Customer Reviews

Passion for Seafood (Conran Octopus Cookery)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love to cook, yet strangely I can't cook seafood as well I should be able. I bought this book in an attempt to remedy that.

The recipes aren't complicated or overdone, yet every one of the dishes I have made were excellent, even when I made a mistake on one of them. I did have a few issues with the UK English to US English translation of a few items, like 'groundnut oil" is peanut oil. Maybe that is common knowledge, but I had to Google it to figure that out. They have translations for metric, but that is not an issue for me. (All the recipe measurements are in metric, FYI.) There are translations in the book for the seafood, which is definitely helpful, but there are a few things that you must look up on your own. I know the simple ones like aubergine is simply eggplant, yet I was totally confused by using chicory in a recipe. Yes, the translation to the US is ... endive.

Those few items aside, I made several excellent dishes with tuna, swordfish and scallops. Each recipe has a quick few lines about it, suggests pairings with sides and even wine. I found the a common theme to be a small range of flavors that are delicious. Not every recipe has a picture, but some are beautifully photographed.

If you are looking for a cookbook that will give you recipes to make delicious simple, unpretentious seafood, this a very good one for your library. I didn't find any recipes so far that were difficult, but I am not a professional, nor am I a novice cook.

I love Ramsay's books. They are beautiful, even to a novice chef who would not dare to try quite a few of the recipes, but I found this particular book to be very imformative, great sections about different types of fish, how to judge freshness and how to filet. If you are adventurous, and can't find sea bream for example, you can use use this book to judge a fish that is available to you that can be used. Extensive sections on sauces and marinades, but he also explains that some fish, such as trout are best cooked simply...It is a wonderful reference, even if you can't exactly duplicate a recipe it inspires great ideas. My compliments to the Chef.

What a wonderful cookbook for fish. As we try to eat healthier and eat more fish, it is difficult to find good recipes that allow the real flavor and texture of the fish to shine through. Gordon Ramsey's book has tons of great recipes with wonderfully light sauces and fresh vegetables that compliment each type of fish perfectly. He's even thrown in a few dessert recipes for those of us who like to end a meal with a taste of something sweet! This book is a winner!

this book is an exelent first step to seafood, very clear in basic concepts and very nice photos.

Being a chef, I love to read books from other chefs around the world. Mr. Ramsay's boook is truly remarkable for the working chef. I am not sure I would reccomend it for the home chef, although the pictures are beautiful. If you love fish, then this is a must read, especially the soups and scallop recipies

Part of a gift registry, but looks alot more valuable than it is, and makes excellent gift
Recipient loved it, but they registered for it.
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