Josceline Dimbleby's Complete Cookbook

by Josceline Dimbleby

Large format hardback published in 1997 by Harper Collins. Food photography by Simon Smith.

Josceline Dimbleby (born 1943) has been a popular food writer since the 1970s and was The Sunday Telegraph cookery correspondent for 15 years. She has written many cook books and brought an international approach to her recipes which was particularly refreshing in the early years of her career. Josceline’s stepfather was a diplomat, and she lived in Syria and Peru - she certainly displays Middle Eastern influences in her recipes. She was married to the former broadcaster, David Dimbleby.

This book is a compilation of 260 favourite recipes written by Josceline whilst she was Food Writer for The Sunday Telegraph. It’s nicely illustrated with photographs (not of every dish) and short notes preface each recipe, commenting on the food and the flavours, and suggesting possible tweaks to the ingredients. The recipes are listed slightly differently to the average cook book, but it’s still easy to find one’s way around.

Josceline writes very evocatively in her Introduction about the meaning food has for her, and how the recipes contained in this book brought back memories of family and friends - “encapsulated moments and revived emotions” - and she writes enthusiastically about the changes that were occurring in the British food scene in the 1990s. I first came across her writing in one of the Sainsbury’s mini recipe books called Marvellous Meals with Mince - a useful little booklet with interesting and creative recipes for every type of minced meat - and it was in this book that I came across her unusual (at that time) use of spices and herbs, enhancing common ingredients with an inventive approach to flavour combinations. My admiration for her innovative ideas has meant that I will always check out her books, as they invariably introduce new ideas or techniques.

So, leafing through this book, what recipes tempt me? The first one I come across is for Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes with Orange Pepper and Dill Eggless Mayonnaise, a gorgeous brightly coloured starter with a mayonnaise sauce made without raw eggs. I am very sensitive to the smell of raw eggs, but I like mayonnaise, so this is a recipe I will definitely try. It has the added bonus of looking beautiful and being vegan. Josceline describes a Celeriac and Garlic Mousse with Fresh Coriander Sauce, a vegetarian recipe which sounds delicious and is an interesting idea for celeriac, which I always encounter in a rémoulade, so it’s refreshing to see a different approach. Josceline frequently flavours pastry, or uses different techniques to make it, and she uses her hot butter method for the pastry in A Good Asparagus Tart. This method just mixes the ingredients with a spoon, and then presses the warm pastry into a flan tin. I’m a hopeless pastry maker so am always happy to find easy methods to make it - this recipe results in a crisp biscuit-like texture. I love the idea of her Marinated Scallops Set in Saffron Wine (photo above), which ‘cooks’ the scallops in lemon juice, so in the same manner as ceviche. This is a method that works, but you absolutely MUST use the freshest of fish or shellfish. I have eaten very fresh scallops raw in Scotland and they were delicious - sweet and tender - so I would happily use this method to produce this very attractive looking dish which sounds exquisite.

The Salmon Fish Balls (photo above) are interesting, using a béchamel sauce instead of potato, making them lighter than normal, and I imagine they would be lovely with chopped chillies incorporated in the mixture, and eaten dunked in a hot dipping sauce. They can be made ahead and kept warm in a low oven. Josceline describes two interesting dishes using onions - Roasted Onions Stuffed with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Pine Kernels and Goat’s Cheese, and Shallots Cooked in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. The former recipe is a hot vegetarian dish, with the latter served at room temperature and suitable for vegans. It is nice to see a good choice of beautiful-looking tasty vegetarian and vegan recipes in this First Impressions section. The Simply Soups chapter has some delicious-sounding fish soups, such as Mussel, Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Pesto, and a Cod and Mussel Soup with Saffron. And her Far Eastern Fish and Mushroom Soup sounds mouthwatering. Her Sweetcorn and Coconut Milk Soup with Red Chilli and Fresh Coriander is a beautiful yellow colour, and could be made vegan by substituting vegetable stock for chicken stock.

Moving on to the Fish Feasts section, there is a good supper dish of Green Pasta with Mussels and Bacon, and another mussel dish of Mussels in a Bay- and Saffron-flavoured Gratinée with Goat’s Cheese, which again would make a lovely supper. Josceline’s Red Rice and Smoked Haddock Pudding (photo above) sounds and looks lovely, using puff pastry to enclose a tasty combination of ingredients. I love fresh salmon and there are three recipes I’d like to try - Salmon Fillet in a Bay Leaf Cream, Saffron Blanquette of Salmon, and Salmon Sausages with a Goat’s Cheese and Sorrel Sauce - all three of these sound delicious. Another example of Josceline’s creative approach to pastry is her Chicken and Fennel Pie with a Double Herb and Cheese Crust, using a tasty filling surrounded by a lovely light suet crust pastry incorporating oregano and Cheddar cheese. Several ‘meatball’ recipes are included in the Family Favourites chapter, starting with Chicken and Anchovy Marbles with a Rosemary, Tomato and Crème Fraîche Sauce - I like the chicken anchovy flavour blend. Then there are Pork and Chicken Meatballs with Pesto and Pine Kernels, a delicious combination which can be eaten hot or cold. There’s a simple but interesting dish for Pasta with Anchovy and Garlic Sauce and Toasted Breadcrumbs, using a simple technique to transform anchovies into a smooth cream to use as a base for different sauces. And an attractive Lamb Paprika Pie with Potato Pastry - another tasty-sounding recipe with a different type of pastry.

Another meatball-style recipe is Pork and Tuna Rissoles with a Cream and Caper Sauce (photo above) - an intriguing combination which sounds very appetising. And another - Double-Coriander Meatballs with Fresh Tomato Sauce, using coriander seeds, the stalks, and the leaves. I’ve never been successful in cooking roast pork, but I’m tempted to try Josceline’s Roast Pork Spiked with Spinach and Ginger (photo below) with Gooseberry Sauce, with the spinach and ginger adding flavour and moisture, and the gooseberry sauce to cut through the richness.

Another tempting supper dish would be the Potato, Cheese and Anchovy Dumplings with a Fresh Tomato Sauce. This book is excellent for its choice of vegetarian recipes - beautifully presented and delicious. I love the sound of the Shallot and Spring Onion Tart with Crunchy Hot Butter Pastry, with another tweak of a pastry recipe, incorporating semolina to make it naturally crisp and with no need to roll it out. Yet another variation is her Turnip Tart with Curd Cheese and Caraway Pastry, which I suspect is delicious, despite a feeling of uncertainty with regard to the turnips - I should ignore my prejudice!

Her Sweet Pepper and Tomato Tart with Cheese Pastry (photo above) looks beautiful, with its vibrant rich colours, and sounds delicious too. We are spoilt for choice in this chapter, with a tasty Fennel and Spinach Lasagne with Two Cheeses, a Semolina Gnocchi Roll with Broccoli and Mozzarella, and Sautéed Potatoes with Fresh Ginger and Spices. Even her salads sound delicious, such as a Potato Salad with Rocket, Shallots and an Anchovy Cream Dressing (using her anchovy technique mentioned above), a Two-Tomato and Spiced Aubergine Salad with Toasted Pine Kernels, and a Spiced Carrot Salad with Red Pepper, Mint and Lovage. Lovage is a wonderful, savoury herb, you only need a small quantity as it has a robust flavour, but it’s an unusual herb which I’ve never seen for sale, so I’ve only ever grown it in the garden. Josceline lists some appetising picnic suggestions, such as Beef, Horseradish and Anchovy Tart with Potato and Oregano Pastry, Feta Cheese, Sun-dried Tomato and Oregano Pies, Spicy Chicken and Pork Sausages, and Venison Burgers (with horseradish, capers and chilli) - here’s to looking forward to summer weather and picnics.

Josceline’s introduction to the Traveller’s Tastes chapter describes how she travelled from an early age, encountering spices and flavours that would have been almost unknown in the UK at that time, and certainly difficult to obtain, and that now she tries to recreate the flavours she has encountered when abroad, using her trips as a source of inspiration. Her Chicken with an Anchovy and Garlic Cream Sauce is an Italian inspired dish, simple to cook with a delicious combination of savoury flavours. Chicken, Prawn and Noodle Hotpot is a Vietnamese inspired recipe, aromatic and very tasty. A Glossy Lamb Tagine with Okra and Almonds might not be to everyone’s taste, as okra does seem to be a Marmite vegetable, but I would try it. Hot and Sour Pork and Chicken Meatballs are baked in the oven and have their culinary roots in Indo-China. The Winter Warmers chapter includes several recipes with more different and interesting approaches to pastry, such as a tempting Steamed Venison Pudding, a Steamed Chicken and Chilli Pudding with a Spiced Crust, and a Beef and Olive Pie with a Cheese and Suet Crust. The pastry in all of these three recipes includes different spice and herb combinations which sound really attractive and very tasty. Her Pigeons with Spiced Plums and Red Cabbage (photo above) looks beautiful, and her Casseroled Pheasants with Aromatics sounds mouthwatering with an unusual selection of spices and fruit to go with the pheasant pot-roasted to ensure it stays moist.

Doesn’t her upside-down Crisp and Aromatic Apple Tart (photo above) look beautiful? I love passion fruit and Josceline’s Passion Fruit and Orange Puddings, light and moist almond cakes, are definitely something to try, and then there’s the gorgeous looking Rhubarb and Mango à la Vong (photo below). Her Passion Fruit and Nectarine Jelly looks and sounds divine, as does the Sichuan Peppered Fruit.

So many of Josceline’s puddings use fruit, whereas her Tea-time recipes list various cakes, including the beautiful Aromatic Chocolate Cake (photo below), which uses spices to perfume the cake - definitely one to try.

I have to show you the photo above of three suggested jams - isn’t the one in front beautiful? It’s Rose Petal Jam and I do love the colour, although I was deterred by the recipe which sounded like liquid sugar as the quantities seemed so large, but the colour does make it tempting. I do like the sound of the Greengage and Passion Fruit Jam, though - shown on the right above.

The final two chapters in this interesting book cover Special Occasions and Christmas, and continue Josceline’s innovative ideas, with maybe slightly more expensive ingredients or time-consuming recipes. I like her Cheese and Anchovy Biscuits for savoury nibbles, and the Spicy Chicken Catherine Wheels (photo above) - chicken breasts beaten out and stuffed with a savoury mixture, then rolled up and baked in the oven. There’s an unusual recipe for Brussels Sprout Gratinée with Stilton Crust which uses puréed Brussels sprouts - I love both sprouts and Stilton so am keen to try this - and, finally, look at the beautiful Chestnut and Leek Pie with Stilton Pastry (photo below) - a lovely centrepiece for a special occasion.

Scattered about the pages of recipes are little anecdotes of family life, travels, thoughts and memories written by Josceline, which add to the charm of this book. I hope I’ve been able to demonstrate the variety of dishes in this book, the unusual and useful techniques described, and given you an idea of the flavour combinations she uses with such skill and deftness. I think her recipes are inspirational in terms of taste, presentation and technique, and I hope you want to search out Josceline Dimbleby’s books too.