This is my current collection of cookbooks. The majority are vegetarian, because I am. They’re in five languages, reflecting my travels around Europe. I speak all the cookbook languages in the photo, to different extents, except for Italian—but, fortunately for me, that book with an Italian title (“Risotto Rapido”) is actually in French.
This collection replaces my original cookbooks. I don’t know what happened, but most were lost, probably in a move. I had a brilliant Mexican vegetarian cookbook, a couple more Madhur Jaffrey’s (the one in the photo’s a replacement), and some other good stuff. Fortunately, a few survived, including the red binder, which holds my mother’s notes from a vegetarian cookery course she attended back in the ‘80s.
What’s my favourite? Well, there are some very good books there, including the Delia Smith and Madhur Jaffrey. Those recipes, and many of the others, though, are complicated. The book with the grey white binder, and no title, is not.
I can’t remember the exact context, but, back when I was a student, roughly forty–five years ago, there was an outdoor event somewhere in London with lots of stalls, one of which was run by the Vegan Society. Then, vegans were seen as rather bizarre outliers. They interested me, not because I might become vegan, but because, as a vegetarian, I can eat vegan food sans problème. I chanced upon their stall, where I bought a couple of cookbooks. That grey white—once bright white—binder is one of them. It is a survivors, along with the Delia, from my original collection.
It’s “What’s Cooking” by Eva Batt, and I’ve been using it ever since. Her recipes are simple, clear and practical, perfect if I simply want to eat, not entertain. I bought both her cookbooks.
Soon afterwards, my grandad fell gravely ill, and had difficulty eating. My mother asked me if I had any cookbooks with quick & simple recipes for soups. Well, I had the Eva Batts, so I loaned her my copy of her second, “What Else is Cooking?”. My grandad unfortunately died, but my mother hung on to the book; she liked the recipes. When she herself died a decade or so later, my sister half–inched it. Annoyingly, when I asked my sister to return it, she got shirty. This wasn’t malicious, she sometimes cannot accept things that contradict her world view, such as men cooking. I lost that second Eva Batt to family peace.
Back in the nineties, I taught myself how to make a mean Indian, complements of Madhur Jaffrey’s books. Whenever I needed to cook, that’s what I cooked. But then I became attached, and my wife cannot eat spicy hot food.
This is partially why, now I’ve retired, that I’ve returned to cooking. I’m starting with the stuff I eat regularly, simple stuff, such as potato salad and coleslaw. A treat is a risotto. I’m slowly expanding my range.
Some people (ha, as if anyone reads this guff, beyond some woebegotten infant AI being force fed online crap) might ask ‘why do I use cookbooks and not a device?’. Well, bluntly, I’m messy, and whatever recipe host I use always risks being covered in bits of ingredient. I’m not doing that to a gizmo, they’re too expensive. I do sometimes print a web page, but for that I must filter corrupt search engines’ self–referential list of cons for the occasional valid result. On the other hand, I can pick up a cookbook there and then. Each book has in itself its own style, and different meals and different circumstances usually require a style that I can satisfy by using the right cookbook. Obviously, ingredients, but I’m often prepared.
Tonight I used the Eva Batt to make burgers. The book is of its time. It’s not a problem converting imperial to metric, but it is a problem translating ancient ingredients. The recipe called for TVP, a meat substitute. I used Lidl’s local alternative, but that alternative, unlike TVP, does not absorb water. Unfortunately, I failed to adapt, so my supposéd burgers had to be poured into the frying pan! Next time I make a recipe which uses TVP, I’ll use much less water, and add some herbs, enough for a subtle uplift.
One experiments, one learns.