What you got cookin'?
Jennifer Paterson
Thick and fast they came at last and more and more and more' — just like
cookery books, of which there seems to be an inexhaustible supply for every need or greed from the massed nations of the world.
Wider still and wider shall our girths be stretched to accommodate all the new de- licious dishes set before us in wondrous array if all were tried and tested, but in actual fact most people rely on three or four old, trusty books, adventuring forth now and then into some exotica which catches the eye when glancing over the newcomers.
Here is a selection, starting with the Big Daddy of them all: Larousse Traditional French Cookery by Curnonsky, first pub- lished in France in 1953, revised in 1987 and now translated into English and edited by Jeni Wright (Ebury Press, £25). This is a magnificent book and would not be out of place next to the Oxford Dictionary on your shelves; it seems to contain every receipt you could possibly require from France plus a good section on wine. The instructions are clear and well set out with a good glossary and all the necessary equivalents for heat and terminology. This would make a splendid wedding present and keep the couple happy for the rest of their lives; they could take turns in out- vying each other.
To give ourselves a nice pat on the back you could not do better than Great British Chefs by Kit Chapman from the Castle Hotel in Taunton (Pyramid Books, £19.95). This is a collection of receipts from 18 British chefs with a little biography of each of them. Excellent ideas for game and fish and their accompanying sauces and vegetables. The outstanding photo- graphs by Martin Brigdale are so mouth- watering you want to bite them from the page. The chefs range from the venerable Francis Coulson at Sharrow Bay, the crazy and wonderful McCoys from Yorkshire at the Tontine Inn, Sonia Stevenson and Joyce Molyneux both from Devon, the only two females in the list, to our bright London stars, Richard Shepherd, Alastair Little and Simon Hopkinson, to name but a few. They have all given of their best I am sure (they would, wouldn't they?), so the receipts are well worth assimilating.
For Italy we have a very beautiful translation of The Fruit and Vegetables of Italy by Giacomo Castelvetro, with a fore- word by Jane Grigson (Viking, £17.95). The pictures are stunning, and though written in 1614 it is relevant to today's health addicts. Secrets From An Italian Kitchen by Anna Del Conte (Bantam Press, £14.95): well set out chapters deal- ing with specific ingredients and methods learnt at her mother's knee, interesting new ideas on old receipts, a comfortable, cosy and creative book. La Cucina Veneziana by Gino Santin (Ebury Press, £14.95) is a rather flash offering from the owner of the Santini and L'Incontro restaurants with some surprisingly simple and good receipts when you think of what he charges for a tasty dish of pasta. Two nice paperbacks from Penguin, Leslie Forbes' A Table in Tuscany (0.99). very charmingly illus- trated and handwritten by the author delicious classic and rustic dishes; and The Fratelli Camisa Cookery Book by Elizabeth Camisa (£4.99), a lovely collec- tion of family and friends' favourite foods.
Monet's Cookery Notebooks by Claire Joyes (Ebury Press, £16.95): Monet adored his victuals and made notes of everything he fancied on his travels, which were duly transcribed by his second wife, Alice Hoschede, for the kitchen at Giver- ny. The result is the fascinating history of the place and its gardens, the friends who visited and above all the receipts for the marvellous food served there. Lots of interesting photographs, as well as the glam shots of produce and table settings.
Reader's Digest Complete Guide To Cookery by Anne Willan (Dorling Kin- dersley, £19.95) is exactly that: a vast reference book, probably very useful, if a bit daunting.
`That's calculators for you. Time was when they could count their toes unaided.'
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