Just one recipe really appealed to the librarycook in this month’s Delicious. Sure, there were plenty of mouth-watering options – from the cover image Passionfruit Layer Cake, to the Kangaroo Tail Stew with Pepperberry Roasted Heirloom Carrots, or the 8 page feature on Scones (the librarycook’s grandmother would be turning in her grave at the thought of more than two kinds of scones), or even the Beef and Ale Pie – but no, the recipe that caught the librarycook’s eye was a simple one for Linguine with Prawns and Broad Beans.
Even at a glance, the librarycook could tell there wouldn’t be time for much reading – what with peeling and deveining the prawns – not exactly the librarycook’s most favourite activity – and podding the broad beans, and the inevitably quick cooking time, there wasn’t time for even a haiku.
But making up for the sad lack of literary opportunities, the resulting pasta dish rewarded the palate, being fresh, and indeed spring-like. It’s certain to re-appear on the librarycook’s table as the weather continues to improve.
So what would the librarycook have been reading, if there had been time? Having recently read Sarah Winman’s most excellent Still Life, the librarycook has only just re-emerged, blinking, into the light, after enjoying two other Winman novels, Tin Man, and A Year of Marvellous Ways. Both have the same charming, slightly wistful tone, and cannot be recommended highly enough.
