In addition to having perhaps the most English name in the history of names, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is, it seems, the Michael Pollan of Britain, with a cottage (pun intended) industry of books, television series/specials, and also a restaurant, all based on the philosophy that the best food is that which is safe, humanely raised, local, and cooked yourself. I've jumped on this bandwagon at the right time, obviously, because there's a crazy food revolution going on. In the UK it's apparently been going on for a good while, and this cookbook-slash-manifesto is ridiculously inspiring. I'm quite sad that we don't have the quality control and labeling standards for organic and locally-grown food in this country that exists in the UK, and a lot of the River Cottage Cookbook simply fills me with envy. Where am I supposed to find nettles to make nettle soup? Why does the US have a million different contradictory labels for eggs? Thankfully, there's a massive section of notes for the US publication that list some similar resources and outline policy differences, so all hope is not lost. Also, the recipes are very inspiring. I haven't tried anything specifically from this book yet, but we did make a fish pie highlighted in an episode of The River Cottage Treatment, and it was amaaaaaazing. so delicious. This guy knows his stuff. In the meantime, I will be searching the backyard for chives and dandelions.
447 pp.
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