Introduction

Despite the widespread cry for belt-tightening, and the apparent demise of home cooked meals, cookery books seem to be propagating like rabbits. Sadly, instead of cute bunnies, we are presented with an overwhelming array of obese volumes that spew forth recipes we’ve seen and tasted a thousand times.

Those of us looking for inspiration don’t want to read about Nigel tossing tasteless cherry tomatoes (exclusively available in the UK) through a dish of pasta (end of recipe) or see Nigella stick her provocative finger into a cake made of pure fat. Where are the books for those who don’t need another lasagne recipe, even if this one is made with radicchio and refried truffle? What about those of us who want a wow factor recipe without having to use dry ice? Well, I think I may have found the answer. My favourite recipe books all come from charity shops. Hidden gems, lost in the mists of time and forgotten by passing fashions. One has to hunt for these but once found they are worth the effort.

This is not to say that delving into ancient cookery books is necessarily always a sure fire thing. Mrs Beeton, cookery’s greatest fraud and the woman that Clarissa Dickson-Wright blames for ruining British cooking (although it’s her husband who should really take the rap), cannot be described as inspiring. Although she might just sneak in as negatively inspiring. The full technicolour image of a baked haddock with pimento olives for eyes and creamed potato piped in a ridge down its back can surely never have been appetising. Even to the eyes of poor, ration starved, post-war housewives. I don’t know why Family Cookery is still on my shelf. I suppose I bought it for the same reason that I bought Delia’s Complete Cookery Course. The shelf looks naked without it but unless I have a complete mind blank, the internet is down and I have a loose toothed Ancient Aunt coming for lunch who hasn’t changed her diet since 1965, then they remain unused.

The cookery books that I like are the kind that are readable from cover to cover. Books that aren’t painful to carry they’re so heavy with recipes that make you want to rush into the kitchen. Not to entertain others or to indulge one’s hunger but for the pure pleasure of mixing ingredients that you had always thought were mortal enemies or to create something too beautiful to eat but delicious when you do. Things that simply make one cry out ‘Wow, I’d never thought of doing that’. Some books have only one such recipe within their covers but if you’ve found it at the bottom of a bargain bin for 50p then rip it out and throw away the rest. I promise you one of these gems next time. For now, get hunting.