Derry-born author inspired by mother to write cookery book with a difference

A Derry-born multi-prize winning author has drawn inspiration from her late mother to write her newest publication - a cookery book with a difference.

'How to be a bad Cook' is the latest offering from Ruth Finnegan FBA OBE and is a fun, witty read full of tips and advice about how to cheat in the kitchen, and be a good enough cook, as well as having fun along the way.

The 90 year-old admits that the book, which has already been receiving fantastic reviews, was inspired by her mother who cooked for the family at her Irish open fire, with no running water, a minimal budget and three hungry children to feed.

Born in College Avenue at Magee, where her father was a professor and later the president of the university, Ruth is an academic - an anthropologist - and has written numerous novels, screen plays as well academic works, many of which have won awards.

With three daughters of her own and a full time career, Ruth had to discover quick, easy ways to feed a family of five - albeit with lots of trial and error along the way.  

Not only is the book full of simple, nutritious, easy peasy recipes but it also weaves in the history of food and cooking with fascinating and interesting facts such as the history of some of our basic, staple ingredients including eggs, oats, salt, pepper and coffee. 

“It is not my traditional kind of book,” said Ruth, who now resides in the Shenley Wood area of Milton Keynes.

“It was very inspired by my mother. I wanted to write something light that would also make people laugh and be useful to them. I wanted to help bad cooks who are too stiff and worried about cooking and making sure that they cover everything in the recipe book, like a quarter of a pinch of this or that, or that strange ingredient that they have never heard of before.

“I want people to relax and just think to themselves 'what is cooking?' It's about making the food you have in your larder and then sharing it with your friends and the people you love. People have been cooking for millenia and we should be proud to be part of that tradition.

“My mother was a great woman who managed to cook in just one pot. Milk and potatoes were mostly what she made. Back then there was no road to the cottage, no nearby shops, no electricity and no indoor sanitation, but she managed.”

ABOVE: The Finnegans pictured outside the cottage at Clonmass in 1963 – L-R: Diarmid (brother) Agnes (mother), Ruth, Tom (father) Owen (brother). Missing from picture is Ruth's brother David who was abroad at the time.

In the book, which is illustrated with quirky cartoons, Ruth explores lots of imaginative potato and other root vegetable recipes as well as careen jelly, an unusual pudding made with dried seaweed, melted chocolate and milk.

While Ruth, who has a first class honours in Classics and a doctorate in Anthropology from Oxford, spent much of her working life in Africa, America and England, she has fond memories of her hometown of Derry and also nearby Donegal.

Ruth's father Tom Finnegan, a native of Belfast, was responsible for opening up Magee to Catholics and is something that she is 'very proud' of.

ABOVE: Ruth, pictured here as a 4 year-old with her father Tom, has great memories of her childhood in Derry.

Her mother, Agnes (nee Campbell) came from a well-known Protestant nationalist family in the city.

Ruth said she and her family became 'very integrated' with Derry before they were forced to move to a cottage in Clonmass, Donegal after the American Navy decided to set up a base in their home in the city.

“I was seven at the time and I had two younger brothers. My mother had to stay in Donegal but my father had to go back to Derry to work. My father cycled for five hours to get to us at the weekends, often in darkness” she recalled.

“My parents weren't at all well off, even though he was a professor, but they managed.”

Ruth later attended a Quaker school where she became good friends with a young girl who would later become one Britain's greatest actors, Dame Judi Dench.

Ruth said her time at the school had 'a big influence' on her.

She later went on to become a founding member of the academic staff of the pioneering Open University where she spent the rest of her career.

In addition to her many books, both fiction and non-fiction, Ruth has written 13 screenplays, three of which have been produced as movies.

'How to be a bad Cook' can be purchased via Amazon here is available as paperback or Kindle.