Eat Good Things Every Day

Nurture your family cooking JOHN McKENNA Forget the pizza and the white bread we need good food so let s it hear it for the humble cabbage rhubarb and peas and for the women of Cork who have turned cookery into nurturing WHEN IT comes to cooking Cork is the women s county. Elsewhere in Ireland professional cookery is a man s world but in Cork ever since Myrtle Allen opened Ballymaloe House a full 45 years ago and began to cook for dinner guests Cork has been a stronghold of women s food. From east to west and in the city women are not just participants in kitchens: they are the major players and their work has defined what modern cookery is throughout the county. Does this gender distinction matter? I think it does and for a simple reason. Women in working kitchens tend to cook with a different outlook than male chefs. In my view male chefs want to demonstrate competence and mastery of the art but women by and large just want to feed you. And women draw on different influences when it comes to cooking. Their influences are likely to be as much domestic as professional. I was struck for example listening to Myrtle Allen launching the first cookbook by the chef Carmel Somers of the celebrated Good Things Caf in West Cork to hear Mrs Allen talk of how in the pre penicillin days of diphtheria and whooping cough and polio my mother always said that good food would keep us healthy and that was why it was so important to have access to good food . That is fundamentally a nurturing concept and what Myrtle Allen has done in inspiring the generation and a half of Cork female chefs who have come after her is to legitimise this nurturing as a fundamental part of any food experience. Good food is not just about getting access to someone s wealth: it is actually about getting access to their health. When Carmel Somers herself spoke at the book launch she emphasised this element even more starkly. Flippy bread [her name for white sliced loaves] should only ever be a treat. Pizza should only be a treat at Christmas. We have got to feed our children with good food. Her book Eat Good Things Every Day is a particularly potent and practical manifesto of how to do just that. It is an unusual book in that it is both practical and polemical: Microwaves should be banned as they ruin food Butter tastes pure. Margarine tastes horrible and the flavour is never masked in cooking. Use by dates don t always trust them. If the book is refreshingly unusual in being so iconoclastic it is refreshing also to see a book that has lots of recipes for cabbage rhubarb braised peas Brussels sprouts and cheap cuts of meat. This is true family food and I know from the last time I wrote about feeding kids just how big an area of concern this is for so many working families. Ms Somers presents her recipes as weekly plans following on from a small amount of weekend prep in the kitchen and a list of necessary ingredients to get you through the week s cooking without exhausting you with complicated cooking that you simply don t have time to achieve. It s a book that accepts that we are human and that we need to be nurtured and it gets you there in the most practical and delicious way. Forty years separate Myrtle Allen and Carmel Somers but that gap of time is irrelevant because both have benefited from and learnt the fundamental lessons of the Women s County of Cooking. Chief among those lessons is the fact that food is the pivotal social glue of our society and that is a lesson we need to remember particularly as we face into the rituals of Christmas. If you are already stressed by the prospect of feeding the extended family remember that food isn t about extreme skills and it isn t about demonstrating superhuman competence. It is about nurturing people s health and bringing them together around the table. Remember what Carmel Somers writes about feeding children: They love trying new things and being involved in the cooking and preparing of the meal including setting the table especially if there is a candle to light So even if you don t have the good fortune to live in the Women s County absorb the lessons of these wise women especially at Christmas. Light the candle and take it from there. Eat Good Things Every Day by Carmel Somers is published by Atrium www.corkuniversitypress.com John McKenna is a food critic and writer. He is co author of The Bridgestone Guides which aim to provide independent guides to Ireland s food culture. www.bridgestoneguides.com ~John McKenna The Irish Times

Proprietor of the Good Things Caf in west Cork Carmel Somers brings us 90 recipes for everyday cooking at home with seasonal menu s for both summer and winter along with recipes to prepare every night for eight weeks and tips for planning week to week you will never be stuck for ideas again. F W loves coconut chicken with spices and herbs page 151 ~Food Wine Magazine

We re staying in and entertaining at home more than ever this winter. So curl up with a good cookery book for inspiration. Here are some titles released in 2009. EAT GOOD THINGS EVERY DAY Carmel Somers Atrium 39 Advance planning disciplined shopping and an appreciation of local seasonal ingredients are the main tenets of this book from Carmel Somers proprietor of the Good Things Caf and cookery school in Durrus Co Cork. This will appeal greatly to list makers and those who follow instructions to the T but even those who prefer a more off piste approach to cooking will find plenty to like here. Snippets of backroom chat such as how a visit from Darina Allen and a glut of duck wings became a cafe bestseller are very engaging. Must cook Durrus cheese pizza. ~Marie Claire Digby

No question that this is the best cookery book of the year. Polemical passionate and beautifully photographed by John Carey and the food eats beautifully ~John McKenna Bridgestone Guides

Also just going into the book shops Carmel Somers beautifully produced Eat Good Things Every Day is an inspiring and brilliantly down to earth book; although not yet a household name Carmel who is owner chef of the well named Good Things Caf Cookery School at Durrus Co Cork is totally focused on making the best possible use of fresh seasonal produce and this highly practical time and budget conscious book is all about being better organised and eating really well without waste: with once a week shopping lists she gives recipes for eight weeks of daily meals and like the wonderful food served in her caf it s healthy and flavoursome fare ~Georgina Campbell

I m delighted to hear that Carmel s book is about to hit the shelves. This is the book I ve been waiting for. The book is an intriguing collection of recipes. Carmel Somers food is a true celebration of the beautiful produce of the farmers fishermen and artisan producers of West Cork ~Darina Allen Ballymaloe House

It s hard not to fall for this charming cookbook for its title alone. The mostly short recipes are based on those served by Somers at her Good Things Caf in West Cork and include lots of light wheat free suppers many of which are freezable ~Waitrose Magazine