Nose to Tail Eating: A Kind of British Cooking

"I have chosen Fergus Henderson’s Nose to Tail Eating . I have a treasured first edition of it from 1999. I can’t remember why, but they must have sent it to me at the time and it became the most sought-after cookbook. And then it went out of print and couldn’t be got because there were only a few thousand to start off with. Eventually it was reprinted with grand fanfare and I discovered I had the original one. No. First of all, it is a beautiful thing. It is not self-aggrandising. I hate French and Italian food writing, because they are envious, invaded and defeated countries and intellectually bankrupt since the 19th century, so they pour all their energy into this bogus idea of intellectualised cooking. Many English cooks have the confidence to not be like that, and Fergus is the best example of it. It is a black-and-white book which has some colour plates in it, with just the simplest things in the world. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter The problem with cookery writing is that the decision to go to catering college comes just after you fail O-level English for the 14th time. Then you get someone who has got a bit of education, like Fergus. His recipes are revelationary because, as the title Nose to Tail Eating suggests, it is all about using the whole pig. People like Gary Rhodes are endlessly wordy but Fergus keeps it simple, with dishes called things like Boiled Ox Tongue or Rolled Pig Spleen. There are no poncy names. He has two phrases that linger most in that book for me. When he talks about chopping parsley he says, “Chop it not too fine, but just enough to discipline it”. And I think chopping parsley to give it discipline is a brilliant concept which simply wouldn’t happen in the brain of someone like Gordon Ramsay. The other time is when he is talking about boiled ham and parsley sauce and he says, “Don’t dress the ham on the plate but put the sauce in a jug on the table and allow your guests to express themselves”. Yes, I love the idea of expression through parsley sauce. That is where food and writing come together in a bit of poetry. If I have got time I like to do it. It is like reading or shagging – if you have time to do it properly, then it is great and you don’t have to focus on anything else. I am not massively crazy about catering for 12 people who are going to come round and say, “Ooh, what is the fancy restaurant critic going to feed us?” I love cooking for myself – getting crap out of the fridge and making something. I love cooking for my wife. We take it in turns."