Obsession, by Nigel Haworth – book review
Obsession
By Nigel Haworth
Network Publishing, £35
ISBN 978-0-95626661-2-5
For the past 10 years, Nigel Haworth and Craig Bancroft have held a star-studded food festival at their beloved Northcote in Langho, Lancashire. During that time, they have championed the food of some of Britain's finest chefs, including Heston Blumenthal, Phil Howard, Angela Hartnett, Raymond Blanc, Pierre Koffmann, Michael Caines, Michel Roux Jnr, Jason Atherton and Claude Bosi.
In addition to this, Haworth has frequently gone beyond these shores to highlight the talent of gifted, rising-star chefs such as Jacob Jan Boerma from Restaurant De Leest in Vaassen, The Netherlands, Andoni Luis Aduriz from Mugaritz in San Sebastian and Danyel Couet of restaurant Fredsgatan 12 in Stockholm.
Obsession is a compilation of all those festivals, celebrating the event's 10th anniversary, and featuring each chef's menu from their dinner at Northcote, taking a recipe from one of the courses.
It's a heavy tome, which, in its introduction, hints at the incredible impact Haworth has made on the culinary scene - winning a Michelin star in 1996 and maintaining it ever since, flying the flag for Lancashire produce and showing the youngsters a thing or two with his successful appearance on the fourth series of the Great British Menu with his "taste of home" Lancashire hotpot, served at a homecoming banquet to honour men and women who had recently returned from active service in Afghanistan.
Food critic and Great British Menu judge Matthew Fort has written the foreword: "What better way to whet your appetite for the pleasures of the plate than by musing through the recipes in this book You will have chewed over the Obsessions of some of the finest and most original talents working in kitchens around the world.
"The fact that they have all come and cooked and conquered at Northcote speaks volumes about the magic of the place, and of the respect with which Nigel Haworth and Craig Bancroft are held."
With more than 100 recipes from over 50 chefs featuring stunning imagery of their food, it would surely be a wonderful memento or serious cookbook for any professional chef or amateur cook.
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Watch video highlights from the 2010 Obsession festival >>
Obsession can also be purchased online at www.northcote.com
