SKYE GYNGELL’S MY FAVOURITE INGREDIENTS is published by QUADRILLE on Feb 5th 2010
I enjoy a good cookbook like the next person.
They are a source of inspiration and in them you can find ideas, matches you would have never thought of .
The can even be reminders of the simpler dishes that we know we’d love, but in our quest for culinary excellency put at the back of our minds and seem to forget about.
Skye Gyngell is an acclaimed Australian chef and food writer whose work was centric to gaining the Petersham Nurseries Cafe (Richmond, Surrey) its reputation for great food and a string of awards.
The recipes in her latest book are a breath of fresh air.
She takes advantage of seasonal produce where possible (and you know just how much I like seasonal recipes!); uses flavour enhancers like garlic, olive oil and honey and loves prime foods such as fish, shellfish, cheese, nuts and pulses.
It might sound like the base for every cookbook, but as I said this book is a breath of fresh air with its simple combinations.
The ingredients she uses add light and clean flavours to the dishes she presents us with and a touch of classic and easy never goes amiss at a time when every chef out there seems to have forgotten the basics and gone for far too experimental solutions for my liking.
For the cold winter nightswe still need to suffer we can resort to the comfort food she decides to share with us: stracotto, pork belly, chicken with garlic and fennel or a mouthwatering slow-cooked shoulder of lamb with red wine vinegar.
I can just see myself sitting in the living room when the rain is pouring outside and the temperatures drop below zero.
Or how about a touch of Mediterranean flavours to warm you up?
Fried eggs with sage, chilli and garlicky yoghurt are a perfect idea to start the day or friends can be wowed with her recipes for grilled poussins with lemon, marjoram, flat bread and garlicky yoghurt; salt-baked wild salmon with roasted tomato aioli, potatoes and purslane; squid with peppers, red wine and wild marjoram and chicken with figs and honey (like me, Skye is a big fan of using honey in cooking).
Not only her recipes bring fabulous to simplicity, but I also find the structure of the book itself endearing with personal introductions to each core ingredient by means of its role in her day-to-day life and direct suggestions on when and how to use them when one wants to step away from the recipes.
A must buy as a present or a cosy indulgent treat for yourself.
I’m sure everyone will find it useful and a great read.
SKYE GYNGELL’S MY FAVOURITE INGREDIENTS is published by QUADRILLE on Feb 5th 2010
(RRP £14.99, paperback)
