The Penguin Cookery Book

The authoritative cookery book for those who want to cook and eat real food. THE NEW PENGUIN COOKERY BOOK will provide you with all you need to know about cooking for yourself, your family and friends in the new millennium. It is both a guide forbeginners and a reference work for the more experienced cook. It explains the basic methods of preparing food and then applies these in recipes of many different origins. 'A stupendous acheivement, infinitely more ambitious than, and superior to, its predecessor' Times Literary Supplement

Arabella Boxer's Book of English Food describes the delicious dishes - and the social conditions in which they were prepared, cooked and eaten - in the short span between the two world wars when English cooking suddenly blossomed. The food in these wonderful recipes comes from the great country houses, where little had changed since Victorian times, the large houses in London and the south, where fashionable hostesses vied with each other to entertain the most distinguished guests at their tables, and less grand establishments, like those in Bloomsbury where the painters and writers of the day contrived to lead cultured and civilised lives on little money. Containing 200 recipes, drawn from cookery books, magazines of the period, family sources or from talking to survivors who still remember those days, Arabella Boxer's Book of English Food is a fascinating glimpse into another world, and a celebration of English cooking at its finest.

The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson, first published in 1999, became, almost overnight, an immense success, winning prizes and accolades around the world. Its combination of serious food history, culinary expertise, and entertaining serendipity, with each page offering an infinity of perspectives, was recognized as unique. The study of food and food history is a new discipline, but one that has developed exponentially in the last twenty years. There are now university departments, international societies, learned journals, and a wide-ranging literature exploring the meaning of food in the daily lives of people around the world, and seeking to introduce food and the process of nourishment into our understanding of almost every compartment of human life, whether politics, high culture, street life, agriculture, or life and death issues such as conflict and war. The great quality of this Companion is the way it includes both an exhaustive catalogue of the foods that nourish humankind - whether they be fruit from tropical forests, mosses scraped from adamantine granite in Siberian wastes, or body parts such as eyeballs and testicles - and a richly allusive commentary on the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cookery books, or as dishes peculiar to a country or community. The new edition has not sought to dim the brilliance of Davidson's prose. Rather, it has updated to keep ahead of a fast-moving area, and has taken the opportunity to alert readers to new avenues in food studies.

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THIS IS A BOOK FOR ALL THE FAMILY TO USE. IT WILL ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO HAVE A GO AT COOKING WITH THEIR PARENTS. IT WILL PROVIDE TIPS AND ADVICE ON HOW BEST TOFEED YOUR CHILDREN NOW, ESPICALLY WITH THE ABUNDANCE OF READILY AVAILABLE JUNK FOOD AROUND, AND HOW TO START ENJOYING FAMILY MEAL TIMES AROUND THE DINING TABLES INSTEAD OF IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION. THE AUTHOR WILL COVER THE PROBLEMS OF THE BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMILY UNIT AT MEALTIMES, HE WILL LOOK AT SUPERMARKETS V SMALLER SPECIALIST SHOPS AND HE WILL UNDERLINE THE PLEASURES THAT CAN BE HAD FROM SITTING DOWN TO A FAMILY MEAL TOGETHER.

'Brilliant reading, enthralling and exciting, as well as great cookery. The ultimate book in every way' Gary Rhodes, The Times French Provincial Cooking - first published in 1960 - is the classic work on French regional cuisine. Providing simple recipes like omelettes, soufflés, soups and salads, it also offers more complex fare such as pâtés, cassoulets, roasts and puddings. Readable, inspiring and entertainingly informative, French Provincial Cooking is the perfect place to go for anyone wanting to bring a little France into their home. 'A joy to read. David's descriptions of France are so wonderful you can almost smell the garlic' Jilly Cooper, Sunday Express Elizabeth David is the woman who changed the face of British cooking. She introduced post-war Britain to the sun-drenched delights of the Mediterranean and her recipes brought new flavours and aromas into kitchens across Britain.