July 2011: Recipe Rifle

The wife of restaurant critic, Giles Coren, Esther Walker is herself a journalist, whose food blog, Recipe Rifle, is less a demonstration of a pro cook at work, than one of an amateur(ish) one trying out different things and writing about them in manner that makes liberal use of the word f*** and other profanities.

MOUTHY & MOUTH-WATERING

Walker's unfussy, unpretentious and rather foul-mouthed approach to cooking and blog-writing has earned her a growing body of fans, who eagerly await her mouthy (and mouth-watering) posts in which delicious and often quite unusual recipes are preceded with amusing anecdotes, delivered with an unfailing acerbic wit.

Although not officially a food writer, Walker's enthusiasm for cooking and enjoyment of food is obvious. She is not the sort of foodie who appreciates the type of 52 course marathon than one might find at the universally famed El Bulli restaurant in Spain however. Indeed, when she was invited to attend recently, along with her husband,  for a last dinner at the restaurant before it closes permanently (an invitation that many would have cheerfully killed for), she casually turned it down in favour of a home-cooked bowl of courgette pasta at her sister's house.

THERE'S ONLY ONE WORD FOR IT

Walker doesn't usually include such recipes on her blog, she says, because "no one ever needs to be told what to do with pasta," but you will find such eminently achievable delights as Thai Pork Patties, Chicken and Rice, Lemon Surprise Pudding, Sweetcorn Fritters and much more besides. Try them out at home and if it all goes wrong? There's only one word for it…

Emily Jenkinson

1st July 2011