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Review ------ 'If you want to start at the beginning, this is the book for you. Top London cookery school Leiths takes you back to basics, teaching you how to dice an onion, deseed a chilli and poach an egg. It takes you step-by-step through 500 need-to-know recipes, from tips on sourcing ingredients and preparation techniques, right through to perfecting your carving skills.' --Top Sante & Beauty, 1st October 2013 'We always get that new-school-books feeling at this time of year, which makes it the perfect month to open up the new collection from Leiths. If you're just starting out, you'll appreciate the foolproof advice on the basics of good food. If you're looking for a challenge, you'll find great show-stoppers, such as how to prepare a sea urchin. Make it your go-to kitchen textbook.' --Psychologies, October 2013 'For clear, detailed, illustrated instructions on how to chop an onion, cook a lobster, deal with a sea urchin or even pluck a pheasant, there's no better resource. It's great for filling holes in your skill-set, finding ideas for random ingredients and looking up the proper way to do something.' --Metro, 12th September 2013 'There's something very calming and purposeful about Leiths How to Cook - two vital ingredients for success in the kitchen, especially if you are a novice end of the scale. Indeed, ideally it should probably be the first cookbook you buy; its food preparation, method and cooking would stand you in good stead for the rest of your culinary life.' --Cookbook of the Week, The Daily Telegraph, 19th September 2013 'Unpretentious and accessibly, you can easily achieve some rather fancy results.' --Emerald Street, 28th August 2013 'This book covers essential skills that others leave out, such as prepping ingredients from scratch, identifying the correct texture of pastry and how to carve roasted meat.' --Homes & Gardens, December 2013 'If you're serious about cooking like a chef, Leiths Cookery School is the place to learn. Founded by Prue Leith, its year-long £20,000 diploma can kickstart a kitchen career, while its 'enthusiast' courses are ideal if you want to give your food fancy restaurant flair. If that seems a bit much, arm yourself instead with this excellent guide to essential skills and classic recipes, which are broken down into step-by-step tutorials. That way, you won't have an instructor breathing down your neck as you attempt to julienne a carrot, so if you cut your finger tip off (as can happen), no one need know.' --Time Out, 20th August 2013 'This new book is surely the Bible for any aspiring chef... Bursting with skills, techniques and step-by-step guides on every page, it is saved by its simplicity. Divided into straightforward chapters, including stocks and sauces, shellfish, meat, pastry and cakes, the recipes manage to pack extraordinary details into neatly spaced, numbered lists, which feel less like boring instructions and more like the calm hand of an experienced chef guiding their young protege with infinite patience and grace.' --Caterer & Hotelkeeper, 27th September 2013 'Thousands have learned to cook at Leiths over the years. Now the school's totally reliable bibles are being given a facelift, with lots more photos, but without sacrificing any of the valuable information. This essential compendium of skills, the first in the series to be updated, is well laid out, with step-by-step photos and hundreds of recipes.' --BBC Good Food, November 2013 'Written by three of the key figures at the legendary Leiths School of Food and Wine, this new book is surely the Bible for any aspiring chef... Bursting with skills, techniques and step-by-step guides on every page, it is saved by its simplicity. Divided into straightforward chapters, including stocks and sauces, shellfish, meat, pastry and cakes, the recipes manage to pack extraordinary details into neatly spaced, numbered lists, which feel less like boring instructions and more like the calm hand of an experienced chef guiding their young protege with infinite patience and grace.' --Caterer & Hotelkeeper, 27th September 2013 'Thousands have learned to cook at Leiths over the years. Now the school's totally reliable bibles are being given a facelift, with lots more photos, but without sacrificing any of the valuable information. This essential compendium of skills, the first in the series to be updated, is well laid out, with step-by-step photos and hundreds of recipes.' --BBC Good Food, November 2013 'As Yotam Ottolenghi says on the cover, this massive compendium is crystal clear and super-instructive.' --Country Life, 20th November 2013 'A thoroughly comprehensive cookbook devised by chefs from Leiths School of Food and Wine, this includes 500 contemporary recipes which cover every aspect of food preparation and cooking. There are 130 skills and techniques, fully explained, and more than 800 clear, step-by-step photos. Featuring the basics that many cookbooks leave out, such as how to prepare all ingredients, and how to judge when meat is cooked, there are also tips on how to identify problems and rectify them.' --Daily Mail, 14th November 2013 'From its classy layout and its declaration that it has been written to teach you how to cook with 'no fuss but with success', this book means business. Claire MacDonald and Jenny Stringer stick to Leiths' principles: classic techniques, good, fresh ingredients, and inspiration from home and away. In these crisp pages they guide you efficiently through skills and methods to ensure that you are more than equipped to produce food that is delicious and professionally prepared. Instructions on skills come with the recipes, and the photographs are encouraging rather than terrifying to the newbie. Clear sections take you through vegetables, eggs, pasta and so on, all full of no-nonsense teaching designed to inspire and instruct - and they deliver - no surprise there! Follow the instructions, work hard, sit back, and take the compliments.' --Good Book Guide, November 2013 'An indispensable guide to technique, ingredients and tried-and-tested dishes. If MasterChef contestants had this, Gregg Wallace would never have to make his disappointed face.' --Metro, 16th December 2013 'If you're serious about cooking like a chef, Leiths Cookery School is the place to learn. Founded by Prue Leith, its year-long £20,000 diploma can kickstart a kitchen career, while its 'enthusiast' courses are ideal if you want to give your food fancy restaurant flair. If that seems a bit much, arm yourself instead with this excellent guide to essential skills and classic recipes, which are broken down into step-by-step tutorials. That way, you won't have an instructor breathing down your neck as you attempt to julienne a carrot, so if you cut your finger tip off (as can happen), no one need know.' --Time Out, 20th August 2013 From the Inside Flap -------------------- At over 600 pages long, Leiths How to Cook is quite simply the best and most comprehensive cookery course on the market. This book takes the reader subject by subject - through 500 contemporary recipes which cover every aspect of food preparation and cooking, from classics with a modern twist, to international cuisines. 130 skills and techniques are comprehensively explained and clearly illustrated with over 800 clear step-by-step photographs. Here you will find the essentials that most cookbooks leave out: how to prepare every ingredient from scratch, including vegetables, fish, shellfish, poultry and game; how to judge when meat is perfectly cooked and the best way to carve roasts; the correct texture at every stage of pastry, cake and bread making; and how to make the perfect pasta and risotto. And if things don t turn out quite right, there is help on hand to identify what s gone wrong and how to rectify the problem and avoid it happening next time. Home cooks will feel there is a Leiths chef looking over their shoulder and guiding them every step of the way. The book reflects the current course structure of the Leiths diploma and as such is an invaluable aid to any self-taught home cook. The perfect wedding, graduation or leaving home gift, this ultimate cook s reference book should be on every kitchen shelf.