Tamasin's Kitchen Classics

by Tamasin Day-Lewis

A classic dish is a thing of comfort and refinement - a dish that becomes part of family life. It's about taste and good ingredients, and it's neither too complicated nor too fussy. This is Tamasin's take on classic dishes from around the world. The classic French pork rillettes is made with mackerel, a tartare with tuna, a sea bass is baked with lemon grass and dill and brownies are made with dates and walnuts. She draws inspiration from her travels, a novel combination of ingredients, or simply the desire to experiment and go beyond tradition. Among the 100 new recipes are Cheese Straws, Clam Chowder, Roasted Beetroot and Dill Soup, Saltimbocca, Steak au poivre with Potatoes Lyonnaise, Wild Boar and Morel Stew, Duck with Grapes, Gratin of Spinach, Fig Sorbet, Raspberry Curd Tart, Blueberry Shortcake and Aunti Fei's Sour Cream Coffee Cake. TAMASIN'S KITCHEN CLASSICS reflects the tastes and experiences of our times - the best of the old, revised and revitalised, and the best of the new from near and far adapted to her family kitchen. These are the recipes everyone will ask for.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2006

About the author

From an illustrious family, Tamasin has also made a name for herself, in her own niche: cooking.

Tamasin is the daughter of Cecil Day-Lewis, poet laureate, and her brother is the acclaimed actor, Daniel Day-Lewis. She has established a career as a respected food writer - combining sophistication, literary skill and culinary class.

As well as writing a weekly food column for The Daily Telegraph, Tamasin's cookbooks have covered a range of comforting, rural recipes, from the preparation of seasonal dishes and picnics to the art of pie-baking and 'proper', slow cooking. She is a food purist and is known for her valiant promotion of all things organic and regional. She champions local products versus the supermarket giants.

Tamasin's books are refreshingly different for several reasons. She writes "for people who appreciate good food, for people of all skills." She collects recipes on her travels and sees her recipes as "a link with people" and her style is totally unique. Half novel, half practical, her pages are filled with fascinating background information on ingredients, memories, historical anecdotes, and all in impressively poetic language. Her book West Ireland Summers was a collection of favourite recipes taken from and inspired by her childhood in County Mayo. The rural theme continues in Tamasin's two series' for Good Food Channel, in which she cooks at her family home in the country.

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cookbook to give a wealthy friend (with connections to the sort of people that raise old English breeds and produce alcoholic beverages) who enjoys the use of a large kitchen which contains, among other things, an aga, an American size fridge, an ice cream maker, a bundt pan, and a chest freezer (for all the animal carcasses), who has a lot of time on their hands, as previously mentioned has plenty of money (for the recipes which throw expensive ingredients together with wanton abandon) and enjoys making tarts.

Stage 2 - invite yourself over for dinner regularly. They won't notice since the house is so large and you're just one more of many.

Sigh. If only any of my aunts were as they ought to have been, this would be a description of my privileges as a niece.

Since they aren't, this book is going back to the library without further ado (ie I won't be adding it to my Amazon list!)

For those wondering why I gave this three stars, it's for the pleasure it gave me imagining eating these dishes once someone else had cooked them.