Customer Reviews
Kitchen Essential . . . beginner or experienced cook - By: David Jenkins, 18 Nov 2008 
It's difficult to know where to start, when wanting to say something good about a book, without sounding trite or patronising. So let me relate a short story, which might tell you a little bit about Leiths Simple Cookery.
My fourteen-year-old daughter is doing cookingin school. They don't call it that of course. It now comes under Design & Technology as we are talking Food Technology these days! What was wrong with good old plain cooking lessons? Anyway enough of that, her most recent project was to find & cook a vegetarian dish & naturally she thought she could take a short cut by asking me what she should cook!
After I explained that it was her project I suggested that she did some research using the cooking booksin the house (there are quite a few to choose from). She struggled. When I stopped to think about it the reason she was struggling was her lack of experience & the need to find something that did not require too many ingredients & would not take too long to cook & prepare.
So with so many booksin the house the task should have been easy! Not so. Look at most recipe books & you find that most recipes call for a lot of ingredients & many are far from simple to do. What was needed was something a bit more focused towards someone learning to cook . . . & then I remembered I had just received my copy of Leiths Simple Cookery.
An enjoyable hour later she had found her recipe, which was both interesting & easy to prepare . . . it also led to me making my own tapenade for the first time! Far superior to what I had been buyingin the supermarket - something I had just never thought to make.
Leiths Simple Cookery is a reference book for those wanting to learn to cook as well as being a book experienced cooks can use to refer to & find recipes - there are over 700 recipes which are both easy to follow & reliable. Ask my daughter whose Tomato & Mozzarella Tarts looked very good & tasted even better. (I must make the recipe for Smoked Salmon & Pea Tart, which appears on the same page & sounds delicious.)
This book will provide recipes for your every need from simple starters through mains to delicious puddings & beyond. The all-important basic recipes are also included ensuring everything you need to know to prepare great meals isin one simple book!
This is no pompous book speaking down to the less experienced but a good old fashioned cookery book, like everyone's mother used to have backin the days when people cooked real family meals & all sat around the table to eat them.
Put together with a thoroughness that is rare these days it is a must for the kitchen library. It is well illustrated & explains all those different things you need to know. A great present for anyone who wants to learn to cook but also for those who want to improve their cooking & expand their experience. It is also ideal for those of us who are more experienced as it provides a reference book for forgotten techniques (or ones we failed to learn & are now too embarrassed to ask about) as well as an excellent source of recipes.
Highly recommended - a must have for any kitchen.
If you only ever buy one cookery book make it this one - By: Mrs. D. Newton Dunn, 16 Oct 2008 This has got to the best cookery bookin the world & I have a shelf full of them. Actually this one has never even made it onto the shelf as it isin constant use. It has delicious reciepes that make use of relatively unobscure ingredients that are quick & easy to make. The Chicken, Lime & Lemon Tagine, Sausage & Lentil Casoulet & Lamb Shanks braisedin red wine are recipes I probably wouldn't have tackledin any other book but are now firm favourites. Thank you Thank you Thank you! Would make a fantastic birthday or Christmas present.
best cookery book yet - By: Mrs. L. Gow, 13 Jul 2008 I own loads of cookery books & only cook two or three recipes from each. Many of the recipesin these books can appear daunting if you're not an accomplished, brilliant cook. I really enjoy cooking for the family but they aren't really into pheasantin a redcurrant sauce type of meal so I have to keep it a bit simpler. This book is ideal, it gives traditional recipes a new twist & they are bursting with flavour. Family favourites so far are lamb & butterbean casserole, turkey & apricot pie not forgetting sausages & red onions with port. I have only had the book a couple of weeks & there are loads of recipes I am keen to try. This is one book that won't be gathering dustin a cupboard. There are plenty of recipes for the adventurous cook but also for those of us still aspiring to become accomplished.
