The Bachelor Chef

by Andrew Vicari (Illustrator)

"How to ‘score with girls’ in 1965….Simon Tiffany’s ‘The Bachelor Chef’ (Arlington Books 1965) is the type of book which would be near impossible to publish today. Even for the 1960s, it is an eye-watering ‘guide’ to cooking and more especially on being able to ‘score’ as a result of one’s new-found culinary talents. Illustrated, or, as the credit states, ‘decorated’ by Andrew Vicari, it is a treasure trove of sexist one-liners which, in today’s society, would virtually guarantee a lonely night in front of the television.... The book is full of tempting recipes and actually, overt sexism aside for a moment, they are gloriously nostalgic in their make up with many dishes now, rather sadly in my opinion, left by the wayside but Simon cannot resist putting his ‘twist’ on them; take Potage Don Juan, or Chicken 007, Pears with a Promise, Ladykiller or Lulu Liver from Languedoc-named after another French cook who, Simon recalls, ‘flung up her hands in that charming way that French country girls have, stretching her blouse to bursting point’……literally no words. I shall leave you with Simon’s take on chilli con carne, for the next time ‘you are expecting a swell bird to dinner with a hot South American casserole’, we must also thank Juanita for the recipe; ‘Who is Juanita? A well-rounded, raven-haired Spanish belle’ here’s how to make Simon and Juanita’s ‘Fry onion, beef, garlic and green pepper in butter. Add a packet of tomato soup and water. Bring to the boil. Add kidney beans and chilli powder, Cover pan and allow contents to simmer gently for half an hour. Boiled potatoes or HANDSOME HUNKS OF FRENCH BREAD make a good foil for this dish (?!) If you should want to stretch it for the unexpected guest, add a tin of peas or mushrooms’" From retroculturati.com (February 26, 2018)

171 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Bryan Higgs]

As the illustrator says "[this] is the type of book which would be near impossible to publish today. Even for the 1960s, it is an eye-watering ‘guide’ to cooking and more especially on being able to ‘score’ as a result of one’s new-found culinary talents."

I was given this book on my 22nd birthday (more than 59 years ago, as of this writing!), while I was an undergraduate at Liverpool University. Apparently, I was already known as a burgeoning cook - at least by the person who gave it to me. Since then, I have become known as a pretty good amateur chef, and have a amassed a ridiculous number of cookbooks. And I have never read this book, nor (to my memory) used any of the recipes it contains. Perhaps I shall remedy that, some day. As a result, I never took the advice presented in the chapter "How to Score with Girls" - to be honest, I was a very late developer.

Yes, it is a sexist book, but I (and others) can chuckle at what it represents of the decade of the 1960s.