Simon Hopkinson

Perhaps one of the more appealing aspects of The Vegetarian option is the relative simplicity of the dishes, simple in that each recipe is based on just one or two main ingredients, yet the resulting dish, far from begin simple, is often quite sophisticated.

The range of recipes include those built around one or two vegetables; pasta dishes; dishes based on pulses and grains, rice or eggs; and include soups and consommé plus a few fruit dishes. They include a few familiar dishes such as macaroni cheese with tomatoes, cauliflower cheese, to more unusual combinations such as onion and blood orange salad and a vegetarian version of the more exotic Oriental fried turnip paste. There are many imaginative recipes here, with some the basic ingredients are clearly recognisable in the finished dish, in others they are turned into something entirely new.

The book is well laid out, the recipes clear and easy to follow, and each is accompanied by a few personal comments from the author. Each section opens with an brief introduction, which might include an appealing anecdote; I especially liked the account of the small boy horrified that the haricots had been neither 'topped' not 'tailed'. There are plenty of enticing full colour photographs of the resultant dishes, along with some arty little black and white photographs. The bo0k includes a comprehensive index.

This is not a comprehensive, cover-all eventualities book on vegetarian cookery, but an imaginative and creative collection of honest recipes which do not try to be anything other than the sum of their ingredients.… (mehr)

Laid out a bit like your grandmother’s holiday table — everything in its carefully doilied place —, The Vegetarian Option separates recipes by ingredient into more than fifty small sections. Despite this fusty approach, Hopkinson manages a feat most vegetarian cookbooks don’t even attempt: singular focus on the vegetables. While he turns to a handful of rice and pasta dishes at the back, Hopkinson embraces even unpopular veg like watercress, sorrel, and turnips with expert ease. Imagine what he does for the usual suspects.

Recipes range from quick, two-step prep to several complicated paragraphs of work before a final, though impressive, meal emerges. Simple dishes like spaghetti al aglio and peperocino (i.e. garlic and pepper) and broiled eggplant with pesto are hearty and manageable dinner options for even novice home cooks. Or spend a few hours creating the asian fried turnip paste or mushroom cannelloni, multi-step meals with breathtaking results.

Despite the high level of ingenuity in his recipes, Hopkinson’s ingredients are widely accessible and budget friendly. Some of the more creative dishes, the tomato jelly with basil and goat cheese for example, feature ingredients like agar agar — an easy to use vegan thickening agent rarely used outside of the raw food realm but available at a decent supermarket. It's the experimental pairings and texture variations that set this cookbook apart.

A few sample recipe titles:
Cheese-crusted fried parsnip stripes with romesco sauce
Cream of fennel soup with garlic butter
Red pepper and potato stew with jalapeno relish
Warm asparagus custards with tarragon vinaigrette

Hopkinson’s compiled a thorough, adaptive collection with enough diversity to keep you thumbing its pages seasonally. Though he's thrown in a few easy ones, his recipes aren’t the simplistic, 30-minute fare so popular lately. But if you’re looking for a vegetarian Sunday dinner that will impress people, start your browsing here.

(Originally posted on www.christinereads.com.)… (mehr)

The author states he is a fan of Elizabeth David (my favorite cookery writer) and he tries a similar approach to hers - rather than a litany of recipes he separates the book alphabetically by ingredient (Anchovy, Asparagus, Aubergine ...) each section featuring a personal anecdote and a few (primarily European) recipes featuring the ingredient . A valiant attempt at David's style that doesn't quite come off.
I've seen stellar reviews of this but, while this is a nice book from which I picked up three recipes to try, it doesn't make my top 5 list. Not an author I would go out of my way to read more of.… (mehr)