The Pedant in the Kitchen by Julian Barnes

The Pedant's ambition is simple. He wants to cook tasty, nutritious food; he wants not to poison his friends; and he wants to expand, slowly and with pleasure, his culinary repertoire. A stern critic of himself and others, he knows he is never going to invent his own recipes (although he might, in a burst of enthusiasm, occasionally increase the quantity of a favourite ingredient). Rather, he is a recipe-bound follower of the instructions of others. This book is a witty and practical account of Julian Barnes' search for gastronomic precision. It is a quest that leaves him seduced by Jane Grigson, infuriated by Nigel Slater; charmed by the recipes of Eouard de Pomiane; and reassured by Mrs Beeton's Victorian virtues. The Pedant in the Kitchen is a perfect comfort for a anyone who has ever been defeated by a cookbook and is something none of Julian Barnes' legion of admirers will want to miss.