A ground-breaking book, designed to help creative cooks develop their own recipes, from the bestselling author of The Flavour Thesaurus. One dish leads to another…
Lateral Cooking is, in a sense, the 'method' companion to its bestselling predecessor, The Flavour Thesaurus – and is just as useful, ingeniously organised and enjoyable to read.
The book is divided into 12 chapters, each covering a basic culinary category, such as 'Bread', 'Sauces' or 'Custard'. The recipes in each chapter are then arranged on a continuum, the transition from one recipe to another generally amounting to a tweak or two in the method or ingredients. Which is to say, one dish leads to another: once you've got the hang of flatbreads, for instance, then its neighbouring dishes on the continuum (crackers, soda bread, scones) will involve the easiest and most intuitive adjustment. The result is greater creativity in the kitchen: Lateral Cooking encourages improvisation, resourcefulness, and, ultimately, the knowledge and confidence to cook by heart.
Lateral Cooking is essentially a practical book, but like The Flavour Thesaurus it's also a highly enjoyable read. The 'Flavours & Variations' sections, for example, draw widely on culinary science, history, ideas from professional kitchens, observations by renowned food writers and personal recollection. Entertaining, opinionated and inspirational, Lateral Cooking will have you torn between donning your apron and settling back in a comfortable chair.
About the Author
Niki Segnit's first book, The Flavour Thesaurus, won the André Simon Award for best food book, the Guild of Food Writers Award for best first book, and was shortlisted for the Galaxy National Book Awards. It has been translated into thirteen languages. On BBC Radio 4, she has contributed to The Food Programme, Woman's Hour and Word of Mouth, and her columns, features and reviews have appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Times and Prospect magazine. She lives in London with her husband and two children.
Industry Reviews
It is hard to convey just what a staggering achievement Lateral Cooking is. Segnit is truly a one-woman Larousse. Only the scope is so much wider and deeper: this book covers continents! ... I can lose myself in it any time, from any page, and you could cook from it over a whole lifetime, and still be learning -- Nigella Lawson
The cookbooks that teach you the most are the rare ones, experimental or not, that are so well written that you find yourself reading them greedily on a perpetual loop. Lateral Cooking is one of them -- Bee Wilson * Times Literary Supplement *
A rigorous, nuts-and-bolts bible of a book, which works from the premise that there are base recipes from which all others can be built... It's elegantly designed and extremely broad -- Jay Rayner * Observer *
My most anticipated book of the year -- Helen Goh
Witty, playful and conversational -- Diana Henry * Sunday Telegraph *
This year's star book... It's a cracker: a hefty volume with a simple premise... Segnit has an appealing authorial voice: funny, friendly and authoritative -- Evening Standard
Segnit is a brilliantly clever cook who sometimes seems to have eaten every great dish in the world, but the real joy is her exuberant voice, which feels like listening to a witty friend * Sunday Times *
Book of the decade, if you ask me... Every cook should have it -- Elisabeth Luard
Knowledgeable and humorous, with a focus on flavour and technique, this cookbook is informative, useful and sure to become a kitchen bible to many -- Guardian * 'Best Books of 2018' *
In a year that's been a bonanza for cookbooks, this is the one I'd put top of my list * Independent *
Want to graduate from a rigid recipe-follower to an instinctive, ingredient-led cook? Niki Segnit shows you how * Waitrose Food *
What makes this book really special, just like The Flavour Thesaurus, aside from Niki's impressive expertise, is her humour and personality. It's a joy to read -- Olive magazine
A textbook you'll turn to for all your culinary core techniques and queries * Good Housekeeping *
It's a book you'll buy not so much for the recipes, though there are plenty, but the insights it will give you on how the whole process of cooking works... a cracking read -- Fiona Beckett
One of the most exciting cookery books I've read this year * Literary Review *
Niki Segnit is back with a new cookbook to break the mould (again) * Huffington Post *
It is an absolute triumph, want to take a week off work to read it and cook as I go... cannot recommend enough! If you loved The Flavour Thesaurus, this is basically Christmas -- Rukmini Iyer
Lateral Cooking is a beautifully simple book that just makes sense. I'm hooked again -- Kenny Tutt
Niki Segnit's Lateral Cooking is a spectacularly good cookbook. If it were a novel, it'd be a shoo-in for the Booker -- Elisabeth Luard * The Oldie *
It's a clever idea... a fabulous read -- Harry Wallop * The Times *
Gorgeous, informative book -- Chef Valentina Harris
This should be alongside The Silver Spoon and Le Repertoire, that's where it's going on my shelf -- Mat Follas
A collection of ideas and inspiration - my kind of thinking -- Frances Quinn
Shows, more effectively than any other cookery writer to date, how one thing in the kitchen leads to another * Times Literary Supplement *
A cookbook full of open-ended recipes -- Yotam Ottolenghi
An enjoyable read -- Delicious magazine
This isn't a reference book, it's an engrossing read for foodies * What's Hot Blog *
A cooking bible... a must-have in every kitchen, I'm blown away! * Amy Treasure Blog *
From the author of The Flavour Thesaurus comes this collection of recipes arranged on a continuum, meaning simple tweaks give you a whole new dish * Domestic Sluttery *
It's her humour, stories and thoughtful research that make this much more than simply a cookbook * IndyEats (independent) - Cookery Books of 2018 *
It's fascinating and engrossing. It makes you want to cook more - and there can be no higher compliment * Ms Marmite Lover Blog - Cookery books of 2018 *
A wonderfully simple idea... but It's her humour, stories and thoughtful research that make this much more than simply a cookbook * Independent (App edition) *
