Cookbooks that changed your life.
- Thread starter baboon2004
- Start date
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Wow. I think I would love to move there in a few years' time. Always used to walk up on the golf course. Yes, sun and the Gower are a glorious combination.
Associative thinking: have you read Gold by Dan Rhodes? Set in Pembrokeshire, but captures something of all Welsh seaside areas, i think. Great piece of fiction, too.
Associative thinking: have you read Gold by Dan Rhodes? Set in Pembrokeshire, but captures something of all Welsh seaside areas, i think. Great piece of fiction, too.
I haven't, although I know Pembrokshire very well, my cousins have a house in Pembroke and I go there every Christmas. Beautiful area, apart from the electricity pylons, grey bungalows, and people.
Gower is a fantastic place to raise a family. I wouldn't say my childhood was idyllic, but I don't know anyone who had it better.
I know a guy who wrote a book about Welsh cookery - Colin Presdee, who's a friend of my Godmother. My Godmother has the biggest, richest kitchen I have ever seen. She's got an Arga the size of a tank.
Just looking at the Amazon reviews of that Dan Rhodes book, somebody wrote, "It had me snorting like a hippo in mud"!
Gower is a fantastic place to raise a family. I wouldn't say my childhood was idyllic, but I don't know anyone who had it better.
I know a guy who wrote a book about Welsh cookery - Colin Presdee, who's a friend of my Godmother. My Godmother has the biggest, richest kitchen I have ever seen. She's got an Arga the size of a tank.
Just looking at the Amazon reviews of that Dan Rhodes book, somebody wrote, "It had me snorting like a hippo in mud"!
vimothy
yurp
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
When I finally feel myself mature enough to consider children, I may heed that advice, in order so as not to f*ck them up quite so much.
Will check out that cookery book. I know shamefully few Welsh recipes (er, one), but have always wanted to investigate.
Dan Rhodes is a funny guy, certainly. http://www.danrhodes.co.uk/ - this is a good first port of call.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
I've got a brilliant image of you with some Burzum on a tinny boombox in your back garden, pretending the pig is a wild boar and a can of Greene King IPA is a drinking horn full of mead, conducting some Odinnic sacrifice ritual while your housemates roll their eyes indulgently and mutter knowingly "Well you know what happened last time...".
Last edited:
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
I'm there next time I'm in the area, s'long as it's affordable. OK, just checked, it's expensive but reasonable. Chicken leg stuffed with crab sounds great, as does gratin of cockles, mussels and laverbread.
God, I just remembered about Welsh cakes. Shit. Now I'm very hungry.
scottdisco
rip this joint please
the one Ramsay book i have is 'Fast Food' and i do find that wonderful. he goes through everything quite briskly and it's good scran. simple but gives you confidence.
two books i want to get my hands on - and from the sound of it, Matt B's SO might approve of at least one - are 'Middle Eastern Cookery' and 'Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East', both by Arto Der Haroutunian.
two books i want to get my hands on - and from the sound of it, Matt B's SO might approve of at least one - are 'Middle Eastern Cookery' and 'Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East', both by Arto Der Haroutunian.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Also get one of Claudia Roden's book on ME food, if that's your area of interest.
Bang Diddley
Well-known member
this is another good one for the full of great Gujarati veggie recipies.
Amazon product ASIN 0953832600
Dont know if you've been Matt, but the next time your in Leeds check out her resturant on North Street.
matt b
Indexing all opinion
Oh yes! Very good it is too, even taking into account that we're spoiled for choice for food from the indian sub-continent round here (and vegetarian food in general). There's a wicked indian vegetarian cafe in bradford (name escapes me) too, which is similarly original. yum.
This is a really good book for when you want something quick and tasty after work:
Amazon product ASIN 1740453050Not life changing, but eminently practical.
While this:
Amazon product ASIN 0953535304is almost vegetarian food porn
matt b
Indexing all opinion
I think I might have to wishlist that: I want to get into making koftas. Cheers Scott!
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Which recipes have you made from the Fuschia Dunlop - just got it the other week?
Can also heartily recommend Cucina del Sole (can't recall author right now) - south Italian recipes that open up the saliva glands almost instantly.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Just saw this post - I recommend making kofta (with raisins, onions, allspice, cinnamon etc) with sour cherry sauce. Aleppo business, apparently.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Great thread - good work reviving it, Brother Baboon.
Anyone got anything to say about Rick Stein's books? Like, ease of sourcing ingredients/following recipes, reliability of results? I got one for Christmas (all E/SE Asian stuff, looks pretty badass) but haven't used it yet.
Anyone got anything to say about Rick Stein's books? Like, ease of sourcing ingredients/following recipes, reliability of results? I got one for Christmas (all E/SE Asian stuff, looks pretty badass) but haven't used it yet.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Thanks (btw response I just posted in South Africa thread - wasn't a personal attack against you, just a general annoyance that happened to follow yr post!)
Rick Stein - love his TV shows (if I'm thinking of the right guy), but haven't got his books yet. I must say I still recommend Slater above most others for clarity and ease of use. At the weekend I made roast chicken in mint and tarragon butter from his recipe.
mistersloane
heavy heavy monster sound
Did you get the Sichuan book or the Hunan one? Favourites in the Sichuan one are the Dan Dan Noodle recipes (all of 'em! I use the extra thin dry egg noodles in the packet with the green and yellow flowers down the right hand side, you can get em in the Chinese shop on Electric Avenue); twice cooked pork; fish fragrant pork; red braised pork; chicken with chillies; dry fry chicken (chicken ones take ages tho cos you do it in batches); did the rabbit one cos they're doing farmed rabbit at borough market now - I don't like the wild one, too gamey; and done pretty much all the veg ones except for the weird vegetables, tho got a book recently with pictures of all of them so I can go foraging now.
I went to the supermarket and just bought as any of the ingredients as I could find first so it feels like less of a big deal making the stuff now, does that make sense? I know I can just buy some pork and some aubergine and chances are I'll be able to rustle something up. Haven't been cooking it so much recently as been trying to support our local Chinese place - went by there a while back and it was shut (just for a day) but got this panic that if it shut and it was cos we hadn't been goin there enough, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
Bang Diddley
Well-known member
I got the 'Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East' one. There's no pictures, somehow I find this puts me of deciding what to make. Its kind of odd really. The dishes I made tasted good but I don't know they look right. Maybe it doesn't matter . . .