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Tom Aikens Cooking | 
 enlarge | Author: Tom Aikens
Publisher: Ebury Press
Category: Book
List Price: £25.00
Buy New: £13.60
You Save: £11.40 (46%)
New (19) Used (3) from £13.60
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 31012
Media: Hardcover
Edition: New title
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.6 x 1
ISBN: 0091910013
EAN: 9780091910013
ASIN: 0091910013
Publication Date: October 5, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 A book without equal September 15, 2008
This cookbook manages to balance our expectations of a Michelin starred chef and the actual capability of most readers. I know that there are a lot of books out there by Michelin star chefs (normally debut books) which attempt to give an insight into the delicate nature of Michelin starred cooking. This book has the following pros/helpful aspects:
- Good mixture of complex and simple recipes;
- Catalogue of how to make 'basics'/store cupboard essentials, like stocks etc.
- Beautiful, colourful and ample illustration where you may need inspiration for how to present the recipes or food in general;
- Classification system of difficulty;
- Good mixture of slow recipes and what I would call on the hob cooking
- Balance of fish, meat, desserts (although there are a lot of desserts!) and other categories;
- Simply written instruction by someone who clearly understands his craft AND communicates well in writing.
- Offers alternatives to certain ingredients and where some are optional.
- Offers imaginative recipes for humble ingredients (carrot salads, asparagus mousse etc)
I think that a competent cook who is above par would relish the challenge in this book as well as a revisiting of simple recipes etc. I have eaten at Tom Aikens flagship restaurant and the book lived up to my expectations of one of the finest restaurants and chefs in the UK.
Wonderful book July 9, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I bought this book having eaten at both his restaurants several times. The recipes are graded in three categories, easy, mediam and challenging. The latter category requires a lot of fussing about with the food and some forethought, but the medium and easy recipes are well set out and easy for the domestic cook. There are notes on what can wrong on some of the recipes and how to avoid mistakes which is a useful addition. It provides a good range of different recipes, from bread and cakes to petite fours. Every dish that I have tried from this book has worked and received requests for a repeat cooking - this has to be the measure of a cook book!
 A poor book from an excellent chef. January 26, 2007
12 out of 20 found this review helpful
A disappointment.
This has the feeling of a heavily ghost-written book (although admittedly there is no collaborator mentioned in the acknowledgement), scattered with banal interpolations. See the page at the start of the seafood section going through fish. Has he got anything more insightful to say than that john dory tastes "sweet"? Clearly not as he repeats the same insight for turbot just down the page. See also the comment on prawns, crabs, lobster - his prawns come from madagascar - so what?
Having dined several times at TA in London the recipes are far less inspiring than the cuisine we know Tom is capable of. There are limited references to Tom's delightfully haphazard plating and approach to food. There is nary a mention of his signature cassonades. The recipes themselves simply do not inspire and are sometimes inconsistent - for example, how do you sear the skin-side of a darne of seabass??? (the skin goes all the way round a darne - there is no skin side!!!).
It's one redeeming feature is a good outline of the process for preparing Joel Robuchon's pomme puree.
If you want an example of a contemporary chefbook I can recommend David Everitt-Matthias "Essence"
A brilliant 'must have' book November 28, 2006
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
This is one of the best cook books I've bought and I have loads! Many of the recipes look quite basic at first glance but there's something going on where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of it's parts. The ingredients are mostly easy to get hold of, the techniques and preparations are approachable, the notes & guidance are superb in their simplicity, and I've found that with every recipe so far, I've actually been able to focus on the cooking in a way that makes sense of the processes & ingredients in relation to each other in a way that's not jumped out so much before. As a seriously enthusiastic home cook, I couldn't recommend this book enough.
Cooking Fantastic November 23, 2006
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
Great Book. Aikens has an original style, almost messy presentation, which probably comes from the way he develops his recipes and ideas. Very easy to follow and for once the preparation times are realistic. This book is destined to become a firm favourite of mine. Highly recommended.
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