Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

by Asako Yuzuki

‘You know how in recipes it’ll say “sugar to taste” or “a good amount of salt” and so on? A friend of mine who edits cookery books for a living said that they’ve started having complaints about recipes that leave things to the individual’s discretion. She thinks it’s because people are increasingly worried about making mistakes, and losing faith in their own judgement – they don’t know what “a good amount” looks like for them. When in fact, cooking is all about trial and error.’