Photo by Matt Russell
Please forgive me the unseemliness of quoting my own words, the ones emblazoned on the cover of Bee Wilson’s first recipe book, The Secret of Cooking, but I couldn’t feel the truth of them more strongly, namely that there’s not a kitchen that should be without a copy. And I’m not saying this to be nice to her but to you! It’s a book I know you’ll be consulting, cooking from, and reading for years to come. I certainly will. It’s a gentle powerhouse of a book that, subtitled “Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen” might seem, at first glance, to be aimed at those who are reluctant, nervous or inexperienced cooks, and it’s certainly true that those of you who fit that description will find guidance and succour in its pages, but I think that holds true for all of us.
Wilson is a distinguished foodwriter whose earlier titles (which include First Bite, Consider the Fork, and How We Eat Now) along with her journalism here and in the States, bear witness to what I consider her particular genius for matching intellectual rigour with emotional openness — on top of which she writes like a dream. Hers is always an engaging voice, but The Secret of Cooking is a more intimate articulation, at once confiding, comforting, curious and celebratory. I called this Wilson’s first recipe book, but it is really a deeply thoughtful and elegantly conversational enquiry into the very nature of cooking, out of which the recipes seem to flow organically, the one leading on to another, giving you the time and the structure to develop your own sense, your own repertoire, and a way of being in the kitchen that actually suits you.
“Before you can start cooking tonight’s dinner,” Wilson writes, "you need to say ‘No’ to all the other equally lovely things you might be eating at this moment instead. If you are naturally indecisive — as I am — all the hypothetical meals that crowd in your head can get in the way of your actual cooking. This might not sound like a big problem but if it gets repeated every day, this feeling of confusion about what to eat can tie you in knots and give you a sense of mild dissatisfaction with whatever you finally cook.” I dare say not all of us feels like that, but I have to say these words resonated strongly with me! And, indeed, there are so many lovely things to eat in this book. I find it hard to select highlights from the wide-ranging recipes, as they all hang so well together, but let me give you a short list to give some indication not merely of the food but of the style. I particularly love the Mellow Soup For Frayed Nerves; Roasted Vegetables Every Which Way (which begins “I wish that all things in life were as forgiving as a tray of roast vegetables”); Slow-Start Roast Chicken; Green Salad with Drinkable Vinaigrette; Heavenly Overnight Waffles; Bread Salad with Courgettes and Grapes; the revelatory Amulet Eggs with Dijon Mustard; Green Curry with Crispy Fish and Peas; Silky Black Bean Ragù; Sicilian Pork Meatballs; Homemade Frozen Pizza with Buttermilk Dough; and Vegan Pear, Lemon and Ginger Cake. The recipe I’m joyfully sharing with you today, however, is the ravishingly beautiful (and gluten-free) Raspberry Ripple Hazelnut Meringue. I just couldn’t resist it but, as I told you at the very beginning of this little review, I really feel you need this book in your own hands, your own home, so that you can take from it what you need. What a rare gift of a book this is — I’m so very grateful to Bee Wilson for having written it.
THE SECRET OF COOKING: Recipes For An Easier Life In The Kitchen by Bee Wilson published by 4th Estate 31st August.
Photography by Matt Russell.
