A great talking point, a good laugh, and a playful present for someone who won’t mind the “F” word.
One strictly for the adults, and primarily for the adult who doesn’t cook.
Mrs Deidre Gay-Abel provides in-your-face honesty about taking your turn to cook, and strips the process right back to the basics including how to make appropriate offerings to your better half when seeking advice in the kitchen.
Like any good drag queen (one assumes the author is such), there’s a lot of swearing, references to booze, and a good slap across the face with a reality check. Amongst that sassy attitude however, are some genuinely useful tips for the beginner who is fearful of any room with an oven. On the extreme end of “basic” are tips that include defrosting meat (slowly or in the microwave), boiling an egg, and how to make a cup of tea.
Gay-Abel goes on to provide more than 50 recipes that include pasta, seafood, pizza, bubble n’ squeak, salad and a stew. The recipes are also kept basic and written in paragraph format rather than laid out like a regular recipe book. They’re short, sweet and to the point, although not always precise enough for a true beginner – for example, turning a disastrous fried egg into scrambled eggs (page 34) includes the instruction to “add whatever spices” you like.
The recipes are a fun read and generally practical with a touch of condescension towards really stupid first-timers: advice includes to “Remember to cut them up and not just put a whole zucchini in the pan like a dimwit” (Frittata/Omelette, page 35), or to “mash the f*cker” (Mashed Potatoes, page 49). For a basic garden salad, the reader is reminded that “Most of that [the ingredients] should be green sh*t like lettuce…”
It’s Your F*cking Turn to Cook is not a serious cookbook by any means, despite having some usefulness. It’s more of a joke gift for someone who doesn’t like to cook. Someone over 18, that is. It’s a quick read from cover to cover with a useful index of actual recipes at the back in the unlikely circumstance that you may like to give any a try. If not, the book itself would be a great talking point, a good laugh, and a playful present for someone who won’t mind the “F” word.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet
Book Distributed by: Buon-Cattivi Press
Released: December 2018
RRP: $29.95 hardback
More News
