A word from Jill Dupleix
HAVE FUN
It's a fasting day and I always find it difficult to think of a food topic on these days. So I thought to do an 'A word from' piece, on Jill Dupleix. Why Jill Dupleix? Well she is one of my favourite cooks and I had checked her out a couple of days ago when I was writing about passionfruit, and I have just come back from Christmas shopping, part of which was checking out cookery books and noticed that she didn't figure on the shelves of the shop I was looking in. Which is sad as she is so good. I have cooked lots of her things and they have always turned out well. Robert Carrier also spoke well of her and used her fried pizza recipe in his New Great Dishes of the World book. She is also extremely eloquent - being a columnist more than a book writer I think. Well I have just checked and she has actually written many books. Alas I only have two - so if anyone's looking for Christmas present ideas ...
She is Australian, Victorian even and married to food critic and writer Terry Durack. They spent several years in London where she wrote for The Times as well as other prestigious publications. They have now returned to Australia and live in Sydney. She has an Instagram website and the delicious website has a whole section on her recipes - for she has been a contributor, on and off, to delicious since its inception.
Of the two books that I own, one of them, Summer Food is just a small giveaway that came with delicious, which is not to put it down as I have used many of the recipes from it. The book is New Food - which is packed with lots of small good ideas and tips as well as tasty recipes. Indeed its more the little bits and pieces that attract me about the book I think.
Her two introductory pieces are so good that I'm tempted to reproduce them in full - but I won't do that. I'll just pick and choose from here and there.
The first part is called The credo in which the mantra 'have fun' is repeated several times. It's a set of rules for healthy enjoyable eating, and I reproduce just a few of them here.
"Buy only what is fresh and in season
Question all cook books, including this one
Share the preparing and cooking of food with family and friends
Make every meal an event, in some small but meaningful way
Remind yourself constantly that mistakes can be delicious
Remember that some of the best recipes come from old people
Don't feel you have to peel everything
Never apologise for your food
Remember that it is only food
Make your favourite recipe your own
Don't garnish. Food is beautiful"
There is lots more.
Her Introduction is more about the book and what it contains but is also philosophical here and there. Here are some excerpts.
"It's time we changed the way we eat.
It's time we put together all that we have learned about good, fresh food, delicious flavours, healthy traditional diets, sustainable agriculture and new scientific knowledge, and came up with a new way of eating that our bodies, our lifestyles and our world can cope with.
I describe this new food as being part-Mediterranean, part-Asian and part cake because it bows to the past, sends kisses to Europe, shakes hands with Asia and is happy at home in its own backyard. ...
And where does cake fit in to all this, you ask? Wherever it can. Cake is a delicious reminder of our British heritage and a staple of our great country cooking. Australians have always know how to do good cake. The modern mantra of moderation just means we can appreciate it even more, while eating it a little less....
We have the chance to learn from the past to safeguard our future, and to adjust our eating so that we eat better and feel better every day. It starts at home, as everything does. That's why most of the recipes are short and simple. Some recipes are long and simple for those with a whole weekend stretching out ahead of them and an understanding of cooking as therapy.
This book is proof that you can eat well, without fuss, pretension, or hard work. So choose yourself something to cook for dinner tonight, grab a glass of wine and head into that kitchen with a smile on your face. And don't ever feel scared, worried or intimidated by a recipe again.
Hell, it's only food. Just enjoy it."
So check out her books and her recipes - the BBC has a collection too. I don't know why she is not more represented on the cookery book bookshelves, although obviously you can buy anything online.
