I am lucky enough to have access to what is universally referred to as “The Cottage” (Capital T, capital C). I believe that the term “cottage” is one more often used by Canadians, but the concept is the same worldwide. Whether it is “the cabin”, “the beach house” or in certain circles “our summer home”, the cottage is a place to kick back, laze by the water and let the stresses of the world float away.
The cottage is a place for burgers and barbeques, without the addition of exotic ingredients and complicated kitchen apparatus. It is a place for pottering in the kitchen, for cooking outside and for picnics on boats. It should always be a relaxing place to be and the food served at the cottage should always add to your enjoyment, not take away from it. So above all it should be fuss and stress free.
The only potential problem about a weekend at the cottage is that it often tends to be a study in indulgence when it comes to food. Don’t misunderstand, for me a weekend at the cottage is not complete without the addition of macadamia white chocolate chip cookies. But after a weekend away I often feel like I have eaten from the moment I arrived to the moment I leave (not that there is anything wrong with that mind you).
The point that I am trying to make, albeit is a very round about way, is this. The recipes in this section are simple, flavorful, low stress and low tech. They are things that should be cooked by the barbeque while chatting with friends, or prepared in a kitchen full of people with everyone lending a hand. The recipes in this section do not have a more complicated version because, for the most part, I don’t believe that cottage cooking should be too “staged” so they are in fact a combination of simple and sensational. Cottage cooking is best kept as simple as possible, because after all, the cook is on vacation too.
