Recipe Books' Rejuvenation

It's obvious to any collector such as myself - recipe books have changed, and you would be in denial if you didn't think it was for the better. Traditional recipe books in England were undoubtedly for women looking after their families. They were basic, with block paragraphs of traditional English meals and traditional methods. Pictures were rare, if present at all, and the font size suitable only for those with a magnifying glass.The past couple of years in particular, however, have seen  a huge change in the way recipe books appear. They have become vibrant and colourful, with images playing a huge part in their popularity. People no longer simply pick up a recipe book to use it; they pick it up simply to read it. 

Even the great Mary Berry has modernised her books to be just as much about how it looks as about the recipes, with her latest Mary Berry's Absolute Favourites containing beautiful imagery to accompany her delicious recipes. The BBC television series The Great British Bake-Off, which Berry is a judge on alongside Paul Hollywood, has sparked numerous recipe books designed to make baking more fun and adventurous. Runner-up contestant Ruby Tandoh's Crumb is my ultimate favourite from the selection. She talks about the traditional aspects of baking, giving her own unique advice on the methods and techniques, injecting into the book her own vitality and passion for baking. Tandoh also rejuvenates some traditional recipes with current trends, such as the use of semolina in baking. Her delicious lemon semolina cake recipe is a serious rival to Mary Berry's lime polenta cake.

Christine Taylor's Choccywoccydoodah: Chocolate, Cake & Curses is another modern recipe book,  decorated elaborately with Brightonian fairytales and stories in between recipes. It includes an introduction of how the shop, Choccywoccydoodah, and later the cafe were founded and expanded. They are not the only shop to release a recipe book, though. Hotel Chocolat brought out Hotel Chocolat: A New Way of Cooking with Chocolate, which even includes a recipe of chocolate with salmon; The Hummingbird Bakery regularly release books with recipes of their famous products; and restaurants Wagamama and Yo! Sushi have also released books featuring recipes of the dishes they serve. This is the start of an era when recipe books are becoming pieces of literature as well as cooking guides.

 Instagram and the hashtag #instafood or #instaporn probably has a lot to do with this change, with users constantly looking at new and refreshing ways to make pictures of food look attractive for more likes. One person in particular is Ella Woodward, author of the recipe book Deliciously Ella and the blog of the same name. Woodward uses instagram to promote her healthy lifestyle as well as her blog posts. The images accompanying her recipes are bright and beautiful, making healthy eating seem just as tempting as a big slice of cake. Her beautiful instagram shots carry on through to her recipe book, which also talks about how a diagnosis of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome led her to start being more concerned about what she ate. Her journey is inspirational, and to help others enjoy the same lifestyle she has taken on, she provides a guide on getting started, with all her kitchen and therefore recipe essentials. Throughout the book, she discusses the benefits of certain ingredients, justifying their use and how they are great alternatives to salty or sugary products. This is a book even my chocolate-obsessed self is loving.

Ella Woodward is just one of a few who have started a trend in healthy eating and therefore healthy cooking. Following the release of her book in January, we have also seen the release of Get the Glow by Madeleine Shaw, who also happens to be a friend of Woodward, and Eat. Nourish. Glow. by Amelia Freer. More interestingly, however, we have seen Italian food become more fresh and nourishing in Gino D'Acampo's Veg Italia. There's still cream, pasta and pizza dough, but D'Acampo has banished meat from the traditional Italian recipes; lasagne made with aubergines, cannelloni filled with courgettes and ricotta, meatballs minus the meat made with lentils and mushrooms, a sweet potato mash with garlic butter and mascarpone. It is refreshing to see the nation's favourite Italian dishes transformed and vegetables given a new lease of life.

Italian cuisine is only the start of foreign cuisine's growing popularity in England. My most recent visit to Waterstones saw a whole display of new recipe books from various countries, my favourite of which being The New Nordic by Simon Bajada. Bajada has included some amazing Scandinavian recipes, as well as beautiful photographs of the landscape, restaurants and cuisine. He says Nordic cuisine is ever evolving and is becoming ever more popular in Michelin starred restaurants in the UK. The ingredients they use reflect the landscape they are used upon. This is a great coffee table book.

Another favourite is Raymond Blanc's Kew on a Plate which follows on from the television series in which Blanc along with Kate Humble spends a year at Kew Gardens in London focusing on growing produce. This is another recipe book that mixes healthy heating and foreign cuisine. The book, like the series, gives information and tips for growing fruit and vegetables, with Blanc introducing French recipes using the produce. This is a beautiful mix of English and French heritage, with Raymond Blanc himself being a keen gardener, having his own vegetable gardens and orchards at his Michelin-starred restaurant Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. Meat is still used in many of the recipes but makes them no less healthy and balanced, with a delicious recipe for balsamic glazed-garlic, summer tomatoes and roast chicken legs.

These are just a few examples of the various types of recipe books that now sit in our English bookshops, influencing the way we eat. From vibrant vegetables to breathtaking baking, recipe books have most certainly been rejuvenated into attractive and colourful additions to coffee tables, rather than gathering dust on a kitchen shelf. The beautiful photographs and imaginative cooks' notes in between recipes prove presentation of food is just as important outside of restaurants. They have made me start to love cooking; instead of pouring boiling water over instant noodles, I am now making salmon en croute and beef wellington from scratch. From the girl who sets pancakes on fire to the girl who yearns to make her own ravioli; perhaps for that perfect shot with the caption #instaporn.