Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: His best book yet!
Comment: You know the drill, you see a cookbook in the shop, pick it up and browse through, see about 3 or 4 recipes that grab you and head for the checkout... Then, when you get home and cook a couple you find the rest of the book overly complicated and ultimately it gets tucked away with the rest of the Gordon's, Nigella's etc etc to gather dust. Not so with the latest offering from Mr Oliver... I've bought most of Jamie's books and I've tried a fair few of his recipes over the years, but this book contains the best selection yet in my opinion. I actually bought this particular one for my husband as he'd promised 2008 would be the year he finally learnt to cook more than beans on toast! But I've also found it really comprehensive and easy to follow too. Our favourite recipes so far are pan-roasted salmon with anchovy and rosemary sauce and the pan-fried sirloin steak with chianti butter and olive oil mash. We cooked both of these this weekend and they were amazing. So whether you like Jamie or not, buy this book - if we can cook the recipes and deal with our rather active 9 month old at the same time, anyone can!
Customer Rating:
Summary: ....simple, effective, will impress your guests
Comment: I am a big fan of the young chap. He used to drive me nuts with his mock East End ramblings, but he is the real deal. Charity begins at home, he really does what he says he believes in. This book is excellent in many respects:
- the sections are clear, to the point and give you good basic information on where the food comes from, how it is cut (for the meats) and the trick and tips are good
- the recipes turn out exactly as given- that's not always the case with cook books. I have cooked 90% of the recipes here and have shared them with many friends at the dinner table - they all love them
- it is not pretentious, and being Italo/Swiss-French living in England I can appreciate this. Most restaurants or recipes in the UK "think" that my culture's cooking needs to be dressed up, detailed with exotic French words (which mean nothing) and presented as the height of elegance and unassailable. It's all rubbish.It's very ok to be "regional", to use food from the "terroir" and to think that your Mama's cooking is the best!
- the Italian cooking is true and pushes for fresh ingredients - that's what Italians want from their cooking
This books shows anyone that food is about fresh ingredients, preparing meals to share with other people - even it is just plain old pasta!
As time goes on he is becoming an old hand at this, but so far he has kept innovating and researching his cooking and his ingredients - he really does like his food.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Problems with this ISBN
Comment: Hello all,
please be aware that the ISBN of 1856130002 appears to bring up both the Jamie book and an "Eyewitness to the 80's" book - I'd suggest checking with who you order from first which of the two books that they have in stock - to avoid disappointment with the wrong book turning up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just a bit patronising
Comment: Just a bit patronising for me. Not as good as his books that just focus on recipes. Bit disappointed, but he;s a millionaire so i;ll bet he won't be too upset!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Oliver is Coming of Age
Comment: Mr Oliver is a rare beast - a British popular chef who is big in France. His books are translated and he even gets on TV. "School Dinners" even spawned an imitator - this in a country where most children sit down to three course lunches in the school canteen.
The book is written with great confidence, as though Oliver has really settled into the rôle of teacher, not just of Chef. Some of the recipes are just brilliant, my favourite being "Mad Moroccan Lamb" but I agree with the comments made already that the cake departement is a little wanting, which is the reason behind the four rather than five stars.
The accompanying photographs to each recipe are generally excellent - there's nothing like having a picture to compare your results against - but the diagrams of which cut comes from where on a cow, sheep, etc really could have been better.
I confess that I find the "wotcher mate!" style of some passages a little irritating. Oliver really no longer has any need to be a cult personality since he most certainly has arrived. A very worthwhile addition to the shelf, however. I imagine that the French market will love it.
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