The delicious joy of cooking for one

I like to think of myself as the hostess with the mostest. A combination of my Type A personality, Jewish feeder tendencies and coming of age at the peak of Nigella’s Domestic Goddess era means I can’t resist pulling out all the stops if I’m having people over. (A theme! Welcome cocktails! Ingredients sourced from far-flung corners of Waitrose!) And yet the truth is, there’s no one I’d rather cook for than myself.

It wasn’t until my late teens that I properly learnt my way around a kitchen. My mum always did all the cooking at home, so it was only when I moved 100 miles up the M1 to university that I finally had the impetus to explore. 

My early attempts were pretty dismal; raw-in-the-middle jacket potatoes stand out as a particular low point. But over time, I became more adventurous and learnt to listen to my instincts – and my cravings.