"Grub on a Grant" is the original student cookbook written by ex-student Cas Clarke, who has first- hand experience of trying to feed herself while at University. It includes a huge range of meals to suit all abilities whether you are a "Masterchef" wannabe or an absolute beginner.
The book starts with lots of quick meals for one--a favourite being the Varsity Pie which is tasty, filling, nutritious and made in less than 30 minutes from store cupboard ingredients. Most of the recipes are quite adaptable and you are encouraged to improvise using the ingredients you have which is useful if there isn't time to shop or if money is low.
There are other useful sections for different cooking requirements--cooking with friends, Sunday roasts, dinner parties, Vegetarian cooking, slow-cooking and food for dieting--a good idea after a few heavy nights out and over indulgence of beer and kebabs! This edition of the book is an updated and revised version of that published 15 years ago, but despite this there is still some uncertainty as to whether it is suitable for the modern student of today.
Since the book was first conceived there has been a massive influx of ready-made, cheap convenience food which it doesn't seem to acknowledge. Cooking may be creative and therapeutic but I doubt many students are going to make homemade pasta, pizzas, hummus or quiche when they can be purchased so easily and relatively cheaply. Also, many of the recipes, in an attempt at elaboration, use ingredients you would be unlikely to find in a small campus shop--for example, brie and gruyere cheese, bulghur wheat and artichokes.
That said, this book is still a cheap and useful little cookbook and written in a friendly manner and enhanced with some funny illustrations. Even though there were a few bizarre combinations of ingredients (Mushroom Kebabs made with mushrooms, banana, yoghurt, orange juice and curry power--Interesting!) the food was on the whole, tasty and cheap and most recipes did work. Additional complimentary reads would be "The New Students' Cookbook", Nigel Slater's "Real Fast Food" or even good old Delia's "How to Cook". --"Thea O'Connor"