The New Art of Cooking: A Modern Guide to Preparing and Styling Delicious Food

(Hardback)

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We all eat with our eyes, and amazing-tasting food isnt just about ingredients its about anticipation too. Why serve your friends houmous from a plastic tub when a pretty bowl plus a drizzle of olive oil will make it look ten times more appetising Welcome to the world of food styling. For Frankie Unsworth, food styling is both an obsession and a profession, and with years of experience behind the scenes on photography shoots, she knows exactly how to make food look good. Her approach begins with produce; rule number one is to always buy fruit and veg in season so its colourful and flourishing, as well as tasty. Next, start collecting dishes that will show off your cooking to the best effect (a large white platter will make the most of colourful summer salads, while cosy little bowls are good for winter soups). And finally, take a moment to think about serving your food in a beautiful way! Simple techniques such as tearing lettuce leaves instead of chopping them, or picking out the tiniest leaves at the top of a sprig of basil to make instant micro-herbs can make a stunning difference. All of Frankies recipes include clear instructions for making them look their best, so without even trying youll pick up tips that can be applied to the rest of your repertoire. Not only will these recipes look good, they will taste wonderful too (and you wont find yourself resorting to expensive or hard-to-find ingredients). These include beetroot soup with hazelnut cream; red pepper gazpacho; shredded slaw with turmeric and tahini dressing; bittersweet seasonal salad; pork with shaken rhubarb; fancy puff-pastry fish pie; raspberry chocolate mousse with honeycomb crunch; brioche and custard pudding; and strawberries and cream ice lollies. There is also a substantial how-to section at the front of the book, which outlines the professional techniques and insiders knowledge that will give your cooking the edge. Youll quickly master everything from how to spot the freshest fish on the counter, how to chiffonade herbs like a pro, or simply how to decide whether to serve your favourite pud in big bowls or small ones. This beautiful, clever book will provide you with a fantastic toolkit straight from the world of professional food styling, and change the way you cook forever.

Reviews

This ravishing book is a tribute to the passion, flair and creativity with which Frankie transforms my piles of recipes, bringing their 3D tapestry to life so brilliantly and palpably in my books. Revealing her tricks and tips, with delicious, achievable recipes, her book is as beautifully written as it is to behold. A book to cherish, The New Art of Cooking is a fantastic resource for the professional and home cook alike, to help make our cooking dazzle. I am certainly going to keep my copy not just on my shelf but in my kitchen -- Michel Roux, O.B.E.
A great book, full of unsurprisingly wonderful photographs... even the most lumbering home cooks can create beautiful dishes * The Sunday Times magazine *
The New Art of Cooking is a beautiful book to behold and bursting with tips for tweaking your home-cooking as a food stylist would. Its a classic I know Ill be using for years to come -- Amelia Freer
I've worked with Frankie Unsworth for many years on my cookbooks, TV shows and international events. She has a magic touch when it comes to food, always transforming even the most mundane dish into something beautiful -- Rachel Khoo
Within the books pages, Unsworth looks at setting a room, arranging a table and designing a plate, explaining the rule of three, how to work with the natural shape of an ingredient and the importance of leaving negative space on a dish * TheCaterer.com *
A godsend for anyone wanting to up their Instagram game, as well as their culinary skills * Metro *
As beautifully photographed as you would expect, with exquisitely styled plates of food, it's all about the joy of cooking at home We eat with our eyes, and in its elegant simplicity, this book will inspire you to make time to do so * Italia! *
[Unsworth] has worked with leading chefs Michel Roux and Rachel Khoo to make their creations look as good as possible for their cookbooks. Now she has released her own, with insights into how you can make simple meals look more attractive, to wow friends at dinner parties and excite even apathetic family members at mealtimes -- i newspaper

Author Bio

Frankie Unsworth is a London-based food stylist and writer. After studying languages at university, she worked as a writer for an Italian food magazine, before studying Patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she lived for a few years. It was here that she met Rachel Khoo, for whom she went on to style books and work as a home economist on her TV shows based in Paris, London and Melbourne. This is her first book. @frankie_u / frankieunsworth.com