Product Description

British Food is part of a burgeoning revival and enthusiasm for British cuisine. After exhausting our tastebuds on French, Italian and Asian fare, we are rediscovering our own culinary heritage and realising that British food is something that we can not only be justifiably proud of, but also relish, explore and develop. Mark Hix, is passionate about British food and in this book he gives classic British dishes a fresh modern twist to bring them bang up to date and also creates exciting new dishes with traditional, local ingredients. The first chapter introduces the reader to the best of British ingredients, seasonal availability, and advice on shopping and storage. Recipe chapters focus on Soups; Starters, Snacks and Savouries; Fish and Seafood; Poultry and Game; Meat; Vegetables; Puddings and Baking. From Fish and Chips, Kedgeree and Lancashire Hotpot, to Devils on Horseback, Game Pie and Eton Mess, the book will make every reader excited about cooking British.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103620 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author
For the last 17 years, Mark Hix was the Chef Director of Caprice Holdings Limited, overseeing Le Caprice, The Ivy and J. Sheekey, three of London s most fashionable restaurants. He is about to open Hix Oyster and Chophouse in London s Smithfield market. He is also a celebrated food writer and has received several awards for his regular features in The Independent on Saturday Magazine. Mark has written seven cookbooks, the latest being British Regional Food, which received a Guild of Food Writers Award in 2007 and the Andre Simon Book Award Special Commendation. He is also a winner of BBC s Great British Menu (2007).

Customer Reviews

Quality food
This book sets out a lot of well known dishes but the recipes are spot on. There's still a large portion of the world that spits on British food but that is just nonsense. I've tried at least 20 recipes from here and they've all come up trumps. They are pretty easy to follow too.

A taste of good food
It’s March 2006 and we have worn our daffodils here is Wales for St David’s day on the 1st. On the 17th it will be the turn of the Irish and St Patrick’s day will be here with its vibrant celebrations in pubs up and down the UK. Shamrocks will be out and the Guinness will flow. Here in my home we will be eating Boiled Bacon with white cabbage and steamed potatoes. Due to my families very mixed British heritage we are a lively mix of Welsh, Irish and Scots, so Haggis neaps and tatties, Faggots and peas are regular features on our dinning table along with the wonderful Champ in summer.
February 28th this year was Shrove Tuesday and Pancakes were the order of the day. I bought the maple syrup and this is where I started to think how food in Britain has evolved over the last forty years. Here in Wales as a child Pancakes were not served with maple syrup but lemon and sugar. I was twenty-one before I discovered putting dried currants in the soft batter in the pan at the start of cooking is a very typically Welsh and Scottish way of making pancakes. In London when I made a batch of Pancakes I was not prepared for the commotion a few dark speckles of dried fruit would make to my party guests one Shrove Tuesday.
These days Tandori Chicken and Duck in Hoi sin sauce are as much a part of mealtime as sun dried tomatoes and a stir of Pesto in boiled pasta. This diversity at mealtime is the result of two major things. The first is the migration to Britain of so many people from around the globe; the second is the advent of supermarkets making ingredients from round the world so easy to buy. My father was a merchant sailor so introduced my mother to Indian and Chinese food before I was born. Ethnic diversity of food has always been most welcome when it comes to mealtime in our home; especially if someone else was cooking as my mother just had no interest in cooking at all.
Here in Britain we have not always had so widely available access to cooking ingredients. Food used to be cooked in the season it was available fresh from the gardens and farms where it was grown. Most homes here in Wales espied to own a pig to make the year a little easier on the family. The pig used to eat all the kitchen waste that we now use on our compost piles and then provide wonderful manure for growing fantastic organic vegetables the rest of the year.
So my question is this. What do you think traditional British Food would be like if we removed all the pasta, pizza and curry from our cupboards?
If you are looking at rather emptier store cupboards in your mind's eye and wondering what you are going to feed the family? May I recommend a book called British Food by Mark Hix? Here is a book that brings together a whole host of typically British food. Mark Hix has put together 120 recipes that show how easy and tasty British food can be. Among the selection in the book are snacks, soups, meat and fish dishes as well as traditional puddings. Each recipe has a colour photograph to entice your taste buds.
The book starts off with an introduction and guide to ingredients that is typically British in origin. The seasonal availability of ingredients is covered and a list of game birds in date order ends this introduction.
So far I have made Pan Haggerty, Drop scones, Scotch broth and Spotted dick. The next thing to make on my list is Cornish pasties. Each recipe is simply laid out and easy to follow. This book is quickly becoming a firm favourite in my home. So the next time you stand in front of the kitchen cupboards and ask yourself what to cook for tea or dinner, may I suggest you cook something British and in season.

Hard to work with.
This book fails to inspire me. I can't really put my finger on it. I endeavour to try to get on with it and I will try at least three recipes before it's handed to a charity shop but I don't hold out much hope.

In my opinion there are much better representations of good british food set out in a more friendly way.

I do have to say though that in my twenties it could just be that I am not used to some of these heavier more complicated dishes.