Western Morning News (Saturday)
Why recipe books are still holding their own against the internet...
Martin Hesp still loves leafing through a beautifully illustrated, well thought out book
We live in a strange topsy-turvy world, and it seems the way we approach the subject of food is no exception. Here’s an example... Nowadays more cookery books are published than ever before, partly because more people are interested in preparing healthy, delicious and interesting meals at home. And yet vast numbers of keen home-cooks say they’ll never buy a cookbook because they can get all the ideas and recipes they need for free online.
More than 5,000 cookery titles are released on the UK market each year but, if you look at the latest figures available from the book-trade (for 2020), only one-in-ten of those cookbooks sold more than 100 copies – fewer than 50 sold more than 5,000.
Two young members of my immediate family fit the model. They are both keen home-cooks – they love trying out new things and experimenting with food – but when I suggest they borrow a tome from my library of cookbooks, they always demure, saying: “Don’t worry, we’ll just look it up online.”
However, this week I caught one of them photographing a recipe from a new cookbook on his mobile phone. “This is brilliant,” he said. “I really like the way this guy makes recipes so simple, and also the precise way he cooks just for two people.”
He was talking about Two’s Company: Simple – the latest cookbook from Devon-based Orlando
Murrin, to be published on 13th September by Ryland Peters & Small at £20 – subtitled: Fast and fresh recipes for couples, friends and roommates.
We featured Orlando’s original Two’s Company cookbook a year ago – now the one-time Master Chef semi-finalist, who used to edit the BBC Good Food magazine, has produced a sequel. This rapid turn-around means the president of the Guild of Food Writers really does know his food-writing onions – he obviously avoids being one of those 500 cookbook authors who only sell 100 copies.
I have been sitting in the summer shade reading every one of the 75 recipes in this new book and here’s what I think... They are absolutely spot-on for a person like me who prepares a meal for himself and his partner seven days a week, but who is often too busy to really pull the stops out.
As was the case for the first Two’s Company, our Exeter-based food-hero not only delivers some delightfully original recipes, he also takes the trouble to set out the different ‘rules’ the keen home-chef should consider when cooking for two, suggesting ways to shop sensibly to minimise waste, while sharing ingenious tips for shortcuts and techniques, gleaned from working with professional chefs and food stylists throughout his career in food.
Reading the book is a bit like watching Jamie Oliver’s new TV series One Pan Wonders on Channel 4 this week – it is stuffed full of useful tips and hacks that can make a home-cook’s life much easier, while also helping the food to be so much more delicious. The only difference between a book and a TV series (and of course Jamie will be bringing out a book based on his new programme) is that you can take it down off the shelf and refer to it again and again.
I appreciate a lot of cookbooks are really more about mood and inspiration than they are about actual instruction. I have many recipe books which I’ve read once and never really picked up again, but Orlando’s books are not like that. They really are filled with the kind of recipes you will use time and again for weekday lunches or suppers. So while some people may balk at £20 for a cookbook, it actually works out at just 26 pence per recipe – and a lot, lot less than that if you’re making those dishes multiple times.
Orlando says: “There are times when it’s fun to embark on a complicated cookery project, but what I’m usually looking for is inspiration for tonight’s dinner. I need dishes that are ready in under an hour, or come together quickly and can be left to do their own thing in the oven. In an age when recipes seem to be getting more and more complicated – even reading some of the titles makes me feel exhausted. I want good, honest ingredients to be allowed to speak for themselves, and look great on the plate naturally, without embellishment or disguise.”
In the book he adds numerous wide-ranging tips and tricks to the 75 basic recipes. “Some may surprise you,” he says.
“But what exactly do I mean by ‘simple’? It is not about cheating – almost all the recipes are ‘scratch cooking’, where you start off with raw ingredients and end up with a home-cooked
meal. But wherever I can, I’ve pruned out non-essentials and streamlined methods. I’m all for timesaving shortcuts and freezer standbys, but with a few exceptions I’ve avoided pre-prepared sauces and convenience foods.” No wonder my young family member was snapping a couple of the recipes on his iPhone.
Two’s Company: Simple by Orlando Murrin will be published on 13th September by Ryland Peters & Small, £20; with photography by Clare Winfield.