Product Description

'Buying British produce has always been important to me so the prospect of touring the British Isles in search of the best British food was very exciting. Altogether it has been a fascinating and enlightening journey. We have a staggering array of artisan producers whose products easily rival that of our European neighbours. Our superb culinary heritage with its fine foods and deep-rooted traditions is a cuisine to be proud of. In this book I hope to impart some of my passion for good British food and share with readers a collection of my recipes, both modern and traditional but all wholly British Mark Hix Whitstable Oysters, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, Stilton, and Jersey Royal Potatoes are just some of the regional specialities that have helped put Britain back on the map as a country with a superb culinary heritage and lots of fine foods. British Regional Food is an extraordinary exploration of this renaissance and takes celebrated british chef and award winning food writer Mark Hix on an exciting culinary journey from Land s End to John O Groats. Mark Hix has a passion for British food and ingredients produced with integrity and tradition. British Regional Cooking is a journey he has zealously undertaken, in search of artisan producers, traditional recipes and British food customs past and present. British Regional Cooking not only celebrates the current status of favourite regional fare like pork pies, clotted cream and cider, but also showcases the most important and innovative producers passionate about their gastronomic past who are helping to re-kindle all that s best in British food, be that by striving to put British cheese making on a level with that in France or creating air-dried hams to rival Prosciutto and Serrano. Mark Hix s enthusiasm in savouring tradition helps capture the culinary character of each region and weaves together absorbing information, and personal anecdotes about the enthusiastic personalities involved and the lore of the foods in question his expedition presents a fascinating insight into Britain s vast culinary heritage and its ever-evolving future. Mark provides over 130 British regional recipes some totally true to tradition, others cleverly and sympathetically adapted for today s home cook. He celebrates dishes with evocative names like Lobscouse and Stargazy Pie, as well as traditional techniques like salting, sousing and smoking used more today for their flavour enhancing qualities than for preserving. He pairs indigenous wild foods like samphire and sea spinach with locally produced artisan ingredients to create new and exciting but altogether wholly British recipes. Spectacular photography by Jason Lowe brilliantly captures the flavour of each region and its dishes and the book ends with a gazetteer that provides details of the producers throughout the country.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85959 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-21
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
Writer and Chef Mark Hix has toured the country to bring you a host of classic recipes. The award-winning book, now out in paperback, also highliughts regional artisanal food producers. --SAINSBURY'S magazine, March 2008

You can trust Mark Hix when it comes to writing recipes --The Independent

His recipes .. allow you to travel the length and breadth of the land in the comfort of your own kitchen --Waitrose Food Illustrated 1/3/07

TOM PARKER BOWLES MAIL ON SUNDAY
An erudite delight... superb recipes

TELEGRAPH , REVIEW
Beautifully presented and illustrated,
This book should inspire anyone to begin cooking the locale they live in

Customer Reviews

Lots of Waxing Lyrical But Not Enough Recipes
This book has loads of really great information, if you are interested in the heritage of British Food, which I guess is the fashion right now what with farmer's markets and the like. But if you want a recipe book of good hearty British food (like me)you may be disappointed as there are only a couple of recipes for each region as the rest is text about the food. There's plenty of talk about local produce but not enough recipes to show what to do with it. Some of the recipes are classics like pork pies or bakewell tart, but others are just too 'down to earth' for my own taste like jugged hare, whole roast suckling pig or tripe. Don't get me wrong this is a great book, just not the recipe book I had hoped for.

Charming culinary bumble around Britain
You can't help wondering how Mark Hix found time to write British Regional Food. As chef director of Caprice Holdings that includes The Ivy, J. Sheekey as well as Le Caprice, Mark also writes a weekly column for The Independent on Saturday.

Nonetheless, he sets off on a cook's tour around Britain, to meet, eat, greet and cook some of our finest. A very personal recollection emerges that is endearing and informative.

Dividing Britain into 9 regions, each follows a similar format. While in The North, Mark flags up such well known and favourite producers as Peter Gott from Sillfield Farm, Barry Pugh of Pugh's Piglets and Andrew Sharp of Farmer Sharp. He encourages us to cook a mixture of traditional - Liverpool Lobscouse or Goosnargh Cakes, and modern - Wild Boar stew with Hawkshead Beer or Fillet of Sea Bass with Samphi (sic), Shrimps and Cockles.

Whether Mark will be successful in persuading anyone to try cooking Cow Heel and Black Peas, or Tripe and Onion I'd love to know. But his meeting with Jack Curvis, one of the few "proper" tripe dressers remaining in The North makes fascinating reading and should not be missed.

Altogether a charming culinary bumble around Britain and with photographs that capture our best treasures, British Regional Food is a reminder of what there is to enjoy about buying and cooking our own. It is as irresistible as the author himself.

A little less of London please
The book is ok, but...whilst it does give information about food in the various regions around the country there is a constant harking back to London, London chefs and Borough Market. Oh and don't forget the cheese man who sells cheese in, yes you've guessed it Borough Market. He makes a regular appearance.

I also found it a little light on the variety of food stuffs and the range of markets, both traditional and the newer farmer's markets available in the areas. That is with the exception of the wonderfull one in London.

Most of us don't live in London and Mr Hix should remember that.