I was reading the history of the New York Times' most requested recipe and it got me thinking, what does it take to make a dish so enduringly popular? In my mind, it comes down to three key ingredients: elegance, simplicity and adaptability.
When I consider my go-to recipes, the dishes I love to cook for family and friends, they each have all of these elements. Endlessly versatile pasta dishes, herby salads and rich, sticky cakes – it's food that's familiar, fuss-free and, above all, makes people happy.
These are the kinds of meals I have on rotation for weekend entertaining. While I’ll probably flip through a few Cooked books and usually settle on a theme, at the heart of my planning is what’s going to please a crowd. And that comes back to those classic, universally appreciated dishes. Think crusty loaves of no-knead bread (perfect for pretending you spent hours baking), roast chicken with exotic spices and syrupy lemon-almond cake.
This weekend, I’m going to put on an album, shake up a whisky old fashioned and cook a few timeless favourites, detailed in the menu ahead.
