Can anybody recommend a cookery book for my son?

thriftlady_2

mattogier wrote: »

I am looking fwd to getting The Good Granny Cookbook: Traditional Favourites for Modern Families and have just noticed it's by Hugh F-W's wife!!!

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall is Hugh's mum (hence the 'Granny' thing)

I'd recommend Nigel Slater too and Delia's Complete Cookery Course which is a lot more straightforward than her more recent books.

Stephen_Leak

The "Cooking for Blokes" trilogy - "Cooking for Blokes", "Foreign Cooking for Blokes" and "Flash Cooking for Blokes".

PS. And fellow "gastronaut" Mr Badexample's threads on here!

FunkyFairy

morwenna wrote: »

The Dairy Book of Home Cookery, although I am not sure where to get it:o

The milkman

Skint_Catt

Bagpuss1973 wrote: »

"How to boil an egg" written by Jan Arkless, available from Amazon at £3.99. It really is basic. Assumes you know nothing at all! Which I found great when I first moved out to live on my own in the big old world.:T

I agree - I'm a decent cook but this is still invaluable. In fact I looked at it yesterday re a roast I was doing!

competitionscafe

kunekune wrote: »

I would second the recommendation for Nigel Slater.

I would third the recommendation for Nigel Slater - (I am a similar age to your son and also male), Nigel has has a nice unpretentious writing style.

The one to go for is 'Appetite' as it covers what's in season each month, what to do with different fruits, veg, meat, what you use the different herbs for, useful kitchen equipment, etc + lots of great recipes but almost all of them are easy home cooking stuff, things you would make after a day at work not fiddly restaurant style dishes. The best part is that each recipe is basically a template, with one recipe and then several suggested variations so as you become more experienced/confident you can vary the recipe. My main criticism is that he is a bit too fond of butter, cream, etc but there are some healthier recipes in there too. If you read the reviews at amazon you can see that this book has many fans: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Appetite-What-You-Want-Today/dp/1841154709/
(However I think cheapest place to buy it is Waterstones using the 15% off voucher and free delivery to store option)

Although Delia has some good recipes (her leek and potato soup is delicious!) and I know many people swear by her, I never really liked her TV prog or books much (sorry). Home Cook is also good (Especially when the bookpeople had it for £3) but it's quite 'traditional' (Sheperds pie, crumble, etc). If your son is a complete beginner then you could also consider 'The First-Time Cook' by Sophie Grigson which covers everything form how to boil an egg to making soup, roasts, stews, pasta, stir frys and more 'adventurous' dishes like Pad Thai:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Time-Cook-Sophie-Grigson/dp/0007229569/

I have more than 30 cookbooks but Appetite is still one of the most well used as well as his more recent one (Kitchen Diaries); Tessa Kiros Falling Cloudberries (£5 at the bookpeople) and the Divertimenti Cookbook. My 15 favourite cookbooks are listed here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/R3APZD5BG7JZ9I/

Olliebeak

Thanks everybody for all your suggestions - some of those I'd never heard of.

I've now got a list to go and hunt for in the shops - hoping that at least a few of them will be around.

Whichever I settle for, I will also get him something from the River Cottage series as I've heard my son say that he's enjoyed watching Hugh F-W. He is into fishing (yuk!) so will enjoy some of that 'go and catch a fish' stuff that Hugh does!

nicola1982_2

I learned to cook using this book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Really-Useful-Student-Cook-Book/dp/1853914266/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196946828&sr=1-8

There is also a veggie version

Stephen_Leak

razra wrote: »

Ive just bought these for my brother for Xmas

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Blokes-Duncan-Anderson/dp/0751515639

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Foreign-Cooking-Blokes-Duncan-Anderson/dp/0751520780/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1/203-9142740-5055930

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flash-Cooking-Blokes-Duncan-Anderson/dp/075152722X/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1

I bought them as a three pack from Studio Cards for £8.99 but they do look fantastic

These get my vote every time as well.

rach

i bought the cooking for blokes book for a friend when he started to live on his own and i know he found it invaluable.

youngandreckless

Hi All,

Part of my trouble in keeping my food budget under control is that I don't really have many cookery skills. I don't know where to start which is why I end up paying over the odds for meals already prepared.

Can anyone recommend a cookery book that is good for getting to grips with the basics? I'm not a massive meat eater - beef and chicken only really when I do eat it. I'm prepared to invest in one or two good books as I figure they'll pay for themselves in no time.

Thanks

Y&R