Ok, so truth be told, I’m a cook-book freak. Albeit a cheap-a*s one. Bargain basement books? I’m there. Chefs gone past their best-before date? I’m there. TK Maxx clearance on top of clearance sale? I’m there. Very occasionally this goes wrong however. Horribly wrong.
‘Waste Not Want Not’ is one of those aberrations of the industry. The premise is wonderful, it reads “you call it leftovers – we call it ingredients”. Cripes, more like you call it cr*p, I wholly agree.
I’m not sure if this isn’t a gender-related thing. My Dad, for example, I have found eating, quite happily, a lovely brown bread sandwich containing marmalade and tinned salmon. Yum, eh? My brother, being a student, is even worse – raw eggs get added to everything, for example, and entire tins of tuna are cracked open at the gym. So I think the fact that it’s written by two – men, presumably, open to correction as always – called ‘Patrik’ and ‘Gunter’ may have had something to do with the rather odd and curiously hunger-numbing recipes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no cook, I’m not remotely qualified to cast aspersions on anybody’s recipes, especially as mine are so desperately and amusingly amateur, so I will leave to you, my lovely (if I’m lucky) two readers. So, what do you make of the following? Sound nyummy? Let me know what you think!
“Fish fingers au gratin” – yes, just like it sounds, gratinated cheap batter n’all.
“Home-made after-dinner mints”. Do you fancy chewing on a leaf encased in chocolate? Nah, me neither.
“Made for diets” Consists of garlic + cucumber. That’s it. As far as I know, the authors are not living in a gulag.
“Cornflakes in a frying pan” Somebody somewhere got paid for this book.
“Choco pasta”. Sweet Devine Jesus. Not on my worst enemy.
My humble verdict? Try to cook within your limits – don’t leave leftovers, and if you do, choose your imagination over seriously dodgy recipes!