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How to Butter Toast
How to Butter Toast is the antidote to cookbook-overload. In this fun and entertaining recipe book without any recipes, Ottolenghi co-writer Tara Wigley equips you with rhymes and confidence to cook great food instinctively. Melted butter on hot toast and served up on a plate.
It seems like nothing, really, could be clearer or more straight.
But though, in terms of things required, the number is just two,
there is a lot of wiggle room for what there is to do. Cook and author Tara Wigley had been to cookery school, read hundreds of cookbooks and developed recipes for over a decade. Yet she found the fewer the ingredients in a recipe, the more confusion there was about how best to make it. The result is How to Butter Toast , a collection of rhymes that will enlighten and entertain, reassure and ultimately liberate the culinarily confused. The rhymes provide reassuring – and memorable – answers to the culinary conundrums we often How long should I boil an egg? What’s the best way to crush garlic? How do I make mayonnaise, a martini or indeed the perfect cup of tea? Tara’s playful take on these food quandaries seems effortless but belies her knowledgeable and carefully researched approach to cooking. Beautifully packaged with bold and witty illustrations throughout, How to Butter Toast is the perfect gift for cooks of all levels. This is the first book in a series Tara is publishing with Pavilion. ‘I can't think of many food authorities who can string together words which are as poignant and profound as they are entertaining and ear-pleasing.’ Yotam Ottolenghi ‘A total joy. Part Dr Seuss, part Ogden Nash, part Julia Child, 100% inspired and inspiring’ Samin Nosrat ‘Fun and wise, Tara manages to capture the kinds of the things we cogitate about – sometimes without even knowing! – and provides reassuring answers to those confusing everyday conundrums. A collection for when you are weary of recipes and cooking, but not of life itself!’ Helen Goh ‘Those who have followed her ditties on Insta since Lockdown will be delighted, but the detail, the skill, the Ballymaloe cookery school training, the years as co-writer with Yotam at Ottolenghi will save serious cooks a fortune in cookery school fees. How she manages to explain chemistry in rhyme is little short of genius .’ Gilly Smith
It seems like nothing, really, could be clearer or more straight.
But though, in terms of things required, the number is just two,
there is a lot of wiggle room for what there is to do. Cook and author Tara Wigley had been to cookery school, read hundreds of cookbooks and developed recipes for over a decade. Yet she found the fewer the ingredients in a recipe, the more confusion there was about how best to make it. The result is How to Butter Toast , a collection of rhymes that will enlighten and entertain, reassure and ultimately liberate the culinarily confused. The rhymes provide reassuring – and memorable – answers to the culinary conundrums we often How long should I boil an egg? What’s the best way to crush garlic? How do I make mayonnaise, a martini or indeed the perfect cup of tea? Tara’s playful take on these food quandaries seems effortless but belies her knowledgeable and carefully researched approach to cooking. Beautifully packaged with bold and witty illustrations throughout, How to Butter Toast is the perfect gift for cooks of all levels. This is the first book in a series Tara is publishing with Pavilion. ‘I can't think of many food authorities who can string together words which are as poignant and profound as they are entertaining and ear-pleasing.’ Yotam Ottolenghi ‘A total joy. Part Dr Seuss, part Ogden Nash, part Julia Child, 100% inspired and inspiring’ Samin Nosrat ‘Fun and wise, Tara manages to capture the kinds of the things we cogitate about – sometimes without even knowing! – and provides reassuring answers to those confusing everyday conundrums. A collection for when you are weary of recipes and cooking, but not of life itself!’ Helen Goh ‘Those who have followed her ditties on Insta since Lockdown will be delighted, but the detail, the skill, the Ballymaloe cookery school training, the years as co-writer with Yotam at Ottolenghi will save serious cooks a fortune in cookery school fees. How she manages to explain chemistry in rhyme is little short of genius .’ Gilly Smith
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 14, 2023
25 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 7, 2025
Didn’t work
Read
January 9, 2025Did I miss something here? I think pages were missing from my online copy. Cute concept, but need to reread, if I can find it.
October 14, 2023
What a cute book! I love anyone who aims to simplify cooking and make it more accessible, plus the illustrations are just lovely. It’s a fun read, and dare I say one you can even read to your kids?! Not all in one sitting but sections here and there. Fabulous :)
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May 2, 2024Thought this was for kids right up to the martini chapter 😂
It’s a cute idea but the rhymes aren’t really there as mnemonic devices, just as a way of expanding what could be quick tips into long poems.
It’s a cute idea but the rhymes aren’t really there as mnemonic devices, just as a way of expanding what could be quick tips into long poems.
April 20, 2025
The audiobook has me wanting to make my own tomato sauce, hummus, and maybe learn how to make jam. Freshly made jam on freshly made bread sounds like heaven to me.
I really appreciate how this book has made me feel more confident and excited to try making things I've never made, and even change up my own recipes.
The poems were so simple and relaxing. I'm looking forward to my reread :)
I really appreciate how this book has made me feel more confident and excited to try making things I've never made, and even change up my own recipes.
The poems were so simple and relaxing. I'm looking forward to my reread :)
October 22, 2025
I struggled through this.
Yes some tips could have been helpful but I found the rhyming aspect too convoluted. It made simple ideas about cooking seem very roundabout.
Overall I think I picked up one or two tips but other than that everything else was confusing.
Yes some tips could have been helpful but I found the rhyming aspect too convoluted. It made simple ideas about cooking seem very roundabout.
Overall I think I picked up one or two tips but other than that everything else was confusing.
August 20, 2024
3.5 stars - that was fun!
November 20, 2024
Fun, but too many britishism for this reader.
January 17, 2025
Cute, and now I always add my milk first before coffee
February 16, 2025
Delightful, whimsical and practical!
October 29, 2025
Reflections and lessons learned/the content of this book made me feel…
…that the concept of the book is of course cheesy (mmmm… cheese course…) but it might help many people to remember these skills!
…that the concept of the book is of course cheesy (mmmm… cheese course…) but it might help many people to remember these skills!
June 25, 2024
Brilliant concept, wonderfully executed!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews