The Executive Chef of Michelin-starred Lindsay House in London’s Soho and, more recently, of Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill off London’s Piccadilly, is a grafter. He grew up in Ireland, one of seven siblings all chipping in to run the family farm. This partly explains his absolute obsession with using quality ingredients, and in particular with making the connection between a producer’s face and their product.
So what the reader gets in
The Clatter of Forks and Spoons is a tome of diverse intent – fully focussed on British and Irish cooking, recipes using seasonal ingredients are sourced from producers who are also profiled within its pages and the book is interspersed with autobiographical nuggets and technical explanations. This is an unflashy, ego-left-at-the-door cookbook. Photography is clear, recipes are pared down – witness the brevity of ‘Steamed ham’ and ‘Dressed crab’. But don’t confuse this for a dull or worthy book – it’s a lively celebration of modern British cooking that goes that bit further and works that much harder.
Craig Butcher4th Estate, £25
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Click here to read our interview with Dawid Koegelenberg, General Manager at Richard Corrigan’s Lindsay House.