Cookbooks

I must admit to a major internet transgression. I’ve totally lifted the basis for this article from someone else. The Internet Food Supremo that is Adam Roberts – The Amauter Gourmet posted his responses to these questions on his website

I’ve wanted to write about my cookbooks for years but didn’t know where to start. I hope you find something of interest below. Cookbooks are a wonderful thing, holder of memories, stories, laughter, love and tears. They tell our story through food. Here are some of my thoughts.

When did you start collecting cookbooks?

If you watched a film of my childhood, a large amount of screen time would be taken up with me pouring over the cookbooks owned by my Nan. My family have always communicated through food. There were meals of welcome, meals of comfort and meals of sorry. There still are. We’re all a bit obsessed with food.

The cooking bug didn’t hit me hard until after I’d moved into my first flatshare. I had a copy of a little Nigel Slater paperback (which I saved from a bonfire) and cooked the Sauages with Lentils. It was almost a religious moment. The quality of the ingredients, the time taken to prepare it was like an orchestra playing in my head. I was hooked. I bought a few more Nigel Slater cookbooks and carried on cooking.

My first cookbook

With the passing of my grandmother and my aunt (equally as epicurious as I) I found myself with some hallowed books I’d treasured for years. Then I just kept buying…Cookbooks are like storybooks, they put us in a particular time and place and with particular people.

I love quirky ones. I’ve got cookbooks purely for Jelly, Mince or Scones. About 500 in total, and I love them all.

What lesser-known cookbooks do you think deserve more love?


There is a bit too much reliance on the TV Chefs and cooks. The prevalence of ‘lifestyle porn’ photography is a real turn off. Turn to one of Nigella’s first books – “How to Eat” – No pictures and absolutely wonderful writing.
The traditional (dare I say old-fashioned) food writers tend to produce much better books (notable exception being Val Warner for his sheer genuine love of food.). “The Vicar’s Wife Cook Book” by Eliza Benyon is a real underrated gem, the result of winning a  competition for Waitrose. The writing is so warm, it leaps off the page. The books of Alice Hart. Tamasin Day-Lewis, Xanthe Clay, Diana Henry are also all recommended.

 

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What cookbook would you recommend for beginner cooks?


For baking there is one choice – Mary Berry’s Ultimate Cake Book. It’s All-in-one-methods all the way. No mucking about.

The first general-use cookbook I found really useful was Tom Norrington-Davies’ Cupboard Love – a great book for twenty-something folks living away from home for the first time. Gives you a great repertoire of simple dishes to cook.

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What cookbook do you turn to for inspiration?


I love the food of the Eastern Med/Middle East, so Yotam Ottolenghi is a big favourite of mine. Also Arto Der Haroutunian, and Sally Butcher have produced some brilliant books in this area.

I also tend to gravitate towards the calendar-year based books, such as Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries or Elizabeth Luard’s Year in a Welsh Farmhouse”. But normally I’m looking through for recipes to match what I’ve got in the fridge and cupboards. For veg it’s Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Bible or The Riverford Farm Cook Book.

What cookbook really taught you something new?


I’ve yet to find a cookbook that hasn’t taught me at least one thing I had not known. Having such a collection now, I tend to stay away from general cookbooks now. You can only have so many recipes of something like Key Lime Pie.

What's your favourite cookbook overall?


It’s like asking to choose between children! Erm, probably my Nan’s 1960s slightly battered copy of Mrs Beeton’s All Colour Cookery Book as I’ve grown up with it in all its lurid flare. If the house caught fire as a result of some disastrous culinary experiment, that’s the one I’d save.

I’d be loathe to leave Delia Smith’s Christmas as well.

What newer cookbooks impressed you recently?


I’ve been really impressed by the cookbooks that have been released by former contestants of the Great British Bake Off. John Whaite Bakes is a great book, cooking by mood, something I think we all do. I also love the fact he wanted to call it The Moody Baker, he’s such a sweetie. 

But the ultimate has to be Mary-Anne Boermans’ Great British Bakes. The scholarly, accessible text had me literally running to the kitchen. Combining my love of history and baking, it reads and cooks like a dream. You can tell this is a proper cook’s book. She even lists the pans she has used. I love that. She’s great on twitter (@Wotchers) as well. Every cook should have this book.

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What older cookbooks do you love?


I’m partial to the cooking of Britain in the years between the two World Wars. The pre-Elizabeth David food of this country in that time was interesting, frugal and not completely obliterated by the fads of the continent. Wonderful pies and jellys, tarts and joints. The books of Mrs Hilda C.F. Leyel are the best examples of this – “Picnics for Motorists” and “Cold Savoury Meals”. I love the fact that the first line in a pie recipe is “Make a Pastry” – That’s it and it moves onto the filling. Everyone at that time knew how to!

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I hope you’ve found this at least a little bit interesting. I hope you feel an urge to pick up a cookbook and allow it to transport you to another place, a table laden with tasty treats. I’ll be there pouring the gin and tonics

A Family Affair

Family is a wonderful thing. No matter how strong the winds of life toss you about, they provide a safe haven and a reassurance that things are going to be okay.

As we get older, we find that families come in all sorts of guises. Of course, there are our biological families.  A sure sign of growing up is the point where we stop wishing that we found out we were adopted and come to accept the quirks and foibles that make up our own families. Allied with this is the family one gains when in a relationship. It’s a lovely thing to have a whole ‘new’ group of people to develop relationships with. To find out their hope, dreams and fears.

Historically, LGBT folk will often count their gay family as a separate entity in itself. This was often borne of a need/desire to stick together in the face of community or family-imposed isolation. I don’t see my own gay family nearly as much as I’d like. When I returned from Ghana in 2004, they were the ones that stopped me from going totally insane and I own them much.

Of course, mention must be made of our sports family .Participation in sports, especially team sports such as rowing, will mean that you spend an inordinate amount of time with your fellow teammates. The trial and tribulations of life will be spayed out for all to see and you juggle intense training, work, and home life – never an easy task. Your team mates will no doubt see you at your best and possibly worst in the course of time. There are often very few secrets that kept from those around you. 

The reason for this post is I’ve had a bit of a shock family-wise. The Hawkins family has dwindled somewhat in recent years. At my mother’s wedding a few years ago, a comment was made that I was the last Hawkins. I must admit it left me feeling a bit glum. Well, through the magic of Facebook, I’ve found myself connected with members of my wider family of cousins-through-grandparents and other relations. Last week we (Steve, myself, my mum and her husband) found ourselves just north of London at a family party. I’d been incredibly nervous about going and had been thinking about it for weeks. Most of the people there I hadn’t seen for over 20 years when I was a child.

It was one of the most wonderful evenings of my life. From the moment I arrived (slightly trembling) I just felt engulfed in a sense of belonging. Even if you’ve never met me in real life, I’m sure you’ve picked up in this blog that I’ve always considered myself a bit of an outsider. Well imagine what it’s like for an outsider to walk into a room of friendly faces, all saying “you’re one of us”. It was a pleasure to talk to everyone. I was able to share old family photos from my phone and Picasa. I was able to talk about relatives and everyone knew who I meant. I found out lots of information about my direct relatives I never knew.

I also got to meet a relative, Mick, who I’d heard so much about over the years but had never met. It was as magical as I thought it would be. I could talk to him for hours, days even and I hope we get to meet again soon. But the same is true of everyone there. We felt a bit isolated from the family up in Liverpool, but I hope we can now take the steps to stay connected with everyone.

So in the space of a few hours, I went from having a biological family that was tiny to one that is massive. We may not have the same surnames, but we’re all Hawkins. I’m so proud of that, I’ve walked a little taller since last Saturday.

Family is important, whatever form it takes. Look after yours.