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How to give dinner
When writing recipes,
I have had to learn another language.
Indeed, my initial interest in writing
about food was a linguistic one: how
could I use language to convey a
realm that lay so far beyond it? Simile
and metaphor can often evoke the
flavours of a dish, the textures the
cook must aim for, so much more
directly than the most rigorously
precise description. A recipe has to
take root in the reader’s imagination.
This kind of approach is no friend
of minimalism or brevity: every
instruction begs a yet-unanswered
question, and I – perhaps foolishly –
want to pre-empt every possible
query. A short recipe that fits neatly
onto one page of a book may indeedNigella has a loyal abundance of fans, with good
reason: she demystifies cooking and is skilled at
writing recipes that work. Her latest book, Cook,
Eat, Repeat – like its long-ago predecessor, the
iconic How To Eat – is as much about descriptive,
empowering writing as it is about the recipesthemselves. Here is a snapshot of Nigella’s thoughts
on recipe-writing and six dishes extracted
from her new book – good-as-a-hug platefuls of
food for cold November nights and the run-up
to Christmas. These are recipes to cherish, to
enjoy and to cook again and again