Like many cookery lovers, I have a terrible cookbook habit. Not only do I savour that first flick through a just-published by a much-loved food writer, pre-ordered months in advance and eagerly awaited, but I also indulge myself by impulse-ordering long out-of-print or specialist books on a particular cuisine or subject, when I come across a recommendation on a blog, in an article, or (indeed) in another cookbook. My collection now numbers 75, which is frankly alarming, given how tiny my flat is (and I should add that my book addiction doesn't stop at cookbooks - my flat is coming down with books).
That said, my cookbooks are a source of joy to me: I read, re-read, consult, cook from and learn from them. Some were presents; others bought in the midst of a particular cooking passion (not to say frenzy); others have taught me new ideas, flavours and techniques.
I always find it fascinating to read other people's lists of their favourite books, and in particular, their favourite cookery books - it tells you so much about someone's tastes and personality. I've tried several times to whittle down my own 'golden five' - the most precious of them all. I've outlined the current golden five below, but there are a few emergency additions at the end. I should also add that they are in no particular order (it's hard to choose amongst one's babies as it is).
How to Eat - Nigella Lawson
I have two copies of this: a 'good' one, which I don't cook with, and a 'messy' one, for bashing around in the kitchen. My parents had this - along with How to be a Domestic Goddess - in their kitchen in my teenage years, when I first started to make tentative connections between my enthusiastic appetite and an impulse to learn to cook.
Lawson's book is, on one hand, a fabulous reference tome, with recipes for all the basics and seasonal need-to-knows - how to roast a chicken, make mayonnaise, bake a Christmas cake - without the dry bossiness of other encyclopaedic cookery titles. On the other, it's a collection of gorgeous menus, most of which sound as exciting to me now as they probably did to everyone else when the book was first published in 1998. I mean, doesn't 'cold roast fillet of beef with rosemary and anchovy mayonnaise', served with a tomato salad and followed by 'Yorkshire pudding with syrup and cream', still sound so beguiling?
Ballymaloe Cookery Course - Darina Allen
Next, one of the encyclopaedic tomes I mentioned so disparagingly above - but this one is an exception to the bossy rule. My dad bought me this as a gift, which gives it additional sentimental value, and it includes a number of traditional Irish recipes that are fundamentals in my cooking life, but are overlooked by UK-published books of this type. I think what makes this book so special is its ambition: it really is a cookery course, covering not only the basics, but also some very complicated techniques and exciting flavours. It has a section on drinks that runs the gamut from rosehip syrup and rosemary lemonade, through to Campari and pink grapefruit juice, salty lassi and Gaelic coffee. This is definitely my desert-island cookery book - its sheer breadth means I would never be bored.
Short and Sweet - Dan Lepard
This is absolutely my number one baking book (and I own a fair few). It covers everything - bread, cakes, biscuits, 'small things', desserts, savoury things - and includes recipes for every baking basic you can think of (for example, marzipan, various thicknesses of custard/creme patissiere, numerous pastry recipes, etc), but it's also very modern, includes lots of recipes using flours such as rye and spelt, and interesting twists on the classics, without veering into the realm of novelty. I adore it.
Every Grain of Rice - Fuchsia Dunlop
This book is single-handedly responsible for an enormous transformation in the way I eat, which has taken place over the past two years. After reading the odd article by Fuchsia Dunlop in the Guardian, and an intriguing meal at Yipin China in Islington (which serves Sichuan and Hunanese food), I took Every Grain of Rice out of the library. A rice cooker, a steamer, a wok, and several trips to the Chinese supermarket later, I have made over 30 recipes from this book, and we eat from it one or two nights a week (at least).
Tender volume I - Nigel Slater
Well, one would have to have something by Mr. Slater, at very least in recognition of the fact that his book, Appetite, was probably the very volume responsible for prodding me to take action and learn to cook in the first place. Although I really, truly love The Kitchen Diaries, which is both inspiring and realistic for home cooking, Tender volume I has a special place in my heart. My boyfriend bought it for me as a gift when I first moved to London; I didn't have a lot of money, and for economic as well as health and ethical reasons, I was trying to focus my diet around vegetables, with meat as an infrequent treat (a philosophy I still try to live by, incidentally). Tender showed me that this would be exciting, rather than a challenge; it kept me company when I was lonely and new in the city; and, like my Ballymaloe book, it was a gift given at just the right moment, by someone I love dearly.
Following very close behind:
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan
I've mentioned this above, but it was my bible when I was learning to cook at university. These days, its spine is sellotaped up, a result of much love and use.
Food from Plenty - Diana Henry
This is a book with heart - it's about eating sustainably, frugally and thoughtfully, and not in a dry, eco-warrior way. The recipes are exciting, drawing together flavours and ideas from all over the world, as well as perking up classics (such as fish pie, or roast chicken) with imaginative ideas. Every time I open this book, I find something I want to make.
How to be a Domestic Goddess - Nigella Lawson
My mum had this in its original gorgeous hardback edition - the black one with a white cupcake - and it's the book my family baked from when I was a teenager. Particular favourites were the fairy cakes - it was the early dawn of the cupcake trend - and the butter cut-out biscuits, which my sister still makes. For this reason, it has real sentimental value for me, and as with How to Eat, I have two copies - one paperback (for daily use) and one hardback (to keep FOREVER).
The Kitchen Diaries - Nigel Slater
This is pretty much a modern cookery classic - seasonal and interesting recipes, and two truly fabulous cake recipes - one for ginger cake, and the other for lemon demerara cake.
No comments:
Post a Comment