Book Reviews

A round-up of interesting foodie titles to consider for the Christmas bookshelf...

There are always plenty of Irish interest food books to choose from coming up to Christmas, and this year is no exception – beginning, of course, with our own latest book, Ireland for Food Lovers (€20).

This fully illustrated guide-cum-cookbook highlights the best of Irish foods, the landscapes and seascapes that make them unique - and the people who produce and supply them, serve them to their guests or teach us how to cook them. It’s available directly from us online (ireland-guide.com) with free p&p to addresses in Ireland, and from bookshops. The perfect foodie gift! Click here to buy

A seasonal recipe to try now: Muckross Venison Casserole


Another well illustrated book that is jam-packed with hints and suggestions is The Superquinn Cookbook - A Passion for Food (hardback €25, from Superquinn stores). Written by Irish Food Writers’ Guild Chairperson, Orla Broderick, this appealing and informative book marks 50 years of fresh food retailing for Superquinn and, as is right and proper, the chapters reflect the key fresh food areas of the store – plus a whole lot of extra information on, for example, store cupboard essentials and wines, and of course the history of the store, plus a foreword and recipe from Superquinn founder Feargal Quinn. Recipes from Superquinn colleagues and customers are also included – and some from well known chefs including Ross Lewis, Neven Maguire and Donal Skehan – and a novel feature is that each recipe comes complete with its own downloadable shopping list.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Smoked Salmon Carpaccio with Horseradish Cream


Those who like the homeliness of busy books will enjoy TV chef Clodagh McKenna’s Homemade (Kyle Cathie hardback, £18.99), which is choc-a-bloc with detail, and with quirkiness a-plenty provided by pages of different colours and background patterns, several fonts to each page and little ‘reminder notes’, cut-outs, ‘paper clips’ all creating a sense of organised chaos rather like a family kitchen notice board…lots of ideas and advice on presentation and scene-setting – and, of course, recipes a-plenty.

A seasonal recipe to try now: My Farmers’ Market Paté (Clodagh’s best seller at her Canal Café at the Village at Lyons, Celbridge, Co Kildare)


Quite different is a very personal little book by Monica Haughey, The Secret of the Mince Pies (paperback; €10 from www.secretofthemincepies.com and from Dublin Food Co-op, Newmarket Square). Monica’s late mother, Christina Haughey, was a renowned Tyrone cook and known especially for her baking, and this book is not only a collection of favourite recipes but also a touching memoir of her family life and the area she grew up in. Monica’s mother was especially well known for her mince pies and, up to the age of 80, would bake 22 dozen of them and send them to family and friends here and abroad. And the secret of her mince pies? This - and the deliciousness of everything else she cooked - is indeed revealed in Monica’s delightful little book.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Mince Pies!


And then there are the Irish/Italian books. As Italian food is extremely popular in Ireland it is perhaps surprising that there has been, until recently, a dearth of Italian cookbooks written for the Irish market. Then, last year, along came Catherine Fulvio’s TV series and the accompanying Catherine’s Italian Kitchen (Gill & Macmillan, paperback) – and this autumn has seen the arrival of not only the popular food columnist Paolo Tullio’s book, Paolo Tullio Cooks Italian (bookstores nationwide, €20) but also Inside The Italian Kitchen by Marco Roccasalvo and Anne Kennedy (€20 from greatfood.ie, Camp de’ Fiori, Donnybrook Fair stores and other and selected outlets). Unusually, this is published by a foodie website - and co-authored by its founder, in association with the well known chef-restaurateur Marco Roccasalvo; together with photographer Harry Weir (who also contributed the photographs for The Superquinn Cookbook) they have created a book that is jam-packed with fascinating practical information on the ingredients that are essential to success, a great range of recipes and evocative images that give a true flavour of Italy.


Domini Kemp’s simple, gutsy food is equally well known through the bagel shops, cafés and restaurants that she runs with her sister, Peaches, and her weekly recipe column in The Irish Times. If you want colourful, tasty and down to earth dishes guaranteed to please family and friends and that won’t take too long to put on the table, you won’t do better than follow the advice of this busy woman – so Domini’s Itsa Cookbook (Gill & Macmillan, €19.99/£17.99) is a surefire winner.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Poached Haddock and Egg with Parsnip Purée


When looking for a gift for anyone who enjoys a good read as much as do-able recipes or fabulous photography, I’d recommend considering any of the Grub Street titles (www.grubstreet.co.uk) as, unusually, this publisher specialises in evocative food writing that fires the imagination, with minimal illustrations (if any). This takes us back to an older tradition that is both stimulating and soothing.

Grub Street publish some quirky books which are often of historical interest too. Rosamund Man and Robin Weir’s The Mustard Book (£16.99), for example, is a fascinating and authoritative book on an everyday ingredient which has been cultivated for over six thousand years, covering all aspects – including cultivation, and its medical uses, plus a wide range of recipes and a section on making mustard at home.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Honey and Mustard Roast Turkey Breasts


Talking quirky, who could resist a book that begins “I was born at home, just in time for lunch – the doctor lured me out with a Cold Roast Chicken Sandwich. Dad had just popped down to make up a few rounds – one for the doctor, another for the midwife and one for himself. Mum was busy….” A love of good food inspired author Tim Halket to build a hen house and Five Fat Hens (£18.99), subtitled The Chicken and Egg Cookbook, is one of the enjoyable results. Five Fat Hens is a diary of his year as a house-husband and cook, offering not only recipes but plenty of observations and opinions along the way.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Omelette with Black Pudding


Then there are Grub Street’s hardback editions (priced around £12.99-£14.99) of a number of Elizabeth David classics, including recent re-issues of English Bread and Yeast Cookery; Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen and - perhaps most appealing as a general-interest food gift book - South Wind Through the Kitchen, compiled by Jill Norman (literary trustee of Elizabeth David's estate). Younger cooks new to Elizabeth David and who enjoy having an historical perspective will find it fascinating to be introduced to this legendary writer - who will be remembered by their mothers and grandmothers for brightening up post-war British kitchens (and ultimately Irish ones too) with Mediterranean sunshine, through the introduction of foods like olive oil and pasta, artichokes and aubergines that are now staples of contemporary cooking….

For those who prefer their food books highly illustrated, At Elizabeth David's Table (Michael Joseph, hardback £25) is the answer: published to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth's first book and with an introduction by Jill Norman, it is a beautifully illustrated collection of her dishes, together with other material including some of her short essays, and tributes from today’s chefs, including Jamie Oliver, Rose Gray and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Faisan à la Cauchoise (Pheasant with Cream, Calvados and Apple), given in South Wind Through the Kitchen, and originally published in French Provincial Cooking.


Equally successful, in a very different way, is Cook Up a Feast by Mary Berry & Lucy Young (Dorling Kindersley, hardback 336pp, 20/€25). Mary Berry, one of Britain’s most popular (and reliable) cookery writers, and her assistant of 20 years, Lucy Young, have together produced one of the most practical reference books you’re likely to come across: this is as much a guide to coping with large numbers as a cookbook, and a very attractive and confidence-inspiring one it is too. In the ‘Good Housekeeping’ tradition, the advice is well thought out and down to earth – and you just know every recipe will work.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Traditional Chicken, Leek, and Mushroom Pie; quantities are given for pies serving 6 or 12 – and it would work wonderfully well with cooked turkey too.


And, finally, the biggest food book (by far) that I have yet come across also happens to be outstanding in every other way so, if size matters and you have someone on your gift list who really loves Thai food, the solution has to be Thai Street Food (Octopus £40; www.octopusbooks.co.uk). This massive tome comes with an impeccable pedigree: having reached a wide audience through both his writing and his acclaimed London restaurant, nahm, which was the first Thai restaurant to earn a Michelin star, author David Thompson is an undisputed authority on Thai food. Earl Carter, whose superb photographs dominate this new book, leads with a 26 page photo-essay – a repeated feature, uninterrupted by captions, which are given at the back – and the complementary, tightly disciplined, text almost seems to take second place, as it follows Thailand’s streets from dawn markets through to night time dtam sang stalls. Not an easy read – the sheer size and weight of this impressive book is demanding – but an exciting and rewarding one.

A seasonal recipe to try now: Deep-Fried Cured Pork Ribs; ‘so lip-smackingly good that you may wish to double the recipe’.