The Last Word

A RECIPE FOR DISASTER

Ilove to cook. My enthusiasm used to be almost exclusively for the preparation of savoury dishes, puddings were never my thing. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth to be honest. OK that’s patently untrue, I just wasn’t very comfortable with the precision

required so stuck to savoury as it seemed to offer a little more latitude to my occasional heavy hand. Lockdown was actually great for me as I joined in the banana bread and sourdough clubs to pass the time. My confidence grew (after a lot of trial and mainly error) and I even started attempting baking cakes, biscuits and puddings. Who knew that if you followed the recipe they almost always worked?! (And, if they don’t you can just have another go another day!)

As such, I’m rather pleased to admit that in our house the usual male/ female roles are often inverted. You’re far more likely to find me slaving over the stove preparing dinner whilst my wife is out mowing the lawn or fixing something in the garage than the other way around and that suits me just fine! I enjoy it, and am as happy creating something easy, comfortable and familiar to feed us all as I am experimenting with a new recipe (obviously for just my wife and I, which kid has ever been keen to sample an unfamiliar food at the dinner table?!)

One of my foodie indulgences is a subscription to a food magazine.

I look forward to its arrival each month, excitedly ripping off the (compostable) wrapper like a kid at Christmas when it pops through the letterbox. Then, cup of coffee in hand, I pore over each page, making mental notes of which recipes I’d like to try and which different members of the family might enjoy. I actually find the whole process of reading recipes rather soothing and can happily while away an hour reading them from old cookbooks. Is that weird?!

One thing that gets me though is why they have to mess with stuff. How many of us really want to try THE BEST EVER Spaghetti Bolognese recipe, or THE MOST INDULGENT Victoria sponge. Surely most of just want a simple recipe that just works don’t we? I can’t help but get annoyed by the addition of random ‘tablespoons of red wine vinegar’, ‘dashes of fish sauce’ and ‘splashes of freshly squeezed lemon juice’ when frankly a recipe feeding six people can’t be affected too greatly by tiny amounts of anything can it?! I often wonder if their addition is simply to differentiate the recipe enough from the one the writer cribbed it from or am I being a bit cynical?

At the same time as I complain about it I’m fully aware of the fact that if they didn’t mess with the recipes they would struggle for content each month. There’s only so many times someone wants to read about Vicky sponges and spag bol and cottage pie isn’t there? And where would that leave me if I wanted a good session of recipe reading?

“My confidence grew (after a lot of trial and mainly error) and I even started attempting baking cakes, biscuits and puddings. Who knew that if you followed the recipe they almost always worked?!”

Phil Rockliffe