Ooh, a new project!

‘If you could have just one food book this year, make it How To Eat.’ Time Out

I've started a new blog to document my new culinary project - this year I'm going to make all the recipes in How To Eat. 340 recipes in 365 days. Of course, that quote from Time Out was written back in 1998... but I'm sure it will still be fine. Especially seeing as it's Nigel Slater's 'book of the decade'.

Let me explain. For my 21st birthday in April this year, I received Nigella Lawson's first book, How To Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food. I am a huge, huge fan of Nigella, and have been since 2002, when I found Forever Summer at Readings and would spend many an afternoon flicking through its gorgeous pages before I finally took the plunge and bought it. Since then, I gradually added all of her other books (bar How To Eat) to my collection, which I love to pieces and cook from over and over again.

I think the main reason why I hadn't gotten How To Eat earlier was that I wanted to enjoy the other books first, and not be totally innundated by recipes and culinary advice. I also knew that once I got my hands on this book, many hours would be devoted to reading and cooking from its gargantuan 526 pages, and any hope of concentrating on university work (hah!) would be lost. And yes, I do know that exams start in 10 days... but I'm not going to let that bother me at this stage.

This project also is indicative of my rampant desire, nay, compulsion to try everything that this world has to offer.

But... what do I hope to achieve?

Well firstly, there are no pictures of the recipes, despite the fact that it won the British Book Award for Illustrated Book of the Year in 1998. I mean, there are pictures, but they are of random kitchen objects - a tupperware container, a cabbage, a stick of rhubarb, a jar of rice etc. With no photos, descriptions of the food are left to Nigella's considerably literary prowess, much like Macbeth performed without props. I'm curious and excited to see what form these recipes will take once I have cooked them. And of course, I will be posting photos up here for your viewing pleasure.

Hopefully, by forcing myself to cook a wide range of different recipes and foods, including some that I normally wouldn't, I will improve my cooking skills and vastly increase my repertoire.

‘The domestic bible for the millennium generation.’ Spectator

So perhaps, this will completely revolutionize our eating lives and our dramatically change our approach to food, cooking, eating and entertaining.

Or of course, we could just end up eating very well for a year. And how could I say no to that?

On June the 1st it begins... brace yourselves!