''Len Deighton's Action Cook Book'' is a 1965 collection of cookery strips (known as a
cookstrip
Cookstrips are recipes drawn as black and white graphics with short instructions. They were invented by Len Deighton while studying at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s. Deighton, who is a keen cook, originally drew the cookstrips as instructi ...
, an invention of
Len Deighton
Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels.
After completing his national service in the Royal Air Fo ...
's from his days as a student at the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...
) originally published in the ''Observer'' newspaper, with additional information and notes. Aimed at "an audience of men unskilled at knowing their way around the kitchen", the book has been described as a cult classic from the period and helped pave the transition from cooking being only for women, into being a sophisticated expectation of a modern man.
The book was reissued in 2009 by Harper Perennial (an imprint of
Harper Collins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...
) with original content and artwork, the 2nd edition of the cover artwork, and an additional updated introduction.
In popular culture
At least one of the
cookstrip
Cookstrips are recipes drawn as black and white graphics with short instructions. They were invented by Len Deighton while studying at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s. Deighton, who is a keen cook, originally drew the cookstrips as instructi ...
s from ''Observer'' is pinned up in Deighton's spy hero's kitchen in the 1965 film of his 1962 novel ''
The IPCRESS File
''The IPCRESS File'' is Len Deighton's first spy novel, published in 1962. The story involves Cold War brainwashing, includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a United States atomic weapon test, as well as information about Joe One, the ...
''.
The cookbook was mentioned in an episode of ''
The Supersizers...'',
[Coveney, T., 2008. The Supersizers Go...Seventies.] focusing on the extremely high quantities of alcohol required for a 1970s cocktail party. Here Len recommends half a 70 cl bottle (35 cl) of hard spirit (e.g.
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...
,
vodka
Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...
, etc.) per person every two hours of a party, increasing to three-quarters (52.5 cl) of a bottle per person after 2 hours "since drinking will increase if they haven't gone home by then" (p126). This equates to 87.5 cl of spirits per person for a four-hour party.
See also
*
Len Deighton bibliography
References
{{Reflist
1965 non-fiction books
British cookbooks
Books by Len Deighton