Rick Stein’s Secret France

Rick Stein at his best. Some easy-to-do recipes with modest ingredients make for delicious meals. Goes well with the TV series where he demonstrates how easy simple cooking can produce delicious food. Try the poached skate wing with the vinaigrette...pure delight! Purchased for my Kindle for 99p. Just a few recipes for pennies makes this a bargain.

I watched the TV programme and was inspired by the author to have a go at his Tomato and Aubergine Tarte. I wonder how many people have tried it? The amount of oil I got through was incredible but it was so worth it. Ric make all his cooking look so easy. It should be easy for a chef of his standing and he really encourages me to have a go. His enthusiasm is infectious in the nicest possible way and the recipes work which is always very important. I am getting on a bit and took over the cooking from the boss a few months ago but cannot stand around prepping for too long. Ric's recipes and the way he describes them in the book of the TV series allows me to cook excellent food without a lot of flaffing in the kitchen. An excellent book.

I love Rick Stein, his warmth and the accessibility of his cooking. As others have commented, there is little new in the recipes here; but I don't think that was his intention. The point of his journey was to see if the France that inspired cooks of his generation still exists. As part of this he, rightly in my view, avoids the endless modernising and "reinvention" of solid recipes that other chef books are guilty of. The book itself is beautifully presented. I love the preamble he gives to each recipe, which builds the feeling of place. However I did think it was a shame that the book is organised by veg, chicken, meat etc and not by regions. The TV programme moves by area - Brittany, Jura and so on. The joy of the traditional France is all about how dishes relate to place, so I hoped it would guide us in the same way, which it sadly doesn't.

Excellent read. I would have preferred if the recipes were linked with the locations that Rick visited.

This is a fantastic cook book. Loads of great recipes which I started on as soon as I got the book. Much better value for money than most other ‘celebrity ‘ chefs with 230 recipes of varying complexity. All the ingredients are generally available from supermarkets. A nice addition is the list of basic mixtures at the back. The pictures are beautiful too. Highly recommended.

Rick is great on screen and his programmes are a delight. His recipes are easy to follow and always come out true. Can't recommend highly enough.

Very good condition for second hand. The book is clear and informative. All round a good buy.

Rick has written yet another excellent book on food and even following his journey on TV we could resist buying this book to use it as a guide for our own journey through France. Excellent recipes but this pandemic as put a hold on our further exploration! However, what culinary food items we can find locally we are using his recipes as a guide! The tip about using sunflower oil instead of olive oil when making Aïoli is excellent and now a staple with us! Right, let's get cooking!