Spelt: Cakes, cookies, breads & meals from the good grain Hardcover – 2 April 2015

This book arises out of Sharpham Park in Somerset and the work done on the development of a grain that has certain attractions for people developing an allergy to conventional – non-organic wheat. It also demonstrates how some large farms are being innovative because they have looked back to the past and traditional methods, rather than modern short term apparently quicker methods. Their cheese is very nice, but they have established their name through grain, in much the same way that Laverstoke Park have established their name with organic meat, but are now doing the same with buffalo milk cheese. My bread making began with Elizabeth David’s – still unsurpassed, book on Yeast Cookery, and the last traditionally orientated book on Bread as such I bought, was the underrated River Cottage one.Spelt offered itself as an alternative to whole meal, and I thought, if it was good enough for the Roman Army, it is good enough for me. Because it is a much older wheat strain, it does not quite handle like conventional wheat, although it can of course be mixed with other flours. But the difference between it and ordinary wheat flour is perhaps not as great as the difference between ordinary wheat flour and rye. The recipes here are laid out – one per page (hooray) so you don’t have to keep turning pages to follow a recipe. But they are as innovative as the Spelt Project itself: Arancini without rice, but starting with what the book calls speltotto – similar in style to Italian Rocco; pearled spelt to make salads instead of using Bulgar wheat; oatcakes using Spelt porridge flakes; apart from the usual things you would expect in a grains cookbook, like bread, pastry, cake, etc. There is, in the mains section, a good balance between meat and vegetarian dishes, so neither eater will be put off by bias; if there is any bias, it is for spelt. This is a lot more than one of those cookery books to read, yes, there are some that people just read cookery books, but this is very much in the River Cottage tradition: excellent, and half the price of the coffee table type of cook book.

This is a really fantastic book - the biggest difficulty I have trying to switch spelt into our diet as much as I'd like is knowing exactly how to use it in the basics - pizzas, breads, cakes etc. this book goes far beyond what I was hoping for with a huge selection of different meals, desserts etc. that are delicious and also a great read with really nice photographs. Very highly recommended.Pictures are of the pear and ginger muffins, and pizza dough / pizza making.

Only 4stars these no bread machine receipes but otherwise informative with some good recipes. Very good quality book.

This book is a blessing for those, like myself, who like to bake but cannot eat modern wheat varieties due eczema and such like. This book looks good, is an informative read. It includes tips from chefs on how to use spelt flour successfully. To date the recipes I have made have been reliable and taste good. Thank you to Roger Saul and his collaborators for putting this book together.

This is a fabulous book. First time I have ever read the Introduction section. Found it very interesting. Have done three recipes from the book. My sister-in-law was so impressed she bought the book herself. It is a lovely book to have on display and people always notice it. Also the Spelt flour does you good.

A lovely book full of great recipes.

Love this book as I am gluten free, but can use spelt. The recipes are really good. After using spelt and you are used to it you would never want to go back to ordinary flour as it has more flavour and body to it. Much better for your body and diet.

Some excellent recipes but many require the use of just white spelt, I was hoping for more healthier wholemeal options. Also I don't really think it's fair to include recipes for soup that are finished with cubes of spelt bread or arancini that are dusted in spelt flour before being coated in panko breadcrumbs. Didn't really need an expensive cookbook to work out I could make that substitution. A lovely book to look at with some good recipes but more substance and a bit less style was more what I was looking for.