Leiths Techniques Bible

05 September 2003 by
Leiths Techniques Bible

Books on technique are much more difficult to pull together successfully than those which are recipe-centred. I speak from experience, having given up on a similar project 12 years ago, and having just finished a book which is mostly advice on stuff such as braising and boiling rather than stunning new recipes.

I was interested to see that the same difficulties I wrestled with have also confounded the bright sparks at Leiths cookery school in Leiths Techniques Bible.

First-rate trip
The book is a first-rate trip through the kitchen's major ingredients, with lots of hints on what may have gone wrong with your fish mousse or dumplings, but it's in essence an ingredients bible and not a technique one. Sections on how to store and choose nuts or cheese are useful and well put together, but they're not techniques. Techniques are what you do to the nuts and cheese.

And these could do with much more in the way of diagrams and photographs, for they represent manual skills, dexterity with sharp knives, and an eye for how a batter or dough should look when it's ready for the next stage in the cooking process. Difficult things to put into words, and I think the desire to look timeless and magisterial that goes with a pictureless book has lessened its value as a practical manual.

As has the desire to be comprehensive. There are a lot of excellent tips about what might have gone wrong - the sabayon is too thin or too thick - and what may be the problem. But this is marred by frequent statements of what may be called the bleeding obvious - your consommé tastes bland; reason, the stock was not sufficiently flavoured. More concise and more revelatory tips without this sort of padding would have had greater impact.

This is not to say that the book is irrelevant or poorly written, merely that it doesn't exactly do "what it says on the tin". It is, in fact, an excellent run through the kitchen basics, and does have sound advice on things such as deep-frying, and handling chocolate. In fact, it's at its best when dealing with techniques and not with products.

Very humbling
There is a section on cake decoration and icing that I found interesting, not so much because I intend to ice any cakes in the near future, but because I know so little about the process and have never made royal icing in my life. It's very humbling to be learning from the beginner's section at this stage in my career.

I'm not entirely sure whether this book is geared towards the enterprising amateur or the aspiring chef. I'd be surprised if Leiths hasn't as many potential professionals on its courses as ambitious dinner-party hosts. Whatever the market, it's still a useful and usable book.

Shaun Hill is chef-proprietor of the Merchant House, Ludlow, Shropshire

Leiths Techniques Bible
Susan Spaull and Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne
Bloomsbury £35
ISBN 0-7475-6046-3

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