• Breadcrumbs on August 19, 2014

  ERRATA NOTICE FROM PUBLISHER ABSOLUTE PRESS - Evidently the first edition of this book contains the following errors: Book errata notice: Very regrettably there were three misprints in Tom Kerridge’s Proper Pub Food. The salt quantity in the brine solution in the recipes for Brined Pork Belly and Puy Lentils with Black Cabbage Salsa (p.146) and Tom’s Fried Chicken in a Basket (p.189) should be 200g not 500g. The saltpetre quantity in the brine solution in the recipe for Hot Salt-beef Bagels with Pickled Vegetables and Black Pepper Cream Cheese (p.154) should be 15g not 50g. These three misprints have now been corrected. Huge apologies. 24th October 2013

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chicken liver and French bean salad in a shallot and white wine reduction

  • inareichel on May 20, 2019

    It’s quite some work and I ended up not slicing the beans, but it is delicious.

• Crispy pig's cheeks and deep-fried shallots with taramasalata and flat breads

  • Foodycat on September 07, 2014

    I just made the taramasalata. Very good but makes loads. My mini-processor really struggled, even though all the ingredients are soft.

• Braised pearl barley, smoked chicken and wild garlic

  • wodtke on January 28, 2018

    I absolutely love Tom Kerridge as he comes over on TV and in interviews, but this recipe didn't work for me. Took MUCH longer than recipe to get barley 4/5 cooked (still chewy). No obvious smoked flavor. Not really very good. Might have been better made with rice.

• Pork pie with piccalilli

  • Phil.Adams on July 13, 2014

    Pg. 90 (in my edition) Probably needed about 10% more meat to properly fill the specified 'deep 25 cm cake tin' - and 1/3rd more pastry; I didn't have enough for the lid. And unless your stock is home-made and very jellied itself, I would recommend using more gelatine leaves - in my first attempt, the stock didn't jell enough and ran out when cut. But great tasting pie, nonetheless!

• Pork scratchings

  • Foodycat on July 09, 2014

    This didn't work for me at all - they just didn't crisp up. I was making them as a gift and had to do a last minute change of plans.

• Proper paella

  • etcjm on July 29, 2023

    Very good. Easy really. I chose to cook the thighs separately in my old actify so they were lovely and crispy and I knew they were cooked. For all there doesn't seem to be a lot of spices in it versus a jambalaya recipe I cook a lot, it had so much flavour! Definitely a do again. Get good chorizo, it is a big part of the dish as you would expect for a paella.

• Smoked haddock fishcakes with fried egg and cheese sauce

  • SashaJackson on April 06, 2017

    Delicious fishcakes, great with the addition of the mozzarella and a fried egg. I used normal mash (I didn't have time to bake the potatoes first), my only criticism is that the recipe takes a very long time to prep. and make.

• Brined pork belly and Puy lentils with black cabbage salsa

  • Allie80 on April 20, 2019

    We gave this 4/10: * The nicest element was the puy lentils which I would make again. The pork was almost inedible due to how salty it was, even ‘him indoors’ didn’t enjoy it very much and he will normally salt away very happily * The salsa was overpowered by the garlic * Ingredients easy to find in most supermarkets * Only the making of the salsa was a bit fiddly * The book lacks the notes of the online version of the recipe, which give helpful guidance on the crackling * Lentils were tasty and would pair nicely with chicken or fish

  • Steves_food on September 15, 2021

    This dish has huge issues with the salt levels in the brine. It clearly wasn’t tested prior to printing. Many failures in this publication

• Ginger-braised ox cheeks with spiced red lentils and watercress yogurt

  • PeterC on January 20, 2018

    Certainly a good way to cook ox cheek as the finished result was very tender. Expected more ginger flavour and when I reduce the cooking liquid down it only became more bitter from the stout. I had to add tomato ketchup to balance this out. I might try a sweeter ale next time as this is an excellent cut of meat. The watercress did not add much to the recipe although the lentils made a pleasant change to mash. Note: I used Shepherd Neame & Co Double Stout which is described as bitter, coffee and dry.

  • PeterC on November 02, 2018

    Having another go 2/11/18 using peanut butter stout by Tailgate brewery.

• Rump of salt marsh lamb and broccoli stalks with anchovy dressing

  • okcook on February 28, 2016

    We liked the flavours in this dish but the amount of sauce and the dressing it makes is more than enough. Next time I will make half. I reduced the Rosemary as. It seemed too much...could have been because it was from my garden and very fresh.

  • okcook on February 28, 2016

    We liked the flavours in this dish but the amount of sauce and the dressing it makes is more than enough. Next time I will make half. I reduced the Rosemary as. It seemed too much...could have been because it was from my garden and very fresh.

• Slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with boulangère potatoes

  • Nichill on January 19, 2016

    We love this recipe. It does appear several times in different magazines and books: we found it in the Independent, in an article of famous chefs recommending economical meals. This one is particularly recommended as suitable for leaving in the oven on a low heat while you go for a long dog walk. You can vary the cooking time from about three to six hours depending on the temperature. It's really not fussy if you are a half hour late. We make it about twice a year.

• Apple and toffee crumble tart

  • Doobydoo62 on February 18, 2024

    Well. I have had this book for a while but not made very much from it. We made this yesterday and the recipe is riddled with errors. If you attempt it use the online link which corrects many of the errors which we discovered along the way eg blind baking a pastry flan should read 35 mins not 15. And definitely don’t use all the toffee it will make the pie too bitter

• Spiced orange cake with plum sauce and Christmas pudding ice cream

  • etcjm on October 10, 2019

    Cooked cake element of this recipe and it was excellent.

• Great British Chefs

  What the book may lack in imagery (not every dish is illustrated, meaning that it sometimes looks a little text-heavy), it makes up for in dazzling variety, making this a book that deserves a place...

  Full review