RECIPES JANNEKE VREUGDENHIL PHOTOGRAPHS FLOORTJE VAN ESSEN-INGEN HOUSZ EDITED BY DANIELLE WOODWARD
When Dutch cook Janneke Vreugdenhil split up from her husband, her life was turned upside down. After surviving for months on smoothies and shop-bought soups, the turning point came when Janneke found herself simultaneously crying and laughing on the kitchen floor, realising that ‘it all sucks big time and everything is down to me from now on, but I’m still alive’. From that point, she realised that she could live on her own and actually enjoy it, too. ‘As the rawest of my grief began to recede, my interest in food returned, and with it, myenjoyment of cooking,’she says. ‘It was my way of giving pleasure to others and I was learning that I deserved that kind of pleasure, too. Now I know that cooking for yourself is nothing less than an exercise in loving yourself.’
With practical tips and easy recipes, she focuses on changing the stereotypes of solo cooking: ‘It’s not just a matter of quartering a recipe meant for four. The challenge is to make a proper meal using just a few ingredients and not spend too much time doing it.’And the best bit of all? You only have yourself to please.