So, I have a slight addiction. One that even exceeds my Anya Hindmarch
handbag collection. Cookery books. Yes, you heard it right, I cannot stop buying
cookery books! It stems from my mothers
extensive collection of recipes that she has collected over the years and now
I’m getting quite the collection myself.
Also, I have a partner in crime; the boyfriend is as bad as I am! Admittedly we are both foodies, not in the
snooty fine dining sense (even though we love to partake), but just in a food
sense. Good quality, tasty food! Whether it is buffets, comfort food, a Sunday
roast or a light salad, together we seem to have a book for every
occasion.
At the moment we are in the process of
planning, in my opinion, the most exciting part of the house renovation – the
kitchen. So I am trying to find a home for our growing
collection of cookery books, which are currently sprawled in boxes, here there
and everywhere. In unopened boxes at the
house, at my parents home, and at the boyfriends pad in London.
We are lucky enough to have a gorgeous
Georgian marble fireplace in our kitchen, so I am thinking about converting the
alcoves either side of the fireplace in to a dedicated cookery bookshop…we just
require some shelves, a joiner and to retrieve all the books from their hiding
places!
I long for the day for when I will have the
time to cook from each and every recipe book, however until this day comes I
will simply have to use my time at the weekends more wisely and begin to crack
open the summer inspired books to create an al fresco feast or two.
Here are Butterfly Lane’s top 5 cookery
books from my collection…at the moment!
English
Food by Jane Grigson
Invest
in a classic
‘’A selection of traditional and modern
recipes as well as informative, evocative discussion on the orgins of all kinds
of British food.’’
This book can be classed as your cooking
manual. It covers all food and prefers
quality to quantity, and the writing is just sublime. Think soups, hot crossed buns, roast dinners,
everything that is British and fabulous.
Thai
Food by David Thomas
The
modern choice
This book is the bible of all things Thai
food. With his extraordinary knowledge
Thomas brilliantly captures the essentials of an entire cuisine. Covering one of the most complex, wide
ranging cuisines in the world. Let your
taste buds go in to over drive and invest in this book.
Bocca
The
Restaurant Cookery Book
Bocca di Lupo is London’s premier, award
winning Italian restaurant in the heart of Soho and the accompanying book by
head chef Jacob Kenedy allows you to bring the experience in to your own
kitchen. Kenedy travelled the length and
bredth of Italy over the course of a year, gathering his favourite recipes,
many of them obscure and slightly bizarre but all absolutely delicious. The chef declares, ‘’be warned – this is a
cookbook with teeth’’. The recipes are
accompanied by a stories from his travels, which not only makes this book is a
must read, the restaurant is a must visit too, and his recipes…well, you must
recreate!
Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl
The obligatory
celebrity cookbook
I fell in love with Sophie Dahl’s
whimsically and poetic take on cooking during her BBC cookery series, and I
equally love her book. Full of
enchanting stories and gorgeously indulgent recipes. Divided in to the seasons, the book is clear
and the recipes easy to recreate. In
fact a few of her recipes are in my ‘cook everyday’ repertoire, including her
punchy tomato and red onion soup, a flavorsome shepherd’s pie and her orange
victoria sponge recipe with homemade jam, which I use for every birthday cake I
make. Don’t be put off by the ‘model
turned chef’ element of this book, the essence is amazing food by a genuine
food lover.
Complete
Traditional Recipe Book by The National Trust
For
the Aga Owners
Now that I rely on an Aga for all my
culinary requirements, this book is great as every recipe is converted in an
Aga format, which is very handy for an Aga novice like myself. Jam packed with over 300 traditional British recipes: Apple Crumbles, Bread and Butter Pudding,
Lancashire Hot Pot, Bubble and Squeak,
oh my mouth is watering as I type!
Including sections on preserves, drinks and confectionary, along with a
background knowledge on key dishes, this is a definite for your collection,
even if you don’t have an Aga!
My Wish
List:
Modernist
Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking
by Nathan Myhrvold (and team)
Wow, this collection of six books is
definitely on my wish list. It is virtually an encyclopedia of cooking
with 1500 recipes of scientific, laboratory inspired creations. The main pull of this book to me is the
incredible photography. Everything is
photographed with a cross-section perspective, with incredible results. However, with the £400 price tag these books
are very expensive, maybe one to save for!
Amazing images from the book
If you have any cookery books that you
cannot live without please get in touch and let Butterfly Lane know, as I
always need an excuse to add to my collection!
