Rachel Allen's latest book, Home Cooking, is a how-to guide to becoming the sort of ideal mum that she embodies: practical, resourceful, dependable, but also a dab hand with a whisk.
Ask anyone what their favourite dish is and, eight times out of 10, their reply will begin something like: “Well, my mum used to make this lovely…” The supremacy of mums in our culinary memories is a testament to their reliability as much as their kitchen flair – their recipes are our favourites because they remind us of home. Still, it helps if your mum was a good cook, too.
In this respect, Rachel Allen’s children don’t have much to worry about. She trained at the prestigious Ballymaloe Cookery School from the age of 18, then returned to teach there on her way to becoming one of Ireland’s best-loved chefs.
The almost 350 pages of family-orientated food range from homespun Irish classics such as Molly Malone’s cockle and mussel chowder to kids’ favourites like meatballs and spaghetti. Rachel’s history as a teacher shows in her clear, concise instructions on how to dress a crab, bake, roast meats and make gravy. Anyone who doesn’t know how to cook rice or how much oil to put in French dressing can look it up here.
The great thing about this book is that it includes plenty of recipes for meals that many people would be embarrassed to ask for help with: porridge, boiled eggs with soldiers, steak and chips and Sunday roast. These are the meals that good home cooks make effortlessly, as if they’ve been guided by a handful of special books. Which, in fact, they probably have; Home Cooking is one of them.
Published by Collins, priced £25.
Buy this book at Waterstone's for £20