Oh Cook!: The cookbook from James May with simple, easy recipes that any idiot can make.

In the words of my sister, “what idiot can’t cook a cheeseburger?” Well this is the book for you - full of 60 recipes that any idiot can cook.

This cookbook just arrived today, and I’m already in love with the simplicity of the recipes and the author’s dry wit in the instructions. Measurements are in both metric and Imperial; temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. So anyone can use this book to cook - Americans included! I look forward to trying the recipes. What I really like is that if I have trouble with a recipe, I can watch the James May Oh Cook episode on Prime Video for pointers.

Got this book for my husband as soon as it came out! James May's cooking show on Amazon is great and the cook book is a great addition!
All the rescipes have been really great and has sparked a love of cooking in my husband.
The downside is this book is behind the Spam shortage. We can't find it anywhere, not even on Amazon.
Bravo for a great, easy to read and delicious book.

I really hate the price tag on this book. So many people are out of work or needing to skrimp on presents, and this book is $42? Guess I will need to find another less expensive present for my husband. I am really sad about this. We watched the show on tv, and it would have made the perfect present...

Overall this is a great book, with some fantastic recipes! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you like to work the kitchen in a very technical manner, it will probably drive you nuts at times. As the steps and specs aren’t always very scientific within the recipes. Ultimately that is the beauty of cooking, it’s always open to personal interpretation, and everyone’s equipment and ingredients are different. For example, I have found some steps to be very vague, or missing (compared to what you’d find in a more traditional cook book). But this is not tradition, which is part of its appeal, James delivers more of a cooking story, than a black and white recipe. Some ingredient measurements could be a bit more exact as well. Depending on your region (or the growing season) calling for “two large white onions” could yield extremely different results. Again, that’s where a tad of cooking knowledge and interpretation is required with this book, and you say “yea, nah that’s way too much onion for this dish given the size of my produce, let’s go with half of that”

Definitely a fun cookbook. I might not trust a total beginner or perfectionist with some of the recipes though (and that’s ok).

I’m a huge fan of James May, I watched the Oh Cook! Special as soon as it came out. Very pleased with this book. There were a few surprise recipes that weren’t featured in the show, which I love.

This is a pretty funny book, if I'm being honest. I already enjoy James May's humor and wit, which makes it easier to appreciate his writing. It stays pretty true to the persona he has throughout all the shows he does. The recipes are fairly straightforward, with little bits of sarcasm and jokes occasionally thrown in. The pictures that accompany are good, and the book itself is great quality.
Overall, this is fantastic, but I do think you need to be able to appreciate James May to really enjoy it.

Watched the series on Prime Video with my mom. We were so entertained and enjoyed it so much, I bought this cookbook for her on her birthday. It is now a treasure that my mother and I have bonded over. She is a much better cook than James May, I am not. This is great for all levels of cooking, although, it is written for beginners. Good recipes, good humor, James May.

10/10 I would recommend this for my friend's mom's friend's hot niece. Then maybe we could cook together.

Never heard of James May before, but I very much enjoyed watching his cooking show on Amazon Prime. The recipes looked fairly uncomplicated and none were in my prior cooking rotation at home. Ordered the book, and i adore James dry humor in the recipe descriptions. Tonight's supper from this cookbook was his, "Fish Pie". Easy to follow directions and came together easily. The only thing I added that was not mentioned in the recipe was a wee bit of "better than bullion fish base" to the hot milk that the fish was poached in, just for a little more, "pop" of fish flavor. The fish pie was positively delicious and my family and I enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to more taste adventures from this cookbook.

I like that you go back and rewatch the program before venturing to try the recipe. So far I have made 23 of them and plan to make some more. A few I have even made more than once. I had never heard of James May before Valentine’s Day 2021. Since then I’ve seen about every video he’s made that’s available on the internet. For Mother’s Day I received 3 copies of O Cook. I exchanged 2 of them for other James May books..I now have 7 of his books. I’m hooked....he had me with Spam.

Captain Slow adds a good amount of humor and the recipes are very easy to follow.