Save our cookbooks!

Sean Duggan confesses to his ever growing cookbook collections. Sean is a member of the Green Group for Peckermans Wood Estate and a friend of Local Greens.

"I am an addict, I confess. Accepting that fact is, allegedly, the first step towards a cure. But I am not so sure. I have known for several years that I have an unhealthy relationship with cookbooks, based on the frequency with which I arrive home lugging one in my rucksack. There are at least 150 cookbooks on my kitchen shelves at present, and that is after a very painful pruning process. Sob!

The other factor that points to irrational forces being at work is the very low ratio of recipes cooked per book.
There areseveraldozen that I have never used to cook a single meal.

Working on an average of 150 recipes per book (yes, I was surprised there were that many), I could cook a new recipe from my collection every day for 40 years and still not run out.
That is ridiculous.

And yet, and yet, there is something about a good cookbook that I still find truly irresistible. The layout, the seductive text, the mouth-watering ingredients, the artfully arranged, exquisitely photographed dish. Add in the frequent promise that this is a delight to cook in just 20 minutes and my imagination does the rest. No need for any actual cooking.

It is lucky that I am not paying full price. I would probably be bankrupt by now and mugging old ladies to afford the latest Nigella Lawson doorstop. Instead, I get all my cookbooks from charity shops for a maximum of £5 a time. And really, not that I am trying to share my habit, but if you like cookbooks then you will love charity shops.  I know one in Sutton which has two large shelves dedicated to a constantly changing selection. At least once a week I would stagger out withabagload, and no one ever suggested I should seek help.

Recent acquisitions include; Simple to Sensation (How to transform the simply delicious into the simply amazing) by Jun Tanaka, Japanese Vegetarian Cooking (From simple soups to sushi) by Patricia Richfield and The Only Recipes You’ll Ever Need (4 ways to cook almost everything) by Tony Turnbull.
Just reading the titles makes me salivate... and want to buy more!