Back to Butter takes a philosophical view of this topic, dividing people into two extremes (“Team Non-Fat Yoghurt” and “Team Fast Food”), and then shoots down both approaches. The lessons contained within are certainly food for thought (did you know that fat isn’t what makes you fat?).
One hundred years ago, the term low-fat didn’t exist. The fats used in a typical…home were animal based, namely lard, butter, and a bit of duck fat.
In a book which sells itself on its back to basics approach to food, it is pleasing to see the chapters and recipes following the same approach. The “Fats and Oils” chapter introduces the book, “Natural Sweeteners” suggests surprising ways to avoid sucrose, and “Nourishing Suppers” is packed full of stews and comfort food.
My definition of perfection? Hearing the screen door slam shut as I take off toward the garden…Grow food and eat it – that’s the good stuff of life.
There certainly seems to be a trend towards “back to basics” in the culinary world at the moment. Perhaps everyone has got bored with molecular gastronomy and fish with foam on top? Whatever the reason, the change is long over-due. Back to Butter is a welcome addition to the growing collection of cookbooks of this nature and is one I’d recommend anyone interested in natural food to have on their shelf.
Title: Back to Butter
Author(s): Molly Chester and Sally Schrecengost
Released: 01/03/2014
RRP: £16.99
As a keen novice forager and allotment gardener I really like the idea of using fresh food with as little done to it as humanly possible (read: I’m lazy in the kitchen). I prefer food where I can distinguish between the individual flavours of the ingredients, but love finding new flavour combinations that work. With that in mind, the first recipe I just had to try was Cucumber and Spinach Juice – a perfect use for my current glut of spinach, the first crop from our aforementioned allotment. It tasted as fresh as it sounds, with added zest from lime juice.
Buy only seasonal vegetables and local ones if possible…Vegetables straight out of the ground are your best choice as well as your eco-friendly contribution to the planet!
Other recipes that caught my eye are Spinach, Avocado and Ginger Soup (spinach again!) and the classic Gazpacho (chilled tomato soup). These are perfect examples of how preparing raw food isn’t just about arranging a few ingredients on a plate (think salad or crudités), but instead is about the fine art of combining flavours, textures and colours to entice the taste buds.
Raw food is a celebration of nature: joyful, light hearted, colourful, crunchy and packed with vitamins. It is also quickly prepared.
Being a book about (and titled) Raw Food I somehow imagined this book would also feature a solely vegetarian recipe selection. I was proved wrong roughly half way through when I started reading the Fish and then Meat sections; there were the obligatory tartare and carpaccio recipes (and several varieties thereof), but also more original items such as John Dory with Liquorice Infused Oil and Dried Beef, Pear and Cauliflower. If the thought of eating raw meat puts you off, head to rather less daring (but title-breaking) “Barely Cooked” section.
Finally the book has a Sweet section. I expected fruit salads, but got more exciting choices including Chocolate-Coconut Tart, Mini Cakes and Lemon Tart – the latter with an annoying error on the first ingredient – 170g of blanched whole.
To conclude, Raw Food French Style is probably the most exciting cookbook I’ve read in a long time.  Each recipe looks so easy, so approachable, and yet combines flavours in a way I had never thought of before.  This is a book I will be coming back to again and again over the summer months.
To order Raw Food French Style at the discounted price of £16.00 including p&p* (RRP: £20.00), telephone 01903 828503 or email [email protected] and quote the offer code APG136.
*UK ONLY – Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
- Title: Raw Food French Style
- Author: Delphine de Montalier
- Released: 01/05/2014
- RRP: £20.00
Regular readers of this blog will know that I have more than a passing interest in foraging and growing my own fruit and vegetables. This lends itself to an immediate liking for Andy, who you might recognise from Autumnwatch on BBC Two; he’s the one who wanders around the countryside trying to persuade you to pick and eat things that you’d normally a) buy in Tesco or b) just ignore altogether. He’s also co-author of the Self-Sufficientish website along with his twin brother Dave, whose book Grow Your Food for Free is also a favourite. In fact, their ethos and writing styles are so similar that I’m tempted to doubt they both exist!
I received my copy of Brewing Britain a couple of weeks ago and have been itching to type up a review. Normally I’d flick through, perhaps read a couple of chapters, then get typing. But this book is hard to put down. It’s not often you find an author writing a book in the same kind of language you’d expect to hear down the pub; when describing how to detect a duff pint, for example, he warns that “you might just come across as a fussy prick”. This from the same man who taught me the (oft repeated) definition of yeast, “[it] eats sugar, pisses alcohol and farts carbon dioxide”. Other authors take note; this is how to make a book appealing to the common man, how to convey complex information and make it feel like it’s just another conversation while stood next to the bar, pint in hand.
Brewing Britain is a book both for drinkers and for brewers. I’ve tried my hand at home brewed wine before, but not even contemplated beer so fall firmly into the former category – at least for now. As a drinker I’ve always been a fan of real ale (it just tastes better) but never really understood the difference between different types. Andy solves that problem by dedicating a whole swathe of his book to the differences between them, especially useful to a man such as myself who barely knew an IPA from a stout, let alone knew what a “saison” is.
In the “Brewing” section, Andy describes every detail you could possibly need to make your own beer, from equipment to technique. True to form, he even describes how you can grow your own beer. As a man who recently managed to obtain an allotment this interested me, but I suspect I am already far too ambitious as to what I’m going to manage on my half plot without filling it with barley and the like. That said, Andy advises that I’d only need 15m2 – somewhere around 1/4 of the space I have available. Is there anything this man doesn’t have covered?
All in, Brewing Britain is a surprisingly good book. I say that because I didn’t expect a book on such a limited field to be so hard to put down – I’ve read similar books on wine and found them to be a great cure for insomnia, so really didn’t expect to be so drawn in. As part of my (cough) research for this review I’ve found myself sampling more and more different kinds of beer, a sure sign that Brewing Britain has me hooked. I just hope that, unlike with the book, I will be able to tell when I’ve had enough!
- Title: Brewing Britain: The quest for the perfect pint
- Author: Â Andy Hamilton
- Released: Â 24/10/2013
- RRP:  £12.99 (but available from my Amazon aStore at the time of writing for just £7.00)
Be Your Own Nutritionist begins by saying that the British diet used to be far better than it is now; no surprises there then. The golden age was apparently the Victorian age, and examples cited include a traditional Sunday lunch, porridge, fish soup, and steak. Hang on a second – none of that stuff sounds particularly healthy – it’s all stuff I enjoy. A flick through showed me that the last 1/3 of the book was recipes, including pancakes, sausage casserole and chestnut soup.
The book as a whole is easy to read and yet explanatory in nature. The emphasis is on understanding how the human body works, and how flavours determine the beneficial properties of food. Ideas you already had are reinforced (e.g. too much sugar is bad for you), and things you didn’t know are taught (why do we crave unhealthy food?).
Here’s a snippet on a subject I’m passionate about:
The key thing about local, seasonal food is that it is more likely to be fresh, and fresh means nutritious, since, with a few notable exceptions, as soon as food is picked, captured or slaughtered it starts to degrade nutritionally.
Be Your Own Nutritionist
One of the books I’ve spent my time flicking through is this, The Diner’s Dictionary. It reads kind of like a mini version of Larousse Gastronomique; lots of very interesting facts about food, only this time in a book I can actually hold.
When I first looked at the cover I thought this would be a quick 5 gimmicky minute read about some funny food related word origins. The back cover blurb hardly does the book justice and reads:
Did you know that the word ‘crêpe’ comes from the Latin crispus for curled? Have you ever had ‘angry’ pasta (all’arrabbiata)?
Ignore the funnies though and this is actually a really useful little book. Despite being of hand held size (at 400 pages) the type is small meaning there really is a lot packed in here. The descriptions are pleasantly detailed while still using language one can relate to; the definition for eiswein for example begins “it seems scarcely plausible that anyone should wish to make wine from frozen grapes, but that is essentially what eiswein is”. Simple, and to the point.
All in all this book would make a great gift for any foodie who (like me) already has shelves straining with traditional recipe books.
The Diner’s Dictionary by John Ayto is out now, and is available via Amazon and other good retailers at around £12.99
Reading as the memoirs of someone I’d not previously heard of (Florencia Clifford) transforming her approach to life and food, it’s certainly not the kind of book I’d normally pick up from the shelf. But now I’ve started, it’s hard to put down again.
Starting out at a retreat in mid-Wales, the book sets the scene of open countryside and rolling hills. Florencia began her journey here working in a Zen kitchen; this becomes a lifelong change in her attitude to food and where it comes from, and it’s one she takes us along on.
Still not convinced? Neither would I be. I’m guessing you’re imagining long, drawn out paragraphs with boring language. Allow me to quote:
The purple potato side dish from the previous night’s curry had turned into a colourful Spanish omelette with a bit of an Indian flair. I had never before used purple potatoes, but I would do so again as I found the colours wonderful to work with and the texture waxy.
Now, that wasn’t so hard was it? It’s this kind of writing that drew me in to the book; simple and easy to relate to. I’ve read a few other reviews of “Feeding Orchids to The Slugs” on the net to see how other people described it; “evocative” seems to be the word used the most, and I couldn’t think of a better one myself.
The recipes in the book are – as you might expect – typically vegetable based and homely, covering all types of ethnic cuisine. The one I couldn’t avoid was simply entitled “Porridge”; not a single page recipe, but a whole chapter of the book, finishing with the fantastic sounding “Gomasio” (made with sesame seeds) and dried fruit compote.
Put simply, Feeding Orchids to The Slugs is the best book I’ve ever thought I’d not want to read.
Feeding Orchids to The Slugs is out now and is written by the fantastic Florencia Clifford. It’s available from Amazon and all good retailers, priced at £15.19 at the time of writing.
For me there’s one dish in this book that stands out above all others and is the reason for this review, and that is the understated “liquorice pudding”. Until seeing her cook this on TV (in the series of the same name) I’d never even considered liquorice in a dessert; now I can’t get enough of it. My intrigue was changed into obsession when I had the pleasure of eating a liquorice panna cotta in a local restaurant recently; it’s such an amazing flavour I just had to give it a go at home.
Barring a day trip to Sicily a few years back I’ve never been to Italy so can’t vouch for the authenticity of these recipes, but that barely seems to matter. For all the pages about Italian food, this doesn’t seem to come across as an Italian cooking book. It’s a Nigella book, full of her warmth and charisma we’ve grown so attached to. And what’s more, it’s better for it.
If truth be told I’d lost a little love for Nigella back with ‘Express’. It just didn’t feel right somehow – despite the fact it was blatantly great food, it seemed to lose a little of the Nigella charm I’ve grown so attached to. Nigelissima however is a true return to form; Nigella may not be a restaurant chef but she rivals anyone else on TV for making straight up good food which is both inviting and unpretentious.
Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration is available via Amazon (and other retailers), currently priced at just £11 (RRP £26).
Booze for Free -The definitive guide to home-brewing
Regular readers of this blog will note that lately I’ve gone crazy on preserves; jam, flavoured sugar, and there’s even more to come. Â But there’s one area where I haven’t yet dabbled, but have been thinking about for a long time…
Enter the timely arrival of the new book “Booze for Free” by Andy Hamilton, who runs the Selfsufficientish website. Â As a huge fan of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s early work I am obsessed with foraging and growing my own, so found this book to be just my cup of tea (so to speak).
Specialising on ways to make drinks (not just confined to the alcoholic variety) out of  hedgerow and garden herbs, fruits, and vegetables, this book is a refreshing twist on the norm.  I already have several books on wild food (River Cottage: Hedgerow being the most recent), but this takes my love of the subject in a whole new direction.
This isn’t your typical cookbook. Â There are no fancy pictures of the author, in fact no photographs whatsoever; the closest you get are a few sketches, and even those are in black and white. Â Despite this, I find myself being drawn by the unusually down-to-earth style of writing – seeing yeast described as something which “eats sugar, pisses alcohol and farts carbon dioxide” is bound to raise a few eyebrows.
As someone who’s only dabbled in home-brew (my Damson Gin recipe is coming soon), I found this book to be useful as well as entertaining.  The first section (of 3) is called “The Basics”, and describes everything from equipment needed to sterilisation and foraging.  A trip to the local home-brew centre is on the cards this weekend, I think!
The second section is entitled “Recipes”.  This is neatly sub-divided into Cider, Beer and Wine, as well as seasons.  Recipes contained within include everything from Nettle Ale to Pine Needle Cordial.  There’s enough here to grab the attention in a “hey, I know where I can find some of that growing nearby” kind of way.
My honest opinion is that “Booze for Free” is a book-of-the year contender within its field.  I found the “no-nonsense” approach to the otherwise complex subject of home-brew entirely refreshing, and Hamilton’s down to earth, funny but knowledgeable style of writing enticing.
This is a book which I’ll be reading again and again (trying out recipes and techniques as I go along), and you’d have to be drunk not to want to do the same!
- Title: Booze for Free
- Author: Andy Hamilton
- Released 01st September 2011
- RRP £9.99 (but available from Amazon at the time of writing for £6.99)
A Slice of Cherry Pie
Regular readers of this blog and indeed of British food blogs in general will no doubt be familiar with Julia Parson’s blog A Slice of Cherry Pie. �Julia is, after all, co-host of our regular food blogging event “In The Bag” (November edition ongoing), and was part of The Times World’s Top 50 Food Blogs list.
“A Slice of Cherry Pie: food, friends, life” is Julia’s first cookbook, but those of us that have been following her blog will know that she’s been writing about food for years. �If you’ve been paying close attention, there have been tell tale signs of her rise for a while now: the launch of the UK Food Bloggers Association; the aforementioned inclusion in The Times; the cookbook announcement; the blog re-design. �I could go on, but won’t. �Suffice to say Julia is now firmly established as a favourite UK food blogger, with not only her own cookbook but recipe inclusions in others, too (check here and here for details).
Throughout “A Slice of Cherry Pie” Julia reminisces about her childhood and evokes memories about not only food but also about places and people. �Family photographs are scattered throughout the book along with quotes from famous books creating an atmosphere that can only be described as nostalgic. I feel that she has managed to capture the tag-line of “food, friends, life” beautifully, but also managed to create a book that is perfect to read huddled up near the fire on a cold autumn / winter’s day.
The recipes are as always fantastic, displaying her traditional style of seasonal comfort food. �What does stand out is the photography, with her food given the extra polish that it deserves.
Oh, one final note: there is a recipe for cherry pie. �I wouldn’t have forgiven her if there wasn’t!
A Slice of Cherry Pie is out now on Absolute Press, and has an RRP of �16.99. �You can buy it via my Amazon Store here for (at the time of writing) just �11.99.
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Levi Roots Food for Friends
Confession time: I love Reggae Reggae Sauce. �That doesn’t sound like much, but I’m known to drizzle it on everything from sandwiches to burgers and think I might possibly be addicted; that combination of sheer heat with tangy fruitiness is known to get me going every time. �This means that when I was offered a copy of the�Levi Roots Food for Friends cookbook for review I jumped at the chance.
Most of us know Levi Roots from the TV series Dragons’ Den, where he was awarded �50,000 to market the aforementioned sauce. �What most of us don’t know is that he was hugely�successful�in his own right as a musician before this, being friends with Bob Marley, performing for Nelson�Mandela, and being nominated for a MOBO.
Since 2007 and the infamous Dragon’s Den appearance Levi Roots and Reggae Reggae Sauce have gone from strength. �Reggae Reggae is now a brand in itself with several sauce varieties and ready meals in the family, and Levi has had his own cookery show,�Caribbean�Food Made Easy on BBC 2. �He also has several cookbooks to his name, of which Food For Friends is the latest.
The premise of the book is a�peculiar�one; those looking for typical�Caribbean�recipes would be best to look elsewhere (although to be fair, some do exist here). �Instead, what we have is a book which fuses traditional English dishes with�Caribbean�ingredients and most of all Levi’s unique style and flair. �As the name would suggest this is food to share with friends and family, and all these unique little touches are bound to draw attention.
Usually I’m sceptical of cookbooks which seem to be about a personality rather than being about food, and this book�initially�seems to fall in to that category; adding a bit of chilli to something to make it seem more exotic is surely just a gimmick. �When you scratch beneath the surface however you realise that this is really just an example of fusion in British food moving forward in a new, previously unexplored direction. �When you realise this and embrace the concept, the dishes actually start to become really quite appealing.
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