Hefty, lovely, useful cookbook recommendations?

[miss direct]

While clearing out my father's house, I found two book tokens. I used one to buy books for my nephew, and decided that the other one would be used to buy myself a lovely cook book once I move into my own place, like a present from my Dad. I liked cooking for him and he loved food like me, so it seems fitting.

I'm after recommendations. I have £25 to spend. Now book shops are open I can go and browse. I do like Ottolenghi - are the ingredients possible to source here in the UK? Or perhaps I should go for something more basic?

 

[Winot]

Ottolenghi is great but I’d go for something more basic. Even in London it can be hard to get ingredients.

What do you like to eat/cook?

 

[miss direct]

Ottolenghi is great but I’d go for something more basic. Even in London it can be hard to get ingredients.

What do you like to eat/cook?

Everything. I've not been cooking much for the last year as I've been bouncing between temporary accommodation but when I had a proper kitchen I would do everything from curries to quiche to meze to British classics. I didn't cook Turkish food when I lived in Turkey but now I'm not there I would be happy to make a lot of the dishes. I once went to an Ottolenghi dinner and loved every single dish.

 

[Winot]

Sounds like you need something voluminous and general. I was going to recommend European Peasant Cookery by Elizabeth Luard but it seems to be out of print.

This is excellent:

https://uk.bookshop.org/books/roast-chicken-and-other-stories/9780091871000

Nigella also gets good reviews although I don’t have anything by her.

The British classic is Delia Smith but it might be too basic for you.

Elisabeth David is great fun.

 

[Sprocket.]

I can wholeheartedly recommend Vefa’s Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou. Classic Greek cookery and one of the few recipe books we have that is in constant use throughout the year. Another book would be The Silver Spoon, a compendium of Italian recipes. Though shop around as the price difference can be worth saving.
We paid about £20 each.
Sadly a quick check confirms that Vefa’s Kitchen is currently unavailable. The Silver Spoon is still in stock.

 

[Riklet]

Snackistan or others from that series are reallllly good.

Delia Smith or Margharite Patten one for more complete general cooking or oldskool recipes.

Tbh hit the charity shops for a few and get a posh new one with the 25 quid.

 

[bmd]

Are you a vegan? I am.

 

[Santino]

If you like Italian, then I would go for Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (better than The Silver Spoon in my opinion).

 

[gosub]

In terms of recipes I end using, probably go with Hairy Bikers

 

[Artaxerxes]

River Cottage has some decent books, we've used the veg one a fair bit.

If you aren't much of a cook in general one with techniques rather than recipes is useful, something like Delia or Nigella.

Check out the guardian food columns, Jay Raynor has been doing an exploration of his cookbooks over the lockdown that's been really good.

 

[nogojones]

I tend to use the internet or e-books these days for most recipies, but I'd recomend the first Plenty by Ottolenghi. I still cook loads of stuff from that book and I can get pretty much all the ingredients easily, but I have local Kurdish, Syrian, Indian and Turkish shops within a few hundred meters, but my local Asda does most of it as well. You can also improvise a bit, thats where the fun is.

I wouldn't bother with Plenty More, as it felt like a rush job to cash in on the first one. I don't need a book to teach me how to roast a carrot.

 

[miss direct]

Thanks for the recommendations. I picked up a copy of Delia's Complete Cookery Course from a charity shop for £1.50. Mooched around Waterstones and liked the look of Simple - Ottolenghi, and Persiana Brilliant recipes from Persiana, Sabrina Ghayour's debut cookbook

I wish I had brought more ingredients back with me from Turkey, but I never thought it would be so long until I'd be there again. Missing isot biber, sumac, a choice of pomegranate sauce, the Syrian shops.

 

[belboid]

I’ve run out of pomegranate molasses too, can’t remember where I found it last time. Probably al-zahir...

 

[Orang Utan]

I’ve run out of pomegranate molasses too, can’t remember where I found it last time. Probably al-zahir...

I’ve bought it from the supermarket

 

[Orang Utan]

Claudia Roden’s Arabesque is great for Middle Eastern food (Turkish, Moroccan, Lebanese) but any of her other books are fantastic too. She does some great Persian recipes that I’ve been eating all of my life

 

[stockwelljonny]

Claudia Roden’s Arabesque is great for Middle Eastern food (Turkish, Moroccan, Lebanese) but any of her other books are fantastic too. She does some great Persian recipes that I’ve been eating all of my life

Thanks, was given a big box of Ottolenghi spices for Christmas that don’t know how to use, so just ordered this book.

 

[nottsgirl]

Claudia Roden’s Arabesque is great for Middle Eastern food (Turkish, Moroccan, Lebanese) but any of her other books are fantastic too. She does some great Persian recipes that I’ve been eating all of my life

I think her classic is called Middle Eastern Cooking.

 

[Orang Utan]

I think her classic is called Middle Eastern Cooking.

Aye - and her Book of Jewish Food too

 

[nottsgirl]

As far as big chunky cookbooks full of classics go I'd be quite tempted by How to Eat by Nigella Lawson.

I have a whole shelf of cookbooks but never use them.

I did read through a few recently. Bocca: Cookbook by Jacob Kenedy is very lovely.

In this day and age of the internet I think cookbooks are better for reading through and getting inspiration at leisure. I am trying to learn more about East Asian food so I have been reading Lucky Peach presents Power Vegetables and Solo by Anita Lo.

 

[Orang Utan]

Nigel Slater’s Appetite is great for beginners to build confidence and a base repertoire. Gives you freedom to be creative too

 

[spanglechick]

Delia’s Complete Cookery Course was going to be my recommendation just for it being so comprehensive and not American (American cookbooks are pointless due to the cups nonsense).

Other than that, I think books come into their own when they’re focused on a specific area/skill. Breadmaking, soups, ice creams, macaronage, etc.

 

[miss direct]

confession - I actually like American cups. I had a lovely set in Turkey, heart shaped pink ones. They were so useful, especially as I made a lot of recipes written by Americans. I hope I kept them in storage somewhere.

macronage? (off to investigate)

 

[shakespearegirl]

For a more accessible version of Ottolengi, I recommend Honey & Co. particularly the At Home book which has a section based on ways to use up your existing Middle Eastern ingredients

 

[killer b]

(American cookbooks are pointless due to the cups nonsense).

I like the cups nonsense. Just get some cups and you're fixed - there's a lot less fiddling around with scales.

 

[Ms T]

I think the first Ottolenghi book is the best, followed by Jerusalem and Simple. Thanks to Ottolenghi, ingredients like sumac and pomegranate molasses are pretty easy to find.

I haven't looked at Delia's Complete Cookery Course for years. One of my favourite authors is Diana Henry. Her best books are From the Oven to the Table, and Cook Simple, in my opinion. A good book I've used quite a bit recently is Home Cookery Year by Claire Thomson.

Home Cookery Year: Four Seasons, Over 200 Recipes for All Possible Occasions: Amazon.co.uk: Claire Thomson: 9781787134874: Books

Buy Home Cookery Year: Four Seasons, Over 200 Recipes for All Possible Occasions 01 by Claire Thomson (ISBN: 9781787134874) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

I also like Arabesque. If you like Chinese cooking, Fuchsia Dunlop is incredible. For Italian, Marcella Hazan's The Essentials of Italian Cooking is a classic. For interesting veg cooking (but not vegetarian), have a look at Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden.

Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables: Amazon.co.uk: McFadden, Joshua: 9781579656317: Books

Buy Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables Illustrated by McFadden, Joshua (ISBN: 9781579656317) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Cid]

I did this thread over on Suburban an eternity ago (2019), it didn't go very well, but there may be some on there.

Big one for Turkish cooking is Musa Dagdeviren's The Turkish Cookbook, which I vaguely remember mentioning to you in a different thread in an argument about hummus.

And I'll echo Ottolenghi, Hazan, Roden, Dunlop (I have Land of Plenty) etc.

 

[miss direct]

I don't really want just Turkish food - to be honest I really prefer Iranian, Syrian, or at least a mixture/fusion.

 

[Orang Utan]

I don't really want just Turkish food - to be honest I really prefer Iranian, Syrian, or at least a mixture/fusion.

Roden is the way then

 

[Cid]

Oh and wrt to spices, you can get stuff like sumac easily off Amazon or eBay... Or speciality online grocers. Amazon has the benefit of easily available reviews, but ebay can have a wider selection (and is often cheaper), just need to keep an eye out in case it's just some old stale shit.

 

[Orang Utan]

Oh and wrt to spices, you can get stuff like sumac easily off Amazon or eBay... Or speciality online grocers. Amazon has the benefit of easily available reviews, but ebay can have a wider selection (and is often cheaper), just need to keep an eye out in case it's just some old stale shit.

Sumac is found in supermarkets now