Bill Granger (1) (1969–2023)

Bill's Basics is a collection of 100 recipes for familiar yet varied dishes from roast beef to chicken curry, banana split to tiramisu, apple tart to crème caramel, and much more besides which include perhaps a few new ones to try. The book is sensibly arranged under the headings: Breakfast, Baking, Soup, Salads, Rice pasta & bread, Chicken, Meat, Seafood, Vegetables and Desserts, making it very easy to browse for recipes. The recipes are clearly presented and laid out, and each has a brief explanatory introduction, something I always like to see in a cookbook.

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of this cookbook is the simplicity of the recipes, no matter how many ingredients the process of assembling them is almost invariably straightforward and quite easy - no unnecessarily complicated techniques to master and no need to attend to the dish constantly as it cooks, put simply it's a case of bung all the ingredients in and leave the dish to cook.

The book is well designed and produced, and has a glossy hard cover that makes it easy to keep clean. Bill's Basics certainly lives up to the name, I can see that this is a cookbook that will get plenty of use, it requires little that is not readily available, it's practical, and the dishes are irresistible.… (more)

With over 130 recipes for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner including desserts, the Best of Bill will see you safely through the day. After a very brief introduction the recipes are gathered according to the meal, and include the very simple through to the more complex; for example there is a page devoted simply to eggs: fried, scrambled, boiled or poached; along with some interesting variations on some familiar dishes such as rice pudding.

The range of recipes is quite varied, although there are a lot of pasta dishes and rice dishes of various kinds. Those accustomed to the the more traditional English fare will find there is not much of that here, and some of the breakfast suggestions are far from the typical British breakfast, more suite to no doubt to Australian/American tastes. A few of the ingredients mentioned in some of the recipes I have not seen readily available, but it would not require any imagination to find substitutes.

This is a large and fairly heavy book, well laid out with, usually, the recipe clearly arranged on one page with a full page colour photograph of the dish on the facing page. Occasionally there is an additional note of pointer included, but other than that there is no explanation or comment accompanying the recipes, which is a pity, I like to have a little more to go on than just the facts of the recipe.

However overall this is a useful cookbook, with plenty of imaginative and interesting recipes providing for a wide range of tastes.… (more)

I'm becoming quite a fan of Bill Granger's no nonsense approach to cooking, and this offering of Asian recipes follows in the same vein. Based on the self-taught author's own experiences of food from all over Asian, Japan, China, Malaya, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, and more, often with an Australian influence, he offers here a wide range of interesting recipes. These cover all courses from starters and soups through salads, seafood, poultry, various meats, noodles and rice, vegetables and tofu, and finally desserts.

Following a very brief introduction BG offers his suggestions for a basic Asian pantry, those items you need to keep in stock for his Asian style cooking. This is not an extensive list, BG does not believe in absolute authenticity, rather that the desired result can just as easily be achieved using suitable and more readily available alternatives to the likes of "lotus roots and lily buds" - and I am very much with him here, I am very sceptical of the definitive recipe for any particular dish and have always been used to improvising, if nothing else it makes cooking much more fun.

The recipes are clearly presented usually one to a page with a full page colour illustration/s on the facing page and invariable with a brief introductory or explanatory comment, a feature I always like in a cookbook. Scattered throughout the book are a number of additional Asian-mood photographs, all the pictures are somewhat soft focus and rather high-key, lending the book a bright and colourful feel.… (more)