The only book you need!

A really good selection of recipes, from the everyday to the really imaginative, there is no bread style I can think of that isn't covered by this fabulously illustrated and clearly set out book. If you have a breadmaker, buy it - you can't go wrong! If you're adventurous enough to make bread by hand, I'm sure you'll love it too.

Once you're familiar with cocktails, this is the best.

Once you're familiar with cocktails, methods, names and drinks, this book will increase your stock of receips. I'm not a pro, and I think it will help me to take advantage of my little bottle stock.

Listening to those who have been helped

After reading some of the criticism which is now surfacing on the net about the validity of Patrick Holford's claims I felt compelled share my own experience with this book.<br />I bought the first edition some 3 years ago with a view to finding some help with my asthma. I read the first 4 chapters and put the book down as I felt there was enough information to try a few things out. I then followed the recommendations and was able to do without my inhalers after 2 months. After 3 months I was completely free of any asthma symptoms and was able to walk and run without attacks coming on. Now, almost 4 years on I am still free of asthma.<br />I am 49 and have been asthmatic since 2 years of age. Therefore the advice offered in the first 4 chapters was enough to change my situation in a way which conventional medicine denies even to be possible.<br />A person should have enough discernment to separate the wheat from the chaff and benefit thereby. I believe the critics should take some time to ask those who have been helped by Holford's approach and not harp on about clinical trails which generally prove little in any case. Nothing compares to personal experience when trying different approaches to health.<br />

Brilliant Cookery Book!

This is a fabuluos cookery book, especially if you enjoy cooking new things but can't particularly afford all of those exotic ingredients. It allows you to make amazing food with the simplest of ingredients.<br />Being a student (who prefers not to eat beans on toast every night), I have found this book a lot more useful than those specifically designed for students (who's reipes include the likes of making a tomato soup using.... a can of tomato soup). <br />Very very easy to use and as I've said, AMAZING FOOD!

great book

Really good book on fitness. Makes it so easy to read and has a step by step timestable which you follow to get to peak fitness and realistic targets. Great how he emphasises the correct food to eat even with a timetable on what you should eat from breakfast to dinner and even turns into a little cook book with recipes and shopping lists haha. Worth gettin and its great because you will get fit reading it and offers some good advice

really good fun

This is such a cute little book! the recipes aren't really hi-tec or anything but it tells you how to build a fire and gives you checklists for equipment and stuff, which is good if you've never been camping before. and it's got lots of yum stuff i never would have thought of, like cooking roast chicken or this omlette with strawberries in. Theer are other harder recipes, but I preferd the easy, messy stuff which involves stuffing things on sticks! And barbecue stuff is well-covered too. The pictures look good but not fake, and the words are quite quirky and funny, made me laugh anyway, which i wasn't expecting. glad i bought it... might spur me on to cook a bit more outdoors instead of heading to the pub...

This is amazing!

After years of searching for a good curry book, to make curry like you buy in restaurants, I finally found this one.<br />The curries are very easy to make, and taste SUPERB. Even gives instructions to make the rice just like you would get in a restaurant. <br />I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you only buy one curry book, make it this one. Since I found this, I posted all of my other curry books on freecycle, it's that good.

Excellent book for the right audience

The ever increasing size of this book reflects the increasing interest in wine, so it now lands with an impressive thump on your desktop. Though its content doesn't always reflect who that new market is.<br /><br />The authors start with a, rather meandering, description of the history and production of wine and some basic notes on tasting, appreciation and handling of wine. Some of this is very useful, most of it is very basic for someone who already knows the subject and all of it could do with some editing to make the best of their material. Some of it punctures some of the myths about wine such as how long wines should be laid down and do you really need to let wine breath. Elsewhere they perpetuate some of those myths, for example they still seem to give the whole concept of 'terroir' an almost mystical reverence.<br /><br />That introduction, however, is not really the point of this volume. This appears to be aimed at the new wine connoisseur or someone who wants to be a connoisseur. The real body of this is a fairly comprehensive atlas of vineyards and producers. The detail with which they cover their subject is variable but excusably so as it reflects the varying national interest in wine. So France is covered in incredible detail while England, however much it's wine industry may be growing, is given one brief page. Annoying when you had hoped for something comprehensive but understandable. As long as you stick to well established wine producing regions and buy from those regions this will have something to tell you.<br /><br />Which, excellent as it is, is also a problem this book has. Ninety per cent of the wine buying public, whether they are buying something cheap and nasty from tescos or something better from a merchant will be buying a blend; a chardonnay or shiraz whose provenance can be narrowed down no more closely than southern Australia, South Africa or so on. Good as those wines are this book doesn't help in selecting them.<br /><br />If you've moved from just buying a muscadet or whatever to buying 'something from the Loire Valley' then this is ideal for you. If you want to do so then this is ideal. If you like wine and maps then this is interesting if not useful. If you, like me, are happy buying muscadet and merlot but have no real desire to take your wine buying much further then this is probably not for you. So, interesting but impractical for most of us but excellent for the right audience.<br /><br />

South Beach vs. regular low calorie diet.....and the winner is..........

This is a diet book whose plan is to get you to lose weight by limiting your carbohydrates- essentially another low-carbohydrate diet. It has 3 phases where your carbohydrates are severely restricted at first, and then re-introduced. I have personally read three controlled trials comparing low carb diets to your regular calorie restricted diets that were published in scientific journals. The results? Low carb diets produce more weight loss during the first 6 months, but at one year follow-up, both groups had lost THE SAME amount of weight. Therefore, it really doesn't matter which diet plan you choose, the South Beach diet or your standard low calorie diet, because if you can stay on either of them for a year, you'll lose the same amount of weight. To that end,then, the South Beach diet is a fairly healthy diet plan and a good one to choose from, but the bottom line if you want to lose weight is to cut your calories with ANY diet plan and absolutely stick with it and make it a part of your lifestyle. Also recommend"Treat Your Own Rotator Cuff" if a shoulder problem or torn cuff keeps you from exercising. Good luck! <br /><br />

The best indian recipe book I have ever seen.

An old fashioned cookbook this one. No glossy photos, very few pictures, but this is the best indian recipe book I have ever seen.

The focus is on indian home cooking - *real* cooking. Not takeaway food, but the sort of thing you can make every day.

The recipes are well laid out, with clear instructions, and there are dozens of them.

Recipes include snacks, starters, breads, side dishes, meat, poultry & vegetarian dishes, sweet deserts and drinks (13 chapters in all). All of them seem pretty sensible.

I made my (indian) girlfriend potato sak last night, following a recipe in this book, and she told me it tasted just like her mums. What hgher reccomendation can there be?

Truly scrumptious

Quite simply, Nigella Lawson will enable you to gain a reputation amongst friends for being a brilliant cook. What your friends won't know is just how effortless it all is when you are in Nigella's capable hands. Her narrative is just as eulogistic as her other books, which means that recipes you would normally overlook end up being firm favourites, thanks to her powers of persuasion. As a stand alone read, this book is well written and colourful, even out of the kitchen. Don't be put off by the summery title, these are just foods that remind her of summer. Most of these dishes could be cooked or adapted to suit any time of the year. That's another good thing- she doesn't mind if you mess about with her recipes to make it suit your own taste. She often recommends alternatives and is very rarely bossy and only when she needs to be (twice I think). I tried the Chocolate Peanut Squares and used pecan nuts instead of peanuts. I also used dark and white chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Whatever I used, the plate was cleared and colleagues and family were begging for more. It's now a firm favourite and I can now pretty much rustle it up now without needing the book. I also tried the Braised Little Gem Lettuces and was amazed to find they taste like a nutty version of asparagus when cooked this way. The Pasta al Sugo Crudo tasted nothing like I expected Italian Tomato-ey pasta to taste. It was fresher, more fragrant and tasted much lighter than I would have imagined. If you, like me, think life doesn't get better than a gathering of friends and greedy portions of superb food and great conversation, then buy this book.

A good looking book

For your money, you get 1 page of glossy photo, and 1 page explanation of how to achieve and a recipe. These are all relatively complex - don't expect simple guidance on the soil for growing peppers, aubergine or tomato in a pot. i.e. the practical advice you need to get started.<br /><br />There is also a small (and for my purposes insufficient) section on how to look after what you are growing (by type) at the end.<br /><br />I find the book very light on content and practicalities. It contains less info than a google search and what I wanted perhaps was the sort of practical advice and reference that a grandad might provide.<br /><br />The projects all look great. I am stuggling to beleive anybody would actually have a go. The book is great for daydreaming in mid-winter so 2 stars.

Yummy. And beautiful to look at too!

This book has lovely photography throughout. The cupcakes look yummy to eat but they are lovely to look at too in their own right and the photographs are beautiful and some are the kind of thing you see on greetings cards, so the way that the cupcakes are presented is very good too, and adds to the decorative appeal. <br />I don't cook but some of the recipes sound easy so maybe even I could attempt some at some time. I really think I prefer looking at pictures of them to actually eating cupcakes, unless they are loaded with soft cream icing and a layer inside as well, making them even more yummy, but I just love the look of them. Which I know is not really the reason to buy a cookery book, but then with cupcakes, they are so much used as decorative pictures now, I have seen them pictured on all kinds of things, from clocks, to shopping bags, to coasters and tins, as well as birthday cards, so obviously I am not the only one who recognises their visual appeal! ;-) <br />Some of the recipes also really are for delicious sounding cupcakes with ingredients you wouldn't normally think of associating with cupcakes, as I always thought they were just small sponge fairy cakes with a layer of hard icing on the top with a glace cherry to decorate, and though they look very nice and are the ones I have seen used the most as decorations, they do not make my mouth water, but some of the recipes in here, do. <br />Highly recommended. A beautiful book of luscious photography as well as yummy recipes and for people who do cook, the recipes were very easy to follow. Another bonus too of course for those who cook, is that you can make sure that the finished product contains no nasty ingredients like trans fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils that is nearly always included in shop bought cakes and that ingredient alone is so bad for people. Making your own can be much healthier. As long as you don't overdo the eating of them, obviously!<br />N.B. This review is for the edition of this book entitled"Cupcake Heaven", not the edition entitled"Cupcake", which I haven't seen. Presumably it's the same book, but the picture on the cover of"Cupcake" is not reproduced inside"Cupcake Heaven", neither is there a recipe for those cakes shown on the cover of that edition, whereas the cakes on the cover of"Cupcake Heaven" _are_ included. Also it states inside of my copy that"some" of the recipes were also included in"Cupcakes", so presumably both books are not exactly the same, though they seem to be classed as such. (Also, just checked on Amazon, my (paperback) copy has 160 pages, whereas the hardback copy with the different cover, only has 64 pages according to Amazon's title page),

great!

I actually bought this book about 2 years ago in a cheap bookshop not really knowing what I was buying. This book is wonderful. Such quick and easy recipes to make. <br />The individual carrot cakes were a massive hit for my daughters 1st birthday. Most recipes suit adults and children alike. Recommended to all my baby friends!

the best book about cakedecorating

I love the book.<br /><br />This book gives you so much energy en inspiration.<br />Fantastic!! The book stands out of all the other Cakedecorating books I ever bought.<br />Thank you Eric!<br />Joyce Medus<br />The Netherlands <br />

Practical, original and beautiful recipes from a Master Craftsman.

The recipes in this book are beautiful, and there are some great ideas that will inspire you to get into the kitchen.<br /><br />As you can gather from the title, the book is grouped around ingredients, not grouped in the usual way i.e. Starters, Soups, Salads, Main Courses, Desserts etc. etc.<br /><br />I often don't find this type of format very inspiring, but it works very well here, as the ingredients are all easy to get hold of, and the recipes are very intelligently chosen for the home cook.<br /><br />For a couple of the ingredients, like Aubergines, the recipes he's chosen to illustrate them with are a bit obvious. For the vast majority though, the recipes are original and definitely ones that you will want to try out. The photos are gorgeous, and this always helps to make you want to cook them.<br /><br />Like his previous book, this contains a lot of useful cooking tips, that will help you to become a better cook, and possibly get better results than normal. It's not a huge book, but it is jam packed with recipes and information.<br /><br />It's hard for top chef's to pitch their book correctly. If they produce a book with sensible recipes that you can actually cook, then people complain that they're not the recipes that this chef cooks in their Michelin starred restaurant.<br /><br />If the chef gives you the actual recipes from their Michelin starred restaurant, then people complain that they are too complex, take too long, that the ingredients cost too much, and are impossible to get hold of.<br /><br />I do like to try out more complex recipes, if I have the time, and I'm in the mood. I am finding though, that more and more, I tend to cook the simpler recipes where I can prepare them in a reasonable amount of time, and still get a great result.<br /><br />Tom Aikens took this approach in his book, preferring to give you a mix of easy and challenging recipes to suit your mood, but nothing that was totally impractical for the home cook. <br /><br />Marcus Wareing has also taken this approach in both his books, and I'm personally very glad that he did. I would rather have these ones to try out, than recipes from Petrus, requiring an army of chefs to execute, and requiring ingredients that a professional restaurant would have on hand, but I would have to prepare from scratch, just for that recipe.<br /><br />This is a practical book, that you will actually use. The recipes are clearly explained, and of the standard that you would expect from Marcus Wareing. <br /><br />Your friends and family will really enjoy trying them, and you will enjoy cooking them.

Saturated Fats *Alert*

Vegetarians don't need to be obese with clogged arteries. I was shocked at the nutritional information of most recipes, where calories and saturated fats seem to be a badge of honour. Basically, these are meat-based recipes where cheese, cheese and yet more cheese was used as a substitute. Has BBC ever heard of tofu or pulses? Many dishes provide up to 40% of the daily dietary needs of an active adult woman, which is really excessive. Want a good book of vegetarian recipes? Well, I'm afraid this isn't it. Shame.

A real gem

For the past few years I've found myself cooking the same sorts of dishes, spending a couple of hours in the kitchen, making something that would last a few nights. But they weren't particularly exciting; not the 10th time around, at least. The odd take-away or pre-packed meal got me through the end of the week when I was too tired to cook.<br /><br />A friend bought me Real Fast Food a month ago. What can I say? This is transforming my cooking. Truly inspirational. Without a doubt the best and most practical cook book I own. I can't recommend it enough. <br /><br />The book has a great"store cupboard list" of ingredients that will help ensure you are always able to make something that hits the spot - tasty, varied and and quick dishes that never fail to delight. People have called Nigel Slater a genius, and the more I use this book, the more I think they are right. I can understand why other reviewers say that their copies are dog-eared and greasy - it doesn't leave my kitchen bench, either. Add to basket.

A fascinating read

This book is well written and full of interesting information. The authors background (medical doctor and anthropology) means that this is a book that is grounded on solid medical reasoning and is miles away from some of the mumbo-jumbo, be-at-one-with-the-earth rubbish thats currently circulating.<br /><br />A great read and an inspiring book.

Easy to prepare, hard to resist

After making just three recipes from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook -- the Outrageous Brownies, the Fresh Corn Salad, and the Parmesan Smashed Potatoes -- I know I can trust the recipes in this delightfully designed, gloriously photographed paean to good cooking. Co-workers and friends could not stop enthusing about the brownies, which many claimed were the best brownies they'd ever tasted, and dinner guests went back for three helpings of the potatoes. As some have pointed out, this is NOT low-fat cuisine -- but neither is a Big Mac and an order of fries, which would leave one infinitely less satisfied than the dishes here. So, when taste is your primary concern, trust this invaluable resource from Ina Garten -- I know I will for years to come.