An Italian Classic, 27 Nov 2008
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe books ever!! I love Italian food and this book has it all. Really simple sauces and marinades to much more complex cookery. If ever we are stuck for an idea for dinner this book is always picked up first, I would highly recommend it!

Wonderful - just beware the quantities, 21 Aug 2008
There are some reviews of this fabulous cook book which complain about the poor translation, the fact that the book isn't in Engish alphabetical order, that the quantities aren't precise enough ... You're safe to ignore all these quibbles provided you accept the basis on which this cookebook was created.

It was designed to guide (young) Italians who were starting to lose their traditional roots in national cuisine and to help them know just how to make high quality food. For this audience it isn't necessary to give exact quantities or lengths of time ... they just know. And after working with this cookery book, you'll get to know these things too.

For me, a precise English/American book telling me just precisely what to do down to the last millilitre, gramme or degree of heat is not letting you be creative, not allowing you to find out what works best for you in your kitchen, and - above all - what great ingredients work with which.

This is a classic book; its English translation works; and I simply couldn't be without it. (And excuse me, if cooking is all about glossy photos, count me out: I prefer pictures that look like what I make, not some bizarre studio impersonation of food.

The Silver Spoon is all about good food cooked by real people in real kitchens. Bravo! Buy it!

A must for any italian food lover, 28 Apr 2008
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good, 11 Apr 2008
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.



Best Italian cook book, 05 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book with over 2000 authentic recipes (some are very authentic - there's a whole section on brains!) The recipes are, typically of Italian food, simple and easy to follow. There is also a small section at the back with some more complicated recipes from famous Italian chefs. All in all a top book you're not likely to get bored with quickly.

How long does it take before somebody becomes a national treasure? It's certainly happened to Nigel Slater, and Eating for England is a highly enjoyable reminder of just why we esteem the estimable Mr Slater. Subtitled The Delights & Eccentricities of the British at Table, this is wonderfully entertaining stuff, explaining such matters as how some of our most cherished foods are the result of frugality (bread and butter pudding, for instance, is the direct result of utilising a few slices of leftover bread and a pat of butter, rather than culinary aspiration). As Slater points out, the British have a relationship with food which is quite unlike that of any other nation -- for many years, we were reluctant to discuss food matters (leaving culinary discussion to, for instance, the French), but we now appear to be in the grip of a national food obsession, with program after program on television and -- inevitably -- a host of books on the subject. But few are written as entertainingly as Nigel Slater's. It isn't just the discussion of food itself (from haute cuisine to the humblest of comfort foods) that's so diverting here, but other sociological (and tongue-in-cheek) related matters, such as `A Teenager at the Table' (`The shoulders droop, the head hangs sulkily down, eyes glaring intently at an invisible spot on their lap. Their whole body seems to say `I'm not eating this'). And Nigel Slater is perfectly happy to address subjects not found in any other food books (such as the modest chocolate bar -- different varieties are entertainingly compared and contrasted).

This is a personal portrait of the British and their food, filled with love of the eccentricities and peculiarities that encapsulate the national character. And it's great fun. --Barry Forshaw

An Italian Classic, 27 Nov 2008
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe books ever!! I love Italian food and this book has it all. Really simple sauces and marinades to much more complex cookery. If ever we are stuck for an idea for dinner this book is always picked up first, I would highly recommend it!

Wonderful - just beware the quantities, 21 Aug 2008
There are some reviews of this fabulous cook book which complain about the poor translation, the fact that the book isn't in Engish alphabetical order, that the quantities aren't precise enough ... You're safe to ignore all these quibbles provided you accept the basis on which this cookebook was created.

It was designed to guide (young) Italians who were starting to lose their traditional roots in national cuisine and to help them know just how to make high quality food. For this audience it isn't necessary to give exact quantities or lengths of time ... they just know. And after working with this cookery book, you'll get to know these things too.

For me, a precise English/American book telling me just precisely what to do down to the last millilitre, gramme or degree of heat is not letting you be creative, not allowing you to find out what works best for you in your kitchen, and - above all - what great ingredients work with which.

This is a classic book; its English translation works; and I simply couldn't be without it. (And excuse me, if cooking is all about glossy photos, count me out: I prefer pictures that look like what I make, not some bizarre studio impersonation of food.

The Silver Spoon is all about good food cooked by real people in real kitchens. Bravo! Buy it!

A must for any italian food lover, 28 Apr 2008
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good, 11 Apr 2008
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.



Best Italian cook book, 05 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book with over 2000 authentic recipes (some are very authentic - there's a whole section on brains!) The recipes are, typically of Italian food, simple and easy to follow. There is also a small section at the back with some more complicated recipes from famous Italian chefs. All in all a top book you're not likely to get bored with quickly.

You'd have to be a Nigel ..., 27 Nov 2008
... to write this. Or a Jeremy. Or possibly a Terence. But maybe we all have anorak-y tendencies when it comes to name-checking the fondly remembered foods of our 1950s and 60s childhoods.
But sorry, Nigel - you've done this too many times before - and so have too many other people. Spangles, Dairylea triangles, Jammie Dodgers, Tunnock's teacakes have had the Proustian treatment before. And let's face it though Spangles now RIP, nearly all of these along with Sarson's vinegar and Bisto can be bought in any Tesco today. Though I agree that floral gums (and cherry lips, the best for eating surreptitiously through double Latin) have had the chemistry formula changed and don't taste the same.
When Nigel gets stuck, or his Proustian madeleine/Rich Tea disintegrates soggily into his mug of PG, he throws in a page or two about farmers' markets - and then he simply gets BORING.
Eating for England is simply Toast reheated. And Nigel is getting to be an old aunt who retells the same stories too many times. (He's getting careless, too; the delectable lime barrel was never in Dairy Box, p166, it was everybody's favourite centre in Milk Tray. And Dairy Box wasn't made by Cadbury's, either. )

A disappointing mess of a book, 03 Nov 2008
"Eating For England" is re-heated "Toast". Disappointingly, Slater has produced a clunker here, and where Toast worked because he linked food memories to his own childhood, this latest volume lacks any structure on which to hang various short observations and sketches about food. What's more, it's quite repetitive in places, and simpy doesn't work in others.

Slater at his best pinpoints a long forgotten food memory that several of us of a certain age will have had. There are a few gems like that here (the whole chocolate Club biscuit experience for example) - but these are too few and far between for my liking.

Nigel Slater writes best about himself and his relationship with food. When he tries something different - observational stuff about different types of cook, or diner, it simply doesn't work because he's not part of that set up. You can't remain aloof from such things and pretend otherwise. These pieces of the book come over as phoney - and in places bitchy and unamusing.

"The Kitchen Diaries" was neither a practical cook book or a particularly entertaining diary; "Eating For England" maintains this loss of focus from an excellent food writer who needs to re-connect with a loyal audience next time around. Nige - let's just cut to the recipes for the next one, eh?

All puddings are English. Nigel is a pudding. Therefore Nigel, regrettably, is English., 23 Oct 2008
Eating for England - The Delights and Eccentricities of the BRITISH at Table? I skimmed this book before delivering it to one of my numbskull relatives as a birthday present. After seeing the response here to this curious choice of words I'm reminded that no-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the public.

It's an easy enough volume to follow. The layout is good, the writing merry and informal (if slightly knowing in the unappealing sense of the word 'clever'). There is even an interesting culinary suggestion or two.

Unfortunately nothing is value-free, and with Jamie Mockney under contract to sell us the fake barrow-boy-next-door line I'm afraid Nigel (change of name Nige?) Slater has still to win me over. Cookery's cultural implications, the idea of its saying something about the nation at large, is obviously dear to people's hearts.

But Britain is not a nation. It is a bureaucratic manoeuvre. In any event things like puddings are an ENGLISH speciality. So too Syllabub (very popular with the Elizabethans, who if nothing else knew who they were) and much else besides (try Florence White's 'Good Things in England' to learn more).

The title of this book is a masterpiece of ignorance and effrontery. Fortunately the modern English are the most passive, stupid and easily exploited people in Europe. They will buy it in droves. I just wonder how much faith we should place in the judgement of someone who doesn't know the difference between an administrative convenience and a nation in the truest sense of the word.


farmer's market propaganda, 09 Oct 2008
I must say there were many times where I laughed out loud or smiled in relation to many things I do or eat and how they are quintessentially British. I also learned that I AM the 'oh-i-never-measure-anything cook.' The experience of reading this lovely book, however has been marred by every other page judging people for not going to local greengrocers and not supporting farmer's markets.

I may be lucky enough to afford (or just a good budgeter!) to eat organic/local/fairtrade and have time to shop 3 times a week instead of one big one (I'm a student) but I know of too many people who simply don't have the time, energy OR money to buy ethically all the time and they shouldn't be made to feel bad for this. I want Nigel, Hugh AND Jamie (3 men I love very much) to spend a week in a council estate with a family of 5 and see how much money they have to spend on their groceries!

Lovely promise but...., 09 Jul 2008
I had looked forward to this for some time. I have been a fan on NS on TV since he first appeared. I like his style, his taste and his appreach to food. So why oh why or WHY did NS have to ruin it all for me with a single thoughtless - and eeming uncharacteristic - comment. He makes the point that continental stews are flavoursome and interesting while ours '...smell of old people.' As newly retired. I found it belittling, insulting and it stopped me reading the book in my tracks.

An Italian Classic, 27 Nov 2008
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe books ever!! I love Italian food and this book has it all. Really simple sauces and marinades to much more complex cookery. If ever we are stuck for an idea for dinner this book is always picked up first, I would highly recommend it!

Wonderful - just beware the quantities, 21 Aug 2008
There are some reviews of this fabulous cook book which complain about the poor translation, the fact that the book isn't in Engish alphabetical order, that the quantities aren't precise enough ... You're safe to ignore all these quibbles provided you accept the basis on which this cookebook was created.

It was designed to guide (young) Italians who were starting to lose their traditional roots in national cuisine and to help them know just how to make high quality food. For this audience it isn't necessary to give exact quantities or lengths of time ... they just know. And after working with this cookery book, you'll get to know these things too.

For me, a precise English/American book telling me just precisely what to do down to the last millilitre, gramme or degree of heat is not letting you be creative, not allowing you to find out what works best for you in your kitchen, and - above all - what great ingredients work with which.

This is a classic book; its English translation works; and I simply couldn't be without it. (And excuse me, if cooking is all about glossy photos, count me out: I prefer pictures that look like what I make, not some bizarre studio impersonation of food.

The Silver Spoon is all about good food cooked by real people in real kitchens. Bravo! Buy it!

A must for any italian food lover, 28 Apr 2008
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good, 11 Apr 2008
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.



Best Italian cook book, 05 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book with over 2000 authentic recipes (some are very authentic - there's a whole section on brains!) The recipes are, typically of Italian food, simple and easy to follow. There is also a small section at the back with some more complicated recipes from famous Italian chefs. All in all a top book you're not likely to get bored with quickly.

You'd have to be a Nigel ..., 27 Nov 2008
... to write this. Or a Jeremy. Or possibly a Terence. But maybe we all have anorak-y tendencies when it comes to name-checking the fondly remembered foods of our 1950s and 60s childhoods.
But sorry, Nigel - you've done this too many times before - and so have too many other people. Spangles, Dairylea triangles, Jammie Dodgers, Tunnock's teacakes have had the Proustian treatment before. And let's face it though Spangles now RIP, nearly all of these along with Sarson's vinegar and Bisto can be bought in any Tesco today. Though I agree that floral gums (and cherry lips, the best for eating surreptitiously through double Latin) have had the chemistry formula changed and don't taste the same.
When Nigel gets stuck, or his Proustian madeleine/Rich Tea disintegrates soggily into his mug of PG, he throws in a page or two about farmers' markets - and then he simply gets BORING.
Eating for England is simply Toast reheated. And Nigel is getting to be an old aunt who retells the same stories too many times. (He's getting careless, too; the delectable lime barrel was never in Dairy Box, p166, it was everybody's favourite centre in Milk Tray. And Dairy Box wasn't made by Cadbury's, either. )

A disappointing mess of a book, 03 Nov 2008
"Eating For England" is re-heated "Toast". Disappointingly, Slater has produced a clunker here, and where Toast worked because he linked food memories to his own childhood, this latest volume lacks any structure on which to hang various short observations and sketches about food. What's more, it's quite repetitive in places, and simpy doesn't work in others.

Slater at his best pinpoints a long forgotten food memory that several of us of a certain age will have had. There are a few gems like that here (the whole chocolate Club biscuit experience for example) - but these are too few and far between for my liking.

Nigel Slater writes best about himself and his relationship with food. When he tries something different - observational stuff about different types of cook, or diner, it simply doesn't work because he's not part of that set up. You can't remain aloof from such things and pretend otherwise. These pieces of the book come over as phoney - and in places bitchy and unamusing.

"The Kitchen Diaries" was neither a practical cook book or a particularly entertaining diary; "Eating For England" maintains this loss of focus from an excellent food writer who needs to re-connect with a loyal audience next time around. Nige - let's just cut to the recipes for the next one, eh?

All puddings are English. Nigel is a pudding. Therefore Nigel, regrettably, is English., 23 Oct 2008
Eating for England - The Delights and Eccentricities of the BRITISH at Table? I skimmed this book before delivering it to one of my numbskull relatives as a birthday present. After seeing the response here to this curious choice of words I'm reminded that no-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the public.

It's an easy enough volume to follow. The layout is good, the writing merry and informal (if slightly knowing in the unappealing sense of the word 'clever'). There is even an interesting culinary suggestion or two.

Unfortunately nothing is value-free, and with Jamie Mockney under contract to sell us the fake barrow-boy-next-door line I'm afraid Nigel (change of name Nige?) Slater has still to win me over. Cookery's cultural implications, the idea of its saying something about the nation at large, is obviously dear to people's hearts.

But Britain is not a nation. It is a bureaucratic manoeuvre. In any event things like puddings are an ENGLISH speciality. So too Syllabub (very popular with the Elizabethans, who if nothing else knew who they were) and much else besides (try Florence White's 'Good Things in England' to learn more).

The title of this book is a masterpiece of ignorance and effrontery. Fortunately the modern English are the most passive, stupid and easily exploited people in Europe. They will buy it in droves. I just wonder how much faith we should place in the judgement of someone who doesn't know the difference between an administrative convenience and a nation in the truest sense of the word.


farmer's market propaganda, 09 Oct 2008
I must say there were many times where I laughed out loud or smiled in relation to many things I do or eat and how they are quintessentially British. I also learned that I AM the 'oh-i-never-measure-anything cook.' The experience of reading this lovely book, however has been marred by every other page judging people for not going to local greengrocers and not supporting farmer's markets.

I may be lucky enough to afford (or just a good budgeter!) to eat organic/local/fairtrade and have time to shop 3 times a week instead of one big one (I'm a student) but I know of too many people who simply don't have the time, energy OR money to buy ethically all the time and they shouldn't be made to feel bad for this. I want Nigel, Hugh AND Jamie (3 men I love very much) to spend a week in a council estate with a family of 5 and see how much money they have to spend on their groceries!

Lovely promise but...., 09 Jul 2008
I had looked forward to this for some time. I have been a fan on NS on TV since he first appeared. I like his style, his taste and his appreach to food. So why oh why or WHY did NS have to ruin it all for me with a single thoughtless - and eeming uncharacteristic - comment. He makes the point that continental stews are flavoursome and interesting while ours '...smell of old people.' As newly retired. I found it belittling, insulting and it stopped me reading the book in my tracks.

Just the beginning......, 02 Aug 2008
I bought this book on a whim and have just completed my fifth cake and am in the process of devising my sixth cake - the pictures and instructions are brilliant, I had never iced a cake before and now feel competent enough to make them for people other than family! Would highly recommend this, and looking at other peoples reviews am going to buy book 2! Well worth it.

good book for the beginners..., 12 Jun 2008
this book was recommended by a dear friend it is a good book for beginners..worth buying...

fantastic, 13 Jun 2007
What can I say ...except this book is a must have for learning everything about making cakes through to how to decorate in various ways. It is very infromative with easy to follow instructions...a complete must for the beginner right through to the more experienced. It was so good that I bought book 2 also, another great book.

the international school of sugarcraft:beginners bk.1, 18 Oct 2006
summary:this is the most brilliant book i have every come across
good illustrations and very explanatory. great tips too.very useful for anyone who wants to learn the art of baking and icing cakes.

[...]

A bible for sugarcraft !, 26 Jul 1999
I was given the first hardcover edition of this book in 1988 as a Christmas present and I have stayed loyal to it ever since. The basic cake recipes are highly reliable - the rich fruit cake one of my staples come Christmas. The sugarcraft techniques are taught in such a way that has provided a foundation for further exploration. It's a great introduction to sugarcraft for the novice and provides a clear structure and overview for those who have struggled aimlessly in the dark thus far. I also have Book 2 and it is equally highly recommended. Both of my books are now ready for replacement after much wear, tear and intense use!

How would you survive on wartime rations? Eating for Victory (subtitled Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations) makes for absolutely fascinating reading -- and may answer the question as to what the reader might have made of these more straitened times.

The book reproduces official Second World War instruction leaflets (which have never before been published in book form) and demonstrates how millions of people in Britain endured food shortages during the hardships of WWII. With a perceptive foreword by Jill Norman, Eating for Victory shows that the government endeavoured to keep morale high by producing a host of the upbeat leaflets included here on such subjects as `using up stale crusts' and `foods for fitness' (the leaflets are most amusing in this area, showing how much thinking has changed over the years -- the use of fats and lard looks very quaint in these more enlightened times). But what gives particular pleasure here is the verbatim reproduction of the original artwork and typefaces, which vividly conjures a lost era. To read this entertaining little book is like climbing into a time machine to take us back to the 1940s. --Barry Forshaw

An Italian Classic, 27 Nov 2008
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe books ever!! I love Italian food and this book has it all. Really simple sauces and marinades to much more complex cookery. If ever we are stuck for an idea for dinner this book is always picked up first, I would highly recommend it!

Wonderful - just beware the quantities, 21 Aug 2008
There are some reviews of this fabulous cook book which complain about the poor translation, the fact that the book isn't in Engish alphabetical order, that the quantities aren't precise enough ... You're safe to ignore all these quibbles provided you accept the basis on which this cookebook was created.

It was designed to guide (young) Italians who were starting to lose their traditional roots in national cuisine and to help them know just how to make high quality food. For this audience it isn't necessary to give exact quantities or lengths of time ... they just know. And after working with this cookery book, you'll get to know these things too.

For me, a precise English/American book telling me just precisely what to do down to the last millilitre, gramme or degree of heat is not letting you be creative, not allowing you to find out what works best for you in your kitchen, and - above all - what great ingredients work with which.

This is a classic book; its English translation works; and I simply couldn't be without it. (And excuse me, if cooking is all about glossy photos, count me out: I prefer pictures that look like what I make, not some bizarre studio impersonation of food.

The Silver Spoon is all about good food cooked by real people in real kitchens. Bravo! Buy it!

A must for any italian food lover, 28 Apr 2008
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good, 11 Apr 2008
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.



Best Italian cook book, 05 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book with over 2000 authentic recipes (some are very authentic - there's a whole section on brains!) The recipes are, typically of Italian food, simple and easy to follow. There is also a small section at the back with some more complicated recipes from famous Italian chefs. All in all a top book you're not likely to get bored with quickly.

You'd have to be a Nigel ..., 27 Nov 2008
... to write this. Or a Jeremy. Or possibly a Terence. But maybe we all have anorak-y tendencies when it comes to name-checking the fondly remembered foods of our 1950s and 60s childhoods.
But sorry, Nigel - you've done this too many times before - and so have too many other people. Spangles, Dairylea triangles, Jammie Dodgers, Tunnock's teacakes have had the Proustian treatment before. And let's face it though Spangles now RIP, nearly all of these along with Sarson's vinegar and Bisto can be bought in any Tesco today. Though I agree that floral gums (and cherry lips, the best for eating surreptitiously through double Latin) have had the chemistry formula changed and don't taste the same.
When Nigel gets stuck, or his Proustian madeleine/Rich Tea disintegrates soggily into his mug of PG, he throws in a page or two about farmers' markets - and then he simply gets BORING.
Eating for England is simply Toast reheated. And Nigel is getting to be an old aunt who retells the same stories too many times. (He's getting careless, too; the delectable lime barrel was never in Dairy Box, p166, it was everybody's favourite centre in Milk Tray. And Dairy Box wasn't made by Cadbury's, either. )

A disappointing mess of a book, 03 Nov 2008
"Eating For England" is re-heated "Toast". Disappointingly, Slater has produced a clunker here, and where Toast worked because he linked food memories to his own childhood, this latest volume lacks any structure on which to hang various short observations and sketches about food. What's more, it's quite repetitive in places, and simpy doesn't work in others.

Slater at his best pinpoints a long forgotten food memory that several of us of a certain age will have had. There are a few gems like that here (the whole chocolate Club biscuit experience for example) - but these are too few and far between for my liking.

Nigel Slater writes best about himself and his relationship with food. When he tries something different - observational stuff about different types of cook, or diner, it simply doesn't work because he's not part of that set up. You can't remain aloof from such things and pretend otherwise. These pieces of the book come over as phoney - and in places bitchy and unamusing.

"The Kitchen Diaries" was neither a practical cook book or a particularly entertaining diary; "Eating For England" maintains this loss of focus from an excellent food writer who needs to re-connect with a loyal audience next time around. Nige - let's just cut to the recipes for the next one, eh?

All puddings are English. Nigel is a pudding. Therefore Nigel, regrettably, is English., 23 Oct 2008
Eating for England - The Delights and Eccentricities of the BRITISH at Table? I skimmed this book before delivering it to one of my numbskull relatives as a birthday present. After seeing the response here to this curious choice of words I'm reminded that no-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the public.

It's an easy enough volume to follow. The layout is good, the writing merry and informal (if slightly knowing in the unappealing sense of the word 'clever'). There is even an interesting culinary suggestion or two.

Unfortunately nothing is value-free, and with Jamie Mockney under contract to sell us the fake barrow-boy-next-door line I'm afraid Nigel (change of name Nige?) Slater has still to win me over. Cookery's cultural implications, the idea of its saying something about the nation at large, is obviously dear to people's hearts.

But Britain is not a nation. It is a bureaucratic manoeuvre. In any event things like puddings are an ENGLISH speciality. So too Syllabub (very popular with the Elizabethans, who if nothing else knew who they were) and much else besides (try Florence White's 'Good Things in England' to learn more).

The title of this book is a masterpiece of ignorance and effrontery. Fortunately the modern English are the most passive, stupid and easily exploited people in Europe. They will buy it in droves. I just wonder how much faith we should place in the judgement of someone who doesn't know the difference between an administrative convenience and a nation in the truest sense of the word.


farmer's market propaganda, 09 Oct 2008
I must say there were many times where I laughed out loud or smiled in relation to many things I do or eat and how they are quintessentially British. I also learned that I AM the 'oh-i-never-measure-anything cook.' The experience of reading this lovely book, however has been marred by every other page judging people for not going to local greengrocers and not supporting farmer's markets.

I may be lucky enough to afford (or just a good budgeter!) to eat organic/local/fairtrade and have time to shop 3 times a week instead of one big one (I'm a student) but I know of too many people who simply don't have the time, energy OR money to buy ethically all the time and they shouldn't be made to feel bad for this. I want Nigel, Hugh AND Jamie (3 men I love very much) to spend a week in a council estate with a family of 5 and see how much money they have to spend on their groceries!

Lovely promise but...., 09 Jul 2008
I had looked forward to this for some time. I have been a fan on NS on TV since he first appeared. I like his style, his taste and his appreach to food. So why oh why or WHY did NS have to ruin it all for me with a single thoughtless - and eeming uncharacteristic - comment. He makes the point that continental stews are flavoursome and interesting while ours '...smell of old people.' As newly retired. I found it belittling, insulting and it stopped me reading the book in my tracks.

Just the beginning......, 02 Aug 2008
I bought this book on a whim and have just completed my fifth cake and am in the process of devising my sixth cake - the pictures and instructions are brilliant, I had never iced a cake before and now feel competent enough to make them for people other than family! Would highly recommend this, and looking at other peoples reviews am going to buy book 2! Well worth it.

good book for the beginners..., 12 Jun 2008
this book was recommended by a dear friend it is a good book for beginners..worth buying...

fantastic, 13 Jun 2007
What can I say ...except this book is a must have for learning everything about making cakes through to how to decorate in various ways. It is very infromative with easy to follow instructions...a complete must for the beginner right through to the more experienced. It was so good that I bought book 2 also, another great book.

the international school of sugarcraft:beginners bk.1, 18 Oct 2006
summary:this is the most brilliant book i have every come across
good illustrations and very explanatory. great tips too.very useful for anyone who wants to learn the art of baking and icing cakes.

[...]

A bible for sugarcraft !, 26 Jul 1999
I was given the first hardcover edition of this book in 1988 as a Christmas present and I have stayed loyal to it ever since. The basic cake recipes are highly reliable - the rich fruit cake one of my staples come Christmas. The sugarcraft techniques are taught in such a way that has provided a foundation for further exploration. It's a great introduction to sugarcraft for the novice and provides a clear structure and overview for those who have struggled aimlessly in the dark thus far. I also have Book 2 and it is equally highly recommended. Both of my books are now ready for replacement after much wear, tear and intense use!

Eating through the hard times too, 09 Oct 2008
I bought the pair for my mum a year ago and they have ended up going round the whole family, young and old. Yes they have a nostalgic feel to them and it's food that nana used to make but thats what makes them so good, we are now having to live as if things are rationed, the meals that were made back then weren't full of e numbers and other nasty things (lets face it, we've all become alergic to them all anyway), they were wholesome and filling with no waste, after all I'm sure it's not only me that loves bubble and squeek on a monday with the sunday roast left overs. It has made me realize how lucky I am to have everything I want but I can survive on next to nothing.
Also the Make do and Mend is also full of cleaning tips and a definate must for anyone living in a period house and trying to keep things going, I live in a stone cottage and in a preservation area, with a house full of original things like Arga'sand stone floors I found good tips on how to care for these items without using chemical cleaners that corrode them away.

Fascinating, enlightening, 10 Jul 2008
The introduction to this book sets the scene of the wartime kitchen and beyond during rationing, and continues with reproductions of wartime leaflets. For content I would have given this book five stars but marked it down by one since I found some of the reproductions rather difficult to read due to poor quality - even with my super new reading glasses.

This book is not just a nostalgic look at the past but contains valuable nutritional advice which is as applicable today with the range of foods available to us as it was then.

Given the current economic climate and the need for us all to reduce food and energy waste, there are many useful tips to pick up from this book. Filling, wholesome food and a balanced diet is possible with good planning, even with the most frugal ingredients.

I also picked up nutritional tips - the benefits of parsley for example - and how to reduce fat.

Something I now want to do is weigh out the family's weekly wartime rations and see how many days it lasts! No wonder everyone was slim during the war, but apparently slim, fit and much healthier than many people are today.






fascinating collection of WW2 Food Facts and recipes, 21 Jan 2008
If you are interested in domestic life during World War Two, this is the book for you. It is a fascinating collection of Ministry of Food "Food Facts" and recipes: including how to render fat and bottle tomatoes. A must for anyone who wants to try "Eating for Victory".

An Italian Classic, 27 Nov 2008
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe books ever!! I love Italian food and this book has it all. Really simple sauces and marinades to much more complex cookery. If ever we are stuck for an idea for dinner this book is always picked up first, I would highly recommend it!

Wonderful - just beware the quantities, 21 Aug 2008
There are some reviews of this fabulous cook book which complain about the poor translation, the fact that the book isn't in Engish alphabetical order, that the quantities aren't precise enough ... You're safe to ignore all these quibbles provided you accept the basis on which this cookebook was created.

It was designed to guide (young) Italians who were starting to lose their traditional roots in national cuisine and to help them know just how to make high quality food. For this audience it isn't necessary to give exact quantities or lengths of time ... they just know. And after working with this cookery book, you'll get to know these things too.

For me, a precise English/American book telling me just precisely what to do down to the last millilitre, gramme or degree of heat is not letting you be creative, not allowing you to find out what works best for you in your kitchen, and - above all - what great ingredients work with which.

This is a classic book; its English translation works; and I simply couldn't be without it. (And excuse me, if cooking is all about glossy photos, count me out: I prefer pictures that look like what I make, not some bizarre studio impersonation of food.

The Silver Spoon is all about good food cooked by real people in real kitchens. Bravo! Buy it!

A must for any italian food lover, 28 Apr 2008
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good, 11 Apr 2008
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.



Best Italian cook book, 05 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book with over 2000 authentic recipes (some are very authentic - there's a whole section on brains!) The recipes are, typically of Italian food, simple and easy to follow. There is also a small section at the back with some more complicated recipes from famous Italian chefs. All in all a top book you're not likely to get bored with quickly.

You'd have to be a Nigel ..., 27 Nov 2008
... to write this. Or a Jeremy. Or possibly a Terence. But maybe we all have anorak-y tendencies when it comes to name-checking the fondly remembered foods of our 1950s and 60s childhoods.
But sorry, Nigel - you've done this too many times before - and so have too many other people. Spangles, Dairylea triangles, Jammie Dodgers, Tunnock's teacakes have had the Proustian treatment before. And let's face it though Spangles now RIP, nearly all of these along with Sarson's vinegar and Bisto can be bought in any Tesco today. Though I agree that floral gums (and cherry lips, the best for eating surreptitiously through double Latin) have had the chemistry formula changed and don't taste the same.
When Nigel gets stuck, or his Proustian madeleine/Rich Tea disintegrates soggily into his mug of PG, he throws in a page or two about farmers' markets - and then he simply gets BORING.
Eating for England is simply Toast reheated. And Nigel is getting to be an old aunt who retells the same stories too many times. (He's getting careless, too; the delectable lime barrel was never in Dairy Box, p166, it was everybody's favourite centre in Milk Tray. And Dairy Box wasn't made by Cadbury's, either. )

A disappointing mess of a book, 03 Nov 2008
"Eating For England" is re-heated "Toast". Disappointingly, Slater has produced a clunker here, and where Toast worked because he linked food memories to his own childhood, this latest volume lacks any structure on which to hang various short observations and sketches about food. What's more, it's quite repetitive in places, and simpy doesn't work in others.

Slater at his best pinpoints a long forgotten food memory that several of us of a certain age will have had. There are a few gems like that here (the whole chocolate Club biscuit experience for example) - but these are too few and far between for my liking.

Nigel Slater writes best about himself and his relationship with food. When he tries something different - observational stuff about different types of cook, or diner, it simply doesn't work because he's not part of that set up. You can't remain aloof from such things and pretend otherwise. These pieces of the book come over as phoney - and in places bitchy and unamusing.

"The Kitchen Diaries" was neither a practical cook book or a particularly entertaining diary; "Eating For England" maintains this loss of focus from an excellent food writer who needs to re-connect with a loyal audience next time around. Nige - let's just cut to the recipes for the next one, eh?

All puddings are English. Nigel is a pudding. Therefore Nigel, regrettably, is English., 23 Oct 2008
Eating for England - The Delights and Eccentricities of the BRITISH at Table? I skimmed this book before delivering it to one of my numbskull relatives as a birthday present. After seeing the response here to this curious choice of words I'm reminded that no-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the public.

It's an easy enough volume to follow. The layout is good, the writing merry and informal (if slightly knowing in the unappealing sense of the word 'clever'). There is even an interesting culinary suggestion or two.

Unfortunately nothing is value-free, and with Jamie Mockney under contract to sell us the fake barrow-boy-next-door line I'm afraid Nigel (change of name Nige?) Slater has still to win me over. Cookery's cultural implications, the idea of its saying something about the nation at large, is obviously dear to people's hearts.

But Britain is not a nation. It is a bureaucratic manoeuvre. In any event things like puddings are an ENGLISH speciality. So too Syllabub (very popular with the Elizabethans, who if nothing else knew who they were) and much else besides (try Florence White's 'Good Things in England' to learn more).

The title of this book is a masterpiece of ignorance and effrontery. Fortunately the modern English are the most passive, stupid and easily exploited people in Europe. They will buy it in droves. I just wonder how much faith we should place in the judgement of someone who doesn't know the difference between an administrative convenience and a nation in the truest sense of the word.


farmer's market propaganda, 09 Oct 2008
I must say there were many times where I laughed out loud or smiled in relation to many things I do or eat and how they are quintessentially British. I also learned that I AM the 'oh-i-never-measure-anything cook.' The experience of reading this lovely book, however has been marred by every other page judging people for not going to local greengrocers and not supporting farmer's markets.

I may be lucky enough to afford (or just a good budgeter!) to eat organic/local/fairtrade and have time to shop 3 times a week instead of one big one (I'm a student) but I know of too many people who simply don't have the time, energy OR money to buy ethically all the time and they shouldn't be made to feel bad for this. I want Nigel, Hugh AND Jamie (3 men I love very much) to spend a week in a council estate with a family of 5 and see how much money they have to spend on their groceries!

Lovely promise but...., 09 Jul 2008
I had looked forward to this for some time. I have been a fan on NS on TV since he first appeared. I like his style, his taste and his appreach to food. So why oh why or WHY did NS have to ruin it all for me with a single thoughtless - and eeming uncharacteristic - comment. He makes the point that continental stews are flavoursome and interesting while ours '...smell of old people.' As newly retired. I found it belittling, insulting and it stopped me reading the book in my tracks.

Just the beginning......, 02 Aug 2008
I bought this book on a whim and have just completed my fifth cake and am in the process of devising my sixth cake - the pictures and instructions are brilliant, I had never iced a cake before and now feel competent enough to make them for people other than family! Would highly recommend this, and looking at other peoples reviews am going to buy book 2! Well worth it.

good book for the beginners..., 12 Jun 2008
this book was recommended by a dear friend it is a good book for beginners..worth buying...

fantastic, 13 Jun 2007
What can I say ...except this book is a must have for learning everything about making cakes through to how to decorate in various ways. It is very infromative with easy to follow instructions...a complete must for the beginner right through to the more experienced. It was so good that I bought book 2 also, another great book.

the international school of sugarcraft:beginners bk.1, 18 Oct 2006
summary:this is the most brilliant book i have every come across
good illustrations and very explanatory. great tips too.very useful for anyone who wants to learn the art of baking and icing cakes.

[...]

A bible for sugarcraft !, 26 Jul 1999
I was given the first hardcover edition of this book in 1988 as a Christmas present and I have stayed loyal to it ever since. The basic cake recipes are highly reliable - the rich fruit cake one of my staples come Christmas. The sugarcraft techniques are taught in such a way that has provided a foundation for further exploration. It's a great introduction to sugarcraft for the novice and provides a clear structure and overview for those who have struggled aimlessly in the dark thus far. I also have Book 2 and it is equally highly recommended. Both of my books are now ready for replacement after much wear, tear and intense use!

Eating through the hard times too, 09 Oct 2008
I bought the pair for my mum a year ago and they have ended up going round the whole family, young and old. Yes they have a nostalgic feel to them and it's food that nana used to make but thats what makes them so good, we are now having to live as if things are rationed, the meals that were made back then weren't full of e numbers and other nasty things (lets face it, we've all become alergic to them all anyway), they were wholesome and filling with no waste, after all I'm sure it's not only me that loves bubble and squeek on a monday with the sunday roast left overs. It has made me realize how lucky I am to have everything I want but I can survive on next to nothing.
Also the Make do and Mend is also full of cleaning tips and a definate must for anyone living in a period house and trying to keep things going, I live in a stone cottage and in a preservation area, with a house full of original things like Arga'sand stone floors I found good tips on how to care for these items without using chemical cleaners that corrode them away.

Fascinating, enlightening, 10 Jul 2008
The introduction to this book sets the scene of the wartime kitchen and beyond during rationing, and continues with reproductions of wartime leaflets. For content I would have given this book five stars but marked it down by one since I found some of the reproductions rather difficult to read due to poor quality - even with my super new reading glasses.

This book is not just a nostalgic look at the past but contains valuable nutritional advice which is as applicable today with the range of foods available to us as it was then.

Given the current economic climate and the need for us all to reduce food and energy waste, there are many useful tips to pick up from this book. Filling, wholesome food and a balanced diet is possible with good planning, even with the most frugal ingredients.

I also picked up nutritional tips - the benefits of parsley for example - and how to reduce fat.

Something I now want to do is weigh out the family's weekly wartime rations and see how many days it lasts! No wonder everyone was slim during the war, but apparently slim, fit and much healthier than many people are today.






fascinating collection of WW2 Food Facts and recipes, 21 Jan 2008
If you are interested in domestic life during World War Two, this is the book for you. It is a fascinating collection of Ministry of Food "Food Facts" and recipes: including how to render fat and bottle tomatoes. A must for anyone who wants to try "Eating for Victory".



What a beautiful book!, 10 Nov 2008
I love the clear descriptions of the principles of Sous Vide, as well as the different chefs' perspectives on the uses of this technique. The recipes are easy to read, with ingredients helpfully measured in grams. Many have stunning colour photographs, and each has a clever "At Service" section indicating how best to achieve a stunning presentation. There is also an invaluable chart listing temperature and cooking times for each ingredient. "White Asparagus with Field Rhubarb and Black Truffle Coulis"? "Torchon of Monkfish Liver with Green Apple Jelly and Ossetra Caviar"? Or maybe a "Cherry-Vanilla" consisting of "Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cake, Morello Cherry Ice Cream, Italian Pistachio Coulis, Kirsch Foam, and Cherry Jam"? Thomas Keller is a genious!

So disappointed, 03 Nov 2008
I'm sorry to give a totally negative review but claiming to be 'the first book written in English on cooking sous-vide' (simply not true) and describing food as being 'sealed in plastic' should have given me the hints that this book would massively disappoint.

Is my beautiful copy of Sous-Vide Cuisine by Joan Roca and Salvador Brugues not in perfect English and been poured over by me for at least a year now? The forward of 'Under Pressure' states that 'It's fitting that the first book to present the sous-vide method to English-speaking cooks........' Where on earth was the editor? Too scared of editing a subject such as this and so leaving it to the authors alone?

I found this book simply an ego trip for the author(s) with hardly a page being turned without a reference to one or other of their restaurants - so many references in fact that is became very boring. The book misses chances time and again to educate the reader (few if any tables on cooking times for each of the meats/fish/ etc) in this fascinating method of cooking and instead concentrates on egotistical menus of massive complexity. Sous Vide is not complex and the subject presented in this way I found counter intuitive and counter productive.

The sections regarding the vital yet basic factors governing cooking by sous-vide for either mis en service or for storage and use at a later time and the safety aspects relevant to each were, in my opinion, not given the relevance that each separately and distinctly deserves. The two have quite distinctly different factors regarding safety and I didn't find that the book stressed this enough - safety seems to have been treated, albeit in depth, as one which is a little worrying really.

Many pages contain what I saw as written bullet points in isolation without form or structure. If ever a book needed a decent editor to give it this structure and form then this is it - it seems as if the publisher has just let the author(s) do it and then publish 'as is'. The book to my mind is a mess.

Menus containing blatant plugs for suppliers missed the fact this book is being sold internationally. I'd find it pretty tough to source ingredients for "Roulle of Four Story Hills Farm Poularde" when Four Story Hills Farm is certainly thousands of miles from where I live and cook - not all of us live in the USA remember.

The pages on stock recipes (nothing to do with the subject of sous-vide) were far more entertaining and informative than anything written here on the subject of sous-vide.

Altogether a total disappointment, waste of some serious cash and this book doesn't even come close to Sous Vide Cuisine by Joana Roca. I'll be astounded if they don't sue the publishers for allowing the claim for this book to be the first written on the subject in English.

Oh, a very talented friend of mine once said he'd never buy a book on cookery if each recipe didn't have at least one photo - hmmm, editorial absence maybe on this one yet again.

So sorry - I think my copy is destined for an early sale on e-Bay and won't be missed.

An Italian Classic, 27 Nov 2008
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe books ever!! I love Italian food and this book has it all. Really simple sauces and marinades to much more complex cookery. If ever we are stuck for an idea for dinner this book is always picked up first, I would highly recommend it!

Wonderful - just beware the quantities, 21 Aug 2008
There are some reviews of this fabulous cook book which complain about the poor translation, the fact that the book isn't in Engish alphabetical order, that the quantities aren't precise enough ... You're safe to ignore all these quibbles provided you accept the basis on which this cookebook was created.

It was designed to guide (young) Italians who were starting to lose their traditional roots in national cuisine and to help them know just how to make high quality food. For this audience it isn't necessary to give exact quantities or lengths of time ... they just know. And after working with this cookery book, you'll get to know these things too.

For me, a precise English/American book telling me just precisely what to do down to the last millilitre, gramme or degree of heat is not letting you be creative, not allowing you to find out what works best for you in your kitchen, and - above all - what great ingredients work with which.

This is a classic book; its English translation works; and I simply couldn't be without it. (And excuse me, if cooking is all about glossy photos, count me out: I prefer pictures that look like what I make, not some bizarre studio impersonation of food.

The Silver Spoon is all about good food cooked by real people in real kitchens. Bravo! Buy it!

A must for any italian food lover, 28 Apr 2008
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good, 11 Apr 2008
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.



Best Italian cook book, 05 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book with over 2000 authentic recipes (some are very authentic - there's a whole section on brains!) The recipes are, typically of Italian food, simple and easy to follow. There is also a small section at the back with some more complicated recipes from famous Italian chefs. All in all a top book you're not likely to get bored with quickly.

You'd have to be a Nigel ..., 27 Nov 2008
... to write this. Or a Jeremy. Or possibly a Terence. But maybe we all have anorak-y tendencies when it comes to name-checking the fondly remembered foods of our 1950s and 60s childhoods.
But sorry, Nigel - you've done this too many times before - and so have too many other people. Spangles, Dairylea triangles, Jammie Dodgers, Tunnock's teacakes have had the Proustian treatment before. And let's face it though Spangles now RIP, nearly all of these along with Sarson's vinegar and Bisto can be bought in any Tesco today. Though I agree that floral gums (and cherry lips, the best for eating surreptitiously through double Latin) have had the chemistry formula changed and don't taste the same.
When Nigel gets stuck, or his Proustian madeleine/Rich Tea disintegrates soggily into his mug of PG, he throws in a page or two about farmers' markets - and then he simply gets BORING.
Eating for England is simply Toast reheated. And Nigel is getting to be an old aunt who retells the same stories too many times. (He's getting careless, too; the delectable lime barrel was never in Dairy Box, p166, it was everybody's favourite centre in Milk Tray. And Dairy Box wasn't made by Cadbury's, either. )

A disappointing mess of a book, 03 Nov 2008
"Eating For England" is re-heated "Toast". Disappointingly, Slater has produced a clunker here, and where Toast worked because he linked food memories to his own childhood, this latest volume lacks any structure on which to hang various short observations and sketches about food. What's more, it's quite repetitive in places, and simpy doesn't work in others.

Slater at his best pinpoints a long forgotten food memory that several of us of a certain age will have had. There are a few gems like that here (the whole chocolate Club biscuit experience for example) - but these are too few and far between for my liking.

Nigel Slater writes best about himself and his relationship with food. When he tries something different - observational stuff about different types of cook, or diner, it simply doesn't work because he's not part of that set up. You can't remain aloof from such things and pretend otherwise. These pieces of the book come over as phoney - and in places bitchy and unamusing.

"The Kitchen Diaries" was neither a practical cook book or a particularly entertaining diary; "Eating For England" maintains this loss of focus from an excellent food writer who needs to re-connect with a loyal audience next time around. Nige - let's just cut to the recipes for the next one, eh?

All puddings are English. Nigel is a pudding. Therefore Nigel, regrettably, is English., 23 Oct 2008
Eating for England - The Delights and Eccentricities of the BRITISH at Table? I skimmed this book before delivering it to one of my numbskull relatives as a birthday present. After seeing the response here to this curious choice of words I'm reminded that no-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the public.

It's an easy enough volume to follow. The layout is good, the writing merry and informal (if slightly knowing in the unappealing sense of the word 'clever'). There is even an interesting culinary suggestion or two.

Unfortunately nothing is value-free, and with Jamie Mockney under contract to sell us the fake barrow-boy-next-door line I'm afraid Nigel (change of name Nige?) Slater has still to win me over. Cookery's cultural implications, the idea of its saying something about the nation at large, is obviously dear to people's hearts.

But Britain is not a nation. It is a bureaucratic manoeuvre. In any event things like puddings are an ENGLISH speciality. So too Syllabub (very popular with the Elizabethans, who if nothing else knew who they were) and much else besides (try Florence White's 'Good Things in England' to learn more).

The title of this book is a masterpiece of ignorance and effrontery. Fortunately the modern English are the most passive, stupid and easily exploited people in Europe. They will buy it in droves. I just wonder how much faith we should place in the judgement of someone who doesn't know the difference between an administrative convenience and a nation in the truest sense of the word.


farmer's market propaganda, 09 Oct 2008
I must say there were many times where I laughed out loud or smiled in relation to many things I do or eat and how they are quintessentially British. I also learned that I AM the 'oh-i-never-measure-anything cook.' The experience of reading this lovely book, however has been marred by every other page judging people for not going to local greengrocers and not supporting farmer's markets.

I may be lucky enough to afford (or just a good budgeter!) to eat organic/local/fairtrade and have time to shop 3 times a week instead of one big one (I'm a student) but I know of too many people who simply don't have the time, energy OR money to buy ethically all the time and they shouldn't be made to feel bad for this. I want Nigel, Hugh AND Jamie (3 men I love very much) to spend a week in a council estate with a family of 5 and see how much money they have to spend on their groceries!

Lovely promise but...., 09 Jul 2008
I had looked forward to this for some time. I have been a fan on NS on TV since he first appeared. I like his style, his taste and his appreach to food. So why oh why or WHY did NS have to ruin it all for me with a single thoughtless - and eeming uncharacteristic - comment. He makes the point that continental stews are flavoursome and interesting while ours '...smell of old people.' As newly retired. I found it belittling, insulting and it stopped me reading the book in my tracks.

Just the beginning......, 02 Aug 2008
I bought this book on a whim and have just completed my fifth cake and am in the process of devising my sixth cake - the pictures and instructions are brilliant, I had never iced a cake before and now feel competent enough to make them for people other than family! Would highly recommend this, and looking at other peoples reviews am going to buy book 2! Well worth it.

good book for the beginners..., 12 Jun 2008
this book was recommended by a dear friend it is a good book for beginners..worth buying...

fantastic, 13 Jun 2007
What can I say ...except this book is a must have for learning everything about making cakes through to how to decorate in various ways. It is very infromative with easy to follow instructions...a complete must for the beginner right through to the more experienced. It was so good that I bought book 2 also, another great book.

the international school of sugarcraft:beginners bk.1, 18 Oct 2006
summary:this is the most brilliant book i have every come across
good illustrations and very explanatory. great tips too.very useful for anyone who wants to learn the art of baking and icing cakes.

[...]

A bible for sugarcraft !, 26 Jul 1999
I was given the first hardcover edition of this book in 1988 as a Christmas present and I have stayed loyal to it ever since. The basic cake recipes are highly reliable - the rich fruit cake one of my staples come Christmas. The sugarcraft techniques are taught in such a way that has provided a foundation for further exploration. It's a great introduction to sugarcraft for the novice and provides a clear structure and overview for those who have struggled aimlessly in the dark thus far. I also have Book 2 and it is equally highly recommended. Both of my books are now ready for replacement after much wear, tear and intense use!

Eating through the hard times too, 09 Oct 2008
I bought the pair for my mum a year ago and they have ended up going round the whole family, young and old. Yes they have a nostalgic feel to them and it's food that nana used to make but thats what makes them so good, we are now having to live as if things are rationed, the meals that were made back then weren't full of e numbers and other nasty things (lets face it, we've all become alergic to them all anyway), they were wholesome and filling with no waste, after all I'm sure it's not only me that loves bubble and squeek on a monday with the sunday roast left overs. It has made me realize how lucky I am to have everything I want but I can survive on next to nothing.
Also the Make do and Mend is also full of cleaning tips and a definate must for anyone living in a period house and trying to keep things going, I live in a stone cottage and in a preservation area, with a house full of original things like Arga'sand stone floors I found good tips on how to care for these items without using chemical cleaners that corrode them away.

Fascinating, enlightening, 10 Jul 2008
The introduction to this book sets the scene of the wartime kitchen and beyond during rationing, and continues with reproductions of wartime leaflets. For content I would have given this book five stars but marked it down by one since I found some of the reproductions rather difficult to read due to poor quality - even with my super new reading glasses.

This book is not just a nostalgic look at the past but contains valuable nutritional advice which is as applicable today with the range of foods available to us as it was then.

Given the current economic climate and the need for us all to reduce food and energy waste, there are many useful tips to pick up from this book. Filling, wholesome food and a balanced diet is possible with good planning, even with the most frugal ingredients.

I also picked up nutritional tips - the benefits of parsley for example - and how to reduce fat.

Something I now want to do is weigh out the family's weekly wartime rations and see how many days it lasts! No wonder everyone was slim during the war, but apparently slim, fit and much healthier than many people are today.






fascinating collection of WW2 Food Facts and recipes, 21 Jan 2008
If you are interested in domestic life during World War Two, this is the book for you. It is a fascinating collection of Ministry of Food "Food Facts" and recipes: including how to render fat and bottle tomatoes. A must for anyone who wants to try "Eating for Victory".



What a beautiful book!, 10 Nov 2008
I love the clear descriptions of the principles of Sous Vide, as well as the different chefs' perspectives on the uses of this technique. The recipes are easy to read, with ingredients helpfully measured in grams. Many have stunning colour photographs, and each has a clever "At Service" section indicating how best to achieve a stunning presentation. There is also an invaluable chart listing temperature and cooking times for each ingredient. "White Asparagus with Field Rhubarb and Black Truffle Coulis"? "Torchon of Monkfish Liver with Green Apple Jelly and Ossetra Caviar"? Or maybe a "Cherry-Vanilla" consisting of "Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cake, Morello Cherry Ice Cream, Italian Pistachio Coulis, Kirsch Foam, and Cherry Jam"? Thomas Keller is a genious!

So disappointed, 03 Nov 2008
I'm sorry to give a totally negative review but claiming to be 'the first book written in English on cooking sous-vide' (simply not true) and describing food as being 'sealed in plastic' should have given me the hints that this book would massively disappoint.

Is my beautiful copy of Sous-Vide Cuisine by Joan Roca and Salvador Brugues not in perfect English and been poured over by me for at least a year now? The forward of 'Under Pressure' states that 'It's fitting that the first book to present the sous-vide method to English-speaking cooks........' Where on earth was the editor? Too scared of editing a subject such as this and so leaving it to the authors alone?

I found this book simply an ego trip for the author(s) with hardly a page being turned without a reference to one or other of their restaurants - so many references in fact that is became very boring. The book misses chances time and again to educate the reader (few if any tables on cooking times for each of the meats/fish/ etc) in this fascinating method of cooking and instead concentrates on egotistical menus of massive complexity. Sous Vide is not complex and the subject presented in this way I found counter intuitive and counter productive.

The sections regarding the vital yet basic factors governing cooking by sous-vide for either mis en service or for storage and use at a later time and the safety aspects relevant to each were, in my opinion, not given the relevance that each separately and distinctly deserves. The two have quite distinctly different factors regarding safety and I didn't find that the book stressed this enough - safety seems to have been treated, albeit in depth, as one which is a little worrying really.

Many pages contain what I saw as written bullet points in isolation without form or structure. If ever a book needed a decent editor to give it this structure and form then this is it - it seems as if the publisher has just let the author(s) do it and then publish 'as is'. The book to my mind is a mess.

Menus containing blatant plugs for suppliers missed the fact this book is being sold internationally. I'd find it pretty tough to source ingredients for "Roulle of Four Story Hills Farm Poularde" when Four Story Hills Farm is certainly thousands of miles from where I live and cook - not all of us live in the USA remember.

The pages on stock recipes (nothing to do with the subject of sous-vide) were far more entertaining and informative than anything written here on the subject of sous-vide.

Altogether a total disappointment, waste of some serious cash and this book doesn't even come close to Sous Vide Cuisine by Joana Roca. I'll be astounded if they don't sue the publishers for allowing the claim for this book to be the first written on the subject in English.

Oh, a very talented friend of mine once said he'd never buy a book on cookery if each recipe didn't have at least one photo - hmmm, editorial absence maybe on this one yet again.

So sorry - I think my copy is destined for an early sale on e-Bay and won't be missed.



Excellent reference materials for French cuisine and other European, less so for cuisines outside Europe, 06 Sep 2008
I have no doubt members of the editorial committee that oversaw this revision (2001) are talented people and some of the best in the culinary scene in France. It has a wealth of classic haute cuisine and not so haute like sole menuiere, and how to prepare elaborate pigeon dishes. Summaries for other non-French cuisines vary in quality: the section on British cuisine(s) is rather brief and Austrian pastry excellent. The section on non-European countries cuisines are poor and brief: much of Chinese cooking is not covered well, Korean cuisine doesn't make it, the section on New Zealand ignores the current convergence towards Pacific Rim cuisine and explosion of Mediterranean-style food products, and Mexico is merged with other Latin American countries. I wouldn't blame the contributors because as French, they are less well exposed to culinary trends in much of East and Southeast Asia, and certainly NZ is rather remote from France.

I suggest you will be happy if you want to treat this as a reference for French or other "Old World European" cuisines, but deeply disappointed if you want this to be the only cookery reference ever needed. It is probably impossible to have one big book covering all cooking questions under the sun: you may need one for each big geographical region.

A feast of a book!, 03 Jan 2008
This is a gorgeous book - an absolute joy - and I wish I'd bought it years ago. (The price had always put me off but as far as I am concerned now, it is an investment - and had I known then what I know now, I would have bought fewer 'other' books and used the money saved to buy this one.) It is an absolute mine of information, and if you're interested in food, as I am (and you must be, or you wouldn't be reading this..), I am sure you will find yourself 'dipping' into this book constantly - it makes fascinating reading, and this version is beautifully presented. The pages are crammed with many tempting recipes - certainly, some of these are complicated and more suited to a professional chef, and perhaps this would not be the best choice for a 'first cookbook' for a novice - but there are so many recipes and cooking methods that would be suitable and appealing to anyone with a basic knowledge of cooking. Even the humble potato has a whole host of recipes devoted to it. I find the book to be an invaluable reference aid and now - having enjoyed cooking from an early age, and after 30 years as a 'home cook' - I find my enthusiasm rekindled and my horizons broadened. Nothing left to say really, except perhaps 'bon appetit!'

Excellent and comprehensive when it wants to be, 07 Dec 2007
Portrayed by some, including somewhat understandably the publishers, as 'the world's greatest cookery encyclopedia' this is a book which can justifiably try to claim that title. Whether it would win that title is debatable but it's certainly a strong candidate. It's excellent when it chooses to cover a subject but not comprehensive and not for the novice cook.

Cookery is just too large a subject to cover in a single volume so it's unreasonably to expect any single volume work to be encyclopedic so there are understandable gaps in Larousse's coverage of it's subject. This won't teach you how to cook from scratch, despite containing descriptions of many cooking techniques and recipes, but this is a reference work. This is the book you turn to after you've learned the basics of how to cook.

If you have reached that point of being confident in the kitchen and want to get more from what you've learned so far this is a book for you. If you're a gastronome and want a reference to tell you more about the background of what you're eating then this is for you. If you're just learning to cook and are looking for one book to cover everything then you're probably better off with Delia.

For those who do want this as a reference then remember it is excellent but not comprehensive. When it chooses to cover a subject it is very good but what it chooses to cover is a bit random, for example the entry on croissants describes their history, the basic process to make them and gives half a dozen different recipes and variations but the entry for danish pastry rattles off a quick one paragraph description and mentions nothing more. Also the indexing is a bit disorganised so there is an entry for black pudding but nothing for white pudding, on the other hand though it has entries for boudin blanc but not boudin noir! The gaps in its coverage reflect its slightly francophile emphasis but the indexing is just one of those things that mean without a little food knowledge, in that case knowing that boudin noir and black pudding are pretty much the same thing, this won't be that useful.

This has a home in my kitchen as it sits among thirty or forty other cook books. If I was to just have three or four on the shelf then it wouldn't be one of those books but it is worth the money once you are buying you second or third set of cookbooks.


mammoth, 05 Dec 2007
the larousse gastronomique is a mammoth encyclopedia, and it makes fascinating reading and drooling. there are recipes galore, entries on the cuisines of various countries, cooking techniques, ingredients, restauranteurs, leading chefs, and more.

(having said that, i couldn't find a single entry on seafood chowder.)

and for those with serial killer tendancies, this is the book hannibal lecture uses in his recipe for human brain (although i presume he adapted).

hours and hours of use in this book.

"Umm, what is he talking about", 01 Nov 2007
So, you're in the kitchen planning (or heaven help you if you're mid way through cooking for) a dinner party and you look at the Celeb Chef's guidance and ask to the heavens "what is he on about". This is where Larousse comes in. This is not a cookery book by itself, it is a manual to food and drink of a kind that has no competitor. You need to know what an obscure ingredient is, and what you can replace it with if you can't trace it? Look in Larousse. You've got one of those complicated Rick Stein books and he's telling you prepare your vegetables à la Ménagère, and after you've scratched your head for a bit, you reach for Larousse and there you are. This book is amazing, but will not go into the finer details of all food stuffs as this is not what it's for, and there are loads of books on the market place on subjects such as soya and the like.

OK, so there have been some mixed reports on this book with some good and some bad. Take it for what it is; it's an encyclopedia after all, and should be THE standard book for any gastronome. Complaining about lack of in-depth knowledge on one food type, or lack of complex recipes is the same as grumbling about the Encyclopedia Britannica for not having enough of a story line or having an accurate description of the inner workings of a Ford Mondeo! Use it, embrace it, and live by it. Amen.

An Italian Classic, 27 Nov 2008
I think that this is one of my favourite recipe books ever!! I love Italian food and this book has it all. Really simple sauces and marinades to much more complex cookery. If ever we are stuck for an idea for dinner this book is always picked up first, I would highly recommend it!

Wonderful - just beware the quantities, 21 Aug 2008
There are some reviews of this fabulous cook book which complain about the poor translation, the fact that the book isn't in Engish alphabetical order, that the quantities aren't precise enough ... You're safe to ignore all these quibbles provided you accept the basis on which this cookebook was created.

It was designed to guide (young) Italians who were starting to lose their traditional roots in national cuisine and to help them know just how to make high quality food. For this audience it isn't necessary to give exact quantities or lengths of time ... they just know. And after working with this cookery book, you'll get to know these things too.

For me, a precise English/American book telling me just precisely what to do down to the last millilitre, gramme or degree of heat is not letting you be creative, not allowing you to find out what works best for you in your kitchen, and - above all - what great ingredients work with which.

This is a classic book; its English translation works; and I simply couldn't be without it. (And excuse me, if cooking is all about glossy photos, count me out: I prefer pictures that look like what I make, not some bizarre studio impersonation of food.

The Silver Spoon is all about good food cooked by real people in real kitchens. Bravo! Buy it!

A must for any italian food lover, 28 Apr 2008
My step father was an Italian restauranteur and had a copy of this same book in Italian throughout his career. He even had it rebound a few years back. During his life he ran a hotel in Rome and cooked for cardinals that came there from the vatican using recipes from the Silver spoon.

I was therefore thrilled when this came out in English and so far have bought 3 copies so that both my daughters have them for their homes. They use them daily. Not only is this the authentic cookery book for Italian food lovers it is amazingly economical, utilising seasonal fresh foods and not that many ingredients unlike so many newer recipes.

Risotto with carrots for example is fantastically creamy as the carrot is pureed. Highly recommended reading and an ideal gift for any newly weds or new home buyers.

Really Good, 11 Apr 2008
Bought this book from Amazon and after two weeks have cooked 4 things from it. Every recipe has tasted great with bags of flavour. More importantly, every recipe has worked.



Best Italian cook book, 05 Feb 2008
This is an excellent book with over 2000 authentic recipes (some are very authentic - there's a whole section on brains!) The recipes are, typically of Italian food, simple and easy to follow. There is also a small section at the back with some more complicated recipes from famous Italian chefs. All in all a top book you're not likely to get bored with quickly.

You'd have to be a Nigel ..., 27 Nov 2008
... to write this. Or a Jeremy. Or possibly a Terence. But maybe we all have anorak-y tendencies when it comes to name-checking the fondly remembered foods of our 1950s and 60s childhoods.
But sorry, Nigel - you've done this too many times before - and so have too many other people. Spangles, Dairylea triangles, Jammie Dodgers, Tunnock's teacakes have had the Proustian treatment before. And let's face it though Spangles now RIP, nearly all of these along with Sarson's vinegar and Bisto can be bought in any Tesco today. Though I agree that floral gums (and cherry lips, the best for eating surreptitiously through double Latin) have had the chemistry formula changed and don't taste the same.
When Nigel gets stuck, or his Proustian madeleine/Rich Tea disintegrates soggily into his mug of PG, he throws in a page or two about farmers' markets - and then he simply gets BORING.
Eating for England is simply Toast reheated. And Nigel is getting to be an old aunt who retells the same stories too many times. (He's getting careless, too; the delectable lime barrel was never in Dairy Box, p166, it was everybody's favourite centre in Milk Tray. And Dairy Box wasn't made by Cadbury's, either. )

A disappointing mess of a book, 03 Nov 2008
"Eating For England" is re-heated "Toast". Disappointingly, Slater has produced a clunker here, and where Toast worked because he linked food memories to his own childhood, this latest volume lacks any structure on which to hang various short observations and sketches about food. What's more, it's quite repetitive in places, and simpy doesn't work in others.

Slater at his best pinpoints a long forgotten food memory that several of us of a certain age will have had. There are a few gems like that here (the whole chocolate Club biscuit experience for example) - but these are too few and far between for my liking.

Nigel Slater writes best about himself and his relationship with food. When he tries something different - observational stuff about different types of cook, or diner, it simply doesn't work because he's not part of that set up. You can't remain aloof from such things and pretend otherwise. These pieces of the book come over as phoney - and in places bitchy and unamusing.

"The Kitchen Diaries" was neither a practical cook book or a particularly entertaining diary; "Eating For England" maintains this loss of focus from an excellent food writer who needs to re-connect with a loyal audience next time around. Nige - let's just cut to the recipes for the next one, eh?

All puddings are English. Nigel is a pudding. Therefore Nigel, regrettably, is English., 23 Oct 2008
Eating for England - The Delights and Eccentricities of the BRITISH at Table? I skimmed this book before delivering it to one of my numbskull relatives as a birthday present. After seeing the response here to this curious choice of words I'm reminded that no-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the public.

It's an easy enough volume to follow. The layout is good, the writing merry and informal (if slightly knowing in the unappealing sense of the word 'clever'). There is even an interesting culinary suggestion or two.

Unfortunately nothing is value-free, and with Jamie Mockney under contract to sell us the fake barrow-boy-next-door line I'm afraid Nigel (change of name Nige?) Slater has still to win me over. Cookery's cultural implications, the idea of its saying something about the nation at large, is obviously dear to people's hearts.

But Britain is not a nation. It is a bureaucratic manoeuvre. In any event things like puddings are an ENGLISH speciality. So too Syllabub (very popular with the Elizabethans, who if nothing else knew who they were) and much else besides (try Florence White's 'Good Things in England' to learn more).

The title of this book is a masterpiece of ignorance and effrontery. Fortunately the modern English are the most passive, stupid and easily exploited people in Europe. They will buy it in droves. I just wonder how much faith we should place in the judgement of someone who doesn't know the difference between an administrative convenience and a nation in the truest sense of the word.


farmer's market propaganda, 09 Oct 2008
I must say there were many times where I laughed out loud or smiled in relation to many things I do or eat and how they are quintessentially British. I also learned that I AM the 'oh-i-never-measure-anything cook.' The experience of reading this lovely book, however has been marred by every other page judging people for not going to local greengrocers and not supporting farmer's markets.

I may be lucky enough to afford (or just a good budgeter!) to eat organic/local/fairtrade and have time to shop 3 times a week instead of one big one (I'm a student) but I know of too many people who simply don't have the time, energy OR money to buy ethically all the time and they shouldn't be made to feel bad for this. I want Nigel, Hugh AND Jamie (3 men I love very much) to spend a week in a council estate with a family of 5 and see how much money they have to spend on their groceries!

Lovely promise but...., 09 Jul 2008
I had looked forward to this for some time. I have been a fan on NS on TV since he first appeared. I like his style, his taste and his appreach to food. So why oh why or WHY did NS have to ruin it all for me with a single thoughtless - and eeming uncharacteristic - comment. He makes the point that continental stews are flavoursome and interesting while ours '...smell of old people.' As newly retired. I found it belittling, insulting and it stopped me reading the book in my tracks.

Just the beginning......, 02 Aug 2008
I bought this book on a whim and have just completed my fifth cake and am in the process of devising my sixth cake - the pictures and instructions are brilliant, I had never iced a cake before and now feel competent enough to make them for people other than family! Would highly recommend this, and looking at other peoples reviews am going to buy book 2! Well worth it.

good book for the beginners..., 12 Jun 2008
this book was recommended by a dear friend it is a good book for beginners..worth buying...

fantastic, 13 Jun 2007
What can I say ...except this book is a must have for learning everything about making cakes through to how to decorate in various ways. It is very infromative with easy to follow instructions...a complete must for the beginner right through to the more experienced. It was so good that I bought book 2 also, another great book.

the international school of sugarcraft:beginners bk.1, 18 Oct 2006
summary:this is the most brilliant book i have every come across
good illustrations and very explanatory. great tips too.very useful for anyone who wants to learn the art of baking and icing cakes.

[...]

A bible for sugarcraft !, 26 Jul 1999
I was given the first hardcover edition of this book in 1988 as a Christmas present and I have stayed loyal to it ever since. The basic cake recipes are highly reliable - the rich fruit cake one of my staples come Christmas. The sugarcraft techniques are taught in such a way that has provided a foundation for further exploration. It's a great introduction to sugarcraft for the novice and provides a clear structure and overview for those who have struggled aimlessly in the dark thus far. I also have Book 2 and it is equally highly recommended. Both of my books are now ready for replacement after much wear, tear and intense use!

Eating through the hard times too, 09 Oct 2008