Leon: Ingredients and Recipes by Allegra McEvedy
Posted: 21 November '09 by Kelly
Leon - Ingredients and Recipes
“Leon” was founded by Allegra McEvedy,Henry Dimbleby, and John Vincent, and voted the “Best New Restaurant” by judges Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay, Nigel Slater, Heston Blumenthal and Jay Rayner in the 2005 Observer food awards.
The restaurant, now part of a 9-strong chain of London-based eateries, was created to provide customers with fast-food that looked good, tasted good, and made you feel good.
The Leon: Ingredients and Recipes book attempts to bring this philosophy into your home, to make it part of your day-to-day lifestyle.
This book has two separate elements: the first half of the book looks at selecting the right ingredients; and the second half lists the recipes that make use of your carefully chosen ingredients.
The Ingredients Book:
“The Ingredients Book” is great, being detailed enough to give you everything you need to choose the best possible ingredients without being boring or preachy. The sections include:
- Fruit
- Herbs
- Vegetables
- Dairy
- Fish and Shellfish
- Meat and Poultry
- Stores (which includes things like flour, oils, pasta, rice, salt, and spices)
It’s a great reference: in the “spuds” section, for example, you get pictures of some of the different potato types, information about the distinct flavours, and how best to cook the various types; with other vegetables, you’re told which vitamins occur in which veg; the “beef” section shows you the different cuts and the relative merits of these cuts – from the fillet to brisket to oxtail.
What I particularly like is that everything is approached from this “good for you, good for everyone” perspective – so “organic”, “free-range” and “sustainable” are all terms that you will see. There is a great “open-out” section on page 90 that tells you everything you need to know about chickens, for instance – what all the different parts of the bird could be used for, the difference between intensive-, free-range-, and organic-farming, and which type of chicken to choose for your recipe.
There is also a pull-out guide, a wheel of ingredients in their seasons, and tips for buying the best ingredients in the appendix.
The Recipe Book:
“The Recipe Book” has over 140 recipes, and helps you put those ingredients to use.
Many of the recipes are from the menus of the Leon restaurants, while others have been contributed by friends and family, and they all sound delicious:
- Chicken, asparagus and lemon cassoulet
- Ham hock, savoy cabbage, and rosemary soup
- Moroccan meatballs
- Butterbean and chorizo tapa
- Leon Better Brownie
- Gooseberry and elderflower fool
- Leon Better Brownies
The recipes have been selected so that there’s nothing that’s too high on the glycaemic index – leaving you feeling satisfied for hours after you’ve eaten, rather than needing a sleep.
This isn’t a health-food book – if it was, I don’t think it would have made it through our front door! – but it does have your health at heart. The Leon philosophy is one based on balance – cook and eat with the best ingredients available and have a little bit of what you like for a healthy, fully-rounded life, or “the right to treat yourself without guilt” as the book says.
Details
- Title: Leon: Ingredients and Recipes (hardback)
- Author: Allegra McEvedy
- Pages: 295
- Publisher: Conran-Octopus
- ISBN: 978-1-84091-502-0
- Cost: £20
- Where to get it: From www.amazon.co.uk
Our Verdict:
This book has everything I like in a cookery book – there’s plenty of personality and quirkiness, without taking anything away from the food.
There’s a lot going on, but it’s really well organised – some nutritional facts about your ingredients, lots of interesting and varied recipes, and plenty of miscellany held in pull-outs, open-outs, and so on to keep you interested.
The fact that there is also a strong “healthy” undercurrent is hardly noticeable – but it’s also reassuring that it’s there. If you’re cooking for your family, it’s an important aspect, and one that isn’t part of many other cookbooks.
This is a fantastic book to have – not for the bookshelf – it should be on your kitchen table.
Tags: allegra mcevedy, book review, cookbook
Categories: Book Reviews
Hi Kelly – great review, I’ll have to see if I can get hold of a copy of the book!