FOOD
Mary McCartney talks to Susanna Brown about the joy she finds in feeding friends, old and new
‘THERE ARE LOTS OF PARALLELS BETWEEN COOKING AND photography,’ Mary McCartney says, ‘and great food is as much about creativity, colour and texture as it is about flavour.’ Pinned on the wall of her west-London studio is a recent self-portrait that captures both facets of her career: in one hand she has a gleaming mixing bowl and wooden spoon, in the other her favourite camera. Opposite hangs a portrait of her mother Linda, taken nearly three decades ago, in which she gently holds a rescued frog.
While recent years have been a whirlwind of activity for McCartney, directing the Abbey Road documentary If These Walls Could Sing and filming her Emmy-nominated television series Mary McCartney Serves It Up!, she has steadfastly kept another project bubbling – her latest cookbook, Feeding Creativity. ‘It is all about the nourishment we gain from fresh food, friendship and conversation,’ she explains. ‘I visited dozens of different people and cooked each of them a meal; we ate and chatted together, and I photographed them.’
A fan of sprawling brunches and cosy dinners with loved ones, she made full use of her A-list address book, preparing 60 of her plant-based dishes for friends including Cate Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Blake and David Hockney. ‘I also had a wish-list of incredible creative people I didn’t know well but wanted to cook for. It was a lovely way to make new friends �
