Claudia RodenEbury Press Med: A Cookbook

Ordered this book as I wanted to learn more about Mediterranean cooking from an expert. So many wonderful and accessible recipes - e.g. Lemony roast potatoes with cherry tomatoes and garlic, red mullet with provencal mashed potatoes , chicken with white wine and rosemary - the list goes on and on. So fed up with recipes with a huge list of ingredients and/or processes. Claudia has demonstrated it does not have to be that way, this is good you can cook and eat at home, tried and tested family recipes. Can see this being a real classic cookery book.

I was excited about this book, but disappointed once I read each recipe.The photos are lovely, the layout is beautiful (I would have preferred more pictures of the actual food), on her seafood jelly, she announces that this is one of her grand, most beautiful dishes, the photo beside it is of the sea.There is a potato, asparagus tips and eggs recipe (that’s the title) the other Ingredients are butter, oil and salt…There are various pasta recipes all containing about 4 ingredients, pasta with chilli, tomato and oil, pasta with lemon, oil and parsley.It’s a lovely book, but for me far too simple. Often I love simple cooking, when you are feeling tired but want a home cooked meal, then perhaps I would use this, to jog my memory about what to make, but I would have liked there to be something more inspirational amongst the covers. She has a recipe for potato omelette, ingredients are potatoes, onions, oil and egg…And I get it, simplicity is a beautiful way of eating, however for me, I would have liked a few of these recipes and a few more challenging, or slightly more intersting recipes. I don’t feel I have learnt anything from this book at all. For me this would be a reminder book, I would open it up, look at seafood pasta recipe and go, okay I’ll make that, and shut the book, I don’t need to follow the recipe to any of these, accept the cake section, as I never bake!On a positive, my partner hates cooking and finds it quite stressful, he might like this uncomplicated book.

Probably one of the least interesting or inspiring books in my (extensive) library of cookery books. Only about half a dozen recipes in the whole book appealed to my eclectic tastes. Most are very repetitive or similar and used the same basic ingredients for far too many dishes. Very disappointing after the write-ups it received.

I have many many cookbooks but this is easily one of the best. It is all about the right combination of good ingredients rather than lengthy complicated recipes. I have no patience for long preparation times which always puts me off trying some recipes - with this book it hits the right combination of appealing recipes that don't take forever to prepare.

This will be a staple on my shelf for years to come. Her recipes are simple but delicious. No fussy, difficult to obtain ingredients that require multiple steps or hours of planning. I wanted to introduce a variety of salads and vegetables into our boring over-boiled British diet. I’m delighted with there red pepper and tomato salad, minty courgettes and Cous Cous salad. Claudia combines simple ingredients well, in a way that I can squeeze into my life as a working mum of two young boys. Her style suits me perfectly, I will be asking for more of her books!