Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham 3 out of 5
Don’t be confused by the title, this is not a tongue-in-cheek, flares-wearing fun-poke at the crap food Britons used to eat in the seventies (and still do in Eastbourne) it’s a loving look at classics we used to love but have since forgotten in our rush to follow all the latest food trends.
Prawn Cocktail? Black Forest Gateau? Scampi with Tartare Sauce? Carottes Vichy? Mulligatwany? Chicken Kiev? Lemon Meringue Pie? Wiener Schnitzel? Jam Roly-Poly? Treacle tart? they’re all in here and more…..find out what your parents used to eat and how to cook it. This stuff used to be considered the height of culinary chic and now seems terribly outdated….however the position of the authors is that these dishes are no less valid or delicious than they were back in the day….and I agree!
The book is arranged in chapters such as “the Gentleman’s Club” and “The Sixties Bistro” with insightful introductions to each and even each recipe has a little “history” or comment to accompany it. The recipes themselves are authentic (I should know, I studied most of these dishes at catering college!) and easy to follow.
Although not every recipe has a photo there are still many and I’m sure photographic standards have improved over the decades as all the images look better than those I have of similar recipes in older books in my collection, even if they do follow the ubiquitous, contemporary incredibly narrow depth of field school of food photography ( foreground in sharp focus and rest of image all out of focus) that seems to be the style “du jour” in nearly all recent cookbooks.
Overall a fascinating, nostalgic and accurate historical document into a time and place we all seem to be trying to forget.
Buy now from Amazon UK
