Complicated cookery

You know, I get the feeling that we might be seeing a return to complicated cooking. In the last couple of years it's all been a handful of this and throw in that and stick it in a pot and stir it round and cutlery is just so fcking bourgeoise, just eat it with your hands! Straight from the oven!!

But I've now received (or pinched out of Giles' post) two really fiddly cookbooks. The first was Cuisinier Gascon, which I mentioned in my Quinoa Risotto post and the second, which arrived this morning, is called Fusion: A Culinary Journey, by Peter Gordon.

Gordon is from New Zealand is one of London's most accomplished 'fusion' cooks, which basially means there's quite a lot of coriander and lime in his recipes and the occasional deep fried lotus root.

No, I'm being facetious - the man is a very serious cook and I am beside myself with excitement at this cookbook. Everything - EVERYTHING - in it looks divine.

Gordon owns The Providores on Marylebone High Street, which I've been to and the Tapa Room, which I haven't. It's all, as I said, stunning stuff but also incredibly complicated, with a lot of different ingredients from far-flung places (can I get cassava in Waitrose?) and dishes with a lot of 'construction' to them - everything is piled up or rolled up and round each other.

I can't go into detail because the book came with a very strict print embargo notice until 4th March. BUT the publicists for the book have said that, being a blog, I can give you a preview from 1st March.

I mean, not that anyone would notice if I copied the whole thing out here, word for word, but I don't want to get Giles into (more) trouble. So I'll just leave you, until 1st March, with the premonition that perhaps we are going to see a gradual end to bish-bash-bosh cooking and a swing round to something a bit more dainty. Just a thought.