Today I’m delighted to be joined on booksaremycwtches by another talented cook and baker Helena Jerome with a review of There’s No Taste Like Home.
Review
Like so many of us, my life was thrown into confusion in the middle of March. Usually leading a busy life with a full-time office job, frequent theatre trips and social outings, suddenly I was working from home, unable to leave the house to do the things that usually made me smile. But there is one thing that you can do from home that I usually didn’t have the time to do before – experiment with cooking.
John Partridge’s There’s No Taste Like Home was released at the perfect time for me to start flexing my cooking muscles. The book is a treat for the eyes, heart and taste buds, combining vibrant, detailed photographs, John’s personal memoirs on each page and recipes which are a gorgeous blend of home comforts and beautiful flavours.
Having marked up a number of recipes I wanted to try my hand at (my copy is now covered in post-its!) I got stuck in immediately. As someone who previously only cooked rarely, and usually only out of necessity rather than choice, I was surprised at how easy it was to follow the recipes even if they looked complex at first. John talks you through each step and has added handy tips and tricks throughout the book to help those of us who are fairly new to cooking.
Only very basic kitchen tools are required to cook these recipes, and alternative instructions are provided if you don’t have a blender or prefer to get your hands dirty.
The cakes and puddings that I have tried so far have all tasted absolutely divine, from simple brownies to a deluxe sticky toffee cake. The mains are delightfully filling and taste incredible too – John’s apple and mushroom risotto and tomato porridge with spinach and ricotta dumplings have both become fast favourites in my household, being very easy to make after a long day at work but tasting like something you would expect to be served in a restaurant. And I still have so many exciting recipes to try!
There’s No Taste Like Home has reignited a passion for cooking that I lost over a decade ago, at a time when a new hobby was very much needed, and I am eternally grateful for that.
About the author
John Partridge is an actor, singer, and new author. He was born in Manchester in 1971, went on to train at the Royal Ballet School, Bush Davies, and Doreen Birds. He has appeared in over 18 major West End Musicals including Cats, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Starlight Express, and Tommy. While he played the role of Christian Clarke in BBBC1’s Eastenders for over 5 years.
There’s No Taste Like Home is his first cookbook following his fabulous win of Celebrity MasterChef in 2018. The recipes are inspired by his family and heritage. All the recipes in this book were cooked and photographed in the authors house, his kitchen by the author.
John also regularly shares new recipes and ideas on his twitter @mustbejp and Instagram @johnpartridgecooks if you fancy even more tempting dishes.
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