Books & Literature

Cookbook Review: Nadiya’s Fast Flavours, by Nadiya Hussain

Nadiya’s brand new tie-in cookbook to accompany her next BBC2 cookery series airing in autumn 2021

A variety of recipes for maximum taste with minimum effort.
5

Nadiya Hussain was the winner of 2015’s Great British Bake Off, is a television presenter, author of children’s books, mental health advocate and cookbook writer. Nadiya’s Fast Flavours is her sixth cookbook. With her fuss-free, full flavour cooking style, it’s easy to see why she is so successful.

I recommend checking out her Netflix series Nadiya Bakes and Nadiya’s Time to Eat. After watching both series, I immediately purchased her accompanying cookbook Nadiya Bakes. So I was excited to see what her latest book had to offer.

Nadiya’s Fast Flavours has a mixture of fast recipes perfect for after-work dinners, fast flavours, and shortcuts for packing flavour into everyday meals. Filled with recipes for every occasion, the chapters are organised by flavour: Herby, Spicy, Cheesy, Nutty, Zesty, Earthy, Fruity and Sweet. The recipes cover breakfast to dessert and everything in between. This is ideal for when you can’t decide what to make for dinner but feel like a particular flavour.

The hardcover offers enough weight that the pages easily stay put, and the glossy paper makes for easy spill clean-up. Both are big ticks in cookbook goals, with a luxury bonus: a ribbon bookmark to make life that little bit easier. Each recipe has a short paragraph introduction, a helpful guide of serves per recipe, and prep and cooking time. Most recipes are accompanied by a beautiful photo, making each recipe look delicious and achievable.

HONEY-BAKED SRIRACHA DRUMSTICKS & POTATO SALAD (PAGE 226)

I decided on an easy mid-week dinner option to begin with. I was interested in trying Nadiya’s potato salad shortcut using tinned potatoes. Until this point, I didn’t know tinned potatoes were a thing! Our usual supermarket didn’t have any tinned potatoes or chicken drumsticks in stock. So, we substituted drumsticks for wings and didn’t have to travel far to find a store with the tins we needed. Prep took a bit longer than the suggested 15 minutes but was still quick enough that it could be made after work. We also finished the wings off on the BBQ to char them up more. The marinade was delicious—jam-packed with flavour and a perfect blend of sweet and spicy! The potato salad was also a winner. We will definitely be making both again, and the marinade will be a staple at future BBQs.

CARROT BUNDT CAKE (PAGE 94)

Considering Nadiya is well known for her delicious baking recipes, I had to try at least one sweet baked treat. This recipe was easy to follow, and it took the 30 minutes suggested to prep it. While my cream cheese ripple didn’t look as prominent as the picture, it could still be tasted in each slice. The cake was delicious, moist, and had a crunchy toffee-like texture on the outside, finishing it off perfectly. I did use 140g less sugar than suggested, as 440g seemed like a lot. I still found it a little on the sweet side, but I think this had more to do with the cream cheese ripple and caramelised edges. It pairs perfectly with a cup of tea which helps counteract the sweetness. This is a cake that will be added to my go-to afternoon tea treat recipes.   

Reviewed by Jessica Anne
Twitter: @littlejadventur

This review is the opinion of the reviewer and not Glam Adelaide.

Distributed by: Penguin Books Australia
Released: November 2021
RRP: $49.99

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