Beets, Leaves and Limes – Great Salads and Sides by Fiona Smith is in hardcover at 19,50 euros.
The Barbecue Bible – Over 500 Recipes by Steven Raichlen in paperback at 19,50. All types of barbecue equipment, all types of food and delicious recipes with tempting colour photos.
Piri Piri Starfish – Portugal Found by Tessa Kiros is the most gorgeously-produced book of authentic Portuguese recipes, including lots of fish. In hardcover at 29,25 euros.
And, with church fetes and fairs on the horizon – The Vicar’s Wife’s Cook Book by Elisa Beynon is Winner of the Waitrose Food Illustrated Competition and has become a hot celebrity cookbook in the UK. Hardcover at 24,70 euros.
All available from the Griffin Bookshop. Tel: 289 393 904.
The smell of something delicious simmering away on the stove never fails to tantalise the tastebuds! Whether it’s a creamy soup, a fragrant curry or a traditional English pudding, there are endless ideas for one-pot cooking in this fantastic little book. So if you enjoy cooking and would like to produce a tasty dish without a mountain of washing up, this could be just what you are looking for.
Produced by BBC Good Food Magazine, 101 One Pot Dishes is full of tried and tested tasty recipes that are literally cooked in a single pot, and each is accompanied by a full page colour photograph.
With a variety of starters, main courses and desserts, several from other countries, there is something for every taste and some take only minutes to prepare, so perfect for anyone with a busy lifestyle or for quick meals for the kids.
Simplicity is the keyword with many of the recipes, and even the person who claims not to be able to cook only needs to be able to follow the clear instructions to be able to produce masterpieces.
There are 12 other books in the series:
Fish & Seafood Dishes; Best Ever Chicken Recipes; Low Fat Feasts; Veggie Dishes; Simple Suppers; Hot & Spicy Dishes; Seasonal Salads; Christmas Dishes; Cheap Eats; Meals For Two; Tempting Desserts; Chocolate Treats
One Pot Dishes (available for six euros), Best Ever Chicken Recipes and Fish & Seafood Dishes are currently in stock at Bookworms. The other titles in the series can be ordered for you.
Available from Bookworms in Albufeira. Tel/Fax: 289 543 576. Mobile: 916 984 030.
Easter: Recipes, Gifts and Decorations by Tessa Evelegh is a lovely book with sumptuous Easter recipes and treats full of ideas for the table and surroundings. Celebrate the coming of spring with lots of natural decorations and good food. Priced at six euros.
Easter Cooking by Rebecca Gilpin is a great Usborne title to encourage children to help in the kitchen. Simple step-by-step recipes are presented in full colour, making cookery easy and fun. Daisy biscuits and the spring flower sweets are sure to be popular as gifts for friends or the odd treat for your family. Priced at six euros.
Easy to make! Chocolate by the Good Housekeeping Institute has something to cover every chocoholic moment, with all the recipes tried and tested to work perfectly each time. It may be a small book, but there is plenty of information packed into it and you will not be disappointed. Go on indulge yourself and your friends! Priced at 7,50 euros.
For serious entertaining the book to return to again and again is Victoria and Lucinda’s Flavour of the Month by Victoria Cator and Lucinda Bruce.
This is a clever idea of combining table settings, flowers and the all important star foods each month with selected menus for lunch and dinner. Taking all the stress out of entertaining, this is a well balanced set of ideas and full of tips to help the faint hearted hold perfectly executed parties without too much trouble. The authors are skilled at cookery and design and have produced a useful and original book to dip into for seasonal ideas each month. Available in paperback for 19 euros.
All available from the Owl Story Bookshop in Lagos. Tel: 965 257 231
Mediterranean food is varied, healthy and colourful. Despite not being located in the Mediterranean, Portugal is clearly influenced by its culture, gastronomy and even climate. If the economic boom of the last decades meant that people were able to afford to consume more meats and fish to the detriment of beans and bread based foods, the changes we’re currently facing may prove a good opportunity to look at the ways people in Portugal and the Mediterranean world save money on food while living long and healthy lives.
Moro East by Sam & Sam Clark and Piri-Piri Starfish – Portugal Found by Tessa Kiros, are two cookbooks that are also a journey of discovery for ingredients and flavour combinations. As well as the meat and fish dishes there are also bread recipes such as gaspacho (both Portuguese and the Mediterranean way), and recipes involving chickpeas, broad beans, inventive salads seasoned with herbs and olive oil, and various filling soups and broths.
Moro is a famous restaurant in London founded by Sam & Sam Clark, who are two chefs that travelled to Spain, Morocco and the Sahara desert in order to learn, observe and taste along the way. Serving award-winning, Moorish cuisine they offer not just full meals but also tapas throughout the day.
Tessa Kiros was born in London and cooked at London’s The Groucho Club, as well as in Sydney, Athens and Mexico. Essentially a world traveller,
Piri-Piri Starfish: Portugal Found, is one of six books published by this author.
Both books combined provide different ways of approaching similar dishes. Yet inevitably they both offer the uniqueness of two civilisations, which once shared a distant past.
Moro East by Sam & Sam Clark is priced at 30 euros.
Piri-Piri Star Fish by Tessa Kiros is priced at 30 euros.
Both are available from Magna Carta bookshop in Alvor.
