The River Cottage Year

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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

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Pages: 256 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 0340828218

Pub: Hodder & Stoughton

Pub date: 2003-05-12

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 17004

Editorial Review:

For an ever-growing army of admirers, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall can do no wrong. The River Cottage Year seems sure to follow the commercial and critical success of his previous book, The River Cottage Cookbook, which was something of a publishing phenomenon, selling by the bucket-load and winning every major cookery book award.
The format of this new book is intriguingly different: this time we are given (in chronological order) the author's insights and observations on life and food as the seasons and months go past, interweaving cookery with the cycles of the natural year. These sections aren't all the book has to offer: the new volume is crammed with 100 original seasonal recipes, all beautifully detailed. Of course, we may look at the results of these mouthwatering delights in the new Channel 4 series that accompanies this book and lament how we're not quite in the same cookery league. But Fearnley-Whittingstall has a gift not possessed by some of his rivals: we are always made to feel that the delights offered here are within our grasp, provided we follow the helpful advice we are given.
The food is a mixture of the ambitious and the achievable, and looking through The River Cottage Year is a blissful experience, whether your intention is simply to dream about dishes or to actually get down to the nitty-gritty of making them. The illustrations are as tempting as anything in the text, and the book will unquestionably raise the author's profile still higher.

--Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

Down to earth, tasty stuff, and a good read (0/0 people found this helpful)

Full of great recipes using seasonal foods, this book provides plenty of inspiration for ones own interpretation so I often refer to this book. The text at the beginning of each month is good reading, too.

Nowadays everyone, wherever you live, has access to seasonal veg either at the local shop or a Farmers Market, or even at the supermarkets, and there are plenty of ideas in this book. Do try the nettle soup - it is delicious.

I rated this book five star because if I had to get rid of most of my cookery books this is one I would definitely hang on to.

Great book about seasonal cookery (0/0 people found this helpful)

There is only one point where I've got to criticize Hugh FW - his recipe for goose. Believe me, you don't wont it half raw but really well done. If you never tried it like that, you don't know what you missed. I'm german and goose has always been the traditional christmas roast in Germany, so I really know what I'm talking about. A good goose of about 5 kg needs about 5 hours at 175 °C, 200 °C for the last 90 minutes to crisp up. Taking into account that you've got to check and baste the bird regularly and be a bit flexible with cooking time, that should give you a really tender and moist bird. Having said that, the rest of the book is really great. I tried a lot of the recipes which all turned out fine. The "Broccoli with Anchovy and caper mayonnaise" and the "Lightly salted relatives of cod in beer batter" were true revelations and there are many more! The book is quite a good read, too and beautifully laid out, you don't miss glossy pages here. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed by it.

Informative, easy reading and educational. (1/1 people found this helpful)

Buy this book with the intention of becoming more seasonally aware of our uk produce, or simply for inspiration in great seasonal recipies. I'm not going to bang on like others have re. the politics of this book, ulitmatley, the recipies are
(a) VERY easy reading/following
(b) Eye opening (who'd honestly have thought that roast cod's head could look as mouth watering as it does in his book)
(c) Clean, fresh, "Un-pimped" every day food!
One particular massively favourite in my family has been Decembers, Chocolate & Chestnut Cake. I urge you, while chestnuts are in the supermarkets fresh, and its that comfort food time of year, buy this book for that recipe alone. It is jaw droppingly simple but devistatingly delicious. One tip, you need to roast off approx 500g uncooked weight, to get the 250g of chestnuts you need, but the end result is SO worth the peeling, HONESTLY!

Food for thought (5/5 people found this helpful)

Another wonderful book from HFW.

Once more there are great recipes that you actually want to eat - and as quickly as possible! I find myself leafing through my copy with anticipation on a regular basis to see what goodies will be in season in the coming weeks.

Good food, great philosophy, and again without pretention.
Inspiring stuff.

More excellence form Hugh (9/9 people found this helpful)

Set out in a monthly format,with each month / section starting with an introduction from Hugh outlining what's seasonal at the time & offering some marvellous recipes .
There is a fantastically useful guide to seasonality at the start of the book , allowing you to see when your fruit & veg will be at its best & when fish & game are in season
My copy is very well thumbed, I go back to it on a very regular basis - the recipes , as ever where Hugh is concerned, are easy to follow & really tasty - the recipe for cock pheasant au vin in particular, is an out & out winner - delicious.You really should try the Blackcurrant double ripple ice cream as well - decadent or what ?
Treat yourself & get cooking with a seasonal bent.

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