215 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
215 lines
6.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
foodanddrink
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foodanddrinkbooks
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8189061
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# Desert island cookbooks: Sir Terence Conran
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## Sir Terence Conran, the man who changed the face of London dining, shows
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us the cookbooks he can't live without
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![Sir Terence Conran][1]
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Image 1 of 2
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Sir Terence Conran Photo: Benjamin Quinton
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![Sir Terence Conran's desert island cookbooks ][2]
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Image 1 of 2
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Sir Terence Conran's desert island cookbooks Photo: Benjamin Quinton
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Interview by Carolyn Hart 8:00AM GMT 10 Dec 2010
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[Comments][3]
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_Knighted in 1983 and named as Britain's most influential restaurateur in
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2005, Sir Terence Conran has produced more than 30 books on food and interior
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design and created restaurants and shops as diverse as the Soup Kitchen and
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the Conran Shop, Mezzo, Pont de la Tour, Habitat and the Blueprint Cafe. He
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almost single-handedly changed the face of London dining by introducing the
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idea of delicious and unfussy Provençal cooking served in an unpretentious
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setting of simple round tables, bentwood chairs and modern art. _
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My first book would be Elizabeth David's Classics, which first appeared in
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1950 when almost every essential ingredient of good cooking was either
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rationed or unobtainable in this country. Through this book, and also her
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French Provincial Cooking, which would be my second cookbook, Elizabeth
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introduced the nation to such exotic foreign fare as garlic and olive oil, and
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as a result I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that she taught a whole
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generation how to cook - and also how to eat. It made us all realise that
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there was a better style of life just waiting to be tasted across the Channel.
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Proof I couldn't do without the Classics is that it's the most dog-eared book
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in my collection. I have cooked from it so much that it has practically fallen
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apart. David's recipes and John Minton's drawings make my mind wander to warm
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sunny days and a life without worries.
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My third book would be Larousse Gastronomique. It's an absolute classic of
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encyclopaedic proportions. The first edition was published in 1938, edited by
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Prosper Montagne with prefaces by Georges Auguste Escoffier and Phileas
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Gilbert. No cook, amateur or professional, should be without it. It's a
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wonderful reference book, but one that still teaches me new tricks - from
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where different recipes originate to technical aspects of preparing food.
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Richard Olney, an American who moved to Provence in the south of France, wrote
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Simple French Food in 1974, four years after his French Menu Cookbook came
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out. Simple French Food is an innovative book chock full of delicious recipes
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from one of the 20th century's best food writers. As you would expect,
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Richard's recipes are exceptionally well written and demonstrate that simple
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food does not mean cooking without craft.
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## Related Articles
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* [Readers' digest: cookbooks this Christmas][4]
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02 Dec 2010
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* [Preserving a great British tradition][5]
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08 Oct 2010
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* [Season's eatings][6]
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02 Dec 2010
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* [Pretty fab sprout][7]
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02 Dec 2010
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* [Christmas Lunch with Josceline Dimbleby][8]
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01 Dec 2010
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* [Food news][9]
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09 Dec 2010
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Arabella Boxer's Garden Cookbook was published in the same year as Simple
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French Food and I'd want it on my desert island because Arabella really
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connects food to the garden. Thus she'd show you how to make the most of any
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fresh produce you happened to be able to grow while in exile, and how to bring
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out the inherent flavours when you cooked it.
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My last three books have been published more recently. Simon Hopkinson's Roast
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Chicken and Other Stories (right) is a beautifully produced and easy-to-use
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cookbook written by one of the country's finest chefs. It demonstrates
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perfectly how to get the very best out of the finest ingredients without any
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complications or plate fiddling.
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I've always been a fan of Fergus Henderson's excellent St John restaurant, and
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his cookbook Nose to Tail Eating is a perfect reflection of his no-nonsense,
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hearty British menus based on game, offal and organic meat. He writes
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charmingly and wittily, and Jason Lowe's wonderful photography brings the
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recipes to life - my one warning is that you should never buy this book as a
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gift for a vegetarian.
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Cookbooks produced by restaurants can sometimes be a disaster, but the River
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Cafe pulled it off brilliantly with The River Cafe Cook Book. This, and the
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other books they published, is a testament to the skills of Ruth Rogers and
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the dear, much-missed Rose Gray. It is divided into 12 chapters, one for each
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month of the year, keeping the focus on seasonality without feeling gimmicky,
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and is packed with easy-to-follow recipes featuring the very best of Italian
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country cooking.
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My luxury kitchen accessory - assuming that we would be lucky enough to find
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white or black truffles on the island - would be a truffle shaver. At any
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rate, it would also be useful for radishes and citrus skins. I'd also try to
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sneak in a bottle of Tanqueray gin, which is something else that is always
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handy to have around.
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][11]
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* Share: [Share][10] [ ][12] [ ][13]
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[Tweet][14]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkbooks/8189061/Desert-
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island-cookbooks-Sir-Terence-Conran.html
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Telegraph
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## [Food and Drink Books][15]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][16]
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* ### [Food and Drink »][17]
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[![Cool change: Burgundy vineyards in winter][18]][19]
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### [Telegraph Wine Shop][19]
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In food-and-drink
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[![Cook along with Xanthe Clay as she prepares tasty meals in just five
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minutes][20] ][21]
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### [Fast and delicious recipes][21]
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[![telegraph wine club][22]][23]
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### [Reader Offers][23]
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[![Le Clos Domaine Sainte Eugnie 2009 IGP HauteriveFrance; Sainsbury?s Brut
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Ros Champagne NV France; Domaine Julien Sunier Beaujolais Villages 2008France
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][24] ][25]
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### [Best wine deals][25]
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[![Cool change: Burgundy vineyards in winter][18]][19]
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### [Telegraph Wine Shop][19]
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][11]
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Share:
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* [ ][10]
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* [ ][12]
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* [ ][13]
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* [Tweet][14]
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* Advertisement
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![][26]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][27] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][28]
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Advertisement
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sponsored features
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Wine Offers
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* [OFFERS][29]
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* [RED WINE][30]
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* [WHITE WINE][31]
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var puffs_8122053 = new Array();
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