The Good Cook
£23.70£28.50 (-17%)
Winner, 2011 Galaxy National Book Awards Food and Drink Book of the Year
Simon Hopkinson loves food and he knows how to cook it. The Good Cook is the result of over 40 years’ experience and is based on Simon’s belief that a good cook loves eating as much as cooking.
How the ingredients you choose and the way you cook them will turn a good recipe into a great dish. That a cheap cut of meat cooked with care can taste as nice as a choice cut prepared by indifferent hands.
Structured around Simon’s passion for good ingredients (Anchovy and Aubergine, Cheese and Wine, Smoked and Salted Fish, Ham, Bacon and A Little Pig) and written with Simon’s trademark perfectionism and precision, this is a book that you will cherish for life.
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Additional information
| Publisher | BBC Books, First Edition (23 Jun. 2011) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 318 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1849902283 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1849902281 |
| Dimensions | 19.69 x 3.33 x 25.4 cm |
by Cook Book Queen
I waited ages to get this book, hoping it would come down in price, but for some reason it’s stayed fairly expensive by comparison with other TV cook books that usually go straight to half price on Amazon, so in the end I bit the bullet and bought it anyway. I watched a few of the TV shows and really liked at least one recipe from each one, which is why I wanted the book. I’m a tad disappointed though, there aren’t pictures for every recipe which I find irritating, and which makes the book less appealing I think. Also, apart from the 1 in 4 recipes that I liked from the TV show, there aren’t any others that I really like the look of (again lack of pictures doesn’t help). I will make some of the recipes, but I don’t think this book is going to get as much use as some of my other books do.
by J. Lind
After the television series became part of my regular Saturday morning routine, I felt I had to purchase the accompanying book. The price on Amazon (a little under £) made this truly irresistible!
I personally love this cookbook. However, it is quite clear that it will not be to everyone’s taste. Much like the television programmes, the recipes are presented to you in an often uncompromising manner. Mr. Hopkinson obviously has a particular way of doing things. However, while this peculiarity is appealing to myself (I too am a bit ‘OCD’ when it comes to things culinary), it will certainly put others off. For example, scorn is poured on anyone who might contemplate using seared tuna steak in a Salad Niçoise. But what if this is the individual’s taste? Similarly, we are told that we should “feel free to cook something else” if we are inclined to use anything other than white pepper in a recipe. While some might see this as firmly tongue-in-cheek, others might simply put the book down.
Criticism aside, I feel that the book is written extremely well, with recipes often conjuring the smell, sound, texture and taste of food brilliantly.
In summary, this would be ideal for anyone who also enjoyed the television series. However, the uncompromising nature of even some of the simplest recipes might not sit well with those who are more experimental in the kitchen.
by M. Faller
I bought this book after watching a couple of episodes of the TV series on BBC. I find this a very refreshing book. I’m a big fan of Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver etc, but in a market flooded with books from the likes of these guys it’s great to see a new face – well new to me anyway, I believe the author has been a successful food writer for many years. What Simon Hopkinson does best I think is to show that you don’t need a huge long list of fancy ingredients to create a fabulous dish. Simple (most of the time but not always) and straightforward is the order of the day here. Good food made with great ingredients.
OK, some of the recipes certainly are not of the everyday cooking variety, but I’ve now tried a few recipes from the book. Some of the descriptions of what to do in a recipe step can be a little loose and you do have to just go with it and interpret as best you can. It’s not a book I’d recommend to a beginner.
BUT there are a couple of recipes in this book that make me so glad I bought it and it’s worth buying the book for the Baked pappardelle with pancetta and porcini dish alone. Absolute heaven on a plate! I’m not joking, and the Parmesan Biscuits…. can’t stop making those.
All in all, great and I hope we’ll see some more from the author in future.
by Wil Andersen
.. to review this book.
OK – the basic facts first. It is a beautifully produced, solid, heavy book that feels good in the hand. 300plus pages, lots of illustrations, easy to use. Maybe too many illustrations and header pages and chapter breaks for my taste – a lot of space that could have been used for Hopkinson’s writing is devoted to “design and presentation” – but that’s a very personal view.
The organisation is very much Hopkinson’s and – given that it is produced to accompany a television series – structured – I guess – around that. It doesn’t fit together entirely naturally when simply approached as a book.
But this are all trivial quibbles. The recipes appear excellent, interesting, slightly different and well explained. He writes so well as anyone who had used one of his books before will know – the personal comments add to the simple recitation of recipes – and there are lots of useful hints and advice on technique etc along the way. There are recipes here that I have seen elsewhere but he has an individual take on them – and takes plenty of time to explain the processes – that makes them unique. The vegetable, the lamb, and the fish dishes are all outstanding – to read about anyway!
Will I be cooking from it? – yes – tomorrow with the aubergine dishes with which he begins the books. I have all his books – this may not be the best but it is up there with them. Certainly worth purchasing – particularly at Amazon’s current price. Not that it seems to need a positive review – judging by the sales ranking at the time of writing Amazon must be selling a copy every five minutes. Good!!! A lot of happy cooks I think.
Part 2. I have now cooked a couple of recipes from the book. Piedmontese peppers and an aubergine dish. I had a little difficulty with interpreting the instructions (or maybe I am simply not as skilled and experienced as the author!) The problem was more about the technique than anything else – when I cut my peppers I couldn’t get them the way he described them.
My wife says – forget it, they are absolutely delicious. And they were. But I think this may be an occasion to not just get the book but also to watch the TV series – there are techniques that I don’t know and watching the expert would be really helpful. But early days. And I did love dinner!