Aiden Byrne's book & web TV show
The highlight of a recent book buying bonanza was getting my mits on Aiden Byrne's Made in Great Britain. I ate at his restaurant earlier this year and had a fantastic time. He is great chef and a lovely guy, very down to earth. According to his biog he was the youngest chef to a win a Michelin star in the UK. Having met him a couple of times and eaten his food, I'm fairly certain this won't be the last of his accolades.
Tonight was the launch of the book and his publshers have done him proud. The book looks lovely, is sturdy and is well laid out.
The essays on producers are de rigeur these days, but it's not so common to get such good recipes. They read beautifully and thankfully are not dumbed-down viz Cod with Borlotti Beans and Vanilla or Loin of Lamb with Curried Lambs' Kidneys and Mangoes. However, some are pretty straightforward, such as the Braised Veal Shin with only eight ingredients - including salt and pepper. This is a book to own if you aspire to be, or are, a good cook - home or professional.
I learned tonight that Byrne is walking a well trodden path of the book being a TV tie-in, but with a twist. The TV programme is going to be published on the internet and availble as a video podcast on iTunes.
It's a genius of an idea. I'm sure he'd have wanted a full on TV deal, but I think this is a great step forward. Users can watch the bits of the podcast they want, they can skip to relevant recipes, they can forward content to friends and comment on it. I hope more chefs follow his lead so that those of us cooking at home aren't tied to our TV screens to consume decent food programmes.
You can download the full first the first show here. The clip below is a 3 min excerpt from the programme.
What type of cook book is it i hope it is a proper cook book based on his restaurant recipes and not a Jamie Oliver how to roast a chicken and make monk fish kebabs style of cook book, P.S only a couple of weeks till i can get the Alinea cook book
Posted by: paul | 18 September 2008 at 06:25 AM
Paul, fear not, it absolutely is a 'proper' cook book. That shouldn't scare off people who aren't the most accomplished home cooks, but this is a serious book that will sit proudly next to the Alinea book. Any idea when they're turning up by the way? They've had my $50 for the best part of a year now, or so it feels.
Posted by: Anthony Silverbrow | 18 September 2008 at 11:47 AM
All i know is that on www.Amazon.co.uk it says that the Alinea cook book which is published by Ten Speed Press comes out on October 1st so i will order it then, P.S there is another must have cook book that comes out on December 30th this year and it is by Jean Georges Vongerichten's or however you spell his name, pastry chef called Johnny Iuzzini and it is called Dessert Fourplay and if you love desserts like i do then like i said before it is a must buy IMO.
Posted by: paul | 18 September 2008 at 08:00 PM
Thanks Paul. I'd heard about Dessert Fourplay, I'll take a look at it. I got an email from Alinea saying to expect the book shortly - I'm not sure if that's true for us not in the States as well.
Posted by: Anthony Silverbrow | 21 September 2008 at 02:55 PM
I just bought that Aiden Byrne Made In Great Britain of www.Amazon.co.uk and got it today and yes it does look a very good cook book i especialy like the look of the Banana and Peanut Crumble with Roasted Pinapple and the Lime Cheesecake with Chilli Jelly and Mangoes dessets yum Lol
Posted by: paul | 24 September 2008 at 06:39 PM
Paul, I agree it's a great book. I've quite enjoyed watching the video podcast recently as well. It's not the slickest of productions, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Posted by: Anthony Silverbrow | 24 September 2008 at 09:28 PM
In regards to the Alinea cook book i just looked on there restaurant web site and they said that they are going to start shiping the Alinea cook book on October 15.
Posted by: paul | 24 September 2008 at 11:27 PM
Hi Anthony
Thanks very much indeed for posting about made in Great Britain, the cooking show featuring Aiden Byrne. I chatted on Facebook with him last night and he's very happy, very busy with his new venture in Northern England...
We'll be continuing the Made in Great Britain shows with other great British chefs featuring great British food and the next episode will be with Michelin starred Richard Phillips... scheduled to shoot on Friday.
Best regards
Neil
Posted by: Neil Fairbrother | 28 January 2009 at 09:25 AM
Neil, thanks for that. So no more videos with Aiden? What other chefs are in the pipeline?
Posted by: Anthony Silverbrow | 28 January 2009 at 05:25 PM