Wednesday's Daily Telegraph had a story that a government study has found that some recipe books are easier to read than others. The Department of Innovation, Universities and skills has found that some recipes with long sentences and complicated words mean that users need to be equipped with GCSE standard reading skills.
Well isn't that what children are supposed to finish up with these days? Or do their "civic" lessons not leave enough time on the timetable to master reading? Anyway the implication seems to be "Nigella bad, Gordon and Nigel good". Haven't the government got better things to do? When I buy a cookery book it is nice to get one with easy straightforward dishes. And for the process of cooking to be described in a way I can understand. Some writers can make anything complicated — just don't buy a cook book written by a man whose normal job is writing manuals for video recorders. But I don't need the government to interfere. Why stick at recipes anyway? What about novels? Lets see how Salmon Rushdie compares with Agatha Christie. And that guy Chaucer has a lot to answer for — but it's too late to rap his knuckles.
