The River Cottage Year

by Hugh Whittingstall, Simon Wheeler (Photographer)

In this bestselling book, Hugh writes about the year on his Dorset smallholding. He recalls, month by month, the highs and lows of past years, and anticipates the 12 months ahead - what'll be in season when, and when'll be the best months to crack on with such tasks as chick rearing and sheep shearing, haymaking and hedge laying. But, for all its outdoorsy information, the real focus of The River Cottage Year is indoors - at Hugh's kitchen table. With over 100 brand new recipes, this is above all a cookery book and for once a genuinely seasonal one, celebrating local seasonal produce at its very best - chestnuts in January, artichokes in March, rhubarb in April, asparagus in May, strawberries in June, blackcurrants in July, tomatoes in August, plums in September, apples in October, pumpkins in November and parsnips in December...Full of his hard-earned smallholder's wisdom, seasoned with his infectious good humour, The River Cottage Year is Hugh's rallying cry for us to reclaim the seasons.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference, Gardening

Paperback

First published May 12, 2003

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Mum & I gave this book 5 stars because it's recipes are great fun and easy for a normal person to make. I also enjoy the fact that this book has helped to give seasonal variety to our diet and encouraged us to at least try some things we wouldn't normally.

Made the shin of beef recipe today and it was awesome.

Thank you HFW and all at River Cottage

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm this is the first time I have added a proper recipe book here so where to start.

First of all an explanation i think - I love to cook, cook all types and manners - it helps clear my mind and I find it therapeutic it relaxes me even when I am rushing from one pot to another. Now my grandfather was a true countryman who from a combination of war rationing and being happy to live off the land was able to find and create some amazing meals from what I guess many would call simple foods.
Now sadly he has long since passed and my biggest sadness is that I have lost the chance to learn the history and experiences he has had.

Now without going in to a long winded history of Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall he is as much a campaigner for real food, sustainable food and humane food as he cooks. Now I will not say all he cooks is appealing or even at my skill level but the history, the reasoning and the fact he believes we can feed ourselves without stripping the environment or shipping bland food from one hemisphere to the other does not mean we have to accept bland or tasteless meals.

Ok that sounded like a propaganda speech but you see now what influences his cooking have, they take their ideas from all over and are not afraid to pick up this or that ingredient and for me that is what cooking is all about - doing what suits you and making something tasty and appealing.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent book from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Found a couple of interesting recipes I will be playing with.

I found the use of coloured text, however, rather hard on the eyes.

[Dean Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A feast for the eyes. A must own for any cookbook lover. Well done.

[Julius Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

One to go back to again and again.

[David Brinkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well rounded guide to a year in cooking. It invokes the desire to live on a farm, be a gardener, raise animals, or buy a boat. Sensical recipes and explanations.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really is the seasonal cookbook to his River Cottage Cookbook which was as much about self sufficiency as cookery.
I've enjoyed HF-W's books and TV series right from his very beginnings, but this is written from a position very few us will be in.
I'd love to eat only seasonal produce, the best organic and ethically raised livestock etc.
If I lived in Dorset I could obviously because it's reasonably readily available.
I live in the Thames Valley which does have such producers, they are 20 to 30 miles away by car, and impossible to reach by public transport unless you are prepared to spend most of the day travelling.
As for fish, my choice is supermarket a, b, or c, all selling fish I wouldn't touch.
So yes, living in the right area, with reasonable access, you can do it.
I could go skiing, but there are no mountains or snow near me !

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite cooking books - purely because of the focus on seasonal eating and oft conjourable recipes. So many books focus on dishes with unobtainable ingrediants that are seemingly never in season, but this book attempts to buck the trend.

All said and done the only criticism is the blase writing style. Hugh talks from a slightly 'higher plane' when it comes to cooking as he has acres of land, free range animals and chefs so he does tend to make it sound easier than it is.

I'd certainly recommend this book to anyone starting a cookery book collection or simply to people who don't understand seasonal eating. Let's face it, most understandably don't in this age of supermarkets. But why shouldn't people at least try!

[Lee Broderick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This takes the ideas first expressed in The River Cottage Cookbook and embellishes them into a guide for everyday living. An introduction contains information on seasonal cooking, including tables showing clearly when most common ingredients are typically available in Britain. The rest of the book is then divided into collections of recipes using seasonally available cooking ingredients and grouped into months. It's an unrivalled source of inspiration.

[Libbeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deserves 4 or 5 stars for the actual recipes but, as is often the case with Hugh, there are too many pictures of dead animals for my liking. I know that’s how it is in real life but I’d rather not be confronted by poultry flung over people’s shoulders, dogs sniffing dead birds or severed fish when I’m looking for the recipe for leeky Welsh rarebit.

[Jaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book as it takes us through the early years of the river cottage ethos.....really enjoyable to flick through and gain inspiration - however it is suited to the Northern hemisphere and so the recipes are somewhat restricted for those of us in the southern.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of living in this almost primitive bartering society, if only it was true!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way that this is set out with seasonal recipes - great inspiration for what to do with your homegrown veg