A Collection

 

 

I have a book on my bookshelf, one of many now, which has been with me for decades.

A book which has moved house with me over the years; packed into a box, along with other volumes, to re-emerge into its new position, on a new shelf, in a new home. Firstly in halls of residence at university, then in a rented flat when I started my first job. Next, after I was married, it found a spot on a shelf in our first home. For a while, it was relegated to a box in the attic when space was at a premium, but for the last 15 years, it has been on the bottom shelf of a wall of bookshelves in our little snug.

The book in question is Good Housekeeping's New Basic Cookery.

A certificate glued inside the cover states it was awarded to a young girl in her second year of secondary school as Eaton House prize.

The young girl was me; the prize was for all round achievement for the previous year.

I was asked what sort of book I would like as my prize and I requested a cookery book.

To be honest, it's a book I haven't looked at for a long time; first published in 1966, the black and white photos are curiously dated, but it marks the beginning of a collection; a lifelong love of cookery books.

Since that prize giving day, my collection has slowly grown until now it numbers well over a hundred.

In my early twenties, Delia (Smith) was my go-to guru. I still have my copies of her Cookery Course, well thumbed and with little pencilled notes in the margins. I made my own wedding cake following her recipe for rich fruit cake and I still look to her when checking for basic methods and quantities.

Later, I discovered Nigel Slater and fell in love with his beautiful, evocative writing; his talent for making the simple into something special. I have every one of his books; my most prized being a signed first edition copy of A Cook's Book. ( Thank you big sister for a wonderful Christmas present that year)

Then there was Jamie Oliver with his cheery bish, bash, bosh approach to family meals. Diana Henry, with her innovative twists on classic dishes and, as I became more interested in vegetables and a vegetarian diet, Anna Jones for her exciting approach to using plant based ingredients.

My most recent additions to my collection are two books from River Cottage chef Gill Mellor, chosen not just for the recipes, but for the compelling photos. 

My books often find their way onto my bedside table, to be read last thing at night. I read them as many would read a novel, studying the recipes and enthralled by the visual storytelling of the images; the visual aesthetic, such a passion and important aspect for me.

I look back through my collection now, and see my life mapped out in cookery books.

Where will my love of cookery books lead me next, I wonder!