The Great Book of Yorkshire Pudding

by Elaine Lemm

The Great Book of Yorkshire PuddingBy Elaine LemmForeword by Rosemary ShragerGreat Northern Books LimitedTo countless Yorkshire men and women, nothing is more symbolic of God’s Own County than Yorkshire pudding. Yet just how the dish achieved this position of supremacy is shrouded in mystery. So too is the reason why it also has amazing fame not just in other parts of Britain but worldwide – and especially in the USA.This book delves deeply into this global fascination in a unique Yorkshire creation. It provides the answers to many age-old questions, as well as including detailed recipes for making the perfect Yorkshire pudding and its many variants. Explanations as to what might have gone wrong when the dish turns out flat and soggy could help to avoid marital breakdown!Finally, celebrity chefs and such noted personalities as Judi Dench, Ian McMillan, Prue Leith and Margaret Drabble recount their personal experiences of Yorkshire pudding.A book that is quite simply mouth-watering!Elaine Lemm is a Yorkshire lass. With her career in food and cooking she has lived and worked in countries worldwide but eventually returned to her beloved Yorkshire to pursue her writing career. She was food and wine editor at Yorkshire Life magazine for seven years, is a food writer at the Yorkshire Post and is writer-editor of the New York Times Company website on British and Irish food www.britishfood.about.com. The section on Yorkshire Pudding is consistently the most visited page on the site.

79 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Darren]

Great things can come in little packages: just like a tasty Yorkshire Pudding that is not made of very much, it still packs a powerful taste with its relative simplicity - yet many people are scared of making them, thinking they are difficult to make.

This book, about the Yorkshire Pudding, is a similar great little package. The casual reader might look at this relative lightweight book and dismiss it (particularly if they have the stereotypical Yorkshire attribute of thrift) thinking that nowt so small can be worth owt, yet they would be doing themselves a disservice. One might even say they are being a bit of a wassock.

Yes, the humble Yorkshire pudding. Steady companion of the Great British Sunday dinner, sitting proudly with roast beef, roast potatoes, gravy and some vegetables the pudding - which is NOT a dessert unless you choose to fill it with ice cream and be different - comes under the spotlight in this easy-to-read, enjoyable and informative book. The history of the pudding, its culinary development and place in society are all examined as well as a plethora of recipes - plural - showing the one true way (!) to make a Yorkshire Pudding.

The book even steers into heretical territory. What does tha' do with leftover Yorkshire Pudding. Leftovers? What is this concept, a somewhat corpulent YUM reviewer who is quite partial to a bit of Yorkshire when the opportunity arises does ask. In fact the humble pudding can play quite a diverse roll in your family's meal plans and no doubt a clever fusion chef could find a few new roles as well. Well, maybe not the equivalent of Birds' Nest Soup (Yorkshire Pudding Soup? Well this reviewer has once had a soup served inside a Yorkshire Pudding, and one "had" to eat the bowl too).

There is not a lot more one can add. If you love Yorkshire Puddings get this book. If you are ambivalent about them, get this book and prepare to change your perceptions. If you have wondered what the blazes a Yorkshire Pudding is, perhaps being a foreigner not used to English food dishes, get this book, learn and maybe you can even try some fusion dishes of your own with your country's national dishes.

Hopefully other books in this style looking at "single dishes" can follow. Bravo!

The Great Book of Yorkshire Pudding, written by Elaine Lemm and published by Great Northern Books. ISBN 9781905080809, 64 pages. Typical price: GBP6. YYYYY.


// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //