How to Cook a Wolf

M. F. K. Fisher

This sturdy advice makes working out what to do with the last egg feel like a higher pursuit, rather than an act of desperation.' Guardian The classic book on shopping, cooking and eating with courage and gusto when food is scarce and the wolf is at the door. Since we must eat to live, we might as well do it with both grace and gusto. Written in 1942 to inspire courage in those daunted by wartimes shortages, How to Cook a Wolf has continued to rally readers and cooks during times of both scarcity and plenty. Written with her trademark wit and warm wisdom, Fisher shares her timeless tips for keeping up spirits and appetites when ingredients are in short supply. Instead of regretting what we don t have, she teaches us how to savour what we do, offering dozens of recipe ideas, from soups and simple omelettes, to baking bread and sprucing up tinned food. Knowing that the last thing hungry people need are hints on cutting back and making do, Fisher gives us license to dream, experiment and invent adventurous and delicious meals from whatever we can salvage from the back of the cupboard. When we exist without thought or thanksgiving, writes Fisher, we are not men, but beasts. In How to Cook a Wolf she shows us how to feed our hungers and nourish our souls, even when fear is in our hearts and the wolf is at the door. ' Witty, irreverent and amazingly relevant. Fisher will make you giggle, I promise, but also give you sound advice how to cook with limited ingredients.' Yotam Ottolenghi This reissue of an out-of-print classic has come not a moment too soon: it's the perfect time to revisit Fisher's advice on how "to live most agreeably in a world full of an increasing number of disagreeable surprises".' Telegraph 'It hardly needs saying that comparisons with the war are invidious; even when people were still going bonkers down at Tesco, we were a long way from rationing. But open How To Cook A Wolf a book that at first gracefully, and then more lustily, fully acknowledges we can cope with meagreness of all kinds only for so long - and you'll see immediately that those times, and these times, have commonalities.' Rachel Cooke, Observer 'Makes working out what to do with the last egg feel like a higher pursuit, rather than an act of desperation.' Guardian 'Essential reading . . . Fisher's advice on attitude, thrift, and how to nourish yourself and others in a crisis is newly relevant.' Eater 'Her fans include Yotam Ottolenghi, Ruth Reichl and Bee Wilson. Her voice finds an echo in the writings of Nigella Lawson, Samin Nosrat and more.' Ruby Tandoh, VICE 'The greatest food writer who has ever lived.' Simon Shama 'The most re-readable of all prose stylists.' Bee Wilson, author of First Bite