Simon Hopkinson – Introduction

Roast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson with Lindsey Bareham is a great cookbook for a number of reasons.

The first is the format. Simon Hopkinson explores about forty small alphabetically-arranged topics, a chapter at a time, presenting a few recipes for each topic. The first chapter is dedicated to anchovies – and he is not afraid to use them. His recipe for roast lamb calls for twenty fillets, half of which are stuffed into slits in the meat and the other half goes into the sauce.

There are also chapters on topics as diverse as cream and cepes and veal.

The second reason we like the book is that he seems to favour classic recipes and just wants to make them easy to cook and for them to be more satisfying. So there are recipes such as the classic roast chicken and a perfect vichyssoise and a chocolate pot – all of which are explained so well that they seem simple to implement.

And the third reason is that the things he writes about are the things we like to eat. So these are some of the reasons why we think that this book should be included in this collection.

However, be aware that this is a divisive book as there are so many people who are scared of offal and this is something that is front and centre in this book with sweetbreads, kidneys, brains and tripe enjoying the spotlight.

These are all things that we crave and which rank among our most well-remembered dishes that we have been served in restaurants. For example the sweetbreads at Le Baratin in Paris and Chez Remi in Angers are sublime and the veal brains at Le Canon in Nice was a dish to remember!

We thin that this book thoroughly deserves a place in the Foodtourist Top Fifty Cookbooks.

You can also read more about Simon Hopkinson on his Web site.

You can buy Roast Chicken and Other Stories by clicking on the link below. We receive a small percentage of the sale which goes towards maintaining this site.