October is probably my favourite part of Christmas - so far I've made mincemeat, Christmas puddings, quince jelly, pickled quinces, Christmas cake, and mixed a batch of mixed spice. Oh, and bought some rum to make advocaat. I love the preparation, the smells, and the anticipation. I'm also casually browsing for pajamas and failing to resist some (any?) of the really pretty books that appear in the autumn.
One of these is Tasting History. I've seen some of Max Miller's reels and enjoyed them, I knew there was a book coming but I assumed it would be a mostly American thing. I pounced on it when I saw it. The first recipe I opened it at was for Hard Tack/sea biscuits, and from that point on it was coming home with me. One day, when I have time and access to an AGA or similar, I'll try making them just for fun. The 7 hour 20 minute cooking time does not encourage me to try it in my fan oven.
Tasting History is the perfect combination of readable and usable. It skips through 4000 years and continents' worth of food history with easily digestible chunks of information and recipes that you can make if you choose. It's good to have a cookbook that's as much about the reading as it is the making, I don't get to cook in quite the way I used to. Between us we have to think more about cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar... allergies are suddenly developing (who knew you could spend 50 years fine with fish and then suddenly be very much not okay with it?), and between vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free colleagues, I have fewer options there too.
There's more and more that I can read about, but am unlikely to make - and that's fine. Collecting cookbooks is arguably a cheaper hobby than cooking is these days, and even if I never make anything I'm glad to have collected this one. It's a pleasure to spend time with and if you're beginning to think about Christmas presents for foodies in your life - well, you could definitely do worse.
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