Mark Best is smart. If you heard him speak at last year’s Food on the Edge in Galway, you will be in no doubt about that. His speech skewered culinary gods who use their celebrity status to make pots of money, and he spared no one: even saintly Jamie Oliver got the dirk in the throat from Mr Best.
But to see just how smart he is, get a copy of Best Kitchen Basics, and revel in the work of a chef who manges to get things down to their very essence. It’s a compendium of dishes to make at home, and runs from apples to yoghurt. There isn’t a dull, quotidian idea here. Instead, everything presents the thrill of discovery, of the unexpected, from broccoli mole to chocolate jelly. It’s fab, and the design and photography are just as smart as Mr Best’s cooking.
And, if you missed Mark Best in Galway, here are five video minutes of Aussie common sense about our global food system, filmed immediately after his speech to the conference.
Best Kitchen Basics is published by Hardie Grant Books.
Best Kitchen Basics
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