Lip Lit: Katrina Meynik, Kitchen Coquette

I’m not big on cooking. It’s not that I’m awful at it – unless my friends and family have been lying to be about my culinary skills – it’s just that I don’t particularly enjoy it.  Having said that, I love love love cookbooks. I’m addicted to them. I love flicking through them, and imagining all these delectable things I’ll make for dinner parties I’ll never hold. Most of what holds me back from spending time in the kitchen is time, and the fact that I have an odd combination of high-anxiety and head-in-the-cloudness, which makes me prone to not following recipes correctly, and being completely stressed out. Plus, I always burn my toast. And I have no idea what the difference is between baking soda and bicarbonate soda.

One of the big problems with cookbooks is that they can be dry in tone and overwhelmingly saturated with technique. I’m pleased to say that Kitchen Coquette: The Go-To Guide For Those Random Life Scenarios When Food Is The Only Answer by Katrina Meynink is void of both of these. It’s instead spirited and straightforward.

Unlike other cookbooks which are organised by meal time (Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch etc) or food type (Salad, Pasta, Cake etc) Kitchen Coquette is organised by scenario. Just a sample: Meeting the Mates (menu includes ‘duck-fat roasted potataoes with chorzio and preserved lemon’), Grandma for a cup of tea (mine would love the ‘spiced apple cake’), and PMS (I can’t wait for the excuse to indulge in the ‘Mexican Smoky Pork Cheesies’). It’s a sweet, kitschy and effective way for Meynink to organise her recipes, and takes the drama out of creating a menu for specific occasions.

If you flick through Kitchen Coquette don’t be intimidated by the titles of some of the recipes (such as ‘Zucchini Whoopie Pies with Goat’s Curd and Candied Pancetta’) because she describes them so matter-of-factly and fluidly, that you feel like you are making shake-n-bake pancakes.

Meynick has also made her cookbook incredibly engaging. In her Heartbreak section, her ‘Rose Vodka’ recipe has the following prelude:
‘This pretty drink is easy on the eye and the stomach. Better yet, it’s comforting, like a big, welcoming hug from a chubby-armed Italian mamma. Oh. And each sweet sip is as good as kicking him in the nuts and calling him a douchebag.’

Having a copy of Kitchen Coquette is like having a close-friend in the kitchen next to you, mixing you amazing cocktails as she teaches you how to cook. It’s completely charming, creative and clever and I suspect it may fast become my favourite cookbook.

Lucky for us, Meynik was feeling the Christmas spirit and has created a special Christmas menu that you can view here.