Don’t be put off by the cover of this book. It’s not just another book written by stylists for stylists in lofts in north London. The photography isn’t Sunday-supplement gloss, it’s rustic and simple. And the recipe ingredients aren’t the sort of things you can only get in big cities or via internet mail-order; I found them in Taunton.
The recipes are simple, easy to follow and come with good, commonsense hints. The produce recommendations are also sound.
Tom Norrington-Davies does, of course, write for the Weekend pages in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph. But he has also been the head chef at one of London’s original gastropubs, the Eagle in Farringdon Road, so he does have an industry pedigree.
He has some interesting things to say about ready-made meals and, although this book is aimed at the home market, if you’re a young cook in a job that, owing to staff budgets, has traditionally relied on buying in ready-made rubbish, you could do a lot worse than use this book as an inspiration to make things in-house.
The basic principle of the book is that, as you use it, you slowly build up a larder store in your cupboards and freezers that can be used nightly to make a quick and easy meal. And, I have to say, you would end up with a very useful larder.
Most chef-written cookbooks these days are either all about marketing and gimmicks or are too complicated for home use. Norrington-Davies strikes me as somebody who obviously does cook and entertain a lot at home, and it really shows in this book.
Despite initially viewing the book with northern cynicism, I came away very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading it – and I hope it sells well so we can all eat better when we’re round at other folks for dinner!
Richard Guest, head chef, the Castle, Taunton
Cupboard Love
Tom Norrington-Davies
Hodder & Stoughton, £20
ISBN 0-340-83526-5