Love the restaurant? Now you can give the recipes a whirl. The Square Meal team road-test the best new cookery books from the UK’s top chefs.
Wahaca: Mexican Food at Home (£20, Hodder & Stoughton)
Thomasina Miers’ love of Mexico and its food shines from every page of this book. Chapters on ‘Chilli Knowledge’ and ‘The Mexican Store Cupboard’ are helpful for those new to Mexican ingredients,
though Miers advocates using native British ingredients – so recipes feature Lancashire cheese rather than queso fresco, for example. Well-written recipes are easy to follow; my fiery chicken
tostadas (pictured, right) were a real crowd-pleaser, especially as the chilli level could be adjusted to suit personal taste. Perfect washed down with a round of margaritas.
Julie Sheppard, associate editor
Nathan Outlaw’s
British Seafood (£25, Quadrille)
Cookbooks from Michelin-starred chefs don’t always work in the home environment, given the inevitably lengthy prep times and number of stages required. So it’s good to see this straightforward
collection of recipes from Cornwall-based Nathan Outlaw, who divides his book into five sections (‘shellfish’, ‘oily fish’ and so on). The other useful part is that each fish has its own
introduction, including advice on time of year to buy, cooking and preparation methods, and suggestions for garnish, sauce and accompaniment. The sea bass with crab mayo, roasted fennel and orange
(pictured, left) that I cooked was delicious, even though it did involve making my own stock and mayonnaise from scratch. But then, it’s always those cheffy touches that make the difference between
an average dish and an excellent one.
Stuart Peskett, sub-editor/staff writer
Polpo (£25, Bloomsbury)
Polpo has been a trailblazer in the recent upsurge of chic yet unpretentious eateries peppering London, and it is this attitude that Russell Norman conveys in his restaurant’s first cookbook. In
his introduction, he brings Venice’s bustling bacari, or wine bars, to life, providing insight into his manifesto for small, simple dishes done well. ‘We have a rule that a dish is ready to put on
the menu only when we have taken out as many ingredients as possible,’ he says, and ingredient lists are often reassuringly short. I tried out a few dishes on friends with great success. Asparagus
with Parmesan and anchovy butter saw everyone use bread to mop up the butter, while goat’s cheese, roasted grape and walnut bruschetta (pictured, right) was so delicious that I made it again for
brunch the next day.
Laura Foster, sub-editor
Kitchen & Co
(£16.99, Kyle Books)
Friends Rosie French and Ellie Grace started a blog that led to a supper club, then a Brixton Market restaurant. While the book might induce the kind of lifestyle envy you’d expect – the crab with
ginger and spring onion (pictured, left) that I made was inspired by Ellie wanting to learn ‘about picking apart a fresh crab for a working lunch with Rosie’ – there’s also an acknowledgement that
most people will buy the crab ready prepared. All in all, an appealing book.
Ben McCormack, editor
Capital Spice (£20, Absolute Press)
A lively collection of 105 modern Indian recipes, brought to you by 21 top Indian chefs from various London restaurants. Expect authentic regional staples (with the occasional twist) and
sophisticated, exquisitely presented pan-Indian treats from chefs such as Benares’ Michelin-starred Atul Kochhar and Cinnamon Kitchen’s Vivek Singh.
Ami Kang, assistant online editor
The Icecreamists (£16.99,
Mitchell Beazley)
Icecreamists founder Matt O’Connor lists recipes for gelati, sorbets and spirit-laced lollies all with pun-laden names. Introductions are a little too pleased with themselves, and the texture of
the peanut-butter ice cream (pictured, left) that I made was ho-hum, the flavour akin to frozen peanut butter.
Nicky Evans, news and online editor
This feature was published in the summer 2012 issue of Square Meal Lifestyle.
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