Leon: Ingredients & Recipes

LEON #1

by Allegra McEvedy

The first Leon restaurant, in London's Carnaby Street, opened its doors in July 2004. For its founders - henry Dimbleby, John Vincent and Allegra McEvedy - the aim was to change the face of fast food, by bringing fresh, wholesome cooking to the high street. Six months later, Leon was named the Best New Restaurant in Great Britain at the Observer Food Monthly Awards. The menu is based around bold flavors, using simply-cooked fresh, local, natural ingredients with an emphasis on seasonal dishes; it also reflects how our eating habits change as the daylight house get longer and shorter.

This is a book of two halves. The Ingredients Book arms you with everything you need to know about the basic building blocks of any recipe. LEON chooses its ingredients above all for their flavor and healthiness but also with a view to the world we live in, so that such shark-infested waters as sustainable fish are tackled and easy to navigate. LEON's top 250 fruits, vegetables, fish, meats, dairy and store cupboard ingredients are all given their own entries. Nutrition, a bit of history, flavor and the best way to get the most out of them are all covered, seasoned with a fair amount of random miscellany.

The second half is The Recipe Book, where you can put your newly found knowledge of ingredients to great use with over 140 some are familiar favourites taken from LEON's menus such as the Original Superfood Salad, Moroccan Meatballs or Magic Mackerel Couscous and, for LEON Lovers everywhere, at last a recipe for the coveted LEON Better Brownie. Plus there are some recipes from the founders, their friends and those who helped make LEON what it is today, like Fred's Millennium Octopus and David Dimbleby's Spanish Omelette.

LEON's food message is a simple and honest one - cook and eat with the best ingredients available and don't forget the naughty bits that are so necessary for a fully-rounded life.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Drink

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Shauna]

This is the most gorgeously designed cookbook ever... bright and humourous and imaginative. I am determined not to get crumbs and splodges all over it, but then again I want to make absolutely everything in it. So far I've made the Superfood Salad, the flatbread and the sweet potato felfaels. All were deeeelicious - wholesome without dullness.

[Julie]

About 50% information about ingredients and 50% recipes. Information is nicely laid out and there are lots of color pictures. This book would make a great gift for a new cook.

[Angela]

Being able to re-create some of Leon's amazing recipes at home is a joy, especially Leon Gobi veggie curry, sweet potato falafel (messy) and beef chili. Gorgeous book, good enough to read cover to cover.

[Mary]

It's beautiful, useful, fun in a grown up quirky way, and you'll look like a more interesting version of yourself by owning this cookbook.
Correction: you WILL BE a more interesting person by owning this cookbook. Get used to your friends swooning over it, but don't make the tragic error of loaning it out.

Oh, and it has fantastic recipes! ALL THE SOUPS.
Start with the soups.
When your pals ask for the recipes, pull out the cookbook and watch them go crazy!

[Sadie]

Half of this book is an introduction to ingredients which would be helpful for a novice cook. This book does contain some classic Leon restaurant favorites so you can cook them at home as well as some family style meals.

[H]

Really enjoyed the layout of the ingredients, and some of the recipes are delicious.
I like the fact that it's a collaborative collection of recipes, a really well thought of book.
A nice treat as there isn't a Leon near me, I can still enjoy their food in a way.

[Susan Attwell]

Excellent cook book

Loved the way it's written,I think it will be a good hardcover book on my shelf...lots of information,I mean lots ,
Lots of lovely recipes

[Angela]

One of the best cookbooks ever. Mainly Middle Eastern/Mediterranean style. Well written and creative layout.

[Bettina]

Love this book!

[Kim]

All of my foodie friends need to read this! Not only does it whet the appetite for deliciously wholesome ingredients, it is completely visually stunning--like what would happen if Baz Luhurmann were to write a cookbook. I haven't yet tried any recipes and they require converting from the English metric system to something much more familiar, but the book was such a delight to read and I have already identified several recipes to prepare!

[meg]

It's a pretty book and some parts of it are pop-up which is always welcome. There aren't so many recipes but the ones that are included are workable and good -- very informative on fruits, veggies and meat (albeit British fruits, veggies and meat).

[Gillian]

Brilliant, enthusiastic, clever, witty, delicious, inspiring. Love, love, love!

[Kristoffer Meinert]

One of the best cookbooks ever. Mainly Middle Eastern/Mediterranean style. Well written and creative layout.