The Coronavirus lockdowns haven’t been easy to deal with for those in the hospitality sector. In the last year a lot of restaurants and pubs have had to try new things like delivery, food boxes, and many have also supported public services by preparing food for hospitals etc.
And still it’s been hard for many in the industry and the charity Hospitality Action is there to support those in need in the sector. This cookbook is one of the things they’ve produced to help and it contains a whole bunch of recipes for people to try at home from many of the top chefs in Britain. Having owned cookbooks by many of these chefs already, and enjoyed seeing them on shows like Great British Menu, I approached this book with some trepidation. Jason Atherton for example is a perfectionist in his own cookbook providing instructions on how precisely everything should be plated. But rest assured this is a book for the average cook not a Michelin chef.
These are genuinely recipes that you can make at home, with mostly straightforward ingredients, and limited complexity. Angela Hartnett’s recipe is for a bacon & fried egg roll! I’m particularly impressed with the dessert and bakes options with Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s Torrijas with Orange Sauce (brioche soaked in a milk mixture and then fried) being really tasty. It’s great to see a combination of restaurant level dishes (Hispi’s custard tart) and comfort food (Tom Kerridge’s fish finger sandwich with added pickled onion Monster Munch!). You may not cook everything in the book but you will find something you want to try and with 100% of royalties going to charity it’s a worthwhile buy
Leave a Reply