Sardine Book Reviews

Sardine by Alex Jackson Book Summary

This unique collection of recipes encapsulates the beauty and simplicity of Provençal French cooking. Taking influence from Italy as well as North Africa, acclaimed chef Alex Jackson’s recipes are truly delightful.

Organised by season, at the end of each chapter Alex includes a ‘Grande Bouffe’, a set menu for a feast. The certain satisfaction in cooking a set menu in a restaurant translates wonderfully to the home cook who seeks to escape with our chef and to create their own bonne fête. It opens up many options – large format dishes, whole fish and joints of meat, more complicated processes, economies of scale, and above all, a feeling, somehow, that this is the way that eating is supposed to be. It’s also an exercise in composition, a challenge to ensure that the menu reads beautifully, flows right, and eats even better, as well as an opportunity to shoehorn all the best ingredients of the moment into one evening’s cooking.

Alex has included a selection of recipes for each season, from Bouillabaisse and Autumnal Grand Aïoli to Aligot Géant and an Easter feast, most of these menus revolve around a central celebratory dish, and so the joy for the home cook is in the knowledge that their evening will be no less a success, and certainly much less work, if they cut a course here or there. With recipes running in seasonal order, Sardine promises to reignite a love affair with French provincial cooking – its multitude of influences and its focus on seasonal eating and, ultimately, an attitude to food which centres around sharing and enjoying food.

Reviews

For Sardine:

‘I love … Alex Jackson’s cooking. The food he offers is from Provence and the Languedoc, areas that we haven’t been so curious about in the last few decades, but I’m thrilled they’re back. It’s time to revisit the region. There’s still so much to try.' – Diana Henry

'This is the book I used more than any other last year … His writing is a delight and, like his cooking, hits just the right balance between precision and ease.' – Rachel Roddy

'Seductively reminds us of the comforting allure of French food.' – Nigella Lawson

'It’s approachable, simple, conversational and absolutely delicious … his recipes transport you straight to the Med.’ Telegraph Weekend
'No book this year has made me feel hungrier.' – Bee Wilson, Sunday Times

‘French flavours will lure us in shoals … It is delectable.’ – Fay Maschler, Evening Standard

‘Simple, unpretentious and understated, entirely without ego, attitude or pomp … [Provencal] realises how hard simple is to get right. And does so, for the most part, with flame-licked aplomb.’ – Tom Parker Bowles, Mail on Sunday

About the author

Alex Jackson's interest in cooking started a long time ago. From Birmingham, his passion for French cuisine was ignited by a year in Paris as part of his French degree at university, which served as an introduction to what simple French food really was. After working at Stevie Parle's Dock Kitchen, his interest journeyed further south to Provence, where from the surplus of sunkissed vegetables, fresh herbs, and good olive oil his restaurant Sardine was born. 

With rave reviews from Fay Maschler, Grace Dent, Diana Henry, Marina O'Loughlin and Tom Parker Bowles, since opening in the summer of 2016, Sardine has established itself firmly on the London food scene, as a restaurant with a focus on Provence, but also a prism for the sun-drenched cooking of the whole Mediterranean Sea.

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