The Gilbert Scott Book of British Food

A remarkably beautifully designed and well-conceived book! The layout is superb. Sumptuous. Just like the foods it describes. The recipes are imaginative and easier than one might suspect to prepare. There is a world-class imagination at work in that kitchen. I am a big fan of British Cookery (I have about 150 British cookbook titles in my collection) and this book has shot instantly to my Top-5. If you are a fan of British food (or even if you are new to the idea and having difficulty wrapping your head around the concept of GREAT British food) this is a GREAT place to start your exploration. It might just be the only British Cookbook that you'll ever need. Although I think you still need a Rick Stein title or two (both FOOD HEROES and his INDIA: THE SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT CURRY) a Hairy Bikers title (their PERFECT PIES) a Gordon Ramsay (his GREAT BRITISH PUB FOOD) and MARY BERRY'S BAKING BIBLE. Just sayin'.

Surely his best book. He just do not feel comfortable with all the shtick of a celebrity Chef..., and it shows in his other books. But here is a road that he should travel more: serious, rigorous, knowledgeable. Perhaps not for a casual home cook...But if you want to go to another higher level, definitely should try this one.

This book is a really nice example of how a highly skilled and thoughtful chef can take a place and theme and execute a modern twist of traditional ideas. The book is very well written and a delight to read and the recipes while not the simplest of fare are not overly challenging to try and well worth the effort in my opinion

Loads of wonderful recipes for the home cook.

WRITTEN IN METRIC, NOT MADE FOR AMERICAN KITCHENS!

Take a beautiful old former hotel that has been exquisitely restored, add in a top-class restaurant fronted by a two Michelin-starred chef, feature the best of traditional and re-imagined British classic recipes and... write a book about it. That is this very heavy, richly-illustrated book in a nutshell.Yet this is more than just another book with various recipes jazzed up a little. It is a peek behind the doors of a restaurant that you might never (or can never) visit, it is something that gives you the chance to see part of what makes the restaurant and its talented team tick and, of course, it is something that lets you have a go making top restaurant-quality food at home. If you've ever visited this restaurant maybe there is an even greater, tighter enjoyment that you might get from this book.To be fair, there was a smidgeon of initial scepticism, probably due to the fact that there is not exactly a shortage of restaurant-inspired cookbooks out there, all claiming to be the one. Yet this has managed to carve out a little niche for itself - and no, this reviewer has never visited the restaurant. One cannot say that a particular thing makes this book stand out, it is a collection of things, just like a finely-balanced meal is the sum of many constituent parts. The meat might taste good, the vegetables are cooked just right and the sauce is sublime, but when put together it is an explosive combination. This book is exactly like that. Great photography, an interesting story, some fine recipes and a great invisible feeling holding it all together.One can be and should be picky. Some of the design elements made this book hard going on the middle-aged eyes, such as using a small gold-coloured font to describe recipes which meant that your reviewer had to keep lifting up and down the (heavy) book closer to his old eyes in order to read it. It was too good to just ignore yet frustrating all the same. Maybe it was an intentional thing to help one lose a few calories before they are replaced when testing the recipes. Similarly printing ingredients in a lighter black italicised font is just asking for trouble. Make the font sizes a little bigger, add a few more pages and make the darn thing easier to read. This is a premium product so don't cut corners to save a few pence on the price (if at all). The binding on this hard covered book felt a bit fragile too and one was scared that this book would start to fall apart after a lot of consultation and this book IS likely to be consulted often AND manhandled a lot in order to read the text...Starting with a few recipes from the bar, then the book is ordered in a fairly traditional fashion before ending the dinner serving by going "back in time" to brunch or afternoon tea. A highly detailed index rounds off matters with a list of some of the restaurant's favourite suppliers although these are probably less relevant the further away you get from London on the whole. Our "standard niggles" sadly extend to this book too, viz the lack of a clear estimated preparation and cooking time and the use of sole metric units within the recipes. If we criticise when books feature sole U.S. imperial units and no metric units, it is only fair to do the same when the tables are turned. One can imagine that this book will be well-received overseas, both as a souvenir of a visit as well as a gift of "Britishness", so why assume everybody uses metric?It would have been nice to have had a separate listing of all the recipes, rather than needing to browse through sequentially or pick it out from the index. But what is there not to love about this book and its recipes, even if you feel a bit squeamish about some of the ingredients? There is a broad range of recipes to suit every palate, you could sit and dream about food for hours thanks to the perfect food photography (oh, for scratch and sniff technology to be ready...) and gorge yourself for weeks, living like a king on the 130 recipes provided within. Whether it is a simple cocktail, a slice of cake or a more involved, esoteric dish, you will get a lot of enjoyment from this book.One now waits (and hopes) that there is a second volume in the works.

IF IN DOUBT, BUY THIS BOOK. It is delightful for the home cook and the foodie alike. There is almost a photo for each recipe. The recipes will keep you spellbound. They are fairly easy and delicious to make. This is superb example of British cuisine. This cookbook is so well done. I buy 5-8 cookbooks a month and this cookbook is my favorite of the year so far. Much time and money has obviously gone into the photos, the food choices and the details of the book. If you were to buy one cookbook this year and splurge-this is the cookbook to buy. I particularly like the cocktail section at the beginning of the book. This book offers a variety of recipes from brunch, lunch, dinner and deserts all of which are British origin. I highly recommend this cookbook. It is a cookbook that you can just enjoy reading by the fireplace or use daily to try new recipes.

Read some of the reviews and decided to take a punt. Turns out, to be one of my favourite books with some truly delicious recipes. I’ve done a number of the recipes, even those that look beyond me are achievable! It is very well written and beautifully illustrated. Top marks all around. Would make a great gift.

I can't believe I was lucky enough to pick up the Kindle edition of this book for 99p. It's one of the best value cookery books I've bought in recent years. I've downloaded to Fire and Apple tablet. It's well formatted and easy to navigate ( and I'm not a huge fan of electronic cookery books, I prefer hard copy). It's colourful, with plenty of photos and interesting narrative in addition to the recipes.I'm not a novice cook, but there's nothing in here beyond capability. It's imaginative and many of the basic recipes have a twist that lifts them into the mmmmmm, that's scrummy category. I've enjoyed both browsing and cooking from it. A great buy.

I bought the Kindle versions as it was in expensive - it didn't live up to scratch to be honest. It's okay for the little bit of history but the recipes you could find anywhere if you wanted to. Well written and the recipes are easy to follow.

Bought as a gift for my friend who loves everything and anything British. He adored the book, the physical quality seemed good for the price and he mentioned that the recipes are easy to follow

As a big fan of Celebrity Masterchef, and Marcus Wareing, we thought we'd purchase some of his books. The recipes look fantastic, which has prompted us to plan a trip to his restaurant in the New Year. Many thanks.