Why we can’t let TikTok food trends kill off the cookbook
The IndependentThe first cookery book I ever bought, in my teens, was the Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, featuring pies, pasta and puddings rendered in 80s Technicolor, alongside simple recipes. In adulthood, I moved on to Nigel Slater, Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay for my early-Noughties dinner parties – though I couldn’t be doing with Jamie Oliver and his “bish-bash-bosh”, “pukka” this and “jubbly” that. Of course, “cooking from scratch” is always to be applauded, and TikTok’s tsunami of ideas includes plenty which are healthy, if uninspired. Mitchell Beazley, £26 Mary’s Foolproof Dinners, Mary Berry open image in gallery Mary’s Foolproof Dinners, Mary Berry Every Mary recipe is genuinely foolproof, and if you follow her instructions, you cannot fail.BBC Books, £28 Rick Stein’s Simple Suppers, Rick Stein open image in gallery Rick Stein’s Simple Suppers, Rick Stein Each recipe is inspiring, quick and an absolute banger. BBC Books, £28 The Roasting Tin, Rukmini Iyer open image in gallery The Roasting Tin, Rukmini Iyer The whole “roasting tin” series is superb – put everything in a tin and stick in the oven for perfect flavours every time.