I wanna basic cook book for beginners

competitionscafe

fizzel81 wrote: »

If you had to buy a cookery book which one would you recomend?

i ask this as my mum wants to buy me one (i own 2 them being a jamie oliver and a gordon ramsey)

is it really worth haveing a book as such

One of the Nigel Slater books, particularly 'Appetite' which has chapters on ingredients, what's in season each month, equipment, etc and then recipes which are all everyday eating basic stuff (no fancy restaurant food) and the best bits are that each recipe is just a template - he then gives several variations at the end to show you how to use a basic recipe and change it to suit. His other books are good too, my only criticism is that he likes his butter, cream etc a bit too much - doesn't really do low fat recipes although there are some....

Home Food is another excellent book of basic recipes and is only £3 at the bookpeople who also have Something for the Weekend for £3 which is a book of great recipes all which serve 8 people (so you can cook for a crowd or cook and freeze) (free delivery code in the voucher board for bookpeople + 5% quidco cashback)

nextyeartina

i'm really carp in the kitchen. i'd love to start meal planning & cooking meals from scratch. any cook book for beginners recommendations would be great

t, x

MandM90

Have a look in charity shops (or any book shop!) for a students cook book. They tend to be very simple, well explained and economical too. The internet has LOADS on it, though. Think of a few things you'd like to learn how to make, then google "easy pasta sauce (for example)" and you'll be surprised what can come up. Most of my cooking skill has come from trying out recipes/using online advice and seeing what works and what doesn't.

System

I remember my very first cook book. At the age of 17 i left home to be someones wife. It was a childs cookery book. It was great, simple easy words and lots of pictures.

MichH

Delia's How To Cook - brilliant and teaches you the basics.

nearlyrich

I second Delia I had the Complete Cookery Course as a young bride, I still use it for Yorkshire puds and rice tried and tested basic recipes you can't go wrong with St Delia LOL.

ninnoodle

My mum sadly never passed on her magical cookery skills to me. But I found Jenny Baker's student cookbooks absolutely fantastic when I left home. She outlines what basics you need for utensils and a store cupboard, and because it is for students the meals were cheap. She also gave tips on how to save (eg. while baking tatties in the oven you might want to bake something else at the same time etc)

Pink.

Hi nextyeartina,

I taught myself how to cook using Delia Smyth's Complete Cookery Course. A fabulous book that I still use today. These existing threads may help:

I wanna basic cook book

cook book for someone leaving home?

I need to learn to cook !!!

Basic Recipes for Novice Cook

I'll add your thread to one of those later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

VfM4meplse

MichH wrote: »

Delia's How To Cook - brilliant and teaches you the basics.

I agree, but remember it was berated in the popular press by Gary Rhodes et al for "dumbing down" cookery. For that reason alone I would suggest it's ideal for you!

nannygladys

My daughter learnt her cookery skills from Jamie Olivers Ministry of Food cookbook, it has all the basics in it and doesnt use wierd and wonderful cooking ingrediants just fresh ingrediants, and gives you plenty of everyday recipes for you to have a go at. I to have the Delia Smiths cookbook and find it brilliant, so either are good.