Lazy home cooking. Or, from another point of view, posh takeaway. Either way, Cook is a blessing for fat lazy swines like me, cursed with the ability to buy fresh food and find all of it too tiresome or long-winded to whip up into a tasty and nutritious meal. What they do, and have been doing in various other premises all over the country since 1997, is cook really rather tasty food, really rather well, using only the same fresh ingredients that one might use at home (actually, probably better ingredients than one might use at home...) and bung them in a pot and into the freezer. Et voila, Fisherman's Pie for 2, Cottage Pie for 4, Pumpkin Risotto for baby etc etc. What more could I ask?
Well, one thing - a slight lessening of brutal honesty. I like their cottage pie, fine, and I buy it regularly. However, last time I was told (after I'd paid) that it was a particularly dry recipe, and that most people didn't like it, and was I sure I wanted it and so forth. A customer piped up that she also thought it of poor quality. Thanks? I don't want my minced beef struggling against a tide of salty gravy, and this recipe tastes more like my mum's home made pie (using home minced beef from the end of the sunday roast) than like some Brakes Brothers MSG special. I know what I like, and they know for sure I've bought it before.
Ok, so I'm a petty monkey. Still, if you want party food for 16 people, they do it. If you want a one pot meal for a night in alone, they do it. If you want baby food without the crap in it, they do that too. Since that rather random delicatessen Boothbys on Wellfield Road went south, and with it their oysters and fresh fish counter, I have been pretty depressed by the quality of shops (Wellfield Bookshop and Juno Lounge notwithstanding) on my little high street. Now, I'm just that bit merrier. read more