RECIPE INSPIRATION
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on the feelgood power of food – and his new, nourishing recipe collection for friends and family
CHEAT’S CASSOULET
There’s a general perception that the food we crave and love is one thing, while the food that’s good for us is another. I promise you it doesn’t have to be that way. In my new book River Cottage Good Comfort, I’ve tried to make my favourite dishes healthier – not by taking stuff out, but by putting more good and delicious things in.
It’s a collection of the most fun and comforting family recipes, tweaked to make them a little better for you. We know that adding extra elements to dishes – like more veg and more pulses – is a really, really good strategy for health.
For me, comfort food goes back to childhood memories of delicious things that my mum and granny used to cook. ‘Comfort’ is a good word, but there’s more to it than that. There’s love in there – comfort food reminds us that we’re loved. It’s central to family life; to feeling nurtured and cared for.
My kids are getting older and are flying the nest, but we do still sit round the table with the youngest two pretty much every day – and we put some lovely food on the table. I know not everyone has time to do that, but if you can manage it a couple of times a week, it means so much.
In the summer, we tend to be busier in the evening. But when autumn comes and it gets darker earlier, there’s a cosiness about sitting round a table, and we’re more likely to have people around. We’ll have something to nibble with a drink while I’m cooking and everyone stands around in the kitchen chatting.
When I feel supper coming together, I have a tendency to try and get people to the table. It’s usually my wife, Marie, who’ll say, ‘Hang on, I’m sure supper can wait a few minutes, let’s sit down first.’ She’s right, it can always wait. So we’ll take a few minutes between the cooking and the eating to sit down on the sofa by the fire and have a little drink. It’s a lovely moment of chat and catching up – I guess it’s what the Danes would call hyggelig. It’s a pause for a little bit of reflection, a little bit of anticipation, a little bit of ‘how was your day?’. It’s a really nice moment to have, whether you’re with family or friends... just pausing, to not be in a rush.
Then we’ll move over to the kitchen and have our meal. I’ll put a pot of something warming and delicious – maybe a pie or casserole – in the middle of the table, and a couple of other dishes to pass around alongside it. There might even be a nice pudding or a cake to follow up with.
If there’s anything more fulfilling than putting a dish of something delicious and nou
