant shipping convoys. Indeed, over just a few months, Britain saw its green and pleasant land transformed with gardens, flower beds and parkland dug up for the plantation of vegetables.

By 1943, over a million tons of vegetables were being grown in gardens and allotments.

During the course of the war, many propagandist moves were made to promote the importance of ‘growing your own’. Along with the circulation of familiar Ministry of Agriculture ‘food flashes’, literature and poster displays, anthems were also introduced.

Not only vegetable growing occurred though; people were encouraged to keep livestock too. Chickens were incredibly popular but, others kept rabbits and goats. Pigs were popular as they could be fed on the kitchen waste of several families and then, once slaughtered, the meat divided.

After the War Britain began to return to normality, gardens returned to being just that and flower beds reigned once more; however, the practice of keeping allotments continued to thrive. One wonders if it was the ample supply of fresh food or the escapism from everyday life (or more to the point ‘her indoors’) that kept the activity alive.

Vegetable-growing in Britain declined sharply in the 1980s and 1990s as cheap all-year-round vegetables in supermarkets took prime position; thus giving rise to a steep decline in the importance of locality and seasonality to the average British consumer. Gone were the thoughts of meal planning around the seasons and in was the notion that eating food from far flung corners of the globe was exotic and highbrow. Name dropping of food items and the selection of wild and wonderful combinations of such ‘exotics’ became de rigeuer at social gatherings. The fact that most of the out of season, flown in, items were lacking in both taste and texture was of a matter of insignificance .

The noughties have definitely been a decade of food trend change though, as both Thompson Morgan and Suttons Seeds have noticed a rising trend in the past five years and say they have seen a jump towards vegetables from flower seeds this year in particular, with edible varieties accounting for between 60 and 70 percent of total sales.

Jamie Oliver seemed to spark the trend to return to home grown with his 2007 book Jamie at Home; which contained snippets of gardening info hidden amongst the recipes. Oliver said:

“I’m so into the whole growing thing these days that it now seems strange that, having been a chef for 16 years, I didn’t get into it sooner. …

… So Jamie At Home is all about getting down and dirty with nature, growing and cooking your very own produce – whether from your garden, allotment or window box. It’s easier than you might think and fantastically rewarding if you get it right.”

With allotment waiting lists massively oversubscribed and people right across the country keener than ever to grow their own fruit and veg, Hugh Fearnley Whitingstall set up the Landshare initiative. The aim for Landshare is to become a UK wide initiative to make British land more productive and fresh local produce more accessible to all. Each of the new growing spaces are to be registered through the Landshare website  as an online ‘matchmaking’ database of keen growers and those who have land available.

The National Trust is also creating 1000 new plots in the next three years to provide for the growing number of ‘growing your own’ fans.

Throughout this book Celia Brooks Brown brings the theory of growing vegetables to an approachable reality, using real life tales of her adventures in vegetable growing such as doing battle with the slugs and snails over the brassicas and spotting the first emergence of that springtime delight, asparagus.

The gardening advice is clear, easy to follow and to be truthful you don’t need to have ‘green fingers’ to understand the details; a problem I have found with many other books covering this subject.

The addition of simple yet delicious recipes (such as cauliflower & coconut soup, smoky gazpacho and simple tomato sauce) does of course make the book even more appealing to the keen cook.

The book is beautifully presented on thick, glossy paper that cries out to be held but appears tough enough to stand up to everyday life in the kitchen or even the odd occasion surrounded by soil and seeds (although I’d heartily recommend you make notes and take an old notepad out to the allotment rather than this paperback beauty).

One particular delight is that the book is divided into the four seasons, and then delightfully subdivided into individual months detailing what is in season, what to start planting and a few mouth-watering recipes.

The photography, well that is stunning, full page spreads of perfect vegetables, lovely shots of Celia in her allotment.

I have a fair sized garden with enough room for some vegetable growing, but, simply reading this book has made me long for an allotment; such an inspiration it is.

With thanks to Quadrille Publishing Ltd for the review copy.

Paperback: 208 pages

Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd (5 Mar 2010)

Language English

ISBN-10: 1844008177

ISBN-13: 978-1844008179

RRP: £14.99

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When Jim Lahey’s recipe for no-knead bread first hit the New York Times, it sparked a massive bread-baking frenzy. Anyone and everyone began talking about home baking and the fact that this bread required little attention making it so adaptable to everyday life.

Everyone seemed to love the no-knead bread, including me, alas when Lahey announced the release of a whole book of no-knead recipes it was no surprise that I just had to get my hands on a copy – My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste. Published by W.W. Norton & Company, 2009.

So you think this is just another bread book? Think again; this is the bread book that will change your attitudes towards yeast cooking once and for all.

This book shows you how to take the ‘standard’ no-knead bread to the next level and beyond, showing just how versatile the dough can be, how it can be modified for more than just sandwich bread and simply adjusted to include different flavours and ingredients. There is also a heavy emphasis on classic old-world breads like ciabatta and rye breads, all the breads though are grounded in the no-knead formula; something quite remarkable especially for these old-world breads.

Before launching into a recipe section Lahey has included a section entitled  ”The Making of a Bread Baker” where he discusses at length, albeit, in an extrememly friendly and approachable way the background and theory to no-knead bread and lays out the essential tools required for bread baking – a surprisingly small list by many books standards I have to say.

The recipes are basically divided into two parts: new bread recipes using the slow rise, no-knead technique and recipes that use the bread to make things like pizza, sandwiches, and puddings; yes you heard me right, puddings such as chocolate puddings that use breadcrumbs instead of flour.

The recipes are inventive and inspiring – even if you’re an experienced baker, this book will still have you rushing to the kitchen to get your hands floury.

Not only are the bread recipes fabulous but the sandwich suggestions are out of this world, with recipe for the filling ingredients included too such as, things like homemade pickles, spicy mustard, roast beef, and vegetable spreads.

This book feels just right to hold, ok it’s slimmer than many of the big, all-inclusive tomes being published these days, but it is not overwhelming nor are you left wishing for more. Each carefully chosen recipe is artistically arranged on the (high quality, thick, shiny) page to draw us in and encourage leisurely browsing. The recipe is clearly laid out, so quick refresher glances are easy, even whilst baking. This book is clearly ready for a spell in the kitchen.

The photos are both beautiful and informational. In many of the recipes they illustrate crucial steps and show us how the finished product should look.

First up to try was the ciabatta, perfect to serve alongside the vat of ragu I had simmering of the stove for dinner the following day (sure doesn’t it always taste better reheated the following day?).

Ciabatta is a flatish, elongated bread which is traditionally slipper shaped. Ciabatta was first produced in Liguria, although at least one type of ciabatta can be found in nearly every region of Italy nowadays.

I must confess, despite feeling overjoyed with the book, I was rather sceptical that this recipe would yield a great ciabatta. I mean it is so different from traditional methods that I just couldn’t fathom how I would end up with a ciabatta that was reminiscent of the many I have eaten in Italy. How wrong could I be? Very. Very wrong indeed. This ciabatta was light, airy and yet substantial and slightly chewy; just perfect.

The slow overnight rise lent a slightly sweet, yeasty flavour to the dough, comparable almost to using a great sourdough or biga starter, but with much less hassle than the traditional biga recipe I used before.

Jim’s recipe is incredibly simple, involving minimal hand shaping and mixing. Basically, you start with a fairly wet dough, allow it to rise for 12-18 hours, shape, and let rise another 1-2 hours. After baking, you have a slipper shaped bread with large holes, a nice crumb, and a delectable crust.

I will be returning to this book, over and over again.

No-Knead Ciabatta (adapted recipe)

• 4 cups of bread flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 cups of tepid water

1. The night before, mix the flour, yeast and salt. Slowly add the water as you bring the dough together with either your hand or a spatula. The dough will seem too wet, then seem too dry. It should end as a fairly shaggy and wet dough.
2. Cover the dough with a clean cotton cloth or a piece of plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm room for 12-18 hours
3. When you check the dough the next day after the allotted time has passed, it should be a bubbly wet dough.
4. Gently slide the dough out onto a floured and dusted with cormeal cookie sheet. Split the dough into two and shape the dough into the desired shape of Ciabatta, which is a long slipper like shape. Cover the dough and let rise another 1-2 hours. It will roughly double in size.
5. Before the dough is done rising, preheat the oven to 220C. Place a baking tray in the middle rack.
6. Place the loaves on the baking tray and cover them with an upturned loaf pan.
7. Cook the bread for 20 minutes, before lowering the oven temperature to 180C, removing the loaf pan and cooking for a further 10-15 minutes or until nicely coloured, when ready the bread will also sound hollow to a gentle knock.

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Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well by Pellegrino Artusi is a classic Italian cookbook that is written with passion, humility, irreverence and humour. It was a great milestone in Italian cookery books, being the first one to combine a collection of the fundamental recipes from all the regions of Italy. Until this point books were based purely on regional specialities.

Artusi had a lot of problems getting someone to publish his book as it was thought at the time that no-one would want to but a collection of regional recipes. Yet it was an instant success. First released in 1891 it had reached its fourteenth edition by 1910 when the author died.According to the Artusi’s Italian culinary bible, the Sienese are famous for their sweet bakes, with panforte, ricciarelli and  cavallucci being the main specialities.

Whilst the recipe collection is outstanding it is Artusi’s prose and the way in which he describes the recipes that really makes this book such a pleasure. His sense of humour certainly comes through when he describes a recipe for Polpettone (better known as meat loaf).

“Dear Mr. Meat Loaf, please come forward, do not be shy. I want to introduce you to my readers.

I know you are modest and humble, because, given your background, you feel inferior to many others. But take heart and do not doubt that with a few words in your favour you shall find someone who wants to taste you and who might even reward you with a smile.”

Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well is more than just a recipe book, it is a book for the true food lover, it is a unique work that exalts the pleasure of eating.

It is from this must have book, that the recipe for my Ricciarelli cookies came from. The method used by Artusi was a little outdated so I used a (slightly adapted) method from Judy’s fabulous blog Over A Tuscan Stove.

Ricciarelli are soft, light, ground almond based cookies, often laced with the scent of orange, that originated in Siena (Italy). They are typically served during the Christmas festivities but increasingly are available all year round. These sweets are always served with a light dusting of icing sugar giving them an angelic appearance which implies that they are to be looked at and never touched (although there is another version of this dessert where the sugar is replaced by chocolate: the so-called ricciarelli rozzi), and now it is becoming popular to add a little cocoa to the mix too.

Ricciarelli are perfect served alongside a glass of sweet dessert wine such as Vin Santo.

According to a local popular legend in Siena, it was Ricciardetto della Gherardesca from Siena who, on his return to his castle near Volterra, Italy from the Crusades in the Middle East, first introduced these little cakes in his land. Since he noted that their form resembled the curly shape of Middle Eastern slippers (similar to the Turkish Sultan’s slippers), they were called “Ricciarelli” (from the word “arricciati”, which means “curled” in Italian).

Alternatively, these delicate cookies are said to be shaped like the almond eyes of Madonna’s by Renaissance painters.

Ricciarelli di Siena

• 220g icing sugar
• 200g sweet almonds
• 2og bitter almonds
• 2 egg whites
• orange zest

1. Preheat the oven to 160C or the equivalent.
2. Grind the almonds, orange zest and icing sugar to a fine powder in a food processor (or buy ready ground and simply combine the nuts and sugar in a bowl).
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff and mix into the almond mixture, until you have a soft paste.
4. Place some powdered sugar on a clean, dry surface. Form one tablespoon of dough into a small ball, roll in the sugar, and then form the traditional diamond shape, flattening the cookie with the palm of your hand.
5. Place the cookies on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden.
6. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool before liberally dusting with icing sugar.

NB, if you wish to have chocolate ricciarelli simply add one teaspoon of sieved cocoa to the almond mixture.

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Dessert by David Everitt-Matthias (The two-Michelin-starred chef of Cheltenham’s Le Champignon Sauvage restaurant) is his second book, one that was always going to be compared to his critically acclaimed debut, Essence.

Luckily Dessert is a great success, exploring the world of desserts, and pushing the boundaries, of the dessert chef’s art. Each of the book’s five main chapters focuses on a specific family of ingredients: Chocolate and nut; Fruit; Vegetable, Roots, pods, seeds and bark; and Wild. There is also a section outlining the essentials and basics from which his craft begins and several pages of Petits fours – the perfect finishing touch to the book and any special meal.

On first glances though (despite Everitt-Matthias having no formal dessert chef training) this book appears to be for the serious chef, someone with the time to spend a whole day or more making a dessert and the whole professional kitchen kit and ensemble to go with that magic notion of time.

After a little further probing of the recipes though it becomes apparent that the ingredients and methods are split into sections so that each recipe can be deconstructed into its component parts, thus allowing individual elements to take centre stage as the whole dessert or to be combined with other elements from recipes throughout the book; the scope for combinations of textures, flavours and levels of complexity is endless.

Given the complexities of many of the dishes it is worth noting that each recipe has an introduction stating the origin of the dish or the idea behind it, some useful guidance on its execution and possibilities for trying other ingredients or flavours.

Those familiar with Everitt-Matthias’s first book Essence will be aware of his obsession with all things wild. This ‘obsession’ gives his savoury cooking a particularly feral overtone and many of his recipes in Dessert follow a similar idiom. His marrying of unusual combinations of flavours, or unusual ingredients (such as Jerusalem artichoke cheesecake with bergamot glaze and peanut ice cream), does not come across as an attempt at novelty style fare but more a result of progressive cooking with a natural interest and appreciation of wild and seasonal ingredients.

The book is simply laid out. There is guidance on how to get the best out of it and notes on key and particular ingredients. There is a very useful section on suppliers and given the nature of his cooking, an all-important glossary at the back.

No expense has been spared in the publication of Dessert, which is surely just as it should be, when the author is so esteemed. It’s printed on premium quality paper, making it joyous to handle. The text is set out so that there’s plenty of white space around it, and the font is a good size, making the recipes easy to read. The high production standards don’t stop there, either – the photography is both exquisite and inspiring; to the point that the book almost becomes tactile, you want to reach out and touch the plates of food.

Whilst I would say this book isn’t for the novice cook; sure some of the techniques and length of preparation could scare them away from the kitchen forever, for the more daring and advanced dessert lovers, or those with a sweet tooth, out there this book would be a dream. On second thoughts if you haven’t got a sweet tooth go to your dentist and get him to fit one, whatever it takes – this book is too good to miss out on.

It is not surprising that Chef David Everitt-Matthias has been awarded Best UK Cookbook at the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards 2009 for his Dessert cookbook. Dessert is a book of astonishing originality, destined to become a classic

With thanks to Absolute Press for the Review Copy.

Hardcover: 160 pages

Publisher: Absolute Press (20 Mar 2009)

Language English

ISBN-10: 1906650039

ISBN-13: 978-1906650032

RRP £25.00

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