Summary

Best Kitchen Basics beats the revolutionary drum in the domestic kitchen - no longer are high-end techniques or recipes the sole domain of award-winning restaurants. Here, Mark Best breaks it down, putting the individual elements of each recipe into the home cook's hands and empowering them to think differently. It includes 100 original recipes built around 30 accessible ingredients - from eggplant to pumpkin to chocolate and eggs.

Best Kitchen Basics ups the ante on the familiar. Best insists that it is not a question of luxurious ingredients, simply the knowledge and wherewithal to unlock the beauty of some of the most basic elements of cooking. In the case of mushrooms, for example, he starts with a basic recipe for classically stuffed mushrooms, and develops to the next step requiring a little more application of fermenting mushrooms. And then, for the enthusiastic cook with a little more time on their hands, a mushroom ravioli in mushroom consomme.

In addition to recipes, Best takes readers on "skills sessions". He unpacks the building blocks of the best chefs, includes step-by-step guides and shares snippets of technical detail. The book does not aspire to be comprehensive, rather an enjoyable - and useful - insight into one man's craft. Originally inspired by a well-thumbed recipe collection left to him by his beloved grandmother, Best has set the tone for an accessible, engaging book that will prompt cooks to take their skills and mindset to another level.