When I started my blog back in May 2010, absolutely nothing and no one could have convinced me that I would end up here, with not one but two cookbooks. I suppose that, all being well, that is the natural order of things. But when you are up to your eyeballs in recipe writing, testing, eating (!) and editing (until you can’t bring yourself to look at the same font anymore), you hardly have time to look up and look ahead somehow. But boy am I glad that I did.
And then there was the mini-dilemma of thinking that I had poured my whole heart and soul into bitten. How was I going to find the inspiration for more? I was, albeit for a brief moment, terrified that perhaps there was nothing left, that I had scraped the proverbial barrel of my gastronomical imagination.
Fortuitously for all of us, the world is quite literally our oyster, spilling over with an unimaginable abundance of new ideas, ingredients, combinations, seasons and flavours. It didn’t take long before I was firmly settled into the now-familiar and very agreeable stage of writing down ideas at midnight, and planning and thinking and writing and cooking.
And the result? A book that is a smidgen more grown-up and, perhaps, sophisticated than its predecessor, but still for the most part endearingly uncomplicated and unintimidating. It’s a kitchen helper packed full of all the delicious, simple, honest and sincere recipes that I love to cook for family and friends; the food that accompanies us as we meander through our colourful lives.
As with bitten, this book is for feeding people you love, within the constraints of your busy lives, and with the heart-felt belief that every meal has the potential for greatness. And yet smitten also unapologetically goes one or two steps further, into simple ‘artisanal’ recipes like homemade ricotta and avocado mayonnaise, old-fashioned but utterly up-to-date and delicious lime curd, and exquisite bacon marmalade, which will all ask you to spend just a little more time coercing them to greatness. And I love that, because those quiet moments at the stove are moments well spent.
And so, now I’m handing this over to you, with the hope that it will be a companion of convenience, fat with possibilities for creating beautiful food for sharing around full and happy tables.