Page 32 - Delicious - UK (February 2020)

Why I LOVE
February
If you asked a dozen people to name their favourite month of the year, it would be a gentle
surprise if even one of them mentioned February. Yet according to Kate Young, this frostiest of
seasons has so much to offer – you just need time, calm and a warm kitchen to appreciate it
s I write, rain
is drumming
A against the
windows, there’s a pot
of tea being kept warm
beneath a cosy on my
desk, and a potato is in
the oven. Winter has
begun in earnest and I am thrilled. But
while it’s in no way unorthodox to rejoice
when November and December arrive
each year (twinkly lights! mulled wine!
velvet dresses! festive films!), I often feel
alone in my abiding love of those first cold
months of the new year.
To romanticise February is, of course,
to speak of privilege – the privilege of
having a warm sitting room to cosy up in,
of watching the rain fall from inside, of
having plenty of food to put in the oven.
Even with all of this, there’s no denying
the grey, wet days, the relative dearth of
fresh fruit and vegetables, the gnawing
guilt of abandoned resolutions. For many,
the shortest month of the year is one to be
pushed through, rather than luxuriated in.
But in case you’re looking to be won over,
there are reasons I happily anticipate the
arrival of February each year.
REASON 1: HIBERNATION
February is tailormade for embracing
the idea of hunkering down and leaving
your house as little as possible. It’s for
time spent with knees beneath blankets.
It’s the anti-December. A zero-party
season. It’s for catching up with
comfortable, dependable friends
– ones I am happy to greet at the door
while dressed in cosy socks and a
jumper. In the same way, it’s a month
for comfortable, dependable recipes – my
old favourites, dishes I know intimately
and that don’t invite any experimentation:
buttery crumble that’s always perfectly
crisp on top, and lasagne that I still make
the way my mum does.
REASON 2: A WARM KITCHEN
Unlike in summer, when I actively avoid
turning on the oven, February is when
I value my kitchen the most. Its long
nights are calling out for warmth, the
kind my kitchen can provide by means
of fish pies, steaming pots of mussels
and an abundance of mashed potato.
At the weekend, there’s time for
marmalade-making, cake-baking
and dishes that require hours in the
oven. Outdoor projects can wait. In
winter, weekends are never more
appealing than when spent anticipating
what will soon be pulled from the oven.
REASON 3: A SENSE OF CALM
After the inescapable intensity of the
festive season – the endless parties, the
bustling streets – the first months of the
year serve as a recalibration of sorts; a
chance to regroup and recover. In winter,
things move more slowly: a kettle takes
longer to boil, the oven more time to heat
up, bread rises almost imperceptibly. After
frenetic December, when it feels like my
feet barely touch the ground, it’s just what
I need at home: a reason to move through
my daily tasks with a little less haste.
If, despite all this, February doesn’t
fill you with the same joy as it does me,
spring is around the corner. The daffodils
will soon be in bloom, asparagus is mere
weeks away, and the evenings are getting
longer day by day. In the meantime, find
your cosiest socks, turn on the oven and PHOTOGRAPHS: JAMIE DREW, GETTY IMAGES
make the most of the calm and quiet.
Kate Young is a food writer, blogger
and cookbook author.