Cooking for Two.

John Abbott is a professor of history at Laurentian University’s Algoma University College. He is the co-author of The Border at Sault Ste Marie and The History of Fort St. Joseph.

Cooking for one is a big deal; cooking for two is not. So what are the merits of the book under review? James Barber has a ready answer to that question. Cooking for two is not about making food enough for two but rather two people making food. Unlike some rather more cynical cooks, James Barber believes that sharing the kitchen can strengthen a relationship. Cooking, he submits, “ought to be a shared courtship, a foreplay to the intimacy of a shared dinner.” Invoking the idea of the “dance” perfected by good line cooks, he offers it as a model by which the minds and bodies of two people can be choreographed to promote a closer, more intimate approach to the preparation of the common meal. Most of the recipes suggest ways to divide the work. For example, when making sweet and sour salmon, one watches over the stove, the pan, the oil and the salmon, while the other stirs up the brown sugar, liquids, and seasonings. A thoughtful chapter suggests holiday dinners for two on Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

His recipes, though relatively simple in terms of ingredients, stages, and utensils, are imaginative and eclectic, drawn from a wide range of international styles. Each chapter begins with friendly advice. The secret of seductive appetizers is the smell. For satisfying soups, start with the best possible stock. Introduce eggs to increase options or add pasta to learn the charms of herbs and spices. Vegetables teach sensitivity—to tease out the subtle flavours, couples should try blending various oils and vinegars. Beans and rice (which Barber associates with purity and holiness) are challenging, but worth the extra effort. Fish needs to be bought fresh and cooked to a temporal rule. Similar advice also introduces the chapters on chicken, lamb, pork and beans, salads, bread and cakes, and desserts.

Take James Barber’s book, add a dash of imagination, and “cooking, like sex and dancing, is a pleasure … shared.”