Paper Palate

I am not a particularly Women’s Institute type person. The association seems to have all sorts of connotations: mature ladies as Calendar Girls, raising money for charity, or perhaps rather a lot of jam, cake and the occasional speaker of interest. Sounds like a cracking night out, no?

So I was rather surprised when I was given The Women’s Institute Book of 650 Favourite Recipes as a Christmas present. While it is a cook book my copy (1997 hardback) is a very plain little tome: 70s food styling on the front, butcher’s paper on the inside, and only a few line illustrations.

We’re now over half way through the year and I think it’s the recipe book I’ve cooked from most. Partly this is because the recipes don’t seem to go wrong. I think the main reason is that the recipes satisfy my need for something a bit different without spending three hours boiling up a pig’s trotter (and then spending three hours boning it). My bookshelves groan with books in which most of the recipes require a day in the kitchen: not a problem in itself, except that the magic job of highly paid food writer hasn’t yet appeared!

The book is divided into obvious sections: starters, soups, fish … with a few interesting additions such as stuffings, preserves (now that is WI!) and prizewinners. There’s a bit of a post war preoccupation with using margarine (which I’ve always ignored and used butter) and using golden syrup instead of sugar. There are also more offal recipes than you see in glossy magazines, and there’s also a good selection of the type of recipes I’d expect: watermelon chicken anyone? I guess if you ever needed to cook for a retro party you could make this book your first stop.

My one savoury foray so far has been a savoury onion pasty. This had an excellent oatmeal pastry, made with margarine butter and lard, was simple to make and tasted fantastic. I was bemused by the onion free filling (leek, cheese, egg and bacon), but if a recipe works, who am I to criticise?

On the sweet front the book has already had a couple of successes: almond bars (shortbread, topped with jam and macaroon) and Yarmouth biscuits (little currant biscuits).

This is a book that assumes you know your way around a kitchen. There are no bright, step by step pictures and the instructions are brief. To be honest, I think that’s one of the things I love about it. Yes, there are a lot of recipes I’ll never make (anything from the Preserves section and anything with the word ’surprise’ in its title!), but whenever I have something to use up, or need to rely on the cupboard alone, this book, so far, has come up trumps.

New copies are available from Amazon for just £2.69 (UK) or $5.89 (US). I’m sure you could probably find a copy at a relative’s house or car boot sale too!