The Kitchen Magpie: A delicious melange of culinary curiosities, fascinating facts, amazing anecdotes and expert tips for the food-lover

The ___ Magpie

by James Steen

Join award-winning writer James Steen for a feast of food and drink facts and culinary curiosities.

Delving into forgotten corners of gastronomic history, Steen reveals what Parmesan has to do with broken bones and why John Wayne kept a cow in a hotel. Laying bare the secrets of the kitchen, he concocts the ultimate hangover cure and explains how to cook perfect rib of beef with the oven off.

With much-loved cooks including Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood sharing passion and know-how, this mouth-watering miscellany will sate the appetite of every kitchen dweller, from the masterful expert to the earnest apprentice.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Cookbooks, Food and Drink, Food Writing, Culinary, Cooking

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2014

Reviews

[Christina Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This amusing little book reminded me of a SCHOTT'S MISCELLANY for cooks and foodies. Steen pulls together all sorts of historical tidbits and anecdotes, some familiar, some new, along with tips for cooking various things thrown in. From the seasonality of citrus to saloop, the "poor man's coffee and tea" in the 17th and 18th centuries.

THE KITCHEN MAGPIE would make a nice gift book for a cook in your life or the perfect bathroom reading for that 1/2 bath off your kitchen...

(Thank you to the publisher for the review galley.)

[C.G.Koens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical disclaimer if you haven't read any of my other reviews: that fifth star is reserve for authors with the last name of Lewis or Tolkien or Christie, so a 4 star review from me is NOT a bad review! :)

Second disclaimer: I won my copy of "The Kitchen Magpie" through a Goodreads giveaway, but all thoughts are my own. And SWEET win too, since this book doesn't come out until September (sorry you have to wait!).

I had no idea what to expect from this book, but since it had "food-lover" in the title, I figured I'd like it. And like it I did. A lot. I don't like to dog-ear pages of books, but this one (like most of my novel/cookbook collection) is dog-eared and ready to be referenced at a moments notice. I love the broad range of topics, and the humor and history that is infused throughout the book. Steen does an excellent job of sharing little known kitchen tid-bits, and the fact that I am in the U.S. reading this British-based food book makes me love it all the more as it helps me to continue to broaden my food horizons.

Quick to read (it took me a weekend, once I actually dug into it), and worth purchasing. He mentioned A Kitchen Magpie 2... I hope he wasn't joking because I would absolutely add it to my collection should he chose to follow through!

[Andrea James · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems that Goodreads is linked to Kindle (I don't use my Kindle enough) so you can see the highlights and notes that I've made. Creepy but also quite convenient as I don't have to type out the excerpts.

This is a good book for reading on the loo. Lots of lightly entertaining titbits and a silly sense of humour that keeps a high pace of reading.

With all the notes I made with the highlighted excerpts, there's not much more I have to say about the book here.

[Eva Arrhenius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read for foodies! Short chapters with loads of interesting facts about food. I wouldn't use it as a cookbook though. There are some things I simply think are wrong. This is very subjective and an experienced cook will enjoy it for what it is: one mans view, plus guests that he agrees with.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun, and quite interesting for any foodie.

[Ben Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fun little anecdotes, and trivia from around the world. It was a cute little book, easy read, it did lead me to others in the series

[Wendi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Icon Books gave me the opportunity to read this volume a bit early. The subtitle gives an indication of the hodgepodge-ness of this collection of trivia and facts. There are recipes, as well, usually proceeded by an interesting history or facts about particular kitchen items or ingredients.

I wasn't entranced enough to completely finish the book (although I read the majority). I was somewhat put off by the jokey tone, although there wasn't anything about the description to indicate that the narrative would be anything other than this. Also, many of the facts or history provided were things I already knew, but that may be just because I'm quite interested in foodie-type history (which is why I requested to read this), so I've come across some of it before. Other readers might be more surprised, but if they're interested enough in food to pick it up, they may have the same experience as I did (catch-22).

[Catherine Boardman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Which oranges to eat when; that is the stand out fact that I walk away from this highly entertaining book with. Mr Steen also provides instructions for preparing the snails that thrive in my garden for the table, the orange information I shall use not so sure about the the snails.

James Steen has had a successful career as a journalist and ghost writer of celebrity chefs memoirs. I hope that this book takes him out of the shadows and onto centre stage. He is chatty and has an unerring eye for an interesting fact. My copy of the book was an ebook preview version, I would love to see and indeed own a real paper copy. Get yourself down to Waterstones as soon as possible to buy a copy.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for an advance reading copy.

Many of the facts and anecdotes were fascinating, but nothing really stayed with me after finishing it. Maybe it would have been better to dip into every now and then instead of reading cover to cover. I think that many of the subjects covered were there only because the author had access to an authority on the ingredient (entire chapters on British truffles and coconuts that were each just as long as the vegetable chapter? Why???), and overall it had a very light feel rather than delivering much depth. I can see it being a fun gift for a cook, but for my interests I found it lacking.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this on first reads and enjoyed leafing through it. It's more of a book to pick up and read a few pages or a chapter than to read from start to finish. It was an interesting compilation of various facts and anecdotes covering everything culinary. Plus a few interesting cooking tips I intend to try!

[Rachel Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the historical food snippets and the fact a huge amount of credible chefs had contributed. I also liked the recipes and tips. I did feel this was overpriced at £4.49 for just 200 pages and a quick, one day read. I'd like to give it 3.5 out of 5

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's the fragmented format; maybe I am just not in the mood; but this book is just in "OK" territory. It's great for dipping in and out of; the tidbits are curious but not really interesting to me.

[Kadri · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quite interesting. A lot of new information about food. Cool.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely little book for food geeks. I enjoyed it enormously because of all the nice anecdotes and stories. I will try one or two of the recipes; they sounded very delicious.

[Perry Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting, but written with a grating tone of voice.