• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Cookery books for Christmas

November 30, 2011 8 Comments Filed Under: Christmas, Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

Here is a list of cookery/food books that I have enjoyed this year. But first of all, before you read another word: Buy My Book! Subtle eh? But apparently I’m not the only person that thinks you should do this. Bee Wilson of The Sunday Times has mentioned my book in her list of the best cookbooks of the year.  And so did Helena, the editor of Sainsburys magazine in their Christmas edition. So ha!
Well, what are you waiting for ? Go forth and spend!

My picks below are not all new but they are what I’ve been reading this year.

Ingredient led books:
It’s funny, in Britain cookery books in bookshops are filed under chefs/TV personalities ie: Jamie, Nigella, Nigel, Gordon etc whereas in France books tend to be ingredient or dish led. A typical example would be a book entirely on cheesecakes, soufflés or ‘mes petites barres de cereales’. (They also love an overload of cute in France).

The Big Red book of Tomatoes by Lindsay Bareham. Lindsay is one of the best recipe writers in Britain. I remember cutting out her recipes from her Evening Standard column. They always worked.

Macarons by Pierre Hermé: master patissier shows you how it’s done. I’ve only tried making macarons once and in an ill-advised spurt of experimentation tried to make ‘Indian snuff’ flavour macarons. Instant projectile vomiting soon put paid to that idea. I almost got ‘feet’ though but it seemed to involve all kinds of witchcrafty techniques such as keeping the egg whites for several days before you use them, banging the tray and keeping the oven door ajar with a wooden spoon. I will have another bash soon now I have this book. Wish me luck.

Je veux du chocolat by Trish Deseine.
Reasons for picking this book:
a) Trish is my mate
b) She is one of the best cooks I know
c) I’ve got a recipe in it
d) All of her books are beautiful.
e) Oh and it’ll make you learn French.
Nuff said?

The Mustard Book by Robin Weir and Rosamund Man.
I used this book for research and ideas when doing my Maille mustard meals back in July. Teaches you how to make your own mustard too.

Yoghurt by Arno der Haroutunian.
A reissued classic tome on yoghurt. Yoghurt soup. Don’t knock it till you tried it.Yum.

Pies by Angela Boggiano. Pies are deffo due a revival. The Hairy Bikers have done a book on them. This is a beautiful photographed step by step guide. Who ate all of them? You will.

Cheese by Andrea Dolby. Published as part of an ‘edible series’ by the award winning independent publisher Reaktion books, these are scholarly histories of different ingredients such as pies, spices, pancakes or milk.

Big sellers: some of those big selling books are very good, have tons of budget for photography and styling and are not all simplistic crapola meant for brain dead TV watchers.

Leon 2 by Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent. I loved the first book and this one. In fact I’ve loved it so much I keep giving them away and now I don’t have any copies. Gorgeous vibrant design, great tips and recipes, a lovely gift.

Jamie’s Great Britain by Jamie Oliver. What can I say? This book is gorgeous, interesting, inspiring. In fact I mistakenly ‘libelled’ Jamie recently. I said at a talk ‘You don’t think he writes them do you?’ because that is what I had heard. But actually I must apologize: I’ve since been told by inside sources that he is meticulous about every recipe, every idea. He is very hands on. Soz Jamie. But it is hard to believe that he can micro manage everything he does to such a very high standard.

Chef’s books:

Easy by Tom Aikens. Nobody likes Tom Aikens, except perhaps TV producers. ‘Why do you have him on your shows so much?’ I asked one. ‘Because he’s one of the few pro chefs who is not ugly’ came the reply. Anyway this book works. Tasty and yes easy, recipes and apparently he actually wrote them.

Formulas for Flavour by John Campbell. Here you go, a proper chef’s book recommended by Heston. He teaches you how to cook restaurant quality food and how to plate it…very simply.

Modernist cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. If I could just have one book this year, this would be it. Six volumes, 2,500 pages, it comes with it’s own see thru (‘modern’ geddit?) bookshelf. It also costs over £300. It tells you everything from how to make caviar from soup to how to use a pressure cooker. Brilliant.

For the love of food by Denis Cotter. Didn’t like the look of this book when I got it. Tried a few of the recipes and they work beautifully. An important resource for vegetarians.

Bought Borrowed Stolen by Allegra McEvedy. Consistently interesting but down to earth chef. Chatty warm book. Looks good too.

Everyday and Sunday by Guy Watson and Jane Baxter. Brilliant workable unique recipes. Tried loads of them and they are all good. This isn’t a glam, splashy book. It’s quite cheaply produced and hasn’t got many pictures but you know what, you should get it. Really. (Even tho she doesn’t follow me back on Twitter. Beeatch).

Chez Bruce by Bruce Poole. Nicked this book off my publishers. Ho hum, I thought, looks a bit boring, a bit old school. But then I got hooked. This is a book for people who are really into cooking. Good classic French cookery.

Restaurant books:

Balthazar by Keith McNally, Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr. McNally is a legend among restaurateurs; he’s one of those guys that’s done a bit of everything before owning a restaurant. He’s directed a film, lived in France, really lived. I’ve heard Russell Norman (Polpo, Polpetto, Spuntino etc) go on about him and Stevie Parle (The Dock Kitchen) get excited over Twitter that McNally has visited his restaurant. The restaurateurs’ restaurateur.

The competition:

The Vintage Tea Party Book by Angel Adorée. It pains me to say it, cos she has clearly, shall we say, taken quite a few leaves out of my book, but this tome from Dragon’s Den applicant is gorgeous. Beautifully designed, photographed and illustrated with original recipes. Along with mine, the most visually stunning cookbook of the year. Buy ’em as a pair?

History:

A history of English food by Clarissa Dickson Wright. Ah, Clarissa harks back to the halycon days before models and soap actresses became TV chefs and the idea of a woman who actually bloody eats what she cooks was not so preposterous. Working my way through it. It stops too early, is maybe a little dated, for  I would like to have known what she thinks of cooking après Gordon Ramsay and Delia. But the history is captivating and entertaining whilst being easy to understand.

American books: always good to look across the pond, they are usually ten years ahead of us:

Salted by Mark Bitterman. I went to his store in New York in January. Hundreds of kinds of salt. Great book too with fabulous ideas (cooking on salt blocks) and recipes.

In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters. The influential force behind sustainable food in America, creator of Chez Panisse restaurant has accumulated a series of slow food cooking techniques such as pickling, roasting, fermenting and fileting with brief portraits of DIY food suppliers and chefs. Includes our own bedroom-eyed London chef Ollie Rowe formerly of Konstam, the brave but now defunct Kings Cross restaurant that only used food grown within the M25.

Ideas in Food by Aki Kamozawa and H.Alexander Talbot. All my chef friends are buying this book. No pix, just ideas. Josh of Blanch & Shock told me: “These guys are changing how I think about food. Their pre-soak technique for risotto is miraculous. Why didn’t anybody think of it before?” A very interesting but clearly written, not too technical, book for serious food geeks.

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. Ruhlman is one of America’s foremost food writers. In this book he eschews recipes and talks ratios. Almost every recipe can be reduced to ratio: “Isn’t it easier just to remember 1-2-3? That’s the ratio of ingredients that always make a basic, delicious cookie dough: 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour.” It’s just the proportions that change. It comes with a handy little wheel which I’ve lost. It’s also one way of combating the age-old difficulty of the grams (Europe) vs cups (US) recipe problem. (Those who own and know how to use a scale and those who don’t).

Bloggers books:  this is the age of the blogger. It remains to be seen whether they gain the sales. The bottom line is… if you aren’t on telly it’s really hard to get the big sellers. Why do you think I keep begging you to buy my book? And publishers are becoming more risk averse what with the recession ect. It’s a shame because there really is a ton of talent out there in the blogosphere.

Scandicilious by Signe Johansen. Sig is one of the most interesting cooks I know and she’s got the chops having trained at Leiths, in Japan and with The Fat Duck. Her first book is plain and understated design-wise, no doubt because the publishers were trying to do that whole pale designery Scandinavian thing. But the recipes work and are interesting. She’s one to watch. She’ll probably be on telly soon as she’s good looking too. Makes you sick doesn’t it?

Comfort and Spice by Niamh Shields. Niamh is a powerhouse in terms of UK food blogs (Eat Like a Girl) and her first book is well photographed and beautifully done. I constantly hear great things about her recipes, how easy they are and how well they work. I’m sure this won’t be her only book.

On a stick by Matt Armendariz. Better known as US food blogger ‘Matt Bites’, this book is a little bit silly, everything, including spaghetti, is served on a stick but I liked it. Inspired, I’m even going to do a meal in the spring where each dish is served on a stick. Details coming….

Perfect by Felicity Cloake (although she’s not really a blogger in the true sense). I don’t actually have this book yet. But I’ve been following Felicity’s articles in The Guardian and she performs an extremely useful service by testing techniques from different chefs and food writers and telling us which works best. (She even uses one of mine, an ‘outrageous’ recipe for Mac and Cheese.)

Travel cookery books:

Tasting India by Christine Manfield. Boasting a gorgeous yellow silk cover, this coffee table sized volume of travel photographs plus authentic Indian recipes is possibly hard to use in the kitchen due to it’s sheer unwieldiness. Love the recipes though, really unusual. Will definitely be using this book but may have to photocopy the recipes so as not to ruin the cover.

Tapas by Elizabeth Luard. Useful little volume by award winning cookery writer Elizabeth Luard.

The Camper Van cookbook by Martin Dorey and Sarah Randall. I really really want a VW camper van. In fact any camper van. This has fun light recipes and great tricks. It’s an armchair travel cookbook for people without camper vans. People like me, sob.

Recent posts

Queens of Kelp, from the Outer Hebrides

June 4, 2023

midsummer supper club June 17th 2023 Msmarmitelover

My next supper club: midsummer June 17th

May 28, 2023

I organised a street party for the Coronation

May 10, 2023

Previous Post: « Christmas gifts for food lovers
Next Post: 10 minute meal: Staffordshire oatcakes with cheese and piquillo peppers »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hugh @ foodforthirst

    December 1, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Ah!… Le Gâteau Au Chocolat Indémoulable De Jean François! – yes, upper case is deserved, I'm already melting on my seat.

    I absolutely adore Je veux du chocolat by Trish Deseine! Bought it originally for a chocoholic friend and had to get a copy for myself the next minute.

    I'm curious to know which recipe is your contribution. I'll make sure to take a look at your book as well.

    Thanks for your articles. Hopefully I'll be posting mine in the near future.

    Reply
  2. theundergroundrestaurant

    December 1, 2011 at 11:08 am

    Hi Hugh,
    Mine is the white chocolate fondant cake…

    Reply
  3. suechefuk

    December 1, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    The chocolat indemoulable is my favourite……..

    Reply
  4. James

    December 1, 2011 at 7:37 pm

    Is this our set reading list for 2012?

    Must actually get round to Ideas in Food in depth rather than browsing. The John Campbell book will be a good one – he's pretty intense. A whole book just for macca-roonies? Never have got round to making those. Yes – ratio – been meaning to get that too. Seemed to have lost your book at Bestival – must have been getting a recipe out of it & it floated away. Have to dig out last years Christmas vouchers…..

    Reply
  5. theundergroundrestaurant

    December 1, 2011 at 7:42 pm

    Aw sorry James, I'll give you one next time I see you. I think a bunch of books got took at Bestival.

    x

    Reply
  6. Niamh

    December 7, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    Lovely list and very flattered to be included – thanks for the kind words.

    Niamh

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    April 26, 2018 at 4:04 pm

    Thаnks foг finalⅼy talking about >"Cookery books for Christmas" <Loved it!

    Reply
  8. Anonymous

    July 19, 2018 at 6:39 am

    Keep this going please, great job!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
My next supper club 17th June london tickets £50 My next supper club 17th June london tickets £50 BYO book here: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsummer-supper-club-tickets-june-17th #london #supperclub #msmarmitelover #midsummer
For tonight’s event I had to push the boundaries For tonight’s event I had to push the boundaries. Here is how to prepare goose neck barnacles or percebes which are a very expensive and rare delicacy, hunted down from cliffs. It’s quite dangerous to forage them. #canapes #eventcatering #satanicfood #percebes #grossfood #seafood #devilsfood
Midsummer supperclub 17th June book tickets here h Midsummer supperclub 17th June book tickets here https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsummer-supper-club-tickets-june-17th at London’s pioneering supper club. Tickets £50 BYO. Scandinavian inspired summery food. #supperclub #msmarmitelover #midsummer #northwestlondon #londonevents #popups
Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy cir Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy circa 1987 pic: kerstin Rodgers #rip #tinaturner #rockphotographer #kerstinrodgers #teenagephotographer
Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on war photography in the Ukraine . Go to the exhibition @thebppa @thebargehouse in SE1 last few days 
Had to stop filming cos I was told off. The photographers would be less forthcoming if they were filmed I was told. 
Anyway @frenchpete_1 should be followed by a camera crew cos he’s a star.
For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pas For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pastry quiche and a little one with less blue cheese & no salt for my 7 month old granddaughter. She absolutely loved it. I’m enjoying seeing her experience and explore new foods with baby led weaning. Avocado, strawberries, kiwi & buttered crumpets are a hit. Pasta less so. Who is this child? Are we even related? #babyledweaning #quiche #homemadepuffpastry
Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The natio Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The national newspaper again. These are the stories I love to do: I go off on an adventure, take my time, interview people (especially women), photograph them in their environment and create recipes on site. This story cost me a lot more than I made as I had an accident and lost my excess. My own damn fault though! Loved loved loved having a campervan. Thanks for lending me it @camperdays.international and sorry about the hole in the side.  https://www.thenational.scot/news/23505593.foraging-seaweed-western-isles/
My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @l My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @lk.general.building left yesterday. They’ve been working since January. I had the awning installed, the encaustic Minton tiles removed and put back with green grout. The terrace was causing damp so this had to be done. My calamondin plant is looking lovely. The benches which I repaired with hard wood & I repainted using a mix of 2 colours. The marble table I bought in Suffolk at a car boot. Everything is still dusty & I’m waiting for the window cleaner to arrive.
Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine f Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine for their contribution of these beautiful dry ciders for the coronation street lunch. Gorgeously illustrated labels. #stcuthbertsrd #kilburn #london #cider #artisanaldrinks
When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. It’s smoother. Artisanal distillery @devoncovevodka contributed some bottles to my coronation lunch which gave everyone a feeling of being at a classy party. Thanks so much. And also @rawfoodanddrink for arranging. If you want to read my blog post about how and why I organised this event, copy and paste this link: https://t.co/GWNNW2XKba #coronationstreetparty #biglunch #community #kilburn #london #forthepeoplebythepeople
I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now. They sent a selection: elderflower bubbly, st. Clements orange 🍊 Sicilian lemonade, @belvoirfarm_uk lemonade, which were all delicious and just the tickets for the fortuitous mini-heatwave that occurred on the Sunday coronation lunch. #thankyou #community #coronation #streetparty #biglunch
Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! T Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! Tiny bit in the guardian. Decent pic in the Mail and The Star credit @asproider #coronationlunch #kilburn #stcuthbertsrd #kingscroftrd #fordwychrd #templarhouse
My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, s My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, spinach, cheddar. I used crème fraiche and blind baked puff pastry shells. I was up at 11 last night making these for todays street party, which featured in the mail, telegraph, mirror, metro courtesy of photographer Gavin Rodgers @asproider
Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebr Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebrides with @outerhebrideanforager Fi bird. She’s cutting sea spaghetti. I drove my campervan @camperdays.international from london to the Hebrides- using my gas stove to cook foraged and local ingredients. A real food safari. With the sea spaghetti I made a sea spag vongole with giant parlourdes picked up from the sand at the same time. Great fun, beautiful weather and, the day of the full moon, a wonderfully low tide. This was on south Uist.
More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-ba More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-based version of the original. Beautifully constructed, designed and written by @nikisegnit it’s vegetarian rather than vegan but recommended for both. She widens the sensory vocabulary around plant flavours in this book- encouraging new delicious sounding combinations. Now she includes new categories such as flower & meadow, caramel roasted, zesty roost- just the words make me salivate. #foodbooks #bookstagram #newbooks
Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainman Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainmansion I found out so much about marmalade. I’m going to make it this winter. I found out the worlds best maker is Japanese, in fact I was most impressed by the Japanese marmalades in general. Everyone wore orange. I must have tasted 50 marmalades. I met Paddington’s sister, karen jankel who is michael bond’s daughter, born in the same year as Paddington. She gave a charming talk on Paddington, mentioning how the queen insisted on having real marmalade sandwiches in her @launerlondonofficial handbag during the shoot. The house itself is Tudor and Georgian. I stayed in my campervan from @camperdays.international in the car park, cosy in the rain. Another freewheeling adventure. #yorkshire #marmalade #travel #food #ontheroad #campervan
I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a vegetarian rather than a vegan. How I still need butter. And how restaurants & plane meals are now vegan rather than vegetarian. But, there are still more the double amount of vegetarians as vegans in the UK. I’ve written a vegan cookbook V is for vegan (link in bio) and am a big fan of vegan foods. I’ve not eaten meat for over 40 years. This is a sustainable diet, in terms of longevity. Vegans that I knew from the early noughties have reverted to meat eating. #newpuritanism? #vegetarian #vegan #foodwriter
Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a seaweed that tastes just like truffle. Just done a little kelp foraging at low tide with @thetempleharris’ Amanda Saurin. Isle of Harris. Turquoise sea, white sand, cloud hovering just above. @camperdays.international @roosterpr
I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to Sophie of @tobia.teff she uses the iron-rich, gluten free teff grain from her homeland Ethiopia. She showed me how to make injera, the Ethiopian flatbread which is fermented. She also talked about the coffee ceremony, 3 cups, which they pair with toasted barley or, currently, popcorn! I’d love to visit Ethiopia and find out more about their ancient food culture, history, 3.5k year old monarchy and religions.
Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @bre Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @brentcouncil Willesden library. I’ve been doing this a few times a year for the last few years. Wouldn’t it be great if they had a kitchen set up permanently. Libraries are community centres and could be used to teach how to cook from scratch.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2023 msmarmitelover