This book is well informed and an excellent source of traditional French charcuterie recipes. However it only gets three stars for the following reasons. Firstly this edition suffers from sloppy editing. Some recipes and passages of text appear to have words and sentences missing which render those sections useless.
Secondly things have moved on in the use of salpetre and cure mixtures that are better covered in e.g. "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing", particularly because we now recognise health implications in their use.
This book is good for reference but there are better books (see above) for the uninitiated
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In Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book, American readers, gardeners and food lovers will find everything they've always wanted to know about the history and romance of 75 different vegetables, from artichokes to yams, and learn how to use them in hundreds of different recipes, from the exquisitely simple Broccoli Salad to the engagingly esoteric Game with Tomato and Chocolate Sauce.
Jane Grigson gives basic preparation and cooking instructions for every one of the vegetables discussed, and recipes for eating them in every style from least adulterated to most adorned, but this is by no means a book intended for vegetarians alone. There are recipes for Cassoulet, Chicken Gumbo and even Dr. William Kitchiner's 1817 version of Bubble and Squeak ... Read More:
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`In this classic work, Jane Grigson reveals the richness and surprising diversity of England's culinary heritage.
From modest dishes such as `Gloucestershire Cheese and Ale`, and `Toad-in-the-Hole', to grander ones using roast game, local fish and fresh vegetables, as well as traditional puddings, teatime cakes and preserves, this joyful celebration of our national cuisine is a pleasure to cook from and a delight to read.'
Penguin Cookery Library format - paperback with 384 pages, split over chapters:-
Soups
Cheese and egg dishes
Vegetables
Meat, poultry and game
Puddings
Teatime: - bread, cake, griddle cakes and pancakes, biscuits
Stuffings, sauces and preserves
Here is a book for dedicated mushroom hunters who want to make the most of their gastronomic treasures and for the discriminating cooks who value the ineffable flavor that any fine mushroom imparts, be it cultivated or wild. Edible fungi of all kinds have been the inspiration since the seventeenth century for the finest recipes in every important cuisine. Cooking her way through this rich heritage, Jane Grigson, an inveterate mushroom hunter who has always enjoyed the feast that follows the pleasures of a splendid day's pickings, now shares the best of the recipes she herself has perfected as she has borrowed, recreated, invented dishes designed to make use of mushrooms in subtle, surprising ways, and to feature different delectable varieties to their best ... Read More:
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Jane Grigson was one of the leading cookery writers of her generation with some similarity to the writing talents of the great Elizabeth David, in that her books combine superb writing with impeccable research.
In fact in this book she acknowledges Elizabeth David (ED), 'whose taste in the matter of fruit is unequalled' and other cute references such as in the article about 'pickled cherries', followed by a recipe for 'Cherry Brandy', `ED's Black Fruit Fool' - `a recipe for devotees of prunes and dried fruit and `ED`s Sweet Flan Pastry` - `easy to remember and efficient in practice'.
`It is from a love of fruit that Jane wrote her book, the much awaited companion volume to the enormously popular and successful `Jane Grigson Vegetable Book' ... Read More:
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Ignore the "it's too stuffy" comment about this book--it really is a wonderful, intelligent and practical book. With this and Alan Davidson's terrific book on North Atlantic seafood, you don't need much if any more.
And yes, herbs do play an important part in the recipes--it's just not nuovo Italiano of the Jamie Oliver school.
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This wonderful little book contains a treasury of ideas for experienced cooks and for beginners. The late, great Jane Grigson's enthusiasm for food shows on every page as she explores a selected range of her favourite foods. Each section begins with a short essay, which sets the scene. The range within a relatively short book is enormous; from asparagus to venison and mussels and scallops to walnuts. This is a book I go back to time after time, for inspiration and ideas as well as for the recipes themselves.
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This wonderful little book contains a treasury of ideas for experienced cooks and for beginners. The late, great Jane Grigson's enthusiasm for food shows on every page as she explores a selected range of her favourite foods. Each section begins with a short essay, which sets the scene. The range within a relatively short book is enormous; from asparagus to venison and mussels and scallops to walnuts. This is a book I go back to time after time, for inspiration and ideas as well as for the recipes themselves.
>>More Details
Ignore the "it's too stuffy" comment about this book--it really is a wonderful, intelligent and practical book. With this and Alan Davidson's terrific book on North Atlantic seafood, you don't need much if any more.
And yes, herbs do play an important part in the recipes--it's just not nuovo Italiano of the Jamie Oliver school.
>>More Details
Ignore the "it's too stuffy" comment about this book--it really is a wonderful, intelligent and practical book. With this and Alan Davidson's terrific book on North Atlantic seafood, you don't need much if any more.
And yes, herbs do play an important part in the recipes--it's just not nuovo Italiano of the Jamie Oliver school.
>>More Details