The English Country Kitchen (Hippocrene Cookbook Library) (Hippocrene Cookbook Library (Hardcover))

Hindle Wakes, Stargazy Pie, Bubble and Squeak and Spotted Dick are among the many delights this book has to offer. Don't let the fanciful names fool you. These are time-honored, dishes that represent quintessential British cuisine. Gleaned from the kitchens of cottages, inns, pubs and farms, over 200 recipes portray the full range of country cooking. This quaint cookbook features the best every larder, oven and pantry has to offer. Geraldine Duncann ventures beyond the safe confines of English breakfast staples, serving up such serendipitously discovered dishes as Minted New Potatoes (discovered when her son wandered into the Fox and Hound in Nettlebed and the pub's deep fryer was out of commission), sixteenth century Intoxicated Fowelle, Mephistopheles Sauce, and Mediators (Oyster Loaves), used by drunken husbands to placate their angry wives. Unpretentious and wholesome, this hearty fare is as charming as the moors and meadows the author describes for us in her pithy commentary. Featuring a map and a selection of lovely photographs, this book is a must for the cook who likes to experiment with staples - and the recipes yield wonderful results.