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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think jack Monroes recipe book is pretty shit

240 replies

Itsgonnabeacoldone · 04/12/2017 19:58

Secret santa present and i was interested to have a quick look through, but after 10 mins I've decided it's a waste of space and will be going to the charity shop tomorrow.

She often speaks as if she's doing charity work and helping the poorest people with these. But really who would buy it if you were that poor.

She talks about it being inexpensive as you just need a small amount of this and that but you cant just buy half a teaspoon of a spice. It might be useful if you already have the spices and end up broke, but honestly if you already have a collection of spices you are going to know how to use them.

Lots of the ingredients she says you can't buy from the local corner shop and this is where many poor people have to shop.

Some of her sage advice is to just have one type of oil and vinegar. If you are poor that's exactly what you wouldn't do - your not going to be stocking up on half a dozen different types of vinegar if you are skint. If you are not skint then why on earth would you limit the number of oils or vinegars - they are all used for different things.

I can't see who this book would help, if you have access to cheap ingredients you can make cheap food. It just comes all of as very middle class faux help.

OP posts:
pisacake · 04/12/2017 20:51

"Don’t call The Artist formerly known as Jack “she”."

She's a she now, apparently.

MrLovebucket · 04/12/2017 20:51

Not read any of their recipes before but now I need to make the roasted carrot, chickpea & garlic soup Only 26p a portion too Smile

Original poster
Itsgonnabeacoldone · 04/12/2017 20:53

The recipes are just really uninspiring and I don't really think the framing is any good.

It's fine as a basic student book, but just flicking through it you don't ever think oh I must try that or I've never thought of that.

It may help some people that haven't cooked much and have to tighten their belt and stop the ready meals. But anyone that's a half decent cook knows what you can make with basic ingredients.

Not the worst I've read though, Pippa did that ice cube recipe and Delia that Shepard's pie with frozen mashed potato disks and canned mince. Just seems to be all about the ego and promoting themselves rather than food.

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 04/12/2017 20:53

If you look in the world foods section of the supermarket, you can get spices pretty cheaply. It’s not that expensive to build up a little store that makes cheap food eating much nicer.

BarbaraofSevillle · 04/12/2017 20:54

I know. Who on earth does Jack Monroe think she is, suggesting that people can make simple recipes with limited, inexpensive ingredients when everyone knows that the only options on a small budget are Co-op brand Pot Noodles and Chicken Shack specials.

Because anything else is too pretentiously middle class, am I right OP?

A big factor as to whether someone can eat well on a low budget is being able to cook. And JM showed that it is possible, even if you don't have loads of equipment, skill and spices.

pisacake · 04/12/2017 20:56

garlic soup?

contains only 4 cloves of garlic?

needs more garlic.

everything needs more garlic.

Schlimbesserung · 04/12/2017 21:02

I haven't tried all of the recipes, but there are several in A Girl Called Jack which have been real lifesavers for me. In particular there are a couple of very cheap to make soups which my children love.
No writer is going to be able to please everybody. I can't stand Delia Smith's recipes, not one has ever worked out well for me. But that doesn't make her a bad writer, it just means her recipes don't suit me.
If on a very tight budget, there also comes a point where almost nothing will be delicious, the most you can expect is that it's acceptable. JM has done very well to produce such a variety of recipes within a very limiting brief. If you don't like them then fair enough, but they do help some people. And I think most of them are available free online, so you don't even need to pay for a book.

mustbemad17 · 04/12/2017 21:05

Sometimes when you are that flat broke nothing is inspiring. Inspiring food goes out the window for basic food that actually fills you up.

I much prefer JM to the likes of Jamie Oliver - his meals on a budget thing he did on TV was so god damn pretentious it made me want to puke. I guess the secret there is don't tell anyone how big your budget is, hey Jamie!

MrLovebucket · 04/12/2017 21:07

everything needs more garlic.

To think jack Monroes recipe book is pretty shit
Battleax · 04/12/2017 21:09

She is "she" again now isn't, erm, they? Confused

noeffingidea · 04/12/2017 21:11

itsgonnabeacoldone a lot of people don't know how to cook basic cheap recipes though. In fact Jack didn't really know herself until she was put in the position of having to. Making meals out of very few cheap ingredients is a basic life skill that a lot of people in the UK have forgotten or never learnt. Just as an example, my Mum used to make homemade pastry, pies were one of the ways she stretched the food out to feed us all. How many people can make pastry from scratch nowadays? Jack covers things like that.
I already know how to cook cheaply because my Mum taught me, even so I've learnt a few new tricks like making bean burgers out of cheap kidney beans.
Most of the recipes on her blog receive a lot of positive feedback, so presumably there is a demand for them.

mcreedie · 04/12/2017 21:13

I really disagree. Her book got me through some really hard times and taught me how to cook and be resourceful. It is so easy to give up on nutrition when you're on a very tight budget but Jack's recipes showed me to think outside the box and make proper meals out of limited ingredients.

Kittykatmacbill · 04/12/2017 21:19

Never seen the book, but I thought her ‘thing’ was that you can cook tasty interesting food if you build yourself a stockpile of spices/ herbs, get oils in Asian supermarkets etc, so relatively cheaply. Sure I read an article to that effect....

laudanum · 04/12/2017 21:21

You're entirely unreasonable.

Jack works eighty hour weeks, does a ton of charity work and also other projects for free. She's stuck to her morals to the detriment to professional and personal relationships so that she doesn't shit on people who really need help. She has frequently stated that all her recipes are available for free on her website, which over time has only ever been published via a smartphone because she didn't have a laptop or PC. When she did finally get one, it was from the money she got from suing Hatey Gobkins.

NOBODY can go and buy a teaspoon of spices, rich or poor, so that's a ridiculous statement. She shops at charity shops and anything fancy that's she got has usually been donated by a brand, not something she's bought herself. If you went and read her blog and her twitter feed you'd probably be more up to speed, but it seems like you just want to moan about someone who's genuinely looking out for people in poverty, as a direct experience of being in it. If you donate the book to a charity shop, at least it will land in the hands of someone who isn't an ill informed nitpick.

Welshmaenad · 04/12/2017 21:22

I haven't got the new book (hoping to get it for Xmas) but A Girl Called Jack was great, some really lovely cheap recipes that have become family favourites. Who would have thought salmon paste and pasta would be good? But it is, IMO. Don't like the recipes, don't cook them. But don't have a personal go at JM for trying to help people in food poverty eat better. Whether or not you like Jack, they have achieved lots in bringing the issue of food poverty into mainstream consciousness.

TrinitySquirrel · 04/12/2017 21:23

It's actually a really good book. The Plaki and the Aubergine are bloody lovely and are pennies to make.

TrinitySquirrel · 04/12/2017 21:23

(Girl called Jack ^)

Battleax · 04/12/2017 21:24

You okay there laud? Smile

AdoraBell · 04/12/2017 21:24

I’m with BarbaraofSeville

JM didn’t start out to write books. She started out going hungry so that her child could eat. Too many parents are doing the same. Too many young adults either can’t afford what they would like to eat, or don’t know how to cook.

If JM’s book or website help a few people but fail to impress some others then I really can’t see the problem.

Sparklingbrook · 04/12/2017 21:26

I am a bit worried for laud.

Rhodiolia · 04/12/2017 21:28

Ah, there she is.

Trills · 04/12/2017 21:32

I agree with Barbara too.

Original poster
Itsgonnabeacoldone · 04/12/2017 21:32

How on earth does someone sign a publishing deal, sell tens of thousands of book, have a column in a newspaper and years later still not have money to buy a laptop untill after some costly legal battle? Mine was £180. Lots of things he/she claims don't add up.

Do you need a cup of t laud Brew

OP posts:
FormerlyFrikadela01 · 04/12/2017 21:36

I've tried some of her recipes and they're not bad.

However wasn't she basically the "common people" variety of poverty? I thought she grew up very priveliged and basically had a falling out with her parents then refuses to accept help off them???? Not that it matters of course but she's done well for herself being "poor".

PumpkinSquash · 04/12/2017 21:39

YABU. The great thing about Jack's blog/book is that they're full of actual, really easy and really cheap recipes that need hardly any ingredients and you don't have to have any fancy cooking experience to make them either.
Use a different cookbook if you don't like this one, there's plenty out there more to your taste.