Overview

In “The Clatter of Forks and Spoons”, Irish chef Richard Corrigan covers the food that he grew up with as the child of a farmer in Ireland, traditional recipes, and the dishes he serves at his restaurant. Many of the dishes are simple and comforting, and will rarely require any searches for exotic ingredients or specialist equipment. Corrigan is also a storyteller, so you will find essays, anecdotes, and observations throughout the book. He presents his views with a great passion, but it’s done in a similar manner to what you would get from having a feisty debate with a good friend over a beer. He is also a champion of artisanal producers and allows many of these producers their own voice in his essays.

This is an outstanding book from three viewpoints. Firstly, in Corrigan’s writing, no words are wasted and his essays could be a book in their own right. The second are the recipes. It is food for the soul, the ingredients are listed in a clear manner, and the instructions are presented in a conversational tone. Finally, it’s a beautiful book. The photography suits the book in that it has a feel more like a family photo album than food porn. Many people will find this book a worthwhile purchase, including those who want to rediscover their Irish and British roots, those who simply enjoy good food writing, and anyone who simply wants to cook a delicious meal.

Full review

Structure of the book

Richard Corrigan’s “The Clatter of Forks And spoons” is a 392 page hardback book. The book starts with a series of short essays, titled “The Farmer In Me”, “Just Food You Want To Eat”, “Extreme Artisans”, “Recipe For A Good Dinner”, and “The Beacon Of Ballymaloe”. The titles are self explanatory, except for the last one which is about Myrtle Allen, a restaurant owner who Corrigan feels is a kindred spirit with their philosophies on food. After these essays are the chapters containing the recipes. They are divided into the following sections:

Fish
Shellfish
Meat and Game
Vegetables And Salads
Cheese, Eggs, Bread And Butter
Pudding
Christmas
The book then finishes with a chapter titled “Continued…”, sections on acknowledgements, producers and suppliers, and the index.

Within the recipe chapters, there are further short essays. Corrigan covers a wide range of topics, from discussing his artisanal suppliers to the importance of sustainable development, his views on a particular way to treat an ingredient to anecdotes on restaurant life. The essays are always interesting and relevant to the chapter’s topic.

The recipes are extremely well set out. The titles are written in blue on the upper left hand corner of the page, the ingredients listed on the left hand margin, and the instructions take the rest of the page. The instructions are written in such a way that you could imagine Corrigan standing next to you and telling you what to do. Most recipes will also begin with an observation by Corrigan, and like his essays, they vary in their topics. He may speak about how he developed the recipe, tips, or just an anecdote. In some recipes, you’ll find tips or variations within the instructions.

About the author

Corrigan is an Irish born chef and TV presenter. He runs Bentley’s Seafood Bar And Grill in London and Irish Bentley’s in Dublin, presents a TV show in Ireland, and appears on BBC2 in England. He is an active supporter of artisanal producers and sustainable farming and was once issued a writ by the Irish chicken industry over his criticisms of industrially farmed chickens. Corrigan has previously released one book, “The Richard Corrigan Cookbook: From The Waters and The Wild”, in 1999.

How is this book interesting/special/new/useful?

The release of Fergus Henderson’s “Nose To Tail Eating” and the re-discovery of Simon Hopkinson’s “Roast Chicken and Other Stories” has started a movement dedicated to rediscovering the food of Great Britain and Ireland. Corrigan’s “The Clatter of Forks and Spoons” is one of the recent books covering this area on gastronomy, and it is a very fine book. The opening words on the back cover read, “The older I get, the more puritan I become about food, the more I want to leave it alone”, and it is in these words that you get a picture of what Corrigan’s book is about. There are many recurring themes to the book – a return to the food of his childhood, sustainable farming, not letting food go to waste, and promoting diversity.

Early in his book, he writes about how he abhors waste in his kitchen, and it’s appropriate that he doesn’t waste words either. His writing style is very conversational, but still very tight. It makes his essays very easy to absorb, but at the same time, he provides an immense amount of information without overwhelming you. For example, in a discussion about fish and chips, he manages to write about his love of the dish, the importance of the batter and the timing of the frying, what fish to use, the difficulties of doing chips at home, and the popularity of the dish at his restaurant, all on just one page. Yet, none of what he writes seems superficial and you feel as if you’ve learned something new.

It has become fashionable in restaurant cookbooks for the chef/authors to pay homage to their suppliers. To me, these exercises often seem to be little more than lip service, a page or two of platitudes of the importance of what the supplier is doing before dragging the attention back to the chef. Where Corrigan is different is that he allows his suppliers a significant voice in his book. As an example, he devotes just over six pages to an organisation called “Seed Savers”. They are dedicated to the finding, conserving, researching, and distribution of native Irish seeds for fruits, vegetables, and grains. By giving them such a significant amount of space in the book, the reader gains a substantial understanding of the people involved, their motivations, and the work they do.

But the key issue that makes or breaks any cookbook are the recipes. What you will find are recipes that range from foods that were once commonplace in Irish homes to dishes that he serves in his restaurants. The sophistication of the recipes ranges from the very simple slow-cooked field mushroom (four ingredients, one paragraph of instructions) to a dish that requires time and planning like the croquette of pig’s trotter with beetroot, horseradish, and sorrel (twenty-one ingredients, two pages of instructions). But even the pig’s trotter dish can be made by a reasonably experienced home cook. Some dishes will be impossible for some readers as ingredients like grouse and foie gras in pastry aren’t available everywhere. A random look through the book brings up recipes such as beef and oyster pie, chilled almond and bread soup, and salad of couscous, lobster, and citrus juices.

Kristin Perer’s photography is excellent. The pictures are earthy, warming, and they suit the feel of the book. When looking through the photographs, you feel as if you’re looking through someone’s photo album rather than a cookbook.

What problems/flaws are there?

Corrigan’s strength is the passion he has for food. But there were just two occasions when his belief in his own views clouded the possibility that others may have valid philosophies on food. For someone who encourages his readers to explore the artisanal producers, to simplify their food, I found it annoying that he wrote off the value of molecular gastronomy and pastry chefs. To him, they make food overly complicated and take the ingredients too far away from their essence. That may be valid, but I probably would have been happier if he took the view that you sometimes need to experience the complicated to truly appreciate the simple. Also, as Ferran Adria has noted, the making of a ham or wine is a process that takes the original ingredient and turns it into something better. Whilst the book preaches simplicity, the reader will hopefully realise that the creation of the cheeses and charcuterie that Corrigan loves also involves the manipulation of the original ingredients. But this is a very minor quibble, and in no way takes away any pleasure of reading all the other words he has put together.

Who might enjoy/use this book most?

This book will appeal to a wide range of readers. Those who will get the most pleasure out of this book are those who enjoy good food writing. I feel that Corrigan’s writing matches well against the likes of Simon Hopkinson, Nigella Lawson, Elizabeth David, and Paula Wolfert. It is the type of book that you could curl up in bed with. People who are looking at British and Irish cooking, and those who want simple, home style dishes will also find this book useful. Whilst you need some basic knowledge of cooking, none of the recipes require any sophisticated equipment, and the vast majority of ingredients are readily available.