Author: rebecca.selman@btinternet.com

The Anxious Cook

Next morning they would go over the dishes – the soup, the salmon; the salmon, Mrs Walker knew, as usual underdone, for she always got nervous about the pudding and left it to Jenny; so it happened, the salmon was always underdone.                                                                             (Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway)

However much I love cooking – or perhaps because I love it so much – I often get anxious when cooking, particularly when cooking for others. Will there be enough food? Will my guests like it? Will it be perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned? Will I impress as a cook?  Continue reading “The Anxious Cook”

Coming home for Christmas

‘Everybody was mad with excitement. William was coming on Christmas Eve. Mrs Morel surveyed the pantry. There was a big plum cake, and a rice cake, jam tarts, lemon tarts, and mince pies – two enormous dishes. She was finishing cooking – Spanish tarts and cheese-cakes.’ (D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers) Continue reading “Coming home for Christmas”

Mothers and Sons

She insisted on his having a small currant tart, because he liked sweets.
‘I don’t want it, mother,’ he pleaded.
‘Yes,’ she insisted, ‘you’ll have it.’                  (D.H.Lawrence, Sons and Lovers)

It seems rather obvious to state that our relationship with food is shaped by our upbringing, particularly by our parents and other family members. What they give us to eat and the way they think and talk about food provide ideas and impulses that we either conform to – or in some cases rebel against.   Continue reading “Mothers and Sons”

Food and England

‘I’m hungry, not tired; I want to eat heaps.’
‘That’s good. What’ll you have?’
‘Fish pie,’ said she, with a glance at the menu.
‘Fish pie! Fancy coming for fish pie to Simpson’s. It’s not a bit the thing to go for here.’                             (E. M. Forster, Howards End)

As a foodie and keen cook, I feel very grateful to be living at a time when we have access to so many foods from around the world. Not a week goes by when I don’t eat – whether home-cooked or in a restaurant – some form of international food, even if it is just the ubiquitous Italian pasta or risotto. Continue reading “Food and England”