Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45783 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Times Literary Supplement
'This is a stupendous achievement ... Norman's recipes are excellent, clear, and wholly reliable.'

Country Life
'Jill Norman fills the book with modern recipes to excite today's demanding cook.'

The Times
'An extensive, enchanting tutorial, peppered with simple recipes.'

Customer Reviews

Covers all bases
A clear no-nonsense approach that covers all bases and would be ideal for the newbie house husband (if I'm at all typical of the species, that is). However, I do have a problem with the title as the book has nothing whatsoever to say on how to cook penguins, nor does it appear to be aimed at penguins as I have found that they mostly regurgitate their food no matter how well I prepare it.

The Most Useful Book Ever
Well - almost! I bought this in its first edition and it is in constant use. Jill Norman, Elizabeth David's editor and doyenne of the cookbook world, has produced a truly universal, basic reference cookbook which will be invaluable for cooks of any ability and confidence level. Its fool proof recipe's are classic and unfussy, technique information is faultless. It's not flashy or gimicky in any way, so if you've never made souffle, want a proper Christmas dinner, a simple soup or a glam dinner party dish, this should be your first port of call. It does what Nigella Lawson set out to do in How To Eat, another good book, but because of vastly superior, design, layout and structure Jill Norman's version really, really works. What is it they say? Every home should have one. That's it.

The Best cookbook money can buy. (probably)
Until I bought this book I could cook, if that means making curry from a jar. Now I own this book I can bake cakes, make Thai curry from scratch and it all tastes good. But all cook books do this, true. However this book has so many recipes when compared to the books published by the celebrity chefs. It is also unpretentious, the majority of the ingredients are readily available from a normal supermarket, you don't have to traipse of to a market in the middle of no where to get the ingredients.
This book is ideal for begginers and more experienced cooks giving clear instructions to make food from so many different cultures including our own.