A Present to Please - Everyone (Leith's Cookery School - Prue Leith and Caroline Waldegrave)

Member Name: zebra

Product:	Leith's Cookery School - Prue Leith and Caroline Waldegrave
Date:	23/11/03 (352 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The complete teach yourself to cook posh food book

Disadvantages: Some menus are a bit expensive to produce

I bought this book for my husband who had decided to learn to cook. The results were
so good that I soon realised that it was more of a present for myself.

In the introduction the authors state "this book sets out to do what sounds like the
impossible - to teach cooking as it is taught in a first class chef's college or cookery
school, but without a teacher at the learner's elbows to guide their every step." I am
pleased to report that it fulfilled its aim - in our house at least.

The book is in three sections: the first part is the introduction which covers the basics
like storage, traditional dishes, menu planning, and presentation. The main part
contains 42 menu lessons, and the last part is on techniques and methods and has all
the basic preparation techniques and recipes for stocks etc.

As my husband learned to cook I was treated to meals which would not be out of
place in a top restaurant. He may have taken longer to produce them than a trained
chef but the results were excellent. He had absolutely no experience before he started
and he meticulously followed the instructions. I personally would not have the
discipline to follow the menu lessons to the letter but I suspect that is why he got such
good results.

It is not essential to stick to the order of the lessons and maybe not all menus will
appeal to everyone (I just don't like the idea of sweetbreads) but to give an example
the first menu lesson comprises: Soupe de poissons, Lamb kebabs with yoghurt and
mint dressing, Orange and watercress salad, almost creme brulee. Lesson 17 has
Avocado pear with stawberry vinaigrette, Duck breasts with green peppercorn sauce,
Mache and endive salad, Poached pears with sabayon and sorbet. The final lesson is a
complete Christmas dinner with boned turkey stuffed with ham and cannonball
christmas pudding with a detailed t
iming plan. As with every cookery book some of
the recipes didn't appeal but on balance this book offers some excellent recipes many
of which have become firm favourites in out household.

I was rather jealous when my husband produced perfect profiteroles because I have
never managed to successfully make choux pastry. But I soon realised that this was
not a problem at all as my Prue Leith instructed chef husband now cooks all the posh
stuff in our house and I simply sit back and enjoy it.

Although it was published quite a while ago it is a classic and I have posted this
review because I noticed that the rather gorgeous hardback edition of the book is
currently available in the Works for only £8.99 (it is not available at Amazon). This
would make a lovely present for any aspiring chef or for as yet unconverted husbands.

Leith's Cookery School by Prue Leith and Caroline Waldegrave published in
hardback 1985 by Macdonald & co, paperback 1990.

Summary: