The Ploughman’s Lunch and the Miser’s Feast
by Brian Yarvin
Rating: ***
Read 4/26/2013
The photos are beautiful. The food in the photos, on the other hand, doesn’t look so great. I loved the narrative parts but most of the recipes didn’t make me excited. I do want to try the British Baked Beans (I’m a huge fan of beans on toast) and Yarvin made haggis sound seriously delicious. There are some soups I think sound good too, but the real strength of this book is Yarvin’s travelogue/memoir parts. It makes me want to move to Scotland and take day trips then retire to the pub at night for a spot of haggis & a pint. Well worth a look.
Oh, I had this from the library a while back; I remember I liked it to flip through, but didn’t actually make any of the recipes. It caught my eye because it had Banoffee Pie on the front, and I had just tasted Banoffee Pie for the first time. It was from this recipe, which I recommend. http://www.baketard.com/blog/2012/4/1/banoffee-pie.html
I have had Banoffee pie a few times. My friend from England makes it in a non-OSHA-approved fashion, cooking the milk without opening the can till the cooking is judged to be complete. I kept waiting for the kitchen to explode.
I sent a copy of this one to my parents after reading your review and they’re thrilled with it. Even without having yet tried any of the recipes, it raises all manner of fond memories of pub meals past! I also bought a copy for myself after noting the Banoffee Pie on the cover. Thanks so much for bringing it to our attention!