A valuable book in our constrained times, showing us old skills, thrifty ways with food and how to make some kitchen staples such as sausages, yoghurt, condiments, preserves, cakes and cereals. Above all, Thane Prince conveys the enjoyment and satisfaction of being able to create anything from home-made ketchup to a tin of biscuits. Having dabbled in these arts myself I can attest to the pleasure of viewing a cupboard full of preserves, embarking on winter knowing that some of summer’s delights are stored away for the dark days to come is one of the biggest joys of being a cook.
A timely book for the new kitchen revolution, Ham, Pickles and Jam is not only a celebration of lost skills such as curing, rendering and pickling and a collection of fantastic recipes, but also provides advice on stocking a cupboard or pantry and the best way to store cheese, cooked meats and vegetables.
Ham, Pickles and Jam : Traditional Skills for the Modern Kitchen Larder Synopsis
Many of us remember jams and chutneys made by grandmothers and great aunts who also seemed to know exactly how long to boil a ham and how to keep butter, and who had a magical pantry full of secret delights. These skills are increasingly in demand as more of us want to make use of home-grown produce, reduce the weekly food budget or rediscover cooking from scratch. A timely book for the new kitchen revolution, Ham, Pickles and Jam is not only a celebration of lost skills such as curing, rendering and pickling and a collection of fantastic recipes, but also provides advice on stocking a cupboard or pantry and the best way to store cheese, cooked meats and vegetables. At a time when we are all looking to shop more locally, cook thriftily and still enjoy great food, it is a book for how we live today.
Chef, prolific author and journalist, Thane Prince loves food and has been cooking and writing about it for 20 years. For 12 years she was the food writer for The Daily Telegraph Weekend section and is a regular contributor to BBC Good Food magazine. She has written 10 books; her most recent was translated into 5 languages. She set up and ran the acclaimed Aldeburgh Cookery School, and now runs bespoke cookery courses. She lives in London and continues to write, teach and eat.