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Find out moreVariety is the spice of life and in our Cookery, Food and Drink section we have a range of new books that you can sit back and enjoy or get your hands messy and whip up something fantastic!
Sun, sea, Si and Dave! A celebration of the most delicious and healthy food in the world to tie in with the BBC Two prime time series, The Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean. With more of us understanding the health benefits of a Med diet, these hearty and healthy dishes are a taste of the very best holiday memories. Fresh, classic, easy and seasonal, enjoy our favourite Med recipes with the nation's favourite cooking duo!
An examination of 10 meals, not celebrated for any gourmet delights that might have been on show but for when they happened and who was at the dinner table. These meals changed history, starting with dinner on the eve of the Battle of Culloden through to Jimmy Carter’s peace brokering between Egypt and Israel. Accompanying the history, Chef Tony Singh has researched and recreated the meals to give a full picture of what was on the table at these momentous meetings. ~ Sue Baker Like for Like ReadingA History of Food in 100 Recipes, William Sitwell £16.99 Paperback 352 pages William Collins 12th March 2015 9780007412006Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat, Bee Wilson £9.99 Paperback 416npages Penguin 24th October 2013 97801410849083
Paul Hollywood has chosen over 100 recipes that mean the most to him, the ones he has perfected over the years and that sum up a baker’s life. From learning at his father’s knee to the heights of Great British Bake Off, Paul Hollywood has been striving for excellence throughout his career and now these recipes have been adapted for home bakers. An interesting and rounded collection of recipes, as you would expect, an ideal starting point for cooks wanting to learn new recipes and techniques and also to build up a core baking repertoire. ~ Sue Baker Like for Like Reading English Bread and Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David Bread Matters: Why and How to Make Your Own Bread by Andrew Whitley
Can’t wait for it to get to that level of cold when this book will act as a comfort blanket all of its own. Another in Nigel Slater’s exceptional Diary formats it is a paen of praise to winter and its high festivals of Christmas and New Year, a cookery book yes but so much more, there is the garden, family stories, legends and the comfort of home. I love Autumn best and with my love for winter running out in late January this will be a valuable aid in extracting every last drop of winter loveliness there is to keep us going till those gorgeous first days of Spring. Heavens, you can almost smell the Christmas cake cooking as you read. ~ Sue Baker Like for Like Reading: A Scandinavian Christmas by Trine Hahnemann Winter: An Anthology for the Changing Seasons by Melissa Harrison
Phil Vickery has written some seriously good gluten-free cookbooks and now turns to another restricted diet – for diabetics. Given his recipes – you wouldn’t really notice it was a diet – there are cakes and there are desserts so it’s not all hair shirt for the diabetic sufferer. Together with the recipes there are suggested menu plans and full nutritional guidance with advice on weight loss and keeping healthy. There are surprisingly few stand-out cookbooks for diabetics, I think this will become the one to get. ~ Sue Baker Like for Like ReadingThe Everyday Diabetic Cookbook, Stella Bowling £10.99 Paperback 224 pages Grub Street 1st September 1995 9781898697251Diabetic Weight Loss Plan, Antony Worrall Thompson, £14.99 Paperback 144 pages Kyle Cathie 1st January 2008 9781856266444
In any Enid Blyton book you can guarantee that at some point there’ll be a lip-smacking description of food. Allega McEvedy takes inspiration from Blyton’s best-loved stories to create recipes for every time of the day: starting with breakfasts that would be enjoyed by the Naughtiest Girl in the School, her book then lists elevenses for the Secret Seven, Famous Five inspired picnics (yes of course ginger beer is included), teatime treats from the Faraway Tree, Secret Island suppers and Malory Towers midnight feasts – heaven! The recipes are excellent and each section begins with an extract from the relevant book. Jolly illustrations by Mark Beech make it even more child friendly. ~ Andrea Reece
Anna Jones marks the year in six seasons adding to our usual 4 to take account of the vast differences in temperature we experience through just one season. A cold start to Spring will keep us wanting warming stews and puds but when it warms up then we need to sharpen up our salad repertoires. Anna Jones has provided over 250 Vegetarian recipes, bang up to date and endlessly inventive, alongside the recipes there are guides to flowers and the right music for the right ambience. ~ Sue Baker Like for Like Reading Leon: Fast Vegetarian by Henry Dimbleby & Jane Baxter Rose Elliot’s New Complete Vegetarian by Rose Elliot
Judging from the recipes this is mostly modern comfort cooking. The modern comfort eater can check the contents list for something that answers their particular craving, for something sweet or sharp, something crunchy or soft – a jolly good idea allowing the distracted cook to zone in fast on what they want. Heaven knows, there is enough bad news around now to sink anyone but there is some relief to be found in a warm and inviting kitchen cooking up John Whaite’s food designed to soothe and comfort. ~ Sue Baker Like for Like Reading How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking by Nigella Lawson Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavours by Diana Henry
Having made way too many impulsive purchases of kitchen equipment in my time, this would be a most welcome guide to the now huge range of “stuff” available to modern cooks. It goes from the simple for the back to basics type of cook and the eco-conscious right up to the bells and whistles type of high end equipment that would probably take your coat off for you if you asked it. A symbol to the amount of washing up involved would have been useful, as remembering my juicer it was soon back to the wooden reamer! ~ Sue Baker Like for Like Reading: Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson You might also like to consider the following but they are both out of print: Kitchen Things: An Album of Vintage Utensils, Richard Snodgrass (9781626360365) In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed, Carl Honore (9780752864143)
Starting in San Francisco and Baja California, and working his way down to the southernmost tip of Mexico, the author cooks, eats and experiences Mexican food at its very best and most diverse. He covers topics ranging from seafood of the north Pacific coast, and the mole of Oaxaca, to the spices and salsas of Yucatan and Quintana Roo.
Delicious receipes inspired by the author's favourite works of fiction this cookery book will make a wonderful addition to your cookery bookshelf or an amazing gift. Paddington Bear's marmalade, a Neopolitan pizza with Elena Ferrante, afternoon tea at Manderley and even more, this beautifully presented, well written cookery book with mouthwatering pictures combines literature and food in the most delicious way possible. ~ Shelley Fallows - You can also find Shelley here.
The food, the essence and the atmosphere of Morocco summed up by John Gregory-Smith in Orange Blossom and Honey. We learn where the food comes from, how it is served and the flavours conjured up by such delicately spiced and often very simple food. It looks beautiful, provides a good “Cook’s read” and a treasure trove of new recipes to try. ~ Sue Baker Like for Like Reading: Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean & North Africa by Diana Henry Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey & Lebanon by Claudia Roden
There has never been a greater interest in cooking. Never been such a wide range of accessible ingredients from all over the world. Cultural diversity has led to us all broadening our culinary horizons. What better time to celebrate the sumptuous array of delectable books on offer, covering all aspects of our growing obsession with all things food … and drink (!). You won’t find the obvious choices here, the big name chefs and TV show spin-offs. We hope that we’ve lovingly compiled a special menu of off the beaten track titles to fire your imaginations and your ovens. Uncork your inner sommelier, sauté your inner chef and share a spoonful of our passion for something saucy, lip-smacking, eye-feasting and thirst-quenching. Bon Appetit!
We hope you’ll find our Food and Drink category full of titles that can be enjoyed either sitting in the armchair or used in a more practical way in the kitchen. Some of them provide a mixture of both.