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Simple Food
'UNBELIEVABLY EASY AND DELICIOUS"
I really like the reviews that Orlando Murrin does in BBC Good Food magazine, because he actually gets into the kitchen and cooks things before he puts pen to paper - something we haven't seen since the old A La Carte magazine of the eighties. (You'd think everyone would, wouldn't you, but they don't). He then reports the findings without too much fear or favour, and there is a lot of both in the foodie world, believe me. The November 2002 issue of BBC Good Food carries a comprehensive hands-on review of Simple Food, which he sums up by saying:
"Of the dishes I tried, everything worked, everything looked like the picture (huge and luscious), and several dishes I'd make again. Salmon in cabbage was a complete doddle, but looked like a seriously clever piece of cooking. Asian duck salad was unbelievably easy and delicious. Grilled courgette salad ( a recipe of just 35 words) was moreish - I shall be serving this to guests as a clever starter. By coincidence, a friend tipped me off about the Little Chocolate Cakes, which were sensational and again, so easy. And at last, a typeface you can read without glasses."
Thanks Orlando, your money is in the mail - or would you prefer a lifetime supply of lemon friands?
ALSO:
All authors look themselves up on www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk to see what the consumer reviewers say about them - and they're lying if they say they don't. A big thank you to Christine Ashby of Middle Park, Victoria Australia for her intelligent rave about Simple Food - her reward is to have been badged by Amazon as a Top 1000 Reviewer, because so many people voted on finding her review helpful. (So did I).
For Simple Food
When Rosie Kindersley from the London cookbook meccca "Books for Cooks"
reviewed Simple Food in a book publishers' monthly, she said: " We
love Jill Dupleix. Back in 1994 her trail-blazing New Food introduced
us to the great things that were going on in the food scene Down Under.
Now, as The Times Cook, her name is well-known. Her food is just right
- it's easy, it's modern, it's the way we want to eat right now. The
blad looks gorgeous - this is the book I'll be cooking from. I can't
wait".
John Lethlean in The Age, Melbourne, Australia:
"Dear Jill, I've always liked you. Now it may be love. It
was one thing that the second recipe from your book Simple Food -
tuna and white bean toast - took just two minutes and tasted great.
Quite another than my seven year old tasted it, declared it 'yummy',
and consumed several subsequent batches. This makes a man my age excited.
Alas, now you are The Times Cook and resident in London, the love
must go unrequited. Oh, there is the matter of Terry Durack, your
partner, and a schedule that could leave no room for a wretch like
me. But it's a nice idea and, as this new collection of simple recipes
proves, you have always liked a nice idea. Especially when you can
adapt it, photograph it and parlay it to the masses in your own inimitable
style.
I will satisfy myself by cuddling up to Simple Food, drinking a Campari
and soda and singing to the Chinatown duck on my kitchen bench that
will forever remind me of you. Love John."
[Dear John, When Terry runs off with Nigella ( it can only be
a matter of time), you'll be the first one I'll call! Jill]
"Simple Food, the latest book from Australian-born Jill Dupleix, cookery writer for The Times, shows influences that go way beyond the "English" - and the weird exoticism of Mrs Beeton's days. Recipes for beef sukiyaki, chilli soy tofu and Chinese ginger fish exhibit the Asian/Pacific Rim influences that we've since come to expect from Australian chefs and food writers. There are more European-inspired dishes, too, such as pork with apple and sage, or steak with mushrooms - but not a wallaby in sight.
The book delivers the concise, easy-to-follow recipes that the title promised. Ingredients lists are short, relying on one or two forthright flavours, recipes are designed with time in mind, and won't keep you hanging about the kitchen for hours. The photography, also done by Dupleix, is simply mouth-watering."
Susan Low, Time Out London June 5, 2002
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