While in another part is this:
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Simon Gault - Modern Classics .............. Simon Gault - Modern Dad
In one part of my local bookstore is this:
While in another part is this:
Both seemed to be selling well.
While in another part is this:
Under a Mackerel Sky by Rick Stein review – raw memoir lays the chef bare
Rick Stein: ‘no one could accuse him of glossing over uncomfortable moments’. Photograph: Pal Hansen for the Observer
In his TV persona, Rick Stein comes over as one food celeb you could actually invite round for dinner. He's not scary like Michel Roux Jr, or shouty like Gregg Wallace, just an affable, approachable bloke with a good line in chat, and the odd interesting reflection; a kitchen-sink philosopher.
In his memoir, a more complex Stein emerges. The 18-year-old Rick who visited a prostitute in Palma: "I was so nervous that I picked up the first girl on the street. She was a bit plump and had quite bad underarm BO." The Rick so tanked up on booze behind the wheel of a car that he almost killed his wife-to-be. A near-nervous breakdown at university, a panic attack in the middle of the Boulevard Saint-Germain, fisticuffs with fractious Cornish fishermen… nobody could accuse Stein of glossing over uncomfortable moments.
He presents himself as the insecure son of a bipolar father, a man so self-preoccupied that he deprived his son of any confidence of his own; his father eventually committed suicide. Stein knows privilege – champagne on the terrace of his Cotswolds home, public schools where you beat or get beaten – and was saddled with its prejudices. Falling for a local girl, he explains: "I was petrified of getting her pregnant and having to marry a serving maid from Liverpool. I was a horrid little snob, really."
Yet the status that often comes with money proved elusive to Stein into middle age. He catalogues how he has worked his passage through life, from labouring on Australian rail tracks to running mobile discos, the only constant element being his attachment to Cornwall.
While Stein hands in a fairly raw, open account of himself, the other characters in the book are under-developed. This memoir is awash with detail: what clothes were worn, the make of car driven, and so on. The constant stream of cultural nostalgia (Laura Ashley wallpaper, the Beatles, Batchelors ready meals) feels forced.
Readers who persist despite this will probably connect enough with Stein to feel pleased when he begins to get somewhere in life, even if he is dogged by that characteristic diffidence. Nowadays he doesn't relish those "Aren't you Rick Stein?" moments, but has resolved to be good-humoured with anyone who accosts him. "I still like to be liked," he says, and this, one suspects, is what Stein wanted all his life.
In his memoir, a more complex Stein emerges. The 18-year-old Rick who visited a prostitute in Palma: "I was so nervous that I picked up the first girl on the street. She was a bit plump and had quite bad underarm BO." The Rick so tanked up on booze behind the wheel of a car that he almost killed his wife-to-be. A near-nervous breakdown at university, a panic attack in the middle of the Boulevard Saint-Germain, fisticuffs with fractious Cornish fishermen… nobody could accuse Stein of glossing over uncomfortable moments.He presents himself as the insecure son of a bipolar father, a man so self-preoccupied that he deprived his son of any confidence of his own; his father eventually committed suicide. Stein knows privilege – champagne on the terrace of his Cotswolds home, public schools where you beat or get beaten – and was saddled with its prejudices. Falling for a local girl, he explains: "I was petrified of getting her pregnant and having to marry a serving maid from Liverpool. I was a horrid little snob, really."
Yet the status that often comes with money proved elusive to Stein into middle age. He catalogues how he has worked his passage through life, from labouring on Australian rail tracks to running mobile discos, the only constant element being his attachment to Cornwall.
While Stein hands in a fairly raw, open account of himself, the other characters in the book are under-developed. This memoir is awash with detail: what clothes were worn, the make of car driven, and so on. The constant stream of cultural nostalgia (Laura Ashley wallpaper, the Beatles, Batchelors ready meals) feels forced.
Readers who persist despite this will probably connect enough with Stein to feel pleased when he begins to get somewhere in life, even if he is dogged by that characteristic diffidence. Nowadays he doesn't relish those "Aren't you Rick Stein?" moments, but has resolved to be good-humoured with anyone who accosts him. "I still like to be liked," he says, and this, one suspects, is what Stein wanted all his life.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Venison Burgers - Simon Gault's Banoffee Pie
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The Colour of Food
Unity Books Wellington & Awa Press invite you to
celebrate the release of
The Colour of Food: A Memoir of Life, Love &
Dinner
By Anne Else
Thurs 11 Sep
12 – 12:45pm
Unity Books Wellington
57 Willis St
Our Tour de France, Part 2
Posted: 28 Aug 2014 - David Lebovitz
I, myself, have recovered better
than my camera’s memory card, which is en
route back to Sony, who said they would try to recover the rest of
my trip photos. (Yes, I tried recovering software, none of which worked. And I
passed on local outfit in Paris, who said they could give it a try…for €400 to
€1000.) So in lieu of me shelling out the big bucks to get the photos back, I’m
going to wait.
And we’ll all have to be content
with some photos I pulled from my iPhone because as much as I like you all, for
a thousand euros, I could spend a week on a beach in Greece — with a hefty
budget for Retsina.
(On a related topic, two
photographer friends advised downloading and backing up photos daily, using high performance
memory cards, and realizing that even new memory cards fail, so
keep backing up as much as possible. Storing the photos on an external hard
drive, or in a cloud, such as Flickr or Dropbox. Although they aren’t
fool-proof, they are other ways to guard and store your photos.)
Anyways, where was I?
Oh yes, we were heading toward the Loire, where a friend of mine was
spending the month. She’s a good cook, and an easy-going vegetarian, and I was
happy to arrive to find platters of beautiful fresh vegetables and locally
produced goat cheeses, which the Loire is famous for. She was also delighted
that we brought vegetables from our friends garden in the Lot, which included a
fresh piment
d’Espelette pepper, typically used in Basque cooking, and
something I wish were grown (and sold) closer to Paris. I love them. If only
just outside my window, the landing wasn’t awash with cigarette butts from the
neighbors, I could grow something livable out there.
Arriving in the Loire, we were
greeted by more iffy weather, that always seemed to be arriving just as we
were. But that didn’t stop us from hitting the market in Loches, with a château
(another thing that the Loire is known for) overlooking the city.
Continue Reading Our Tour de
France, Part 2...
'Treat' theme to Jamie Oliver advertising
28.08.14 | Joshua Farrington - The BooksellerThe £30 hardback, published by Michael Joseph, will be supported with outdoor advertising and a range of print and TV interviews, with a push on weekends before Christmas to encourage gifting.
A TV series featuring recipes from the book, filmed at Oliver's Essex home, will begin airing on Channel 4 on 1st September, with each of the six episodes showing Jamie cooking for a member of his family or a close friend. Oliver will also appear on BBC One's "The One Show" in September to promote the book, and be interviewed on BBC Radio 2's Steve Wright shows, amongst other planned interviews.
Recipes from the books have already been serialised in the Times' EAT section, with Oliver interviewed by Caitlin Moran, while interviews have also run in Radio Times, Hello, Closer and Evening Standard Magazine. More publicity will take place in Grazia, Best, Red Magazine and others.
Adverts are also running on the chef's own website jamieoliver.com, and food and family websites such as foodnetwork, while outdoor poster advertising will target sites close to supermarkets and bookshops. Jamie Oliver's Twitter feed, which has nearly four million followers, will share content related to the book and TV series, before pushing a gifting message in December.
Oliver has scored five Christmas number ones over the years, including three consecutive festive chart toppers from 2010 to 2012 with Jamie's 30-minute Meals, Jamie's Great Britain and Jamie's 15-minute Meals (all Michael Joseph).
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Modern Indian
In Modern Indian, author Rishi Desai presents a creative and flavourful interpretation of the food of the different regions of his home country.
To begin, there are family recipes for spice blends, pungent with flavour, to be used to add depth and definition to a broad range of everyday ingredients, and transform them into dishes that represent food experiences. Here is everything you need to cook an authentic Indian meal from scratch – breads, spices, pickles, rice dishes, and a generous array of main courses, all for everyday eating. Many of the dishes, tastes and flavours are recognisable, but the interpretation is new and innovative, stylish and interesting with a lightness of touch.
There are recipes for curried dishes, roast meats, poached poultry, vegetarian options and fast food, each full of flavour combinations that represent the spirit of Indian cooking: spicy, fiery, creamy and above all satisfying.
About the author:
Rishi
Desai learned to cook at a young age, initially
recreating the traditional everyday dishes he enjoyed eating in his home town
in India. Later, the opportunity to work overseas broadened his culinary
horizons, and inspired his repertoire. As a contestant on MasterChef Australia,
Rishi impressed the judges (and me too!) with his flair, palate and considerable skill. This
experience provided him with the opportunity to nurture his love of cooking,
and experiment with the traditional dishes of the distinct regions of India.
Ultimately it has established his identity as a chef of inspired modern Indian
cuisine.
New Holland - Hardback -$49.99
Publication September 2014
Annabel Langbein’s Glazed Pork Chops
I wrote about this impressive new title from Annabel Lanbeing earlier in the week and last night I had the chance to make one of the featured dishes which the publishers have kindly agreed to let me reproduce here. It went down a treat by the way with a request that I make it again soon.I served it with roast baby potatoes, roast pumpkin and broccoli. And we drank an elegant and full-bodied Vidal Reserve Series 2013 Hawkes Bay Chardonnay which proved an excellent match..
Annabel Langbein’s Glazed Pork Chops
Who would have imagined that marmalade would be such a good base for an
Asian-style sauce? This sweet-and-sour glaze can be made in advance and is a useful recipe to add to your collection – it’s great with any pork cut and also with duck.
Prep time 10 mins
Cook time 1 hour
Serves 4
• 4 pork chops
• ½ cup water
Marmalade Glaze
• ¼ cup Golden Marmalade or other marmalade
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tbsp honey
• a pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
Preheat oven to 160˚C fanbake and line a roasting dish with baking paper for easy clean-up. Arrange chops in a single layer in prepared dish.
To make Marmalade Glaze, mix together marmalade, soy sauce, cornflour, spring onions, garlic, orange zest and juice, honey, chilli and oil.
Pour glaze over the chops to coat evenly. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover, add ½ cup water and return to oven until cooked through, golden and lightly caramelised on top (about another 30 minutes). Serve hot.
This recipe is extracted from Annabel’s new book Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook: Through the Seasons (Annabel Langbein Media, $59.95). For more great Annabel Langbein recipes see annabel-langbein.com
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Homemade
Clodagh McKenna’s aim with
her beautifully packaged Homemade, is for it to become a home cook’s
constant kitchen companion, in the same way she remembers the Housekeeper’s Guide was to her mother.
Not only is the book packed with
recipes for everything from aperitifs, lunchbox ideas and baking to mid-week suppers,
homemade fast food and Sunday roasts, but there are also ideas on entertaining
and decorating your home, as well as handy household tips and advice on
everything from table settings to how to select the perfect cheeseboard.
With an emphasis on seasonal produce and
maintaining old traditions, there are also sections on preserving, and making
edible gifts. Homemade is likely to become
the faithful friend the home cook can turn to when needing solid advice on
anything from stocking up the pantry, to inspiration for dinner-party menus, or
even just a fail-safe recipe for jam.
About the author:
Clodagh McKenna is an Irish chef,
restaurateur and food writer.
Currently
based in Dublin, Clodagh has opened two bustling restaurants called Clodagh’s
Kitchen with a strong focus on local and seasonal food. She has published four
cookbooks to date and is the guest editor of the first ever Irish Times glossy
Food and Wine Magazine and writes a column in one of Ireland leading
magazines, The Gloss. This year she launched her online food journal The
Daily Digest and has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, Delicious,
Red, Image, and many more.
RRP: NZ $39.99
Colour photography by Alberto Peroli
Paperback w/flaps
Kyle Books/New Holland
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Join the Hipgroup's executive chef Jo Pearson in an intimate cooking demonstration with a three-course meal and wine.
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