Cookery writers would appear to breed faster than the proverbial rabbit. It would seem that there are more people giving cookery hints than actually sitting down at a table to eat. We live in a world full of experts, but sadly many are rather more expert at projecting themselves than they are in their chosen field.
It gives me special pleasure, therefore, to have the opportunity of shedding a little light on a very charming (not to mention attractive) someone who really does have something to offer.
Under the guise of Guidwife, Angela has been providing monthly recipes for Sporting Gun’s ‘Sportsman’s Kitchen’ for nearly four years. In view of her continuing originality it is hardly surprising that she has built a keen following in shooting circles.
What is surprising is that Angela has had no formal training. Her inspiration has been an interest in cookery, combined with a good supply of game from the three hungry males who share her house. Their excellent condition offers the perfect advertisement for Angela’s kitchen skills — the young boys are growing upward at a rate of knots, while hubbie John (a well-known sporting writer) fights a running battle against growth in a different direction.
We’ll blame the latter dilemma on the ballast, for Angela has a keen and genuine interest in health and fitness, a fact reflected by her recipes. She quite rightly points out that game, fowl and fish offer some of the healthiest meats you could wish for.
You will find her dishes imaginative, inexpensive and with enough variety to suit all occasions. Moreover, they have all been given the ultimate seal of approval by the traditional method — her own dining table.
Rather than being another book from a well-known cook or actress simply lending her name to yet another assortment of casseroles and coq variations, this is the real thing. And for that there’s no substitute.
MIKE BARNES
FORMER EDITOR, Sporting Gun
Note: Sadly John died in 2012. The young boys are now grown men who follow their father’s love of fieldsports and the countryside, and have become competent cooks.