The new rules of hosting
'Baroque' cook Jago Rackham has rewritten the rules on hosting in his new book 'To Entertain'
I’m on the phone to Jago Rackham. He’s taking the call hands-free, as he’s in the middle of prepping a sea bass – and its accompanying roe – that he’s just bought from his local fish van in east London. The groundwork sounds grand, but it’s all for a solo supper, because the friends he’d invited over have just bailed.
He doesn’t mind. In fact, the news prompted a masterclass in how to use his new book To Entertain: Instructions for a Dinner Party. Part cookbook, part memoir and part hosting manifesto, it has a page dedicated to cancellations. ‘When I got the text, I just sent them a photo of that passage from the book,’ he says, which tells readers to give notice, be upfront and not to feign illness. ‘I’m now officially on the record for not caring if someone drops out.’
Rackham is a writer (he has a restaurant column in The Observer) and self-taught cook (‘I don’t call myself a chef as I’ve never worked in a restaurant’). Aged 31, he’s also behind the cult Instagram account @ecstacy_cookbook, which showcases his ‘baroque, over-the-top, messy, medieval’ approach to catering. His style of cooking – which he describes as ‘sort of beastly and rough’ – is often presented with the help of his artist partner Lowena Hearn, and meets the current appetite for food paired with fashion, as spearheaded by one of his culinary heroes, Laila Gohar. Rackham and Hearn made a multi-tiered monochrome cake for Vogue editor Tish Weinstock’s Halloween-themed wedding; he created a six-hour food performance called Greed during Frieze art fair; and recently delivered edible vegetable sculptures for an event at London’s Serpentine gallery.
If these creations sound intimidating, know that his book is altogether more stripped back, featuring everyday recipes such as a lamb shoulder with honey and wine that’s made to be transformed into a ragu the next day. Inspired by the word-first 1950s cookbooks of Elizabeth David and Patience Gray, there are no photos of dishes. Instead, recipes are interspersed with gorgeously vivid vignettes detailing post-party spillages on a tablecloth or the buying of wine glasses at a flea market in France. The book is also punctuated by pencil and charcoal sketches by the painter Faye Wei Wei.
‘She came round to my flat, I made dinner and she sketched.’ Based on photos of Rackham’s food and friends, they capture movement and merriment. The book is deliberately smaller than your average cookbook too: ‘I want people to be able to read it in bed or in the bath.’
As well as notes on choosing music and handling unexpected guests, the message behind To Entertain is to encourage anyone to feel comfortable hosting at home, regardless of income or space. His biggest piece of advice? ‘Remember, people are coming to see you and your friends, not to eat. So don’t panic about the food. And never make something you haven’t cooked before.’ We’ll raise a glass to that.
To Entertain: Instructions for a Dinner Party by Jago Rackham is out now, £22 (Robinson).
