Good old bubble and squeak is a much-loved dish in my house. Rather than one ingredient being ‘bubble' and one ‘squeak', the name is thought to refer to the sounds emanating from the frying pan as the dish is cooking,” says Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The success of the show and the books allowed Hugh to establish River Cottage HQ near Bridport in 2004. But why are we so drawn to comfort food? "I've got a slightly highfalutin answer to that, I hope you'll bear with me," says Fearnley-Whittingstall. We can have all those things and they can be truly delicious - and yet better for us than perhaps some of the old-school or conventional versions of those recipes." Tip the spuds into the pan. If they aren't already mashed, crush them roughly with a fork or masher, but keep the texture quite chunky. Let the heat penetrate the potatoes for a minute or two then add all the other veg, and any herbs or flavour bombs, with a little more seasoning. Stir together then press the whole lot down into a rough cake.

People used to making recipes dairy-free or vegan will already have their own preferred method of making standards like batter, but this book seems likely to interest omni households who cater for vegan guests from time-to-time, or who may have one (perhaps newly) vegan resident who isn't the main cook. (The recipes really suit a relaxed family dinner.) For these circumstances , it would be a good idea to consistently include advice for such things, as is done for the lasagna. After a "strange few years", it made sense for Fearnley-Whittingstall to dedicate his latest book to comforting, nostalgic recipes. There are people who actually prefer the taste of the healthier versions that are implicitly denigrated by entrepreneurial millennial vegans like Tegelaar and these café owners. The last time I made a cake with the full amount of suggested sugar, I found it pretty unpleasant, and sugar totally overwhelmed the other flavours. The introduction in Good Comfort, when mentioning reducing sugar in their café cakes, at least recognises people like us exist and are worth catering to: "the few guests who notice this change invariably comment positively: 'I really like that it isn't too sweet'". We've been conned into eating more sugar than we even have a genuine appetite for," he says, good-natured outrage bubbling from his words. For millennia, that was the human race's relationship with food, and it was pretty much all you thought about all day.

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Enjoying something which not only do we love to eat, but has some kind of resonance and a little bit of emotional goodness to it." For him, the challenge was being able to 'healthify' classic comfort dishes - like spag bol, shepherd's pie or crumble - without compromising on the taste. Some dishes took a bit more testing than others.

It becomes tougher sometimes to find the ingredients and turn on the oven - all those things are becoming harder and more expensive. But we still need to do that, because it's what keeps us sane and warm and together." Last time we had friends over for dinner, I made a dessert of home-made avocado ice-cream, with brownies. I should have taken a photo because it was scrumptious, despite the recipe's claim that the brownies had only 91 kcal per serve because they were made with yoghurt instead of butter. I don't care about calories, but I do try to offer desserts that are healthy-ish. OTOH if I'm only going to make brownies once or twice a year, I want them to taste decadent. I asked the River Cottage people online which of their cookbooks they would recommend for a dairy-intolerant omni who enjoys their veg books and who likes cooking soups and stews. The first of their recommendations was this. I was sceptical as it was their most recent publication - maybe they just wanted to shift more copies - but I took a closer look. The book begins with an Introduction. It's the usual cook's philosophy section, which in this case is HFW's mission to recreate comfort foods that are not heavy, cloying, too rich or too sweet. His key principle is 'Go Whole: The more whole, unrefined ingredients we can get on to our plates, the better. But he doesn't just mean the grains and pulses we typically associate with the term 'wholefoods'. He means foods that are whole, or very close to it, when we take them into our kitchens. (I heard these described the other day as 'foods your granny would recognise'.) Minimally processed is ok, so he includes dairy foods such as yoghurt and cheese, and some tinned vegetables (such as low-salt tomatoes canned with just water and a little salt.) He stresses that it's important to get the balance right: overdo the pulses and you're in the danger zone of 'padding'. Likewise, full-on wholemeal flour can take you a little far from textures you know and love, so 'half-wholemeal' is a better choice.We shouldn't be guilt-tripping people into eating healthy food, we should be tempting people to healthy food," he says. He has just finished filming his most recent series, which accompanies his most recent book, River Cottage Every Day. Recipes in his new book, River Cottage Good Comfort, might have a less tooth-rotting amount of sugar in them, but you won't necessarily miss anything. Flavour bombs (optional): 1-2tsp curry paste or powder, or sliced olives, capers and/or chopped anchovies The concept of this book - healthy comfort food with plenty of vegan options - is a perfect fit for the sort of cakes and puddings I want to make: heavy on fruit, lower added sugar, but not full of niche American vegan ingredients. (The best approach I've found so far is to make the cakes in The Seasonal Vegan by Sarah Philpott and reduce the sugar by up to half as per this excellent and methodical advice; see under blended cakes.)