COOKBOOK OF THE WEEK: THE GOOD COOK BY SIMON HOPKINSON

For a very long time, many have admired Simon Hopkinson for his cookery skills. He loves food and knows how to cook it. This book is called The Good Cook, and rightly so. It is all about simplicity and chasing the right ingredients. The old saying “you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear“ is very true, but I believe Simon would make a delicious dish out of that ear. He follows the classic dishes yet manages to be up to date and modern.

His dishes range from a simple veal chop with ceps, parsley and garlic, to traditional English roast duck with apple sauce, which really does make my mouth water. There are similarities with his food and mine. He has been admired by many chefs for decades and we all have his books, many of which have been featured here before. And his lamb breast, breadcrumbed till crisp with garlic mayonnaise came via Ruth Mott and him to appear on our menus at Cafe.

I adore the recipes here. The photography is clean and simple and it is food I genuinely want to eat. It looks delicious, unfussy and elegant. Standout for me are broad beans, smoked cod roe and ricotta with olive oil, a dish we reinvent with crowdie. The pot roast pork with endives makes me very hungry indeed. I want to eat this food every day. He has had a great career and headed up some of the best kitchens in the UK over the years, Hilaire, Bibendum etc.  This guy cooks very well and the book came with a television series. If you love food and love eating in the sort of places I do, then get this book.

COOKBOOK OF THE WEEK: THE LITTLE PARIS KITCHEN BY RACHEL KHOO

The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo is a stunner of a book which I like a lot, for many reasons. I remember watching the television series years ago and thinking, this person is good, speaks French, lives in a tiny apartment in Paris and cooks really well. I admire her style, she oozes it. I met her several years ago, at a gig in 10 Downing Street, when the then Prime Minister David Cameron asked about 100 of the best supporters of UK food for a drinks and nibbles reception. I am such a name dropper.

This book is filled with dishes I want to eat and what she has learned at le Cordon Bleu in Paris comes across here. The dishes are stylish, simple to follow and easy for most to create. From pear Belle Helen to fish with lemon and brown butter or classics like coarse pork pate, pissaladière and Quiche Lorraine. If I was to write a cookery book it would look similar to this one. The photography here is spot on, with images of France’s capital and her of course in various locations looking so stylish and cool. Like Cafe St Honore this is so much a slice of Paris and I love every page of it, truly a great book for everyone.

COOKBOOK OF THE WEEK: AT HOME WITH THE ROUX BROTHERS

Most people have heard of the Roux brothers. They were at the forefront of cookery in the UK for decades and throughout that time trained some of the best chefs this country has ever seen. They were a brilliant team. They had many generals working with them, and some brilliant cooks. Mention any famous chef today and they will probably have worked in one of the Roux’s kitchens at some point. Their professional standards were so high. I know as I worked free for 6 months at The Waterside Inn in Bray for Michel. He was brilliant. He was supportive of me and we became good friends. Their ability to appeal to the home cook was tricky as it was quite ‘cheffy‘ but in this book, At Home with the Roux Brothers, which went with a television series, they mastered the art of showing us how to cook simply, well, and with that French panache at home.

Their famous Le Gavroche opened in 1967 and The Waterside Inn in 1972. Subsequently they had countless Michelin stars, accolades and people were queuing around the block, not just to eat there, but were desperate to work there. I never got an interview at Le Gavroche. My father had told me it would be a practical exam so I practised and practised, knife skills,

frying eggs gently, cutting a chicken for sauce, but the call or letter never arrived. Imagine if I had been there at the same time as a certain Ramsay or Pierre White, the mind boggles. I was asked to go into business with them later but I said no.

I am sure you will have seen this book before, it is an oldie but a classic.

TASTING THE PAST, RECIPES FROM ANTIQUITY BY JACQUI WOOD

Tasting the Past, Recipes from Antiquity by Jacqui Wood is a magical book. A real page

turner for many reasons. Without stating the obvious, it shows us what we used to eat, and

when we started eating certain foods. Britain has been influenced by many other countries

over the years. France, Italy, Germany and other further away places. The invasions of

Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans brought with them their cultures and food. Spice

from the crusades must have been an amazing addition to a possibly bland dish, but only for

those who could afford them. And of course, the British colonies introduced us to new foods,

The Civil War brought restrictions and eating a mince pie on Christmas Day was against the

law! Georgians took on chocolate and coffee with gusto but it was the Victorians who

seemed to bring all this together, truly global, I suppose.

This book provides us with some great recipes from our past, perhaps avoiding dishes we

won’t ever cook such as cows udders and stuffed fish heads. There are some good ideas

here that I will be stealing, and I will use this book for reference as I grow greyer and greyer.

Fascinating reading beans and peas were eaten by the Celts. Herbs were used a lot and

foraged items too, like ramsons and wild garlic for flavour. Interesting to read that pigeon,

and black and red grouse carcasses were found in a midden in Glastonbury during the Iron

Age. We use a lot of pigeon today. The Romans ate well it seems with plenty of stews using

lamb, lentils and lots of fruits. But the first Christmas feasts were Roman, as it was banned in

the first few centuries here. And jumping around a bit, cooking food in clay seemed all the

rage in Iron Age times, a method used today, but in a salt pastry crust. With so much to talk

about in this book, its best you just go and buy a copy, it really is very interesting reading.

NEIL'S COOKBOOK OF THE WEEK: THE ROMAN COOKERY BOOK 'APICIUS'

I have recently found this book at a church book sale, and I can’t put it down. It is called The

Roman Cookery Book ‘Apicius’ translated by Barbara Flower and Elisabeth Rosenbaum. It is

a wonderful book to pick up, find some interesting facts and put down again, but you will go

back to it. What seems to underlie Roman food is that they were very keen on covering up

the taste of say, the actual meat they were cooking, with other flavours, like garum. I

suppose today we do similar things but are more subtle with our sauces and

accompaniments.

I read some stunning recipes that wouldn’t be out of place in a restaurant today. Mussels

with chopped fresh coriander, and peppercorns or a barley soup or broth with dill, leg of

pork, with coriander, pepper, lovage, cumin, moistened with honey and vinegar and poured

over it. Which actually sounds quite nice. I adore the sauces for ostrich section, which can

be used with crane, pheasant, chicken, goose or peacock. However, instructions on how to

pluck a flamingo are possibly a bit much for today’s tastes.

In the gourmet section there are recipes for wombs from sterile cows, skin, fillets, ribs and

trotters. A grilled womb anyone? Roll in bran and afterwards, soak in brine and then cook. All

a bit peculiar, but I suppose there is a melting pot of so many cultures in Roman times with

food from all over the world brought by servants and slaves and tried by the cooks of the

day, a really interesting read.

NEILS COOKBOOK OF THE WEEK: THE RACINE EFFECT BY HENRY HARRIS

.Finally my copy of ’The Racine Effect” by Henry Harris has arrived which has been long awaited. I have admired this chap for many years. I absolutely love his food. It is the food that I want to eat. He cooks with so much love and flavour, something a lot don’t do. His ability to keep to the classics and produce excellent dishes time and again amazes me. It is in essence so simple, but so difficult to do. His restaurant at Farringdon is wonderful. I have only eaten there once, but it was memorable and one of those places you wish you lived close to. Someone said some years ago, “if there is a heaven then I want Mark Hix to be cooking in the canteen” I would like to see Henry Harris cooking alongside him. Please buy this book and go and eat at his restaurant, if you can get a table, because it is full of chefs eating there on their day off.

CONSUMABLES FROM THE ROYAL SCOTSMAN TRAIN

It's an unusual book this week, one which I don’t believe you can buy. It has me in it, and was a book produced when working on board The Royal Scotsman train. Consumables was put together in the 1990’s as so many guests who stayed with us on the train would ask for recipes of dishes, so we decided to put this little book together for them to take home with them. The images are funny to look back on now, but yet again, it feels like yesterday. I look so young, and the food looks fresh and as great as I remember. We cooked some great food on the train. Remember we were moving about 70 miles an hour during the day, serving breakfasts and lunches but always stabled in the evening and overnight. It was a magical way of seeing the whole of not just Scotland, but the UK too as we ran tours in the West Country and Wales and into London. Guests stayed at the Goring hotel the night before and were piped on board at Paddington station and the adventure began. It was 3 of the most enjoyable years cooking and where I met a certain Mrs Chef. If you for some reason have a copy of this book, it will be worth a fortune….or possibly not.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: Island Harvest by Nick Nairn

This book takes me back to my past as if it was yesterday. ‘Island Harvest’ by Nick Nairn is a lovely book, with many dishes I know well. I worked with Nick a few times and we got on very well. I took over at his restaurant in Aberfoyle called Braeval and cooked some of my best food there, then went on to be head chef at Nairns in Glasgow. This was not yesterday, it was almost 30 years ago, and the book was made into a series for television too.

The food in this book still stands the test of time, with some great dishes. Rosti with spinach, poached farm eggs and mustard hollandaise (a very me dish) and Scottish ale-braised oxtail with butterbeans, to griddled trout with herb beurre blanc and warm butter cake. Really good, simple cookery and food I want to eat.

He is still cooking brilliantly at his cookery school in Stirlingshire, do go and support him. He is a great guy, lots of experience and just wants people to eat good food, and I second that. A shout out to the photographs in this book by Jean Cazals, nice, simple and sharp. All in all, a great book. Well done Nick.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: Floyd on France by Keith Floyd

There are classic novels, books by Shakespeare and stories by Jane Austen, but when it comes to cookery books there are a few that are true classics, such as 'Floyd on France'. It is by Keith Floyd, a mountain of a man on television in the 1980s and 90s. He was so popular and wrote many books alongside his programmes, but this book will always remind me of him and his ability to entice you into the kitchen, put a pan on the hob and cook some food.

Now we all know he liked a glass of wine, and quite rightly so, he was having fun. The wine loosened him up a bit and yes, it became his trademark. Whenever or whatever they were filming or cooking, he always made time for a cheeky glass of something. It was always slightly chaotic, and a reminder not to take what we do too seriously all the time.

This book is jam packed full of classics: fish stews, Provençal beef stew, Basque chicken and foie gras. One dish stands out to me, calf’s ears in kidney sauce, sounds interesting. If you are a keen cook and wanted to open a French restaurant, buy this book and do not be tempted to veer off his path, the dishes work.

It is simple, the recipes are wonderful, and I want to eat them all now as I read it again. The Swiss chard in white sauce looks amazing. I am off to make it this week. This is proper food, none of that fancy nonsense here.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: Neil’s cookbook of the week: Le Repertoire de la Cuisine by Louis Saulnier

It is something very rigid and proper this week, and one that most chefs my age will have stashed away somewhere. It isn’t glossy or cool or in any way trendy. It is 'Le Répertoire de la Cuisine', a pocket-sized book by Louis Saulnier.

This is basically a reference book containing the dishes of the great chef Escoffier, with over 6,000 dishes here with recipes. As they say in the book, the work is never complete as there is always a new thing, technique, dish or sauce created somewhere.

This book has been invaluable for many chefs past, present and future. It may not be the sort of book you would pick up and read but certainly go to to check the name, spelling and list of ingredients of a dish.

For example, there are up to 100 ways to serve quails. One I like is Quail Nelson: dress in caul, surround with cocks’ combs tossed in butter, that’s it, that’s all they tell you. Go to sole and fillets in the sole section and there are hundreds of ideas, all very simply described. And I lost count of how many potato dishes there are.

This is a bible for chefs and one that will never grow old, there is always something relevant in it for today’s food served in restaurants. Interestingly this was translated into English from French by the chef to the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe, a certain Edouard Brunet. Fascinating stuff.