Books: Festive bake-off
Saturday November 21 2009
It's an exceptionally good year for cookery books so, for a lot of people's gift lists, that's Christmas pretty much sorted. The only question is, which ones suit your nearest and dearest?
The season's crop breaks down roughly into three groups: first, there are the heavyweights (serious books that you'll want to keep for life); second, the chef cookbooks (mainly focusing on home cooking this year, ironically); and finally (don't laugh), many of the others seem to major in cupcake.
The newest of the heavyweights is Darina Allen's Forgotten Skills of Cooking (Kyle Cathie, hardback, rrp €32) -- a very 'now' encyclopaedic 700-recipe tome detailing the many practical cookery/food skills that the past couple of generations have missed out on. It's based on the highly popular Forgotten Skills courses at Ballymaloe Cookery School and is just hitting the shops now.
Also just in, Carmel Somers' beautifully produced Eat Good Things Every Day (Atrium/Cork University Press, hardback, €39), is an inspiring and brilliantly down-to-earth book. Although not yet a household name, Carmel, who is owner-chef of the well-named Good Things Café & Cookery School at Durrus, Co Cork, is totally focused on seasonal produce and this highly practical, time and budget-conscious book is all about being better organised and eating really well without waste.
With once-a-week shopping lists, Carmel gives recipes for eight weeks of daily meals -- and, like the wonderful food served in her café, it's healthy and flavoursome fare. Together, these two books represent Ireland's best cooking and most inspiring food philosophy. Buy them both and see if you can bear to give them away.
Chef cookbooks always make an interesting gift and there's no shortage of choice. For fans of Dublin's l'Ecrivain restaurant and Weekend readers, Derry Clarke's Keeping It Simple (Gill & Macmillan, hardback, €24.99) is an obvious choice, although with a fascinating introduction by Paolo Tullio, Roly's Café & Bakery (Gill & Macmillan, paperback, €19.99) could be a close second.
Popular chef Neven Maguire also has a new book, Home Chef (HarperCollins, hardback, €25), and as he has a special talent for understanding the domestic kitchen and a well-earned following, this adaptation of favourite MacNean restaurant dishes for cooking at home is sure to be a winner.
For a more international take, restaurateurs-chefs Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers of the iconic River Café, The River Café Classic Italian Cook Book (Penguin, hardback, €39.60) should tick all the boxes -- who was it who taught Jamie Oliver (and many others) to cook, after all?
Then for everyone who's loving baking there's the cupcake brigade, led by London's famous Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (Ryland Peters & Small, hardback, stg£16.99), which features cupcakes galore along with cakes, pies, muffins, brownies and bars. Meanwhile, fans of Julie Duff's excellent previous book, Cakes Regional & Traditional, will snap up Cakes From Around The World (Grub Street, paperback, stg£14.99).
Ireland's most famous mother-of-three, Rachel Allen, brings plenty of experience to her pretty pink-bound Home Cooking (HarperCollins, hardback, rrp €30.75) and, although wide-ranging, you'll find some unusual cupcakes hiding in there too.
From Brenda's Kitchen (Gill & Macmillan, paperback, €19.99), however, is a cupcake-free zone -- which won't worry the many fans who will be delighted to have 100 recipes from her popular and long-running column in the Sunday Independent in one handy volume.
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email: jbristow@independent.ie
- Georgina Campbell
Irish Independent
