Leith's Cookery Bible

by Prue Leith, Caroline Waldegrave

Leiths Cookery Bible is the most authoritative and comprehensive cookbook there is for seasoned cooks, beginners, chefs, and caterers from the celebrated Leiths School of Food and Wine. Covering soups, first courses, vegetable dishes, salads, main courses, stocks, sauces, dips, spreads, puddings, cakes, breads, biscuits, preserves, canapes, snacks, and garnishes, Leiths Cookery Bible is truly exhaustive. In it you will find a perfected recipe for almost any dish you are looking for—Steak Tartare, Beef Bourguignonne, Peking Duck, Gazpacho, Dauphinoise Potatoes, Chicken Kiev, Thai Red Curry, Cassoulet—and for any occasion, be it a quick supper or cocktail party, picnic, three course meal, or afternoon tea. The 1,400 recipes range from timeless classics such as Cheese Souffle and Steak and Kidney Pie to more innovative recipes such as Salmon and Plaice Ravioli and Red Onion and Polenta Tart, and come from every part of the world, from Scotland to the South Pacific.

Genres: Cooking, Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Drink

854 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Prue Leith has been around forever - maybe not quite Delia Smith but she is certainly an important part of the British cooking scene. Partly because of her restaurant and cookery school and partly because of her writing.
As far as cookery books go I think this is a reasonable investment. This is not new or cutting edge or very thematic but it is a substantial selection. It feels a little outdated as now popular ingredients such a raddichio, fennel, pumpkin seeds and all the other fashions that have come and gone aren't really referenced but I feel strongly that all good food has value -regardless of whether its considered old-fashioned. Hey, anything old can be relabeled retro-chic and nobody raises an eyebrow, right?
Anyhow - I think Prue Leith is reliable and I could never not recommend one of her books. I used to pour over her recipes in a magazine series she did years ago and I can't tell you how much time I spent reading about her food and dreaming of the day I would have the equipment/ingredients/audience to be able to prepare her dishes.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a tour de force. I don’t think I have ever read a book with a more different variety of recipes. British food oriented. Wish it had more on the intricacies of British regional buns, scones etc. however 5-6 recipes with treacle was great.