For many people, the period of the past 20 months has been a time of greatly reduced social contact and limited opportunities for sharing food and fun. Jamie Oliver’s latest release features 120 new recipes presented as curated collections for gatherings ranging from intimate dinners to seasonal celebrations. Together is an invitation to reconnect and embrace the pleasures of cooking and eating together now that restrictions are starting to lift.
An ‘Instagrammable’ menu page at the start of each chapter introduces the courses, while photo collages show preparation and cooking steps, ingredients and plating suggestions for the finished dishes. Serving sizes vary, which makes sense, considering each of the chapters is themed (think Table for Two, Taco Party, Harvest Festival).
The instructions for each recipe are broken down into steps and organised under ‘get ahead’, ‘on the day’ and ‘to serve’ headings. This is useful when choosing dishes, as you can select something at a glance that fits with the time you have available. There are tips for adapting recipes (e.g. swapping ingredients to convert a dish to vegan) and vegetarian options are given for many of the dishes.
This hefty hardback with a ribbon marker is constructed using paper from responsible sources and includes a dedication to the UK’s National Health Service and an introduction acknowledging the challenges and inspiration behind the creation of the book. The index is organised by ingredient, and it also shows which recipes are suitable for vegetarians and which are appropriate for adaptation.
When testing some recipes, I chose to mix it up by picking individual dishes from three different collections, opting to cook dukkah roast chicken, lemon potatoes and chocolate orange crème brûlée.
LEMON POTATOES (PAGE 166)
This one couldn’t be easier. After a tiny bit of preparation (peeling or scrubbing), potatoes are chopped into chunks and parboiled. The drained spuds are then tossed in oil with some salt, pepper and the peel of a couple of lemons. I chose to chop the peel finely but you could adjust this to suit personal preference. The recipe said to cover and refrigerate overnight but I skipped that step and went straight into roasting, ending up with a deliciously zesty and crunchy result that was just a bit more special than regular roast potatoes.
DUKKAH ROAST CHICKEN (PAGE 176)
I chose this recipe as it offered the perfect opportunity to make use of ingredients I already had available— dukkah, preserved lemon and pomegranate.
It’s essentially a roast chicken recipe, but it’s elevated to a more interesting flavour profile by bathing the bird with the flavourful marinade of rosemary and chilli combined with the pomegranate and preserved lemon. A splash of red wine vinegar finishes the gravy, and the chicken is served with a drizzle of runny honey and a sprinkling of dukkah. The pomegranate juice gives the chicken a pink tinge that can be disconcerting—I initially thought the meat might have been underdone but it was fine.
CHOCOLATE ORANGE CRÈME BRÛLÉE (PAGE 262)
This one’s the perfect dessert for presenting oneself as a more accomplished cook than one is. There’s a bit of whisking and simmering but nothing too difficult, and it’s all done the day before, so you can set aside enough time to take it slowly. The last step, just before serving, is to create the toffee top on the brûlée, but cooks wishing to avoid that process will still be happy to serve the deliciously smooth choc-orange cream on its own.
Reviewed by Jo Vabolis
Twitter: @JoVabolis
Distributed by: Penguin Books
Released: September 2021
RRP: $49.99
Attractive, easy-to-tackle recipes for a variety of occasions--Together is another winner from one of the world’s best-known chefs.
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