The Taste of Britain Harper Collins 2006, first published as the Traditional Foods of Britain in 1999 by Prospect Books
A new and revised edition of 400 regional British food products with an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and contributions, with recipes, from many British food enthusiasts including – Fergus Henderson, Prue Leith, Delia Smith, Rose Prince, Gordon Ramsay, Sue Lawrence and Matthew Fort.
It’s a culinary portrait of Britain’s regional foods which was originally written for the EU Euroterroir project in the mid 1990s. It links food products to the natural resources of the British land and seascape and is a tribute to a time that predates the supermarket era, tracing the historical origins of everything, from the most humble cut of meat, with culinary traditions stretching back through the ages. Sussex cattle, for example, are mentioned in the “Doomsday Book” of 1086.
“How we’ve ignored this is a rum old do.” Fergus Henderson, restaurateur and author of Nose to Tail Eating: a kind of British Cooking
“…fabulous stuff, and all on our own doorstep.” Elizabeth Luard, Literary Review
“A fantastic compendium of all that is great about regional British food …makes you proud to be British.” Gordon Ramsay
“…a book to cherish for what it reminds us about quality, and about the culinary treasures in our midst.” Paul Bailey, The Sunday Times
“An enthusiast at HarperCollins has reissued the work as a truly beautiful book.” The Observer
“This timely book…reveals the enormous diversity and richness of British ingredients and British cooking…” New Statesman
Catherine Brown 