Jill Dupleix is a hugely successful Aussie food writer, a red-hot food journalist for various newspapers and magazines and a writer whose books - New Food, Favourite Food and Take Three - are published throughout the world. And her peers don't like it.
Look at this little titbit, for example, from a review of Dupleix's newest Australian book, Old Food, in the Australian magazine Divine Food & Wine: "Old Food is a deeply disturbing book for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the patronising tone in which it has been written. Like an adult talking to a child, all responsibility to think, on the part of the reader, has been removed. Not only is this an insult to one's intelligence, but it is also obvious that Dupleix wants to play God, looking down on the millions of misguided, unthinking mere-mortals, dishing out learned advice by the bucketful".
Ouch! " . . . it is also obvious that Dupleix wants to play God". Phew! And I thought she was just writing a few recipes. Which, it turns out, is just what Dupleix was doing, for the author goes on to admit that, "The one saving grace are the recipes themselves. Tried and true, good honest cooking. No amount of bullshit can ever detract from them". The one saving grace? Surely good honest cooking is the ONLY saving grace any cookery book needs? Poor old Jill Dupleix. The only Australian person I have ever heard saying a good word about her was . . . her editor on The Sydney Morning Herald.
Well, I think Jill Dupleix is good news. She isn't a good writer. In fact her prose gives far too many hostages to fortune - "Rice is good. Cheese is good. Toast is brilliant. Baconliness is close to godliness". Eh, yeah, sure - but she manages something which is, I think, quite important in an age when fewer and fewer people have cooking skills: she creates food that is good, and which can be prepared by anyone.
With Dupliex, you don't need any skills. All you need, in fact, is an appetite. Far from playing God, what Dupleix does is to modestly play the part of John the Baptist: she brings a simple message of good news, which is how to get to grips with good food.
Just look, for example, at this couple of very jolly and very easy holiday brunch recipes from Take Three, her newest book to be published here. The core idea of the book is that you make each dish with three main ingredients. This is not a new idea, and Dupleix stretches the concept for all it is worth - her three ingredients always need bulking out with store-cupboard stuff.
But the food is attractive, and because she understands that we want to put something good on the table with minimum palaver and maximum flavour, she makes the recipes effective. The third recipe is from her book New Food, and is a real lip-smacking dessert.
Prosciutto, Pumpkin & Egg
500g (1lb 2oz) pumpkin
8 thin slices prosciutto, bacon or pancetta
4 eggs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat oven to 200 C/400 F/Gas 6. Hack the pumpkin into four chunky wedges (peel it if you like, but you don't have to) and arrange on a baking tray. Scatter with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for an hour until the wedges are soft and golden brown.
Arrange the prosciutto or bacon slices flat on a sheet of foil, then bake or grill for a few minutes until crisp.
To poach the eggs, fill a wide shallow pan with water to a depth of 5cm (2in) and bring to a rolling boil. Add the vinegar, which will help the whites to set.
Turn off the heat, crack open an egg and drop it quickly but carefully into the water. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Cover the pan immediately, and check after 3 minutes. The whites should be set, but the yolk should be soft and runny.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on several folds of kitchen paper. Trim any messy edges with scissors. Arrange the pumpkin on four serving plates, tuck in the prosciutto or bacon slices, and top with a poached egg. Serves 4
Tortilla, Cheese & Spinach
2 large bunches spinach, washed
1 mozzarella cheese or 6 bocconcini (small mozzarella balls)
6 flour tortillas, 18cm (7 in) in diameter
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Roughly chop the spinach, discarding stalks. Stuff it into a large saucepan with 250ml (9 fl oz) of water and jam on the lid. Bring to the boil and cook gently for 5 minutes until it wilts to a glossy green mass. Remove, drain and cool.
When cool, squeeze the spinach in your hands to wring out excess water. Chop finely and set aside.
Slice the cheese finely and set aside. Heat a non-stick frying pan for 1 minute over a moderate heat. Lay out 4 tortillas and spread each one with a quarter of the spinach, right to the edges.
Arrange slices of cheese over the top and scatter with salt and pepper. Top with another tortilla. Place one tortilla sandwich in the hot pan and dry-fry for 2-3 minutes until the cheese just starts to soften. Turn carefully and fry on the other side. Slide out of the pan onto a plate and keep warm while you make the remaining sandwiches. Cut each one into six wedges and serve. Serves 4
Sticky Lime Pudding
2 tablespoons butter
half cup sugar
2 tablespoons plain flour, sifted
grated rind of 2 fresh limes
juice of 1 fresh lime
1 cup milk
2 free range eggs, separated
Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add flour, lime juice and rind. Add milk and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until stiff, and fold into mixture.
Pour into a buttered ovenproof dish, and bake at 180C (350F) for 20 to 30 minutes until top is golden.
Serve warm with lightly whipped cream.
Take Three by Jill Dupleix, Conran Octopus, £20