cover image River Cottage A to Z: Our Favourite Ingredients and How to Cook Them

River Cottage A to Z: Our Favourite Ingredients and How to Cook Them

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, et al. Bloomsbury, $65 (708p) ISBN 978-1-4088-2860-1

The latest, and most expansive, tome from the team at Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Devon, England–based River Cottage cooking school and restaurants is an alphabetical guide to some of their most commonly used ingredients, with accompanying recipes. Each entry, from alexanders to zander (zucchini appear under their British name of courgettes) receives a profile, tips on selection and seasonality, and a single recipe showcasing its key qualities. Unlike other books of this type that offer a “one and done” approach to an alphabetical listing, Fearnley-Whittingstall and company include additional recipes for each ingredient, should readers want to dig further. As a cookbook, it’s an interesting effort: the team’s recipes (deviled parsnips, paella. French beans with shallots and black olives, etc.) are fairly straightforward and few call for arcane or hard-to-source ingredients. But the book works better as a reference. The River Cottage crew hit all the right notes in their descriptions, whether they’re singing the praises of pork and spinach or explaining the various applications of salt. There’s a decidedly British bent to the book, and readers on this side of the pond may question the inclusion of U.K.-specific ingredients (bilberries, hake) or the need for a hogweed recipe. Still, it’s a fascinating and impressively produced work that will likely see greater use in the living room than the kitchen. (May)