What is your Favourite Cookery Book and Why?

merlin1

my favourite is a book that was passed from my nan to my mum when she left home, and my mum passed to me when i left home. its a margaret pattern "the everyday cookbook". not sure how old it is but it still has the most vile brown floral wallpaper my nan covered it with to protect the cover!

i love it - it has all conversions at the front and even tells you how to make the perfect cup of tea! it is proper home cooking from start to finish! it taught me no end!

my now faves are marco peirre white - so simple! and also jamie oliver, rick stein and old ramsey bottom! :rotfl: i have tanya ramseys book also - very good for family food! :cool:

PrincessPeach_2

My favourite cookbook and the one i have used most often is my Green and Blacks Chocolate Recipes Cookbook - Its brilliant lol.

I have tonnes of cookbooks and decided this weekend gone that i am going to make sure that i have used all of them at least once.... err i have one or two that i havent quite got round to using......

I tend to google for recipes when i feel like making something.

*zippy*

zippychick wrote: »

Edit - Hi Zippy

Hi Sis

I always try to get cookbooks out of the library first now, I've had some which had glowing reviews on amazon, but once i've got them I haven't fancied a single thing. Mary Berry's Complete cookbook is my second Fav

ness_w

Successful Baking by Marguerite Patten is a big favourite of mine because it has the foolproof recipe for all the old favourites you mught want to make. It's very old and I gotr it in a charity shop for 25p - that adds to its appeal for me. I've also got a Yorkshire TV Cookbook from about 1988ish which is great for basics. I have many lovely cookbooks but these are the two I keep coming back to.

Maitane

Diolch Tandraig, I also have a secret weapon in my hunt for perfection of Welsh dishes - my nain (hint in the name) is Welsh and my mother in law is just the perfect cook. Anytime she cooks Welsh cakes, I can't be in the house otherwise she'd just be taking then from the bakestone and putting them straight into my geg. Hee hee.

purpleivy

thriftlady wrote: »

As you may know I have a bit of a problem with cookbooks. It's a problem I quite enjoy though:D

While I use most of them for inspiration there is one cookbook from which I have cooked many, many recipes. The recipes are easy, they don't use strange, trendy or hard-to-find ingredients and always, always work. I'm baking something from it as I type.

Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book

Obviously it only cakes and biscuits, but these are things for which you need a reliable recipe. My copy is the tattiest book in my collection -a true sign that it is well-used.

My dd seems to have taken on her mum's fondness of baking. I bought the book above as part of her 18th birthday present last year. Now she's about to go off to Uni and has said she would like the same Good Housekeeping book as I have, but it's no longer in print. Will have to see if I can trace it.

I don't think I really have a favourite cookbook, but I do refer to GH for standard stuff. I like the new Economy Gastronomy a great deal

miffyhugmuffin

Hugh Fernley Whittingstall's 'Meat' book is fantastic, probably my all time fave. I would reccommend it to any meat eater. It is a big chunky book with lots of recipies in. I have been cooking my way through it for some time now and all the recipies I have tried have been good or excellent. The Coq au vin is particularly good. It has lots of info on cuts of meat etc and feels like the distillation of many years of knowledge on the subject. 10 out of 10!

I also use Keith Floyds 'Floyd on India' book a lot -cooked my way through most of this and there is a great variety of easy curry recipes.

Just started on Rick Stein's 'Far eastern odyssey' at the moment and I have to say the recipies are time consuming and require a huge list of ingredients, only made two recipies so far so reserving judgement on this one.

tandraig

another good one - though its currently down my sons house - is a marks and spencer ' chinese cookery' one - big softback book. I loved the easy recipies and tho many of them had quite a list of ingredients most of them were easy to find and a lot of the rarer ingredients had alternatives listed. i think its out of print now - but it could poss be found in second hand book shops or charity shops.

tandraig

posted before i finished again!! i know the chicken and mushrooms recipe by heart and its better than the local takeaway. lots of lovely pictures and descriptions of each region - its food and customs! a good read!!!

zippychick

*zippy* wrote: »

Hi Sis

I always try to get cookbooks out of the library first now, I've had some which had glowing reviews on amazon, but once i've got them I haven't fancied a single thing. Mary Berry's Complete cookbook is my second Fav

That made me giggle ! he he:o:j

I need to compile a list of books to give my Mum to get me for christmas. I want a Jamie one - any sugestions?

Also liking the Mary Berry sounding ones - i had looked them up on ebay ages ago.

I have a Mrs Beeton book my Mum bought me - just reminded me i've never read it. It's a christmas book. Must do that!

Would also like a M Jaffrey one so suggestions welcome - basic curries or starter book maybe?

Edit - I also really like the hairy bikers, they're brill . Rock and roll cookin, that's my kind of cookin.