Chef Magazine for Thailand December/January | Page 54

by: Andy Lynes
Kricket:
An Indian-Inspired Cookbook
by Will Bowlby
What’s the USP? A collection
of over 80 modern and classic
Indian recipes from Kricket
restaurant in Soho.
Who’s the author? This is
the debut book from young
British chef and restaurateur
Will Bowlby who trained with
Rowley Leigh at the much
missed Le Cafe Anglais before
relocating to Mumbai for
two years to work as a head
chef. He then travelled the
subcontinent, learning about
regional Indian cuisine. Kricket
originally opened in a shipping
container in Brixton in 2015
before relocating to Soho in
2017. Bowlby has been named
national chef of the year by the
Asian curry awards
What does it look like? Good
enough to eat. Photographer
Hugh Johnson has brought
Bowlby’s simple, colourful and
impactful food to life while
restaurant interiors and kitchen
action shots give an insight into
what it’s like to dine at Kricket.
Chapter headings are illustrated
with line drawings by Myoung
Chung and lend the book extra
style and elegance.
Killer recipes? Just flip through
at random and you’re bound to
find something you’ll want to
cook, from a classic Old Delhi
(butter) chicken to more modish
creations like bone marrow and
cep kulcha (mini naan bread)
or chanterelles in malai (lightly
spiced cashew nut and green
mango) sauce with fresh peas
and pea shoots.
What will I love? The sheer vari-
ety and inventiveness of the reci-
pes aside, there’s an informative
introduction, suggested seasonal
menu plans and a whole chapter
of delicious sounding cocktails
including smoked tarbooz made
with vodka, whisky, watermelon
juice and cinnamon syrup
What won’t I like? If you have
purist tendencies when it comes
to Indian cooking, this is not
the book you are looking for.
Should I buy it? Pierre Koff-
mann, who wrote the book’s
foreword, loves Will Bowlby’s
food so it’s a no-brainer.
£26, Hardie Grant
Goat
by James Whetlo
What’s the USP? Everything you
wanted to know about the UK’s
most undervalued and underused
protein but were afraid to ask, plus
70 odd recipes covering just about
anything and everything you could
possibly do with a goat, gastro-
nomically speaking of course.
Who’s the author? James Whet-
lor is a former River Cottage chef
(Hugh Fearnely Whittingstall
wrote the book’s foreword) the
and now founder of Cabrito
which supplies goat meat to ca-
tering butchers and restaurants
around the country.
What does it look like? With it’s
ominous horned goat head cover,
you might mistake this for a book
of black magic spells (and if you
read it backwards, it actually
is) but open it up and you find
something far more benign with
images of Whetlor cuddling a
goat, munching on a goat burger
and preparing a hay barbecue.
52
The food has been imaginatively
and attractively styled and shot
and the book has a fresh, bright
and elegant look.
Killer recipes? Whetlor has gone
out of his way to demonstrate the
versatility of his beloved animals
and the variety of dishes is im-
pressive from kid shank, apricot
and pistachio tagine to schnitzel
and Greek-style orange and leek
sausages. The author has roped
in a number of high profile chef
friends to contribute their own
recipes too, including Neil Rankin
from Temper (goat tacos) and
Hugh FH himself (kid, lentil and
labneh salad).
What will I love? The extended
30 page introduction goes into
depth on the subject of goats cov-
ering their place in history, goats
and modern farming, goat as
served in restaurants, their use in
the leather industry and the farm
Africa charitable project that has
used goats to help rehabilitate
local ecosystems in rural eastern
Africa and which Cabrito give
part of their profits to (including
50 per cent of the royalties from
the book).
What won’t I like? Yes, its a sin-
gle ingredient book so theoreti-
cally might have limited appeal.
Should I buy it? Currently, the
male offspring of diary goats
are simply destroyed but could
become a sustainable and ethical
source of low fat, high protein
meat. Buying this book and
putting goat on your menu will
help that become a reality. That’s
a pretty good reason to pick up
a copy.
£20, Quadrille
Read more cookbook reviews by
Andy Lynes at
cookbookreview.blog