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Original poster

What is a good basic cookbook for a student?

33 replies

harbingerofdoom · 26/08/2011 20:31

Have 2XDDs going off to university shortly. Unfortunately the one in self-catering is going to live off cereal unless there is some book infront of her!
DD in catered accommodation can cook quite well but it might be useful for her to have a book anyway.

TIA

OP posts:
dreamingofsun · 26/08/2011 21:57

i've got the student cookbook by hamlin which i quite like - despite not being a student. Won't she have wifi though - my son says he'll just look online?

TrillianAstra · 26/08/2011 22:08

Beyond Baked Beans - there's a website too here

Original poster
harbingerofdoom · 26/08/2011 22:31

Unfortunately the DD in SC is in a wired hall. Surely it would be better to have an idea of the meal before shopping IYSWIM.

That website looks interesting. Will have a proper look tomorrow.

Perhaps cookbooks are out of date and this generation will just collect web recepies? Food for thought............

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JennyPiccolo · 26/08/2011 22:32

What about Jamie's Ministry of Food? My SIL couldnt cook anything till she got it.

JennyPiccolo · 26/08/2011 22:33

Not particularly studenty but start as you mean to go on.

ghostofstalbans · 26/08/2011 22:33

delia's how to cook?

SquigglePigs · 27/08/2011 09:22

A decent one-pot cookbook and/or stir-fry book would be good for them (avoids too much washing up - always a pet hate of students!). BBC Good Food do a good series of little books called the 101 series (e.g. 101 One-pot dishes). None of the recipes are complicated.

HeiferLump · 27/08/2011 09:26

Jamie's Ministry of Food is great BUT unless they're quite savvy it's a good idea to go through it with them and point out that you don't need a lot of the extras. One thing about Jamie is his recipes are not frugal!

JennyPiccolo · 27/08/2011 19:50

That's a good point. What about the BBC Good Food ones? I've found their recipes pretty good in the past.

Jcee · 27/08/2011 21:23

My mum bought me this when I went to uni and gave it to me with an exercise book In which she'd written down her recipes and my favourite meals.

It's a bit old fashioned but has all the basics including pictures and names of cuts of meat and how to cook them - I still use the book today

Original poster
harbingerofdoom · 29/08/2011 17:56

I think the 101 books are probably the way to go for now.

I love the idea of the exercise book purely because i have one I started at about 12. Would all that effort go to waste at uni? Can easily copy everything but....

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SquigglePigs · 29/08/2011 18:56

My DP still has the exercise book his mum sent him to uni with (we're 28 now!_ Start of it had simple things like an omelette, then a basic chicken casserole, sausage casserole (that I still get him to make - sausages and beans and tomatoes, proper comfort food!) etc. So I think your DC would love it and probably keep it!

theginganinja · 29/08/2011 19:01

Cas Clarke used to do some good little cookbooks for students, I actually still use a couple of her books (they're very battered). One was called 'Grub on a grant', there was 'Peckish but Poor' and a veggie one called 'Mean Beans'.

'Wolf in the Kitchen' by Lindsey Bareham is very good too and Hugh's 'Family Cookbook is very good for basics.

Original poster
harbingerofdoom · 29/08/2011 19:26

love the sound of 'grub on a grant'.

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 29/08/2011 19:29

The Sam Stern ones aren't bad and I think there's actually one for students. You just have to look beyond the simperingly awful photographs and cheesy introductions - I suspect his mum wrote most of them as no teenager I have ever met actually speaks like that! Lots of simple recipes though, including veggie ones.

Original poster
harbingerofdoom · 29/08/2011 19:47

SquigglePigs That's just what I wanted to hear.
Will happily start them off.

Writers cramp emoticom!

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SquigglePigs · 29/08/2011 20:42

Hope you enjoy writing it OP! Smile (It's also good for that little taste of home when suffering a touch of home sickness at uni!)

Original poster
harbingerofdoom · 29/08/2011 20:52

I'm more than happy to do it,as long as it IS important to them. Don't mind wear and tear,spills etc. as long as it's not lost in week 2!

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Sleepglorioussleep · 29/08/2011 21:27

I second the dairy book of home cookery as a really good basic book for anyone, including students. My flatmates and I learnt to cook from it several Blush years ago when I was a student and I still use it now. Okay I'll own up - it's nearly twenty years old now! Sadly I am not!

DecapitatedLegoman · 29/08/2011 21:50

Can I please just add that if you can furnish her with a few basics she'll find recipe books much less daunting ... mum is a stickler for proper cooking and we weren't allowed to leave home until we could make a bolognaise sauce, a white sauce, tatty/lentil soup and could cook a chicken. I have always been grateful for that - when pot noodles got tiresome it was lovely to be able to buy and cook homely food without referring to a recipe.

Original poster
harbingerofdoom · 29/08/2011 22:02

DeCL They can both do all on your list apart from the white sauce. I think they could roast any type of meat without giving food poisoning. I don't think they will be cooking much raw fish, they do know how to though.

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DecapitatedLegoman · 29/08/2011 22:05

I didn't mean to patronise - it's just something I was really really grateful for. White sauce is a must, macaroni cheese is the ultimate Sunday hangover food Grin

Sidge · 29/08/2011 22:07

I had Grub on a Grant when I went off to uni in 1989 - and I still use it occasionally now!

It literally spells out how to boil an egg, make a jacket potato, omelettes, working up to chilli, spag bol, roast dinners as well as lots of one-pot suppers that are easy peasy as well as cheap and filling.

sprinkles77 · 29/08/2011 22:10

nigel slater's real fast food or 30 minute cook. both a bit more sophisticated than usual student stuff, but all very easy and quick recipes, lots with cheap store cupboard ingredients.

Original poster
harbingerofdoom · 31/08/2011 20:30

DeCL You've hit my Achilles heel! I've never produced a white sauce since my Grand D made me make choux pastry.

PLEASE will you teach a whole family how to make it again?

PS. DDs have BFs that are quite good cooks and can make said sauce.

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