Friday 14 August 2009

Recommened Reads

The Ultimate Student Cookbook by Fiona Beckett with Signe Johansen, Guy Millon & James Ramsden Since writing the now infamous Beyond Baked Beans cookbook, Fiona Beckett has become something of a queen of the student cookery scene. The book opened the proverbial can and now has its own website where students can exchange recipes, cooking tips & general hints on budget living. Sounds pretty good whether you’re a student or not. Anyway, six years and many books (several other student cookbooks, our recent favourite the frugal cook, and many more on subjects such as beer and wine) later, Fiona’s back with what has been bravely called The Ultimate Student Cookbook. A bold choice of title indeed. The beauty of the book, though, is that it is just that. It’s formed from a compilation of the best recipes & techniques which have been posted by students on the beyond baked beans website over the six years since it launched and comes complete with helpful hints from 3 of the website’s most prolific posters – Guy, James & Sig. Fiona Beckett’s student cookbooks are known for their un-patronising, straight-talking style – in fact it’s largely this which sets them aside from the others on the market, and which made Beyond Baked Beans such a revelation. The Ultimate Student Cookbook is no exception and, using Sig, Guy & James’ repertoires as a starting point goes off into unchartered student territories such as smoking (food smoking, obviously…), ice cream making & - shock-horror - healthy eating. As a foodie student with reasonable cooking skills, I must admit that the last cookery book I would have ever considered buying was one aimed at students. If there’s anyone out there who thinks the same, then take a look at this as it is something of an exception. It’s not about fairly edible meals which cost 50p and take 3.5 minutes to make, instead it is full of ideas for cooking delicious, varied and interesting meals which happen to be fairly quick, fairly easy and, most importantly, good on a budget. Cleverly, it also comes at a very student-friendly price…. for just Buy online at Amazon for just £7