Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47652 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 648 pages

Eve, April 2006
‘The books every home should have’

Restaurant, 15 February, 2006
'This truly is a book for cooks'

Synopsis
An essential ingredient for every kitchen. Master every technique and develop new ways of cooking by following the practical, step-by-step advice of 18 top chefs from around the world, including Marcus Wareing, David Thompson and Shaun Hill. Includes over 600 delicious recipes from homely English food to international cuisine and illustrated with sumptuous photography. Share their passion for food, broaden your repertoire - and cook for success every time.

Customer Reviews

The best cook book so far
I am a keen cook. Self taught in most things, hit or miss with almost everything I cook,but always appreciated, I found this book very helpful.
Felt like I have a good teacher to keep m right.
Yet to come across another on the same par as this.

Feel like it lets you in on a lot of top little cooking secrets and tips that make all the difference.

For both beginners and advanced cooks
Just a fantastic book. Beautifully presented, with step by step instructions for the beginner, but also more adventurous things to try for the established cook. Highly recommended.

Great in places but very sparse in others
Got to be honest here - from the previous tip-off about the high street shop bargain, I went to look at this, physically, at £6.....probably worth it at that price but I hadn't heard of a number of the contributors.
Thanks to amazonreviewer for higlighting the actual chef names in his review, because I think the general blurb gives the impression that this is a collection of well-known chefs - ok not of the celebrity nature, granted.
The Asian, Thai, Chinese and Japanese cooking sections are only a few pages long so if you think you are going to master the art of these from this book, you'll be very disappointed. You get the impression that these areas have been given two sides of A4 sheets to get their spotlight whereas others have had the benefit of ten!

I'd suggest that this boook should have been two volumes - one mastering British techniques and the other dedicated to Asian cooking.

Whereas Norman is editor-in-chief of this book and therefore accredited with it, she is only just another person who 'borrows' other people's ideas and sticks them in a book, like the Elizabeth David anthologies - it is not a talent, really?

If contemplating buying at this price, from Amazon, I would suggest saving your money and look at it first - the basic techniques are covered more diligently elsewhere and I woud add that this is just another attempt, albeit unique, in getting another book to the publisher!
Sorry!