| Meals in Minutes & Starting From Scratch |
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| Reviewed by Georgina Guedes | |||
| Wednesday, 03 September 2008 | |||
   By Sharon Glass Sharon Glass is a South African “celebrity chef”. She’s well known for her “Simply Delicious”, “Simply Too Delicious” and “Absolutely Delicious” series of cookbooks, but she’s now branched off onto a different, although no less appetizing, track, with a new series of books aimed to help simplify cooking. This is an essential step in simplifying cooking. So many short cuts utilised by big international names rely on fantastic products that just aren’t available here. Nigella Lawson, for instance, makes extensive use of “caramelised onions from a jar” instead of chopping and frying her own – but in all my searching I haven’t yet managed to find such things here. So, when Sharon offers a quick solution, it’s a local solution. If she managed to find it, so will you. Sharon also focuses on using fresh food in season, which means that her meals are balanced and packed full of the right kind of nourishment for the time of year in which the ingredients can be found. Her vegetable sections are always extensive and delicious – she’s not someone who relies solely on meat, fish and poultry.  Her books have always been accessible and straightforward, but the first two in her new series are targetted at two different types of home cook. The first book, Starting from Scratch, is a reference tool for people who aren’t confident about the basics. The book is divided into chapters like Vegetables, Starches, Pastas, Baking and Soups, each with a careful explanation of how to prepare each meal, kept really simple and with chef’s tips to work through any difficulties you might encounter. Although this is a book designed to help with the fundamentals of cooking, this doesn’t make the recipes any less delicious. Alongside a careful explanation of how to fry an egg, you’ll also find her recipe for the perfect butternut soup or salmon fish cakes. She touches on many cooking favourites like spaghetti Bolognese or chicken curry, but with a matter of fact approach that would help anyone who claims that they “can’t even cook an egg!” The book also has a section on suggested kitchen equipment and herbs and spices for those who really are starting from scratch.  The second book is Meals in Minutes, in keeping with international trends where chefs are acknowledging that most home cooks don’t have three days to marinate, steep and slow cook the perfect meal without any other cares interfering. Like her international counterparts, Sharon has created a book of delectable meals that anyone can get on the table in a short amount of time after a long day at work. This book is, by its very nature, more adventurous than Starting From Scratch, and relies more heavily on international influences, with recipes like Fassolada (Greek Bean Soup), Vegetable Salad with Quinoa or Easy Lamb Pilaf. The preparation and cooking times are carefully laid out at the start of the recipe, so there’s no starting and then realising that dinner will take hours before it’s ready. Refreshingly, from our attempts at a couple of these recipes, these are honest cooking times, and not some made-up fantasy on the part of someone who’s a whiz with a paring knife. So, whether you’re a starter cook who needs some guidance through the quagmire of the modern kitchen, or someone with a little more experience who’d like the inspiration to get original meals onto the table quickly, these books are just what you need.
Disclaimer: Harmonious Living is written for and read by a community of individuals with strong and independent opinions. While the publishers of Harmonious Living are dedicated to providing a forum in which views can be openly expressed, those views do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.
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