The Gastro Pub Cookbook
Although the winds of fashion in this industry are prone to gust hither and thither, the vane has been pointing in the direction of simplicity for some time now. Haute cuisine isn't quite dead, but it's been a touch poorly lately, and even that most gilded and starry quester for the Michelin grail, Gordon Ramsay, has opened his own version of a caff.
It's a happy trend that demands to be celebrated, and Diana Henry's The Gastro Pub Cookbook perhaps serves us better as an enthusiastic marker of these culinary times than it does as a recipe book.
There are three main threads to the book: the recipes themselves; the pub reviews and Henry's knowledgeable written commentary on the "scene".
For the passionate collector of recipe books, there will be few surprises in here, but then that's not what this style of cooking is all about. Great straightforward dishes that demand modest technical ability from the cook are the hallmark of this approach, and many old favourites make an appearance.
I loved Denis Watkins's crisp belly of pork with black pudding and mustard mash, but expecting the home cook to produce his or her own black pudding is perhaps an atypical technical hurdle too far. Henry doesn't let her cooks off the hook, however. While the style may not demand Michelin-nimble fingers, it does require a dedication to sourcing the very best ingredients. My wife, a "proper chef", praised the layout of the recipes and was pleased that "all the bits were there" (ie, each element in a dish was detailed rather than merely cross-referenced elsewhere).
For a dedicated follower of the food scene, the pubs chosen were largely well-known names, but there were enough discoveries to keep me turning the pages. Henry clearly has a healthy appetite for the road as well as all those sticky puddings.
No book about the phenomenon of the gastropub could fail to pay homage to David Eyre and Mike Belben at the Eagle in Farringdon Road, and these pioneers get the recognition they deserve in the opening paragraph. Heroes such as Andrew Pern, Steven Doherty and the charming Charles Inkin at the Felin Fach Griffin in mid-Wales are rightly celebrated and the author's enthusiasm for her subject is infectious.
The purpose of the book is a little unclear, though. Is it a pub guide? Is it a coffee-table glossy? Or a poshed-up recipe book? Perhaps it's best looked upon as a warm tribute to arguably the most important change in dining out in recent years. Jason Lowe's keenly observed photography perfectly captures the relaxed, no-nonsense style that defines the popular appeal of the gastropub. It's exactly this accessibility and absence of pomp that suggests this is a movement set to endure and strengthen.
Thanks to Jamie, Rick Stein and even, God bless him, Ainsley, we've all been given permission to be gourmets and the local pub that serves a great meal is the ideal temple for the new gastronomes.
Albert Roux observed hopefully, many years ago, that Britain's pubs should become the neighbourhood bistros and welcoming auberges that travellers in France wax so lyrical about. At the time it seemed Roux was whistling in the wind. We should be grateful that the prevailing breeze is now blowing firmly in the direction he suggested.
Mark Manson is director, Simply Chefs, part of Hocaps International
The Gastro Pub Cookbook
Diana Henry, £20
ISBN 1-84000-742-7
