Eat It All Yourself

Cookbooks for one are a growing trend within the cookbook segment. Not surprising, since the group of one-person households is growing. And even if you’re eating alone, that’s no reason to eat badly. Sam Stern agrees in his cookbook with the somewhat awkward title Smart One-Person Meals.

So-called solo cooking is still a relatively unexplored area in the cookbook world. Only recently has the reading table started to become populated with copies such as Solo food by Janneke Vreugdenhil and Smart One-Person Meals by former teen chef Sam Stern.

Solo cooking
The two books have clear similarities. For example, they both see it as a major advantage of solo cooking that you don’t have to take anyone else into account and that you always have a willing audience: yourself. In addition, Vreugdenhil and Stern wholeheartedly agree that cooking for yourself is no reason to eat badly. And they provide extensive cooking and one-person pantry tips.

Cooking for yourself is no reason to eat badly.

There are differences too: for Vreugdenhil, solo cooking is a way to get over her divorce and ‘learn to love herself again’. Twentysomething Sam Stern (not yet) has no such problem. He doesn’t say it explicitly, but surely he is surrounded by peers who live alone and therefore regularly cook for themselves. Or perhaps he simply spotted a gap in the market…

No-waste
Stern’s book is structured schematically according to the no-waste principle. Because anyone cooking for one is left with plenty of the required ingredients. That’s why he repeatedly gives one basic ingredient with which he then prepares two full one-person meals. And sometimes even three. Or four.

Thanks to this premise, the book and the photography are clear and well organized. Even a beginning solo cook can get started with it right away. The division by main ingredients helps too. Because how often do you think: I’m in the mood for chicken/duck/beef/pork/lamb/fish/vegetables, only to figure out afterwards how and what exactly.

A whole duck from the oven? Piece of cake

The design is just like Stern himself: young and energetic. With lots of arrows and so-called flat lay photography: photographs taken straight from above, making all the ingredients equally visible. Everything is clearly aimed at (inexperienced) beginners.

The recipes for fish cakes, Vietnamese pho and quick Turkish pizza, among others, also fit seamlessly into the taste world of Stern’s generation. But even something slightly intimidating for beginning cooks, such as a whole duck or pork belly from the oven, turns out to be a piece of cake thanks to Stern’s approach.

And that makes this cookbook a perfect gift for anyone moving out on their own. Even if it’s because of a divorce.

Smart One-Person Meals, Sam Stern
€ 22,50
Good Cook
Image: Lisa Linder