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English Food
ENGLISH FOOD reveals the richness and surprising diversity of England's culinary heritage. Fully updated and revised by Jane Grigson before her death in 1990, this joyful celebration of our national cuisine is a pleasure to cook from and a delight to read.
400 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 10, 2024
I never understood why everybody says that English food is not worth eating. I have spent time in England over the years and enjoyed the food but I must admit that it is rather difficult to eat baked beans with breakfast!
In this book the author provides a preface to each chapter, explaining about the recipes included - (soups, cheese and egg, vegetables, fish, meat/poultry/game, puddings, tea time, and sauce/jams/preserves). These narratives include the history of the specified food and how it was cooked in earlier times. Very interesting information.
There are a multitude of recipes which I didn't read in depth because I will be using this book to try out some of them and will study them at that time. It is a food history and cook book combined and I would recommend it. Hopefully it will stifle the rumor that English food is not edible.
In this book the author provides a preface to each chapter, explaining about the recipes included - (soups, cheese and egg, vegetables, fish, meat/poultry/game, puddings, tea time, and sauce/jams/preserves). These narratives include the history of the specified food and how it was cooked in earlier times. Very interesting information.
There are a multitude of recipes which I didn't read in depth because I will be using this book to try out some of them and will study them at that time. It is a food history and cook book combined and I would recommend it. Hopefully it will stifle the rumor that English food is not edible.
November 2, 2015
UPDATE: GOOD FRIDAY, 6th APRIL 2012. Made Hot Cross Buns (pg 305, basic dough on pg 304). Have never before thought of using marzipan (almond paste) to make the crosses before. I usually instead use a wettish pastry and follow a good recipe by Sonia Allinson. Today’s batch of buns is delicious. I really love the spice mix of cinnamon + nutmeg + mixed spice + mace. Nothing beats the flavour and texture of a yeast-risen dough. Commercially sold HCB’s are a pathetic joke by comparison.
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This book acts as a real wake-up call. Why, oh why, do the majority of the population ruin their taste buds, their sense of wellbeing, and empty their wallets through buying bastardised commercial meal products sold by big supermarkets? Do we really hate our children that much? This book is brilliantly well written to show just how easy and delicious real English cooking is. Humour can be found too, in some of the foods and recipes brought in over the years; for example “Stuffed Monkey” (a Jewish pastry cake) which is especially delicious eaten outdoors, whether on a yacht or picnicking on a hill top.
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This book acts as a real wake-up call. Why, oh why, do the majority of the population ruin their taste buds, their sense of wellbeing, and empty their wallets through buying bastardised commercial meal products sold by big supermarkets? Do we really hate our children that much? This book is brilliantly well written to show just how easy and delicious real English cooking is. Humour can be found too, in some of the foods and recipes brought in over the years; for example “Stuffed Monkey” (a Jewish pastry cake) which is especially delicious eaten outdoors, whether on a yacht or picnicking on a hill top.
February 11, 2020
curried brains with grapes, yes, but not enough pie.
March 4, 2025
A really wonderful tour of English food and history. Some very strange recipes but a lot of classics
December 14, 2016
A very pretty little book picked up on a whim for 50p, and it appears to be more than worth it!!! Only one recipe in this book made me go "ew" and that was banana chutney. Everything else has me very excited to try them. Each section comes with a historical background for the components which I really enjoyed because Jane Grigson was a wonderful writer. Definitely interested in getting some more of her books. And even though I haven't tried out any of her recipes in giving this book a 5* for traditional layout, a comprehensive contents, a lovely writing style, and the fact it filled me with nostalgia and warmth!
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February 20, 2020must have if you want to cook anything you see on Brit TV cooking shows lol
November 3, 2022
English food has a bad reputation. Jane Grigson was the leading proponent of classic English cooking. She reveled in finding recipes from hundred-year-old English cookbooks and reviving them for today. She was a first-rate historian, cook and cookbook writer. (The last two are very different things. Many great cooks can't write a decent cookbook.)
This is her magnum opus. She has big chapters on subjects like soups, vegetables, fish, meat, puddings and "Teatime: Bread, Cakes, Griddle Cakes, and Pancakes, Biscuits." In each section she sprinkles in historical stuff, gives cooking tips and shares her opinions freely. "Fish is the great scandal of English eating and of English cooking." or the downfall of English pudding "has been stinginess with cream and the illusion that nobody notices if you use margarine or vegetable fat instead of butter or lard." This is a fun book to read.
She does not convince me of the glory of English cooking. Many of the recipes boil meat or vegetables for hours. Cream sauce seem to get added to everything. Strong flavors are muted or avoided.
The meat chapter made me suspect she was writing a parody of English cooking. Do people really prepare "Lamb's Head and Barley, with Brain Sauce"? or "Faggots and Peas"? ("Faggots" seem to be the "lights, hearts and melt" of a pig encased in a "grace of caul fat". How about "Brawn or Head Cheese", whose first ingredient is "1/2 pig's head including the tongue but not the brain."?
Or this direction from the recipe for "Potted Tongue", "reduce 8 oz of cooked tongue to a paste with 4-5 oz clarified, unsalted butter."
I enjoyed the history and the intelligent opinions. I enjoyed trying to picture the outcomes of the recipes, but I did not get any ideas for next Sunday's dinner.
This is her magnum opus. She has big chapters on subjects like soups, vegetables, fish, meat, puddings and "Teatime: Bread, Cakes, Griddle Cakes, and Pancakes, Biscuits." In each section she sprinkles in historical stuff, gives cooking tips and shares her opinions freely. "Fish is the great scandal of English eating and of English cooking." or the downfall of English pudding "has been stinginess with cream and the illusion that nobody notices if you use margarine or vegetable fat instead of butter or lard." This is a fun book to read.
She does not convince me of the glory of English cooking. Many of the recipes boil meat or vegetables for hours. Cream sauce seem to get added to everything. Strong flavors are muted or avoided.
The meat chapter made me suspect she was writing a parody of English cooking. Do people really prepare "Lamb's Head and Barley, with Brain Sauce"? or "Faggots and Peas"? ("Faggots" seem to be the "lights, hearts and melt" of a pig encased in a "grace of caul fat". How about "Brawn or Head Cheese", whose first ingredient is "1/2 pig's head including the tongue but not the brain."?
Or this direction from the recipe for "Potted Tongue", "reduce 8 oz of cooked tongue to a paste with 4-5 oz clarified, unsalted butter."
I enjoyed the history and the intelligent opinions. I enjoyed trying to picture the outcomes of the recipes, but I did not get any ideas for next Sunday's dinner.
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June 14, 2023Read Harder 2023 #2: Read one of your favorite author’s favorite books, #11 Read a cookbook cover to cover.
This was a difficult challenge because it meant figuring out what one of my favorite author's favorite books were. But one of my favorite authors is Laurie Colwin, who mentioned this (I'm pretty sure) in one of her Home Cooking books, so here we are.
I enjoyed this even though I will probably never make any of the recipes, since I don't eat pork or beef and I try to avoid gluten and I don't know where I would even get some of these ingredients (online I suppose). It is fun to think about though.
This was a difficult challenge because it meant figuring out what one of my favorite author's favorite books were. But one of my favorite authors is Laurie Colwin, who mentioned this (I'm pretty sure) in one of her Home Cooking books, so here we are.
I enjoyed this even though I will probably never make any of the recipes, since I don't eat pork or beef and I try to avoid gluten and I don't know where I would even get some of these ingredients (online I suppose). It is fun to think about though.
February 5, 2022
So much entertainment value in this book. Does explain why English food gets such a bad rap. There are quite a few terrible recipes. Terrible and glorious.
May 8, 2014
Fabulous. Love the recipes, love her style and sense of humour. A bit sad/scary to find the things she was writing about in 1974 (mass production of substandard food) are still a problem today...but at least people seem to be more aware of it and the smaller higher quality producers are getting more support these days. Loved the recipes and the various accompanying stories. I had no idea that almond milk was actually used widely in medieval cooking.
I have a new favourite food writer!
I have a new favourite food writer!
March 30, 2008
A simple book you can treat as a manual of British food and recipes. The paperback version is very inexpensive, which is fab on the pocketbook, but it also makes it a little unwieldy for practical use in the kitchen.
February 11, 2013
A really interesting read. I especially enjoyed the section on puddings, the variety of desserts consisting of mostly cream and fruit is amazing, and Grigson is scathingly funny about those who are stingy with the former!
January 2, 2010
So much good sense, along with history and creativity. Definitely worth cooking from.
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August 9, 2011Is that Sussex Pond Pudding on the cover! Ah, suet!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews