The Tale of Nine Meals: A Culinary Revelation in the UK

I heard a statistic the other day and I almost couldn't believe my ears. Apparently, in the UK, the average household cooks just nine different meals confidently and rotates these constantly each week. Intrigued, I delved into some research and found that this fact consistently appears across various reliable sources.

At first, this seemed like a surprisingly small number of meals to know, especially when quite often these involved ready meals and out-of-the-jar sauces. But then I reflected on my own cooking habits before I became more interested in the culinary arts. Sure, I did have a bigger repertoire, but it wasn't that much larger. Perhaps I should not be so surprised after all.

I realised that I also had, almost a winter and summer list of recipes, which makes it feel like I used to cook a lot more different meal. But why is it that, with so many options available, we end up cooking the same meals week in and week out? Is it a lack of cooking skills, imagination, knowledge, or time?

For me, I always had good intentions. I believe it was primarily a lack of time that stopped me from exploring new recipes. There was also always a worry that I might cook something that nobody would like. I recall several times when I tried online recipes that turned out to be nothing like what I expected. These experiences often discouraged me from experimenting further.

Breaking the Cycle: A Path to Culinary Diversity

For me breaking that limited choice was a conscious decision to try one new idea a week, even if the family were not happy with the results and in fairness, they were far more forgiving than I expected. 

What if you tried one new recipe each week?  You’d be experimenting with 52 different ideas over the course of a year, which is almost six times more than the average nine recipes that most people stick to. Even trying one new recipe a month would double the number of different recipes you cook from compared to the average person.

We’re now adding regular recipes to our website but there are thousands of ideas out there.  We hope to make it easier by giving you the key flavours balanced correctly.   More than that though we truly want to encourage you to try new ideas, there are thousands of ideas out there you just need to dip your toes in the water and try one to start your culinary journey.