In a book by one of my favourite crime writers, a secondary character tells the main character — a crime writer — that some of her fans are unhappy with her. Why, the writer asks, is the plots or the characterisation? No, it’s because you mention food a lot in your books but never give the recipes, the secondary character says. Continue reading Writers, Give Me Your Recipes
Category: Kitchen
My Favourite Stereotype
Breathe, this is not going to be about human self-identification and related stereotypes. It will be about… food. Yes, food. Well, mostly. If there is a thing I dislike almost as much as double standards, it’s food stereotypes. Also those in art and everything else. Let me put this way: if you tell me to like/dislike something because everybody likes/dislikes it, I won’t like you. Continue reading My Favourite Stereotype
The Accidental Cake
I woke up with an itch to make a coconut cake on December 27 or 28. With everything overflowing with food because of the holidays I decided to postpone the cake, not least because I’d probably be the only one eating it. I have the mixed fortune of living with people for whom “Cake I like” rhymes with “Chocolate” and while they would pay their respects to my coconut creation that would be as far as they’d go. Continue reading The Accidental Cake
Full Baking Mode
It’s already December so I can speak freely. The holidays are coming, the holidays are coming and I’m going to bake the hell out of every product I get my hands on! Yay! Holidays! That’s the gist of how I feel about December. The whole month. Continue reading Full Baking Mode
The Man Who Once Made Soup
…or why there are things we simply are not cut out for and it’s smart to stay away from them and focus on what we do well. Continue reading The Man Who Once Made Soup
Bread and Fiction
I’ve always enjoyed baking. I’ve had some epic fails, the most notable being an inadvertent attempt at creating dwarf bread (nobody broke a tooth, thankfully) and my only try at croissants when I somehow misread “freezer” as “fridge”. The result was horrible to look at but quite tasty. Then last year I got determined to make rye bread. Danish rye bread. Rugbrød. The most delicious bread ever. As delicious as an 800-page insert-your-favourite-genre novel. Continue reading Bread and Fiction
The Best Time of the Year
Holiday season is upon us and I tell you, I couldn’t be happier. This is my absolute favourite time of the year and it’s not because of the presents. It’s not even because of the days off work, although these are certainly very welcome, all three of them. It’s about everything. Here’s what I mean. Continue reading The Best Time of the Year
A recipe for good food
by Irina Slav
No, this is not insightful advice along the lines of “Use only fresh vegetables/fish/meat/whatever”. Just a few tips that I’ve found to be universal and whenever I’ve compromised one or more of them I’ve suffered unpleasant consequences such as a hurt ego and food that I have had to throw out — something totally inadmissible. Continue reading A recipe for good food
