My main complaint about English cookbooks remains . . .
. . that the English shy away from using weights and measures. Everything is by number of pieces with no hint as to what dimensions or weight.
My favorite is a recipe that called for "One Daikon". OK Lady, here in Los Angeles, Capital of the Pacific Rim, we have Daikons from one ounce to 10 pounds. Now exactly what size is a Daikon radish in London?
Again, if there are photos, I often depend on them to straighten things out. The photographers are good at making a presentable dish, not necessarily the recipe writers.
Another major problem is that English cookbooks of ethnic recipes almost never give any background information. They'll freely modify recipes without any hint of what they've done or why. They also name the authors but often give no information about their background. American cookbooks these days have a tremendous amount of background and carefully mention changes made. I still suspect that the problem is that the publishers, not the authors, hold the copyright, thus have total control.
My favorite is a recipe that called for "One Daikon". OK Lady, here in Los Angeles, Capital of the Pacific Rim, we have Daikons from one ounce to 10 pounds. Now exactly what size is a Daikon radish in London?
Again, if there are photos, I often depend on them to straighten things out. The photographers are good at making a presentable dish, not necessarily the recipe writers.
Another major problem is that English cookbooks of ethnic recipes almost never give any background information. They'll freely modify recipes without any hint of what they've done or why. They also name the authors but often give no information about their background. American cookbooks these days have a tremendous amount of background and carefully mention changes made. I still suspect that the problem is that the publishers, not the authors, hold the copyright, thus have total control.
