Excellent!, 02 Nov 2008
This is a really good cookbook for those with dietary issues. I avoid gluten and dairy, and although this book was just gluten free, it is easy to substitute soy milk or other non-dairy ingredients for the recipes in the book.

I made the Christmas cake last Christmas, and will be baking it again for this Christmas. It had a lovely baked almond 'crust' and was really moist inside. I've made quite a few of their recipes and they've all turned out really well - banana bread, yorkshire puds and the like.

The recipes are really easy to follow and well laid out. Most of the ingredients are easy to get hold of too - which is always a bonus!

Building recipes triumphantly out of fresh ingredients, 17 Oct 2008
Once you or someone you cook for are diagnosed as coeliac, you have a choice: either you try to keep your diet much as it was using gluten-free alternative versions of products, or you construct a new dietary regimen based on the things that you can still eat without risk. Pasta embodies this choice: it is off limits to the coeliac in its normal form, so you can either buy the gluten-free version (harder to obtain, more expensive, and frankly a bit peculiar in its texture and taste) or you can switch to a different source of carbohydrate that does not contain gluten, such as rice or potatoes, and use that when previously you would have used pasta. If you are already used to cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients, the second option will not be daunting and will ultimately prove more satisfactory.

This volume works on that premise: building a strong and varied selection of recipes for all times of the day, for the most part out of basic ingredients that require no modification for the coeliac. Those recipes are at the book's core. Some of them display considerable ingenuity: cakes, as you would expect, are a particular challenge to the gluten-free chef, and this book rises well to that challenge. Rice flour, almonds and polenta often take the place of wheat flour, with all sorts of ingenious ways of keeping these moist and flavoursome: who could resist, for instance, Lady Dundee's Orange Cake, which begins by simmering oranges for an hour or two until tender, then putting them in their entirety into a blender - peel, flesh, pips and all - and liquidising them? In other areas of the book the need for ingenuity in avoiding gluten is less, and there will be occasions when you are surprised glancing over a recipe for risotto, for example, that the recipe is gluten-free because it seems so "normal" and lacking in any special difficulty. Which is, of course, the point I made at the start: it is possible to construct a perfectly acceptable, "normal" diet out of the numerous ingredients that are safe for the coeliac. The book is not, then, simply a guide to the things that are difficult to cook for a coeliac, but a balanced and rounded selection of all sorts of recipes, united by the fact one can be confident that anything in these pages is safe for a coeliac.

Recipes based on the ingredients requiring no modification are at the heart of the book. There is other material as well: a section of recipes to cook with gluten-free pasta, a whole section relating to basic carbohydrates such as breads or pizza bases, and an overview of the condition discussing which basic foodstuffs are safe and which off limits, buying gluten-free foods, eating out as a coeliac and so on. This would be suitable for a newly-diagnosed coeliac, their partner or, perhaps, someone about to get a visit from a coeliac relative or friend.

All in all, a balanced and wide-ranging book, with recipes of a high quality. You will find yourself passing recipes on to people who can eat gluten, and will hear them give that ultimate (and rather irritating) accolade, "you'd never know it was gluten-free". If you or your partner or child are coeliac, you will probably acquire a variety of recipe books as you explore the options open to you, but this will probably be the one you use most. If a friend or relative for whom you cook from time to time is coeliac, this is probably all you need, giving you a range of recipes that are appetising as well as safe, and a basic overview of the condition. Ultimately a recipe book stands or falls on the quality of the food described in it, and this, by building on those core ingredients that are safe, building on strengths rather trying to compensate for difficulties, passes that test with flying colours. Thoroughly recommended.


Lovely although a little complex..., 09 Jul 2008
A well balanced array of recipes in all. The recipes call for a myriad of ingredients, I make a fab Vicky sponge just substituting normal SR flour for Gluten Free SR flour and I also substitute butter as my hubby and I are also allergic to dairy. I need a recipe book that I can whip up something from when I get home from work. This is a good book for impressing a gluten free sceptic with though! As with most recipe books you need to use this in conjunction with your own recipes.

great recipe book, 25 Nov 2007
brilliant easy to follow recipes which always work and are also a hit with non suffers of coeliac disease chocolate brownies are amazing

Some super tips, 06 Jan 2007
This is a good book, as it encourages the reader to use normal ingredients rather than prepacked mixes, and offers recipes for basics which I never imagined I could substitute. Some of the highlights include the great tip of using rice paper wrappers as a crunchy coating for fish (you won't miss batter), the soda bread recipe, and the breakfast health bar which went down a treat - no-one guessed there was anything odd about it, and it's the first time I have cooked with rice flakes. In fact, this book allows you to cook for yourself and others, without things tasting odd or artificial. Although many of the recipes are too high in fat for me (this applies to Irish cookery in general), I have successfully reduced the fat in all cases.

Excellent!, 02 Nov 2008
This is a really good cookbook for those with dietary issues. I avoid gluten and dairy, and although this book was just gluten free, it is easy to substitute soy milk or other non-dairy ingredients for the recipes in the book.

I made the Christmas cake last Christmas, and will be baking it again for this Christmas. It had a lovely baked almond 'crust' and was really moist inside. I've made quite a few of their recipes and they've all turned out really well - banana bread, yorkshire puds and the like.

The recipes are really easy to follow and well laid out. Most of the ingredients are easy to get hold of too - which is always a bonus!

Building recipes triumphantly out of fresh ingredients, 17 Oct 2008
Once you or someone you cook for are diagnosed as coeliac, you have a choice: either you try to keep your diet much as it was using gluten-free alternative versions of products, or you construct a new dietary regimen based on the things that you can still eat without risk. Pasta embodies this choice: it is off limits to the coeliac in its normal form, so you can either buy the gluten-free version (harder to obtain, more expensive, and frankly a bit peculiar in its texture and taste) or you can switch to a different source of carbohydrate that does not contain gluten, such as rice or potatoes, and use that when previously you would have used pasta. If you are already used to cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients, the second option will not be daunting and will ultimately prove more satisfactory.

This volume works on that premise: building a strong and varied selection of recipes for all times of the day, for the most part out of basic ingredients that require no modification for the coeliac. Those recipes are at the book's core. Some of them display considerable ingenuity: cakes, as you would expect, are a particular challenge to the gluten-free chef, and this book rises well to that challenge. Rice flour, almonds and polenta often take the place of wheat flour, with all sorts of ingenious ways of keeping these moist and flavoursome: who could resist, for instance, Lady Dundee's Orange Cake, which begins by simmering oranges for an hour or two until tender, then putting them in their entirety into a blender - peel, flesh, pips and all - and liquidising them? In other areas of the book the need for ingenuity in avoiding gluten is less, and there will be occasions when you are surprised glancing over a recipe for risotto, for example, that the recipe is gluten-free because it seems so "normal" and lacking in any special difficulty. Which is, of course, the point I made at the start: it is possible to construct a perfectly acceptable, "normal" diet out of the numerous ingredients that are safe for the coeliac. The book is not, then, simply a guide to the things that are difficult to cook for a coeliac, but a balanced and rounded selection of all sorts of recipes, united by the fact one can be confident that anything in these pages is safe for a coeliac.

Recipes based on the ingredients requiring no modification are at the heart of the book. There is other material as well: a section of recipes to cook with gluten-free pasta, a whole section relating to basic carbohydrates such as breads or pizza bases, and an overview of the condition discussing which basic foodstuffs are safe and which off limits, buying gluten-free foods, eating out as a coeliac and so on. This would be suitable for a newly-diagnosed coeliac, their partner or, perhaps, someone about to get a visit from a coeliac relative or friend.

All in all, a balanced and wide-ranging book, with recipes of a high quality. You will find yourself passing recipes on to people who can eat gluten, and will hear them give that ultimate (and rather irritating) accolade, "you'd never know it was gluten-free". If you or your partner or child are coeliac, you will probably acquire a variety of recipe books as you explore the options open to you, but this will probably be the one you use most. If a friend or relative for whom you cook from time to time is coeliac, this is probably all you need, giving you a range of recipes that are appetising as well as safe, and a basic overview of the condition. Ultimately a recipe book stands or falls on the quality of the food described in it, and this, by building on those core ingredients that are safe, building on strengths rather trying to compensate for difficulties, passes that test with flying colours. Thoroughly recommended.


Lovely although a little complex..., 09 Jul 2008
A well balanced array of recipes in all. The recipes call for a myriad of ingredients, I make a fab Vicky sponge just substituting normal SR flour for Gluten Free SR flour and I also substitute butter as my hubby and I are also allergic to dairy. I need a recipe book that I can whip up something from when I get home from work. This is a good book for impressing a gluten free sceptic with though! As with most recipe books you need to use this in conjunction with your own recipes.

great recipe book, 25 Nov 2007
brilliant easy to follow recipes which always work and are also a hit with non suffers of coeliac disease chocolate brownies are amazing

Some super tips, 06 Jan 2007
This is a good book, as it encourages the reader to use normal ingredients rather than prepacked mixes, and offers recipes for basics which I never imagined I could substitute. Some of the highlights include the great tip of using rice paper wrappers as a crunchy coating for fish (you won't miss batter), the soda bread recipe, and the breakfast health bar which went down a treat - no-one guessed there was anything odd about it, and it's the first time I have cooked with rice flakes. In fact, this book allows you to cook for yourself and others, without things tasting odd or artificial. Although many of the recipes are too high in fat for me (this applies to Irish cookery in general), I have successfully reduced the fat in all cases.

Modern day mrs beatons, 08 Apr 2008
I could get rid of all my cookery books as long as I still had this one. Everything you'll ever need to know in here!

Does everything!, 12 Dec 2007
I have read through a copy of this book and found it great so I am now going to buy it. The recipes include all the basics as well as interesting variations. It tells you things like how to cook prawns and doesnt expect you to know evertyhing before you start.

Excellent!, 02 Nov 2008
This is a really good cookbook for those with dietary issues. I avoid gluten and dairy, and although this book was just gluten free, it is easy to substitute soy milk or other non-dairy ingredients for the recipes in the book.

I made the Christmas cake last Christmas, and will be baking it again for this Christmas. It had a lovely baked almond 'crust' and was really moist inside. I've made quite a few of their recipes and they've all turned out really well - banana bread, yorkshire puds and the like.

The recipes are really easy to follow and well laid out. Most of the ingredients are easy to get hold of too - which is always a bonus!

Building recipes triumphantly out of fresh ingredients, 17 Oct 2008
Once you or someone you cook for are diagnosed as coeliac, you have a choice: either you try to keep your diet much as it was using gluten-free alternative versions of products, or you construct a new dietary regimen based on the things that you can still eat without risk. Pasta embodies this choice: it is off limits to the coeliac in its normal form, so you can either buy the gluten-free version (harder to obtain, more expensive, and frankly a bit peculiar in its texture and taste) or you can switch to a different source of carbohydrate that does not contain gluten, such as rice or potatoes, and use that when previously you would have used pasta. If you are already used to cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients, the second option will not be daunting and will ultimately prove more satisfactory.

This volume works on that premise: building a strong and varied selection of recipes for all times of the day, for the most part out of basic ingredients that require no modification for the coeliac. Those recipes are at the book's core. Some of them display considerable ingenuity: cakes, as you would expect, are a particular challenge to the gluten-free chef, and this book rises well to that challenge. Rice flour, almonds and polenta often take the place of wheat flour, with all sorts of ingenious ways of keeping these moist and flavoursome: who could resist, for instance, Lady Dundee's Orange Cake, which begins by simmering oranges for an hour or two until tender, then putting them in their entirety into a blender - peel, flesh, pips and all - and liquidising them? In other areas of the book the need for ingenuity in avoiding gluten is less, and there will be occasions when you are surprised glancing over a recipe for risotto, for example, that the recipe is gluten-free because it seems so "normal" and lacking in any special difficulty. Which is, of course, the point I made at the start: it is possible to construct a perfectly acceptable, "normal" diet out of the numerous ingredients that are safe for the coeliac. The book is not, then, simply a guide to the things that are difficult to cook for a coeliac, but a balanced and rounded selection of all sorts of recipes, united by the fact one can be confident that anything in these pages is safe for a coeliac.

Recipes based on the ingredients requiring no modification are at the heart of the book. There is other material as well: a section of recipes to cook with gluten-free pasta, a whole section relating to basic carbohydrates such as breads or pizza bases, and an overview of the condition discussing which basic foodstuffs are safe and which off limits, buying gluten-free foods, eating out as a coeliac and so on. This would be suitable for a newly-diagnosed coeliac, their partner or, perhaps, someone about to get a visit from a coeliac relative or friend.

All in all, a balanced and wide-ranging book, with recipes of a high quality. You will find yourself passing recipes on to people who can eat gluten, and will hear them give that ultimate (and rather irritating) accolade, "you'd never know it was gluten-free". If you or your partner or child are coeliac, you will probably acquire a variety of recipe books as you explore the options open to you, but this will probably be the one you use most. If a friend or relative for whom you cook from time to time is coeliac, this is probably all you need, giving you a range of recipes that are appetising as well as safe, and a basic overview of the condition. Ultimately a recipe book stands or falls on the quality of the food described in it, and this, by building on those core ingredients that are safe, building on strengths rather trying to compensate for difficulties, passes that test with flying colours. Thoroughly recommended.


Lovely although a little complex..., 09 Jul 2008
A well balanced array of recipes in all. The recipes call for a myriad of ingredients, I make a fab Vicky sponge just substituting normal SR flour for Gluten Free SR flour and I also substitute butter as my hubby and I are also allergic to dairy. I need a recipe book that I can whip up something from when I get home from work. This is a good book for impressing a gluten free sceptic with though! As with most recipe books you need to use this in conjunction with your own recipes.

great recipe book, 25 Nov 2007
brilliant easy to follow recipes which always work and are also a hit with non suffers of coeliac disease chocolate brownies are amazing

Some super tips, 06 Jan 2007
This is a good book, as it encourages the reader to use normal ingredients rather than prepacked mixes, and offers recipes for basics which I never imagined I could substitute. Some of the highlights include the great tip of using rice paper wrappers as a crunchy coating for fish (you won't miss batter), the soda bread recipe, and the breakfast health bar which went down a treat - no-one guessed there was anything odd about it, and it's the first time I have cooked with rice flakes. In fact, this book allows you to cook for yourself and others, without things tasting odd or artificial. Although many of the recipes are too high in fat for me (this applies to Irish cookery in general), I have successfully reduced the fat in all cases.

Modern day mrs beatons, 08 Apr 2008
I could get rid of all my cookery books as long as I still had this one. Everything you'll ever need to know in here!

Does everything!, 12 Dec 2007
I have read through a copy of this book and found it great so I am now going to buy it. The recipes include all the basics as well as interesting variations. It tells you things like how to cook prawns and doesnt expect you to know evertyhing before you start.

definitely my cup of tea, 23 Aug 2003
I'm very happy that Darina Allen compiled this book. It sets the scene of a way of life that my father used to tell me about - teacakes cooked on the griddle, potato cake, real Irish stew - and, of course, champ! In a wonderful introduction, Allen describes the advent, if you can call it that, of so-called "fancy shop-bought things" and how this began the decline of traditional recipes. What follows is a labour of love for Allen, a compilation to salvage over 300 recipes that reflect the Irish way of life, its farming heritage and cooking skills. The book is complete with wonderfully evocative photography and notes. And having tried some of them, I can vouch that the recipes are easy and tasty.

A rich and wonderful book, 02 Mar 2002
More and more I wish I had not taken for granted my grandmother - that she would always be there to pass on what she had learnt as a cook and as a doting Nan.
Darina and her contributers are different cooks from my Nan, but they share the same values - which are precious.
Darina has been clever enough to capture knowledge, before it is lost forever, that has been passed down for generations. This book, which gives great insight into methods and secrets of senior generations is a gem. It is a book you want to read from cover to cover. It is rich in recipes and history.
You won't cook everything (anyway I'm not yet up to trying the pig tails) but I have adopted many recipes that my family and friends look forward to. They are comforting to eat and cook.
As a cook book addict - I feel like I am coming home when I read and cook Darina & Co.s recipes.

A wonderful journey through the delights of Irish cookery., 19 Sep 2001
Darina Allen's passion for cookery, and the use of the finest locally produced ingredients is a delight to read. The recipes are easy to follow, and the end result well worth the effort. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking.

Excellent!, 02 Nov 2008
This is a really good cookbook for those with dietary issues. I avoid gluten and dairy, and although this book was just gluten free, it is easy to substitute soy milk or other non-dairy ingredients for the recipes in the book.

I made the Christmas cake last Christmas, and will be baking it again for this Christmas. It had a lovely baked almond 'crust' and was really moist inside. I've made quite a few of their recipes and they've all turned out really well - banana bread, yorkshire puds and the like.

The recipes are really easy to follow and well laid out. Most of the ingredients are easy to get hold of too - which is always a bonus!

Building recipes triumphantly out of fresh ingredients, 17 Oct 2008
Once you or someone you cook for are diagnosed as coeliac, you have a choice: either you try to keep your diet much as it was using gluten-free alternative versions of products, or you construct a new dietary regimen based on the things that you can still eat without risk. Pasta embodies this choice: it is off limits to the coeliac in its normal form, so you can either buy the gluten-free version (harder to obtain, more expensive, and frankly a bit peculiar in its texture and taste) or you can switch to a different source of carbohydrate that does not contain gluten, such as rice or potatoes, and use that when previously you would have used pasta. If you are already used to cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients, the second option will not be daunting and will ultimately prove more satisfactory.

This volume works on that premise: building a strong and varied selection of recipes for all times of the day, for the most part out of basic ingredients that require no modification for the coeliac. Those recipes are at the book's core. Some of them display considerable ingenuity: cakes, as you would expect, are a particular challenge to the gluten-free chef, and this book rises well to that challenge. Rice flour, almonds and polenta often take the place of wheat flour, with all sorts of ingenious ways of keeping these moist and flavoursome: who could resist, for instance, Lady Dundee's Orange Cake, which begins by simmering oranges for an hour or two until tender, then putting them in their entirety into a blender - peel, flesh, pips and all - and liquidising them? In other areas of the book the need for ingenuity in avoiding gluten is less, and there will be occasions when you are surprised glancing over a recipe for risotto, for example, that the recipe is gluten-free because it seems so "normal" and lacking in any special difficulty. Which is, of course, the point I made at the start: it is possible to construct a perfectly acceptable, "normal" diet out of the numerous ingredients that are safe for the coeliac. The book is not, then, simply a guide to the things that are difficult to cook for a coeliac, but a balanced and rounded selection of all sorts of recipes, united by the fact one can be confident that anything in these pages is safe for a coeliac.

Recipes based on the ingredients requiring no modification are at the heart of the book. There is other material as well: a section of recipes to cook with gluten-free pasta, a whole section relating to basic carbohydrates such as breads or pizza bases, and an overview of the condition discussing which basic foodstuffs are safe and which off limits, buying gluten-free foods, eating out as a coeliac and so on. This would be suitable for a newly-diagnosed coeliac, their partner or, perhaps, someone about to get a visit from a coeliac relative or friend.

All in all, a balanced and wide-ranging book, with recipes of a high quality. You will find yourself passing recipes on to people who can eat gluten, and will hear them give that ultimate (and rather irritating) accolade, "you'd never know it was gluten-free". If you or your partner or child are coeliac, you will probably acquire a variety of recipe books as you explore the options open to you, but this will probably be the one you use most. If a friend or relative for whom you cook from time to time is coeliac, this is probably all you need, giving you a range of recipes that are appetising as well as safe, and a basic overview of the condition. Ultimately a recipe book stands or falls on the quality of the food described in it, and this, by building on those core ingredients that are safe, building on strengths rather trying to compensate for difficulties, passes that test with flying colours. Thoroughly recommended.


Lovely although a little complex..., 09 Jul 2008
A well balanced array of recipes in all. The recipes call for a myriad of ingredients, I make a fab Vicky sponge just substituting normal SR flour for Gluten Free SR flour and I also substitute butter as my hubby and I are also allergic to dairy. I need a recipe book that I can whip up something from when I get home from work. This is a good book for impressing a gluten free sceptic with though! As with most recipe books you need to use this in conjunction with your own recipes.

great recipe book, 25 Nov 2007
brilliant easy to follow recipes which always work and are also a hit with non suffers of coeliac disease chocolate brownies are amazing

Some super tips, 06 Jan 2007
This is a good book, as it encourages the reader to use normal ingredients rather than prepacked mixes, and offers recipes for basics which I never imagined I could substitute. Some of the highlights include the great tip of using rice paper wrappers as a crunchy coating for fish (you won't miss batter), the soda bread recipe, and the breakfast health bar which went down a treat - no-one guessed there was anything odd about it, and it's the first time I have cooked with rice flakes. In fact, this book allows you to cook for yourself and others, without things tasting odd or artificial. Although many of the recipes are too high in fat for me (this applies to Irish cookery in general), I have successfully reduced the fat in all cases.

Modern day mrs beatons, 08 Apr 2008
I could get rid of all my cookery books as long as I still had this one. Everything you'll ever need to know in here!

Does everything!, 12 Dec 2007
I have read through a copy of this book and found it great so I am now going to buy it. The recipes include all the basics as well as interesting variations. It tells you things like how to cook prawns and doesnt expect you to know evertyhing before you start.

definitely my cup of tea, 23 Aug 2003
I'm very happy that Darina Allen compiled this book. It sets the scene of a way of life that my father used to tell me about - teacakes cooked on the griddle, potato cake, real Irish stew - and, of course, champ! In a wonderful introduction, Allen describes the advent, if you can call it that, of so-called "fancy shop-bought things" and how this began the decline of traditional recipes. What follows is a labour of love for Allen, a compilation to salvage over 300 recipes that reflect the Irish way of life, its farming heritage and cooking skills. The book is complete with wonderfully evocative photography and notes. And having tried some of them, I can vouch that the recipes are easy and tasty.

A rich and wonderful book, 02 Mar 2002
More and more I wish I had not taken for granted my grandmother - that she would always be there to pass on what she had learnt as a cook and as a doting Nan.
Darina and her contributers are different cooks from my Nan, but they share the same values - which are precious.
Darina has been clever enough to capture knowledge, before it is lost forever, that has been passed down for generations. This book, which gives great insight into methods and secrets of senior generations is a gem. It is a book you want to read from cover to cover. It is rich in recipes and history.
You won't cook everything (anyway I'm not yet up to trying the pig tails) but I have adopted many recipes that my family and friends look forward to. They are comforting to eat and cook.
As a cook book addict - I feel like I am coming home when I read and cook Darina & Co.s recipes.

A wonderful journey through the delights of Irish cookery., 19 Sep 2001
Darina Allen's passion for cookery, and the use of the finest locally produced ingredients is a delight to read. The recipes are easy to follow, and the end result well worth the effort. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking.

A wonderful booked packed with fantastic easy to follow recipes, 07 Oct 2008
This is a great book. I do a lot of entertaining at home and this book is filled with inspirational beautiful photography and is an indespensible guide to entertaining for every occasion.It takes all the stress out of planning a meal or dinner party, as all the recipes I need are here, they are easy to follow and produce great results, it hasn't let me down yet!

Beautiful and very useful, 04 Jan 2007
A great looking, great cooking book, covering a huge array of entertaining possibilities, not just formal dinner parties. She gets you enthused about having friends over to enjoy good food and have fun, rather than daunting you with long timetables of what to get ready when. There are some real gems of recipes here nad not too much cross over with her other books, espeically her silver bible, the BAllymaloe Cookery Course. There are loads of great ideas for decorating, even games to play. I LOVE the breakfast/brunch section, a much overlooked way of entertaining.

High Standards as Always, 12 Nov 2005
Darina Allen's books are always written to a very high standard, as someone who teaches cookery as she does, the books are always exact, well thought out and you know will always work. I have been lucky enough to visit her cookery school and her high standards there are reflected in the quality of her books. You know that all the recipes have been tested, tested again and will not let you down. Her new book is full of excellent ideas, modern twists and as the name implies not too complicated. None of us have the time to spend hours and hours in the kitchen (although someone of us enjoy doing just that) Thank you for another first class book.

Excellent!, 02 Nov 2008
This is a really good cookbook for those with dietary issues. I avoid gluten and dairy, and although this book was just gluten free, it is easy to substitute soy milk or other non-dairy ingredients for the recipes in the book.

I made the Christmas cake last Christmas, and will be baking it again for this Christmas. It had a lovely baked almond 'crust' and was really moist inside. I've made quite a few of their recipes and they've all turned out really well - banana bread, yorkshire puds and the like.

The recipes are really easy to follow and well laid out. Most of the ingredients are easy to get hold of too - which is always a bonus!

Building recipes triumphantly out of fresh ingredients, 17 Oct 2008
Once you or someone you cook for are diagnosed as coeliac, you have a choice: either you try to keep your diet much as it was using gluten-free alternative versions of products, or you construct a new dietary regimen based on the things that you can still eat without risk. Pasta embodies this choice: it is off limits to the coeliac in its normal form, so you can either buy the gluten-free version (harder to obtain, more expensive, and frankly a bit peculiar in its texture and taste) or you can switch to a different source of carbohydrate that does not contain gluten, such as rice or potatoes, and use that when previously you would have used pasta. If you are already used to cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients, the second option will not be daunting and will ultimately prove more satisfactory.

This volume works on that premise: building a strong and varied selection of recipes for all times of the day, for the most part out of basic ingredients that require no modification for the coeliac. Those recipes are at the book's core. Some of them display considerable ingenuity: cakes, as you would expect, are a particular challenge to the gluten-free chef, and this book rises well to that challenge. Rice flour, almonds and polenta often take the place of wheat flour, with all sorts of ingenious ways of keeping these moist and flavoursome: who could resist, for instance, Lady Dundee's Orange Cake, which begins by simmering oranges for an hour or two until tender, then putting them in their entirety into a blender - peel, flesh, pips and all - and liquidising them? In other areas of the book the need for ingenuity in avoiding gluten is less, and there will be occasions when you are surprised glancing over a recipe for risotto, for example, that the recipe is gluten-free because it seems so "normal" and lacking in any special difficulty. Which is, of course, the point I made at the start: it is possible to construct a perfectly acceptable, "normal" diet out of the numerous ingredients that are safe for the coeliac. The book is not, then, simply a guide to the things that are difficult to cook for a coeliac, but a balanced and rounded selection of all sorts of recipes, united by the fact one can be confident that anything in these pages is safe for a coeliac.

Recipes based on the ingredients requiring no modification are at the heart of the book. There is other material as well: a section of recipes to cook with gluten-free pasta, a whole section relating to basic carbohydrates such as breads or pizza bases, and an overview of the condition discussing which basic foodstuffs are safe and which off limits, buying gluten-free foods, eating out as a coeliac and so on. This would be suitable for a newly-diagnosed coeliac, their partner or, perhaps, someone about to get a visit from a coeliac relative or friend.

All in all, a balanced and wide-ranging book, with recipes of a high quality. You will find yourself passing recipes on to people who can eat gluten, and will hear them give that ultimate (and rather irritating) accolade, "you'd never know it was gluten-free". If you or your partner or child are coeliac, you will probably acquire a variety of recipe books as you explore the options open to you, but this will probably be the one you use most. If a friend or relative for whom you cook from time to time is coeliac, this is probably all you need, giving you a range of recipes that are appetising as well as safe, and a basic overview of the condition. Ultimately a recipe book stands or falls on the quality of the food described in it, and this, by building on those core ingredients that are safe, building on strengths rather trying to compensate for difficulties, passes that test with flying colours. Thoroughly recommended.


Lovely although a little complex..., 09 Jul 2008
A well balanced array of recipes in all. The recipes call for a myriad of ingredients, I make a fab Vicky sponge just substituting normal SR flour for Gluten Free SR flour and I also substitute butter as my hubby and I are also allergic to dairy. I need a recipe book that I can whip up something from when I get home from work. This is a good book for impressing a gluten free sceptic with though! As with most recipe books you need to use this in conjunction with your own recipes.

great recipe book, 25 Nov 2007
brilliant easy to follow recipes which always work and are also a hit with non suffers of coeliac disease chocolate brownies are amazing

Some super tips, 06 Jan 2007
This is a good book, as it encourages the reader to use normal ingredients rather than prepacked mixes, and offers recipes for basics which I never imagined I could substitute. Some of the highlights include the great tip of using rice paper wrappers as a crunchy coating for fish (you won't miss batter), the soda bread recipe, and the breakfast health bar which went down a treat - no-one guessed there was anything odd about it, and it's the first time I have cooked with rice flakes. In fact, this book allows you to cook for yourself and others, without things tasting odd or artificial. Although many of the recipes are too high in fat for me (this applies to Irish cookery in general), I have successfully reduced the fat in all cases.

Modern day mrs beatons, 08 Apr 2008
I could get rid of all my cookery books as long as I still had this one. Everything you'll ever need to know in here!

Does everything!, 12 Dec 2007
I have read through a copy of this book and found it great so I am now going to buy it. The recipes include all the basics as well as interesting variations. It tells you things like how to cook prawns and doesnt expect you to know evertyhing before you start.

definitely my cup of tea, 23 Aug 2003
I'm very happy that Darina Allen compiled this book. It sets the scene of a way of life that my father used to tell me about - teacakes cooked on the griddle, potato cake, real Irish stew - and, of course, champ! In a wonderful introduction, Allen describes the advent, if you can call it that, of so-called "fancy shop-bought things" and how this began the decline of traditional recipes. What follows is a labour of love for Allen, a compilation to salvage over 300 recipes that reflect the Irish way of life, its farming heritage and cooking skills. The book is complete with wonderfully evocative photography and notes. And having tried some of them, I can vouch that the recipes are easy and tasty.

A rich and wonderful book, 02 Mar 2002
More and more I wish I had not taken for granted my grandmother - that she would always be there to pass on what she had learnt as a cook and as a doting Nan.
Darina and her contributers are different cooks from my Nan, but they share the same values - which are precious.
Darina has been clever enough to capture knowledge, before it is lost forever, that has been passed down for generations. This book, which gives great insight into methods and secrets of senior generations is a gem. It is a book you want to read from cover to cover. It is rich in recipes and history.
You won't cook everything (anyway I'm not yet up to trying the pig tails) but I have adopted many recipes that my family and friends look forward to. They are comforting to eat and cook.
As a cook book addict - I feel like I am coming home when I read and cook Darina & Co.s recipes.

A wonderful journey through the delights of Irish cookery., 19 Sep 2001
Darina Allen's passion for cookery, and the use of the finest locally produced ingredients is a delight to read. The recipes are easy to follow, and the end result well worth the effort. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking.

A wonderful booked packed with fantastic easy to follow recipes, 07 Oct 2008
This is a great book. I do a lot of entertaining at home and this book is filled with inspirational beautiful photography and is an indespensible guide to entertaining for every occasion.It takes all the stress out of planning a meal or dinner party, as all the recipes I need are here, they are easy to follow and produce great results, it hasn't let me down yet!

Beautiful and very useful, 04 Jan 2007
A great looking, great cooking book, covering a huge array of entertaining possibilities, not just formal dinner parties. She gets you enthused about having friends over to enjoy good food and have fun, rather than daunting you with long timetables of what to get ready when. There are some real gems of recipes here nad not too much cross over with her other books, espeically her silver bible, the BAllymaloe Cookery Course. There are loads of great ideas for decorating, even games to play. I LOVE the breakfast/brunch section, a much overlooked way of entertaining.

High Standards as Always, 12 Nov 2005
Darina Allen's books are always written to a very high standard, as someone who teaches cookery as she does, the books are always exact, well thought out and you know will always work. I have been lucky enough to visit her cookery school and her high standards there are reflected in the quality of her books. You know that all the recipes have been tested, tested again and will not let you down. Her new book is full of excellent ideas, modern twists and as the name implies not too complicated. None of us have the time to spend hours and hours in the kitchen (although someone of us enjoy doing just that) Thank you for another first class book.

Seasonal and traditional cooking from County Cork, 02 Apr 2007
Review by Henrietta Green April 2007

Darina Allen has a deserved reputation as an ambassador for Irish food, champion of Irish farmers markets and a great teacher and communicator.

In her latest book, she returns to her much-loved cookery school at Ballymaloe, near Cork in Ireland. Set in organic gardens and with its own farm, the Ballymaloe Cookery School uses much of its own produce in the classroom that provides the base for seasonal recipes throughout the year. Other ingredients are sourced locally from surrounding producers, many of whom we meet throughout the book.

Darina's style is to use these quality ingredients to create dishes with flair. The recipes have been tried and tested at the school and enjoyed and devoured by eager students. In fact, many are expanded with extra notes including what makes them special to teach to the class. There's also a good `Basics' section that guides you on pastry, stocks and sauces, the special Ballymaloe salad dressing and flavoured oils and jellies.

She also shares her wide knowledge of Irish history and folklore. In the bread chapter, you'll find recipes for Irish wheaten and soda bread with the advice to never forget to cross the top of the loaf, `to let the faeries out' or the loaf will be jinxed.

So even if you don't have access to the bountiful harvests at Ballymaloe, you can easily recreate the recipes using the best of the season from your own garden or farmers market.