Jeremy Lee Cooking Cookbook Review

Jeremy Lee Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many

It's time for another review from our series of Home Cooking Cookbooks. Jeremy Lee Cooking cookbook is the first book from one of the UK's most treasured chefs.

In his first book, Jeremy Lee welcomes you into the kitchen to rejoice in simple home cooking. Whether for a table set for one, or for the descending hordes, here you'll find over 150 recipes, bursting with ideas for good things to eat.

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Good Food Honed From Good Ingredients

From a lifetime of cooking with some of the UK's greatest chefs – as well as lessons from his mother – Cooking is a book about good food honed from good ingredients, whether it is a particularly good bundle of asparagus or a great box of artichokes. The ingredients invariably spark the idea of what to cook next.

Jeremy's extravagant personality was transferred effortlessly onto the book's pages with his too brief potted life history and general observations that make the introduction a beautiful overture for what's to come.

There are sections on the usefulness and frugality of breadcrumbs, whether black olive crumbs to serve with everything, impromptu puddings like peaches in wine with bay leaves, pea dishes galore, superb versions of classics like chocolate St Emilion and pommes Anna, big dishes to serve a few such as marinated chicken with roast pumpkin salad, and essentials like a wild garlic purée.

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An Instant Classic

A glimpse at Jeremy's bookshelves provided within the book gives us a good idea of what kind of chef he is and the type of cooking that inspires him. While a few modern books can be seen, his shelves are packed with classics from Julia Child, Arabella Boxer, Jane Grigson, Elizabeth David and Madhur Jaffrey. As he describes the recipes in Cooking himself, this is "home cooking rediscovered after a lifetime spent in professional kitchens.".

Cooking is a beautiful book with fine illustrations that hark back to another age and great photographs. In many ways, this book felts like an old book, harking back to and reminiscent of the books of Julia Child, Jane Grigson, and Elizabeth David. Even the design reminds one of older publications, an instant classic, in other words.

The recipes in Cooking are arranged by favorite ingredients and occasions and include an introduction emphasizing the importance of the quality and provenance of ingredients. From plum compote with ricotta and hazelnuts to perfect anchovy dressing, this stunning collection of recipes is a love song to simple dishes crafted with the finest ingredients.

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Final Thoughts

Cooking is one of those books that makes us love our work. From time to time, there is always a book that surprises us, which is precisely what happened with this book.

Cooking is brimming with stories, wit, infectious joy for food, and indispensable advice. It is brilliantly illustrated by John Broadley and photographed by Elena Heatherwick. It will surely be one of the most distinctive cookbooks published for years.