How many?
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Notwithstanding the Brits’ natural reticence to crow about their abilities, more than one third claim to be very good or excellent cooks. Maybe they’re reached that conclusion because they’ve been told they’re superlative. However, one in four UK adults do not know how to boil an egg and today I read that a well-known politician in his sixties confessed that he had only cooked one meal in his life. That’s not one meal repeated on different occasions but just a single meal, once.
Obesity is a first world problem but don’t worry – there’s a pill to cure it! Apparently, demand for the pill is making supply difficult for those who really need it, those with diabetes. The so-called weight loss pill has some common, quite unpleasant side effects and a few more serious, like gallstones. I expect there are pills to counter those, though.
Christmas is coming and with it a glut of cookery books, so if your culinary library is looking a little thin, you can supplement it with books written by professional chefs or actors and recommended and endorsed by ‘celebrities’. Then you, too, can be a part of the exclusive 7%, which I suppose will expand to become a slightly less exclusive 10% or 15%.
We own more than eight cookery books but less than twenty. They are mostly unused now. The tablet is propped up on the kitchen bench while an online recipe is consulted.
ReplyDeleteThat's how we do it, too, most of the time.
DeleteAndrew has a point. My shelf of recipe books dates back to my 'professional' cooking days. I still consult for ideas because with internet you kind of have to know what you are looking for. Most of mine are translations of cuisine from othe cultures. All too sadly you are right about the 'take a pill for that' culture. Many need to take responsibility for their lifestyle choices. I see this week that Miriam Margolyes spoke about her 'greed and laziness' putting her in a wheelchair because she never addressed her weight problem.
ReplyDeleteThere is a chasm between the 'worried well' and the irresponsible - each takes up a disproprotionate amount of the professionals' time, while the moderate rest queue for appointments, and so on, but only when they really, really need them.
DeleteA few years after 2008 when l was given my first and
ReplyDeletevery old PC..I started giving my cookery books to charity
shops, l've got about half dozen left now...and l just as
well shift them off as well..the reason...all the recipes,
cooks etc are all on line, and on uTube if need be....!
So..who needs books, l never read the recipes anyway,
just looked at the pics, see what the food was supposed
to turned out like...!
After all..l consider myself a social cook..in fact l'm
a dam good cook..HeHe!
If me Mama, who was a cook, had me when she was
21 and not 31, things and careers would have been a
lot different...! But! There it is...!
And as far as survey's are concerned, l don't take a
blind bit of notice of any of them...none of them...
All they ever do is...'think of a number, double it, multiply
by a hundred, half it, remember the number you first
thought off'.....etc..etc..
HeHe! I have a trilogy in my life....
"Love Cats..Love Food..Love Pink" "Nuff Said"...! :O).
😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾
All cooking is a series of variations on a theme . . .
DeleteWhen spouse and got married, we were going to live overseas a week after the wedding. Thus we could only carry a limited number of wedding presents on the plane. I asked friends in advance for books - flat, well printed and full of wonderful stuff. Cookery books were the most popular and useful.
ReplyDeleteOops Hels
ReplyDeleteWhat better way to have fond memories of your friends.
ReplyDeleteYou raised a matter which has been very close to my heart over the last 30 years. As a result my comment could be as long as your post but I'd not be that rude so I shall do a post on my blog referring to this one.
ReplyDeleteI await your post with interest, Graham.
DeleteI didn't know that book had such nice illustrations. Next time |I see a copy at a boot sale I might buy and cut it up for my scrapbook -as long as it's not more than 50p!
ReplyDeleteWith your ability to find a bargain I'm sure you will be lucky.
ReplyDeleteHi Janice - I still have loads despite giving lots to charity before I went off to Canada for that year ... my favourite is still my 'The South African Culinary Tradition' (the origin of SA's culinary arts during the 17th and 18th centuries - with over 160 authentic recipes from this period) historical photos too ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really interesting, Hilary - a great book to dip into as well as refer to.
DeleteCookbooks! I do like to read them more than I ever make anything from them. Not sure how many I have but it's more than seven!
ReplyDeletePerusing them is far more fun than following the recipes;-)
DeleteI'm like Kay G. - I love reading cookbooks! I have only a few meals I need a recipe for; the rest are in my head. But I still have more than seven cookbooks, and that's after giving away many. I find the healthiest meals are the plain ones - meat, potatoes, veg. The kind of meals I ate every day growing up. So many recipes have large amounts of fat, sugar and salt. But a person needs variety now and then and that's where the recipes can help.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Jenny. KISS is always a good rule to follow:-)
DeleteMost of my recipe books were bought for the amazing pictures, although I have tried the occasional recipe from them. I am no longer adventurous though as ingredients can bust the budget and if I don't like the taste of what I made, what then? It's wasted food. So now I stick with what I know I like.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. I'm not at all an adventurous cook, unlike my husband and children. I don't mind letting them try new things;-)
ReplyDelete