All-in Recipe Books

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I'm impressed, Sakkarin. You never fail to surprise.

Who is Constance Spry, please? I know the name .....

My most used is Keith Floyd's Feast of Floyd.
If I'm looking for something a bit special, I'll go to it first. Even if I fancy a Japanese take, it's got something in there. A really good all round recipe book.

Most recent acquisition, Bill Granger. I'm really pleased I got that one, there are some delightful dishes.

I get a bit stuck with Indian.
I have a few books on the shelves - but turn to Anjum Anand on my ipad kindle nowadays, not had a dud.


I've thinned out my books an awful lot.
There's one that just does not suit, Arabesque. There's not a single thing I want to cook from it.
Unless someone can enlighten me who has it.


I'm just about to go through all of my clippings and print outs and bin the ones I've not tried.

[denada Profile]

Hi All. I haven't contributed for a while but I do try to follow things most days.
I have full Cordon Bleu set in their blue folders. I bought them as a young newly wed who didn't know very much about cookery. They were co-written by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume I think. I believe she's somehow involved in the original Coronation Chicken recipe too.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Ah, thanks Denada.
Coronation chicken - now if I'd read that recipe without ever trying it, it's one I'd never have made.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Constance Spry was a rather strange woman, posh but not rich with a complicated love life
Before WW2 she was known as an educator running a training centre for poor East End girls near here (apparently they liked her a lot) but also was a famous society florist. After the war she teamed up with Rosemary Hume, a serious professional cook, to run a cookery school called Winkfield for gels who would no longer have domestic staff.
They did one of the lunches for the Coronation, for which RH invented coronation chicken.
RH went on to write Au Petit Cordon Bleu with others, the part work came later.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Thanks for that, Sue.

[Renée Profile]

When the children were small, I mostly used Delia's Complete Cookery Course and the Dairy Home Cookery Book from the milkman. After that, I bought books by Elizabeth David and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I bought the weekly magazines by Robert Carrier and Cordon Bleu. After that, it was Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Italian books. My favourite books to read are the ones by Nigel Slater, which are used the most. My latest book is Miso Tasty, The Cookbook and is all about miso, including how to make it, which I bought in Waitrose. There are some very interesting recipes in the book.

What an interesting story, Sakkarin and I love your illustrations for the AA book.

[Amyw Profile]

The ones I pick up most are Nigel Slaters Kitchen Diaries. I think he's a fantastic food writer although doesn't come acrosss to good on TV. I think he's good inspiration for can't cook,won't cook days.
Delias Complete cookery course is good for basic instruction. I also think Nigella's How to Cook is very comprehensive.