Customer Reviews:
 A Turning Point July 16, 2007
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is an amazing book for many of us who have never taken the time to properly learn about food and how to cook it.
Jamie's covered everything from basic kitchen equipment, to what different cuts of meat actually are, all about types of fish and their preparation, to decriptions of herb flavours and what they work well with.
In my opinion, this is a truly revolutionary book for the beginner. I started with no experience and disasterous history in the kitchen. Yet everything I've cooked using this book has turned out beautifully and has totally amazed me and everyone I've cooked for. Thanks Jamie!
 Flawed in the cake department June 3, 2007
37 out of 56 found this review helpful
My experience of this book only goes as far as the dessert section.
I am a moderately experienced cook, but have used a number of different books and I must say I'm very disappointed in this book's dessert recipes. I have friends who back up my experience so I this is not an 'unfounded conspiracy theory' by a lone, grudgeful lunatic chef.
I have two main criticisms:
1. Inaccurate cooking times: Carrot cake takes between 2.5 and 3 hrs, not 50 minutes. It seems Oliver did not try this using a domestic cooker but a flash professional convection oven. I used a quality oven thermometer so I know I had the right temperature. Pastry for his chocolate tart was supposed to be ready in 15 minutes, takes more like an hour. Ice cream might solidify in 2hrs in a pro freezer, not a domestic one - try up to 4 hrs.
2. Wasteful use of ingredients: you are asked to use ingredients significantly in excess of what's needed and often in non-standard quantities: 285g of butter while a normal supermarket pack contains 250g = pointless waste of most of a second pack. Most of the time this is pointless, too: using the recommended amounts for the '15 chocolate tart' base I had enough mix to fill 1.5 10 inch tins - waste. Meringue - again, about 50% more than needed. Supermarkets must love you, Jamie, environmentalists steer clear. Still driving that Chelsea Tractor?
I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that Jamie cooks in a restaurant kitchen rather than at home and so has huge catering packs of ingredients and industrial equipment (he puts vanilla pods in everything!). How exactly you're supposed to learn how to be a better cook from someone who doesn't seem to understand the home cooking environment is difficult to see.
Browse Amazon for the many fine cook books by established authors and look at the success of recipes in reviews, rather than the latest flashy recipes that should impress your friends but actually never turn out and end up costing more than in a quality patisserie.
 A great book if you're prepared to devote the time March 21, 2007
42 out of 47 found this review helpful
This is the seventh book from everyone's favourite mockney celebrity chef, and anyone who owns the likes of The Naked Chef or Jamie's Dinners will know what to expect: Jamie's jovial, conversational-style of writing, a lovely, clear lay-out, tantalising, mouthwatering photographs, and recipes that straddle the great divide between haute cuisine and decent, down-to-earth grub. So, what does this book offer that's new?
Well, firstly, at over 400 pages, Cook With Jamie appears to have been conceived as a more comprehensive cook book than previous efforts, as he covers everything from basic salads all the way through to desserts, even revisiting some of the chapters from earlier books (Making your own pasta, Risotto). Secondly, each section has an introduction of its own, including a list of 'Top tips' and a bullet-point guide to being a better ingredients shopper. Some of it may seem bleedin' obvious but it's great for the newcomer and worth reminding yourself of if you've been out of the game for a while. Finally - and most importantly! - it offers some very inventive and scrumptious-sounding new dishes, of which my favourite are:
'Gorgeous slow-cooked duck pasta'
'Pan-fried scallops with lentils, crispy pancetta and lemon creme fraiche'
'Grilled spatchcocked chicken with new potatoes, roast asparagus and herby yoghurt'
The recipes vary from the ridiculously simple (see: Return of egg salad, Prawn cocktail, Jools' favourite Saturday afternoon pasta) to the rather more time-consuming and complex (anything with crab or lobster...) and there are entire sub-chapters devoted to carrots, peas, broccoli and cauliflower!
Jamie is obviously a passionate and skilled chef, who loves to put his own twist on well-known dishes. Nine times out of ten, his recipes yield great results. The way the book is written, however, I'd suggest sitting down and taking your time to get your head round exactly what each recipe entails before attempting it, rather than doing it 'on the hop', as I did one ill-fated evening... Still, all part of the learning process and I suppose that's how you become a better cook.
Matt Pucci
One of the best! March 15, 2007
14 out of 22 found this review helpful
If I could give this book 6 stars I would! Not only are there recipies for main dishes but also different recipies for carrots, cabbage, etc. and it also taeches you about cuts of meat from cows, chickens, pork and lamb! The recipies can be used every night for dinner or can be kept for special occasions! I have the naked chef and jamies Italy, but this is the best!!
Very Helpful February 26, 2007
8 out of 14 found this review helpful
Jamie has lots of useful tips on how to sharpen knives, select kitchen equipment, and so on. His recipes look great but, because I live in Korea, many of the ingredients are nearly impossible for me to find. Still, as he says, "Use what you've got." I'm sure his recipes will help me to make the most of what I can find in the supermarkets here.
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