Buy Tom Aikens "Cooking"

The new “enfant terrible” of the London restaurant scene, Tom Aikens’ first book is a passionate and stylish book sure to adorn the bookshelves of the more discerning home-cooks this side of Christmas.

Helpful “what to buy” introductions at the start of each section ensure that you get your Desiree for mash and your King Eds for Baking, amongst a host of other handy tips. As I said before the book is stylish, as you might expect, and amongst the sumptious spreads and sexy shots of the man, there are personal touches – each dish is graded according to its difficulty, and recipes are topped with conversational pieces….”I like this with that”, reminiscent of the early Madhur Jaffrey books. Occasionally the recipes are overwhelming in their indulgence, Lime Parfait with 18 egg yolks anyone?, “Hanging” the Venison for 1 ½ weeks, which might be tricky to achieve in a one bedroom flat in Turnpike Lane. Its Meat Section is where Aikens seems to feel most at home though, with a clutch of excellent recipes including Pork belly, shoulder and knuckle, and a mouth-watering “Pig’s Cheeks with Shallot Sauce”.

There are books that are worth having, books that are worth using, and some books that are really not worth having at all. I can’t see it replacing my “Appetite” by Nigel Slater for when I cook, but then again its not in the same vein. Think “Moro”, think of some of the weightier Raymond Blanc books, for example, and think “dinner party”. M