This morning I was flicking through a modern way to eat, prising open stuck together pages looking for inspiration as I wrote our fortnightly meal plan. I ended getting a modern way to eat out as well. I lost half an hour of my morning rediscovering old favourites and ear marking new recipes to try. One thing that struck me was just how exciting your recipes still are. Then I opened up my emails and read your thoughts on the past 10 years. I can’t believe I have been cooking your recipes for so long but I also feel like they have been in my life forever. Some of our family favourites are yours, my children will say is this an ‘Anna’ when I bring out a new dish. Your reflections are so interesting, being able to look on an industry with wisdom behind you. Your emails are ones that I look forward to and read with intrigue, you have introduced me to so many new things and your writing is so comforting. Thank you for the past 19 years, I eagerly look forward to seeing what you will do with the next 10.
This resonates hard. More painfully than I have been able to articulate myself.
And what's been whirling through my own mind is a sketch I remember seeing on some comedy show with 'Delia' furiously stirring a bowl, uttering the words "I was first, I was first" whilst 'Jamie' bounced down his stairs and 'Nigella' simpered.
Your work is exceptional. Your recipes delicious and consistently effective (which is often lacking in the 'superstar' cookbooks I buy today) and make me want to live better and do better. I adore your course, which as a passionate cook for 30 years, has taught me SO MUCH. So much so that I am going to gift a copy to my vegetarian daughter for when she leaves home for university this autumn.
It's not easy navigating all of this shizzle and I am beyond grateful to you for articulating so beautifully what I've been unable to. And for all of your magnificent work.
Wow! What fantastic lists. I journal all the time, but I wonder if I could capture my last decade as thoughtfully. Love your book, can’t believe it’s 10 years old!
🌶️PS - chili crisp is on high rotation around here, as well, and Calabrian bomba sauce has just joined the party, as well.
Would love to read more about how your approach to recipe writing and food has changed in these years. I’ve definitely noticed that the recipes feel different between your first two books and last two. The tomato and coconut cassoulet will always be on the menu in our house, one of my favourite meals of all time
Thanks Lucy. It’s something I’m definitely going to write more about. Having kids and less time has def had the biggest impact but also the world of food has changed so much. More soon….
Me and my wife got married and moved to Margate in January 6 years ago and were gifted A Modern Cook's Year, which journeyed through the first year of marriage with us and helped us become regulars at our local greengrocers. We watched the one pot book launch with friends across the country over zoom and had a rare moment of genuine connection, and this year had to check with the family over who was buying who your latest book for each others birthdays! I love your newsletter and the intentional way you spotlight other people's voices too. Here's to the next ten years x
Your books Anna, will continue to be well used, loved and referenced, in the way that I still turn to Jane Grigson and Richard Olney. That's legendary. Who knows in future if Instagram and Ticktock will even exist.
I’m also 45 and this week at a work trip in France was called Madame twice with a mademoiselle entering the shop just behind me. Of course I am a madame but equally where did the mademoiselle go!! I love your two lists. I’d be intrigued to know the 10 things that have stayed the same in your cooking? Lemons?
Anna, huge congratulations on celebrating 10 years. I brought Modern Way to Cook when it was released and still cook recipes from there today and your other books. I think your post really summed up how I feel about the world today. But I believe there is will always be a place for slower content away from social media, I hope anyway. Truly believe it’s not sustainable in so many ways. Love your weekly emails, especially now they can be found on Substack 💙
Anna, when the person called you a legend, it was not out of mere kindness but out of recognition and real admiration. You are indeed legendary, don't downplay your worth! I would also be interested in an elaboration on the 10 foods you're eating less of. I am sure a few are for their environmental impact, but are some just personal preference?
Your 'double greens filo pie' was the first pie I ever made for myself (a slightly smaller version though!)
Laughed out loud at the “Barry Manilow” moment! Now just into my sixth decade, I have many, many such moments, especially as I am still working as a high school teacher and the young adults I engage with really are from a different age, (planet?) though our learning is reciprocal. So saddened to think that ‘phone’ would feature in any young child’s vocab list…
My copies of both A Modern Way to Eat and A modern Way to Cook were purchased on trips back to UK, and brought home to Australia in hand luggage as my ‘reading’ material for the plane, though of course I have cooked from them and re-read their splattered pages continually over the years.
Thank you for all of your recipes and inspiration. This reflection is a fabulous snapshot of the last decade - about ingredients, and recipes, but also how what we eat and cook reflects cultural changes and national ones in our respective countries too. I arrived in Australia as a ten year old from Scotland 🏴and use each decade since to reflect on my own journey. I gave up meat at 18 though I do also enjoy Australia’s bountiful and varied fish and seafood. It is so interesting to hear what you now eat less of, and what features now more in your list and pantry. Our tables are here, of course, so influenced by our Asian neighbours which adds so much to ‘modern’ Australian food, my own included. Though, Delia, Nigella, Madhur, Claudia and so many other UK cooks and chefs (Jane and daughter Sophie, Jamie, Nigel, Yotam, Rick, Hugh, as well as Rose and Ruth) still make up my own Top Twenty (100?) list. All of them and you, and the fabulous matriarchs from Oz,🇦🇺 Maggie and Stephanie will ALWAYS be my ‘influencers’!
Looking forward to your next decade of creating and writing, Anna.
So curious to know what has happened to avocados for you? They remain a staple for me… but then they are grown here in Australia, many varieties, plentiful most months and delicious.
Here’s to the next 10, 20, 30 years… Cant wait to see what’s next!
Scary to think it has been 10 years! I remember getting modern way to eat when it came out and it was one of the most exciting cookbooks I had ever picked up. I don’t think it is exaggerating to say it contributed to a huge change in the quality of vegetarian options in the uk. Have had every book since and they are by far the most used books on my shelf.
Love this Anna.
Would love to know the reasons you've switched from eating less of 10 foods to more of 10 foods. Is it environmental? Nutritional? Personal? x
This morning I was flicking through a modern way to eat, prising open stuck together pages looking for inspiration as I wrote our fortnightly meal plan. I ended getting a modern way to eat out as well. I lost half an hour of my morning rediscovering old favourites and ear marking new recipes to try. One thing that struck me was just how exciting your recipes still are. Then I opened up my emails and read your thoughts on the past 10 years. I can’t believe I have been cooking your recipes for so long but I also feel like they have been in my life forever. Some of our family favourites are yours, my children will say is this an ‘Anna’ when I bring out a new dish. Your reflections are so interesting, being able to look on an industry with wisdom behind you. Your emails are ones that I look forward to and read with intrigue, you have introduced me to so many new things and your writing is so comforting. Thank you for the past 19 years, I eagerly look forward to seeing what you will do with the next 10.
Modern way to cook 🤦♀️ both books came out
This resonates hard. More painfully than I have been able to articulate myself.
And what's been whirling through my own mind is a sketch I remember seeing on some comedy show with 'Delia' furiously stirring a bowl, uttering the words "I was first, I was first" whilst 'Jamie' bounced down his stairs and 'Nigella' simpered.
Your work is exceptional. Your recipes delicious and consistently effective (which is often lacking in the 'superstar' cookbooks I buy today) and make me want to live better and do better. I adore your course, which as a passionate cook for 30 years, has taught me SO MUCH. So much so that I am going to gift a copy to my vegetarian daughter for when she leaves home for university this autumn.
It's not easy navigating all of this shizzle and I am beyond grateful to you for articulating so beautifully what I've been unable to. And for all of your magnificent work.
Whole heartedly agree 💚
Wow! What fantastic lists. I journal all the time, but I wonder if I could capture my last decade as thoughtfully. Love your book, can’t believe it’s 10 years old!
🌶️PS - chili crisp is on high rotation around here, as well, and Calabrian bomba sauce has just joined the party, as well.
Excellent reflections - ‘wise’ not ‘old’ 😉. Thanks for sharing AJ x
Would love to read more about how your approach to recipe writing and food has changed in these years. I’ve definitely noticed that the recipes feel different between your first two books and last two. The tomato and coconut cassoulet will always be on the menu in our house, one of my favourite meals of all time
Thanks Lucy. It’s something I’m definitely going to write more about. Having kids and less time has def had the biggest impact but also the world of food has changed so much. More soon….
Love those top ten lists! I have saved the list of your ten recipes and am going to make the ones I haven't already (agree that the dhal is top tier!)
You are definitely a legend!
Me and my wife got married and moved to Margate in January 6 years ago and were gifted A Modern Cook's Year, which journeyed through the first year of marriage with us and helped us become regulars at our local greengrocers. We watched the one pot book launch with friends across the country over zoom and had a rare moment of genuine connection, and this year had to check with the family over who was buying who your latest book for each others birthdays! I love your newsletter and the intentional way you spotlight other people's voices too. Here's to the next ten years x
Your books Anna, will continue to be well used, loved and referenced, in the way that I still turn to Jane Grigson and Richard Olney. That's legendary. Who knows in future if Instagram and Ticktock will even exist.
I’m also 45 and this week at a work trip in France was called Madame twice with a mademoiselle entering the shop just behind me. Of course I am a madame but equally where did the mademoiselle go!! I love your two lists. I’d be intrigued to know the 10 things that have stayed the same in your cooking? Lemons?
Anna, huge congratulations on celebrating 10 years. I brought Modern Way to Cook when it was released and still cook recipes from there today and your other books. I think your post really summed up how I feel about the world today. But I believe there is will always be a place for slower content away from social media, I hope anyway. Truly believe it’s not sustainable in so many ways. Love your weekly emails, especially now they can be found on Substack 💙
Anna, when the person called you a legend, it was not out of mere kindness but out of recognition and real admiration. You are indeed legendary, don't downplay your worth! I would also be interested in an elaboration on the 10 foods you're eating less of. I am sure a few are for their environmental impact, but are some just personal preference?
Your 'double greens filo pie' was the first pie I ever made for myself (a slightly smaller version though!)
Congratulations Anna!
Laughed out loud at the “Barry Manilow” moment! Now just into my sixth decade, I have many, many such moments, especially as I am still working as a high school teacher and the young adults I engage with really are from a different age, (planet?) though our learning is reciprocal. So saddened to think that ‘phone’ would feature in any young child’s vocab list…
My copies of both A Modern Way to Eat and A modern Way to Cook were purchased on trips back to UK, and brought home to Australia in hand luggage as my ‘reading’ material for the plane, though of course I have cooked from them and re-read their splattered pages continually over the years.
Thank you for all of your recipes and inspiration. This reflection is a fabulous snapshot of the last decade - about ingredients, and recipes, but also how what we eat and cook reflects cultural changes and national ones in our respective countries too. I arrived in Australia as a ten year old from Scotland 🏴and use each decade since to reflect on my own journey. I gave up meat at 18 though I do also enjoy Australia’s bountiful and varied fish and seafood. It is so interesting to hear what you now eat less of, and what features now more in your list and pantry. Our tables are here, of course, so influenced by our Asian neighbours which adds so much to ‘modern’ Australian food, my own included. Though, Delia, Nigella, Madhur, Claudia and so many other UK cooks and chefs (Jane and daughter Sophie, Jamie, Nigel, Yotam, Rick, Hugh, as well as Rose and Ruth) still make up my own Top Twenty (100?) list. All of them and you, and the fabulous matriarchs from Oz,🇦🇺 Maggie and Stephanie will ALWAYS be my ‘influencers’!
Looking forward to your next decade of creating and writing, Anna.
So curious to know what has happened to avocados for you? They remain a staple for me… but then they are grown here in Australia, many varieties, plentiful most months and delicious.
Here’s to the next 10, 20, 30 years… Cant wait to see what’s next!
Scary to think it has been 10 years! I remember getting modern way to eat when it came out and it was one of the most exciting cookbooks I had ever picked up. I don’t think it is exaggerating to say it contributed to a huge change in the quality of vegetarian options in the uk. Have had every book since and they are by far the most used books on my shelf.
loved this! and congratulations on ten years of fantastic food writing 💛
❤️❤️❤️