Come for dinner…

Cooking for friends can be nerve-racking, but with simple recipes and tips from Rose Prince’s new book, you can make it stress-free – and enjoyable. Photographs by Matt Russell

‘COME OVER.’ The simplest of all ways to issue an invitation. Yet these two small words mean all of the following: meet, eat, drink, share, celebrate and enjoy. It is an act of friendship and a unique human quality. No other being shares food outside the family to the extent that we do, yet it is neither universal, nor does it come naturally to everyone. Even in a small way, cooking for friends is learnt.

My ne w b o ok , Dinner & Party:

Gatherings. Suppers. Feasts, contains practical recipes, ideal for entertaining. No matter what your cooking ability, you will be able to put together a menu that is right for the occasion, your

Buy the best ingredients because shopping is 50 per cent of being a good cook

friends, the season and your budget. Good hosts are often complimented for having made a meal look effortless, which to me means that the effort is hidden and consequently the gathering is enjoyably relaxed. Simple, clever ways of making the food look good, the right balance of flavours, sensible planning – these easy-to-adopt values underpin my approach. The litmus test for success is that a party-giver should enjoy their evening as much as their guests.

Some people grow up in homes where the door is always open to friends, and they then take this custom into their adult lives. For others, issuing that first invitation is momentous, a breakthrough into a pleasureable world, but one that is not without challenges. Because in the simple, human act of inviting others into your house, you are revealing perhaps more about yourself than you might be at ease with: the inside of the sanctuary that is your home; your personal tastes in food and its presentation; your knowledge of what to drink with what food and also – most dauntingly – your cooking abilities.

It should not be so scary. Socialising is about more than the prowess of the cook, and yet we do seem to be living in an era of heightened analysis of food. When social media entitles everyone to assume the role of expert and critic, who dares to be an amateur? In this atmosphere the concept of simplicity is most at threat.

Home cooks need to step back, be reminded that in the real world cooking for others is all about lightness of touch. Buy the best ingredients because it makes all the difference to flavour – shopping is 50 per cent of being a good cook – and always choose recipes you know are within your abilities and time s che dule. Ess entially, simplicity i s immune to reproach.

Dinner & Party: Gatherings. Suppers. Feasts, by Rose Prince, is published by Orion (£25). To order your copy for £20 with free p&p call 0844-871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk

Main image, clockwise from top right Fennel and apple carpaccio; white fish and avocado carpaccio; beef carpaccio