About a year ago, my sister suggested I write a cook book. She knew that I was in the throws of deciding my next step since my youngest is off to Boarding school come September and I needed something else to focus on. Fuelled by a weekend of Pheasant Stroganoff, a Big Barbecue, Hearty Beef Stew, and Warm Honeyroast Ham with Parsley Sauce, she patted her embonpoint (she is normally skinny malinny) and made the suggestion.
My once-corporate head immediately realised that it was not going to fly. Only famous people get cookbooks published, and I didn’t quite realise the point of writing something that would never be in the public domain. And besides, I never measure anything, I’m a shoot-from-the-hip kind of cook, where a dollop can be as small or big as I like. Also, I tend to substitute, so it’s never quite the same every time I make something. I experiment, using ‘whatever I have at home’ instead of ‘something I forgot to buy’. I have dozens of cookbooks but use but one - the Cordon Bleu Book of Cooking Techniques - in order to look up the exact measures for a Bearnaise sauce. I tend to read them when I get them, pick up ideas, and then change whatever it is to the way I like it done.
Granted, I have experience. My mother was a dietician nutritionist who loved to cook, and although her attitude was that she would do it faster herself than to tell me what to do, I did pick things up. My first job, at the age of fourteen, was in a kitchen, and over the subsequent years I worked in kitchens in Sweden, Italy, France and Switzerland, experiences which has made me mix influences from various countries. I went to a Swiss Hotel School where ‘Cuisine’ was obligatory, and where I managed to slice off a fingernail at a moment when my attention was diverted (and yes, we did find it amongst the red peppers I was slicing). And what with marrying someone who fills the freezer to the brim with game and fish, I had to learn what to do with them. Waste not, want not.
So, one can say I have toyed with the idea. Two days ago, I watched Channel 4 for once, Jamie Oliver in Stockholm. He made a complete prat of himself whilst trying to make Swedish cardamon rolls with blueberries in a mishmash way; and having the audacity to turn a nice batch of creamed girolle mushrooms into shambles by adding onion. Why ruin the taste of freshly picked wild mushrooms that way?
And who cares if there's no publishing contract at the end of it. Good food is like good friends, a misery to live without, and if I can share the little things that my family and friends enjoy, what a great result.
Yesterday, I facebooked pictures of my friend Beth’s new herb garden and the exciting things she would be able to cook, and she asked me for my recipes. So here they are, a few at a time. No exact weights or measures, because, as I said, my cooking is not like that. Just free and easy, tossing in whatever there is, and a few tips on techniques/processes that are necessary for something to taste right. I hope you enjoy.
My once-corporate head immediately realised that it was not going to fly. Only famous people get cookbooks published, and I didn’t quite realise the point of writing something that would never be in the public domain. And besides, I never measure anything, I’m a shoot-from-the-hip kind of cook, where a dollop can be as small or big as I like. Also, I tend to substitute, so it’s never quite the same every time I make something. I experiment, using ‘whatever I have at home’ instead of ‘something I forgot to buy’. I have dozens of cookbooks but use but one - the Cordon Bleu Book of Cooking Techniques - in order to look up the exact measures for a Bearnaise sauce. I tend to read them when I get them, pick up ideas, and then change whatever it is to the way I like it done.
Granted, I have experience. My mother was a dietician nutritionist who loved to cook, and although her attitude was that she would do it faster herself than to tell me what to do, I did pick things up. My first job, at the age of fourteen, was in a kitchen, and over the subsequent years I worked in kitchens in Sweden, Italy, France and Switzerland, experiences which has made me mix influences from various countries. I went to a Swiss Hotel School where ‘Cuisine’ was obligatory, and where I managed to slice off a fingernail at a moment when my attention was diverted (and yes, we did find it amongst the red peppers I was slicing). And what with marrying someone who fills the freezer to the brim with game and fish, I had to learn what to do with them. Waste not, want not.
So, one can say I have toyed with the idea. Two days ago, I watched Channel 4 for once, Jamie Oliver in Stockholm. He made a complete prat of himself whilst trying to make Swedish cardamon rolls with blueberries in a mishmash way; and having the audacity to turn a nice batch of creamed girolle mushrooms into shambles by adding onion. Why ruin the taste of freshly picked wild mushrooms that way?
And who cares if there's no publishing contract at the end of it. Good food is like good friends, a misery to live without, and if I can share the little things that my family and friends enjoy, what a great result.
Yesterday, I facebooked pictures of my friend Beth’s new herb garden and the exciting things she would be able to cook, and she asked me for my recipes. So here they are, a few at a time. No exact weights or measures, because, as I said, my cooking is not like that. Just free and easy, tossing in whatever there is, and a few tips on techniques/processes that are necessary for something to taste right. I hope you enjoy.
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