The Zero Fucks Cookbook is best summed up by author Yumi Stynes' ten commandments:
Thou shall not fuss.
Thou shall use the whole tub or container of something, rather than leave an
annoying, unusable amount in the bottom.
If a step can be simplified, shortened or skipped altogether, it will be.
Thou shall always opt for healthier food, making thou sexier.
Marshmallows do not count as an ingredient. Nor does Coca Cola nor French Onion
Soup. Thou art busy, not a bogan.
Thou shall never apologise. You cooked. That is enough.
When it is written “best quality” – eg, “use 200g of best quality
bacon” – it means the best quality you can afford. “Best quality” does
not equal “most expensive”.
Thou shall accept help. If you are in a situation where you have zero fucks left
to give, and someone offers to help chop, or bring a plate, or a salad, or buy a
cake for dessert SAY YES.
Thou shall follow the recipe! Every other chef says “be creative”. NO.
I say, “FOLLOW THE RECIPE”. Every recipe has been carefully checked and
tested by people who give vastly more fucks than you do. Trust them. Get
creative later.
Thou shalt have fun.
Yumi's book shows how it is possible to adhere to these principles AND enjoy
delicious, tasty fuss-free food. It is divided across five chapters: weeknights;
barbecue; snacks, emergencies and other moments of desperation; sweet stuff; and
weekends. The key is celebrating her love of eating and cooking, without
unnecessarily complicating meal time in an already busy family household.
About the Author
Yumi Stynes is a writer, broadcaster, television presenter, food fanatic, former cook, fitness enthusiast and mother-of-four.
Among her daily responsibilities she presents a national radio show on the KIIS network called The 3pm Pickup. She hosts a new ABC podcast called Ladies, We Need to Talk which has consistently rated at number 1 on the iTunes charts, and zeroes in on forbidden conversations that women need to have. In 2018 she'll be fronting a couple of documentary television projects and in April she intends to take two of her children on an 84km bushwalk through the Tasmanian wilderness.
Yumi grew up in rural Victoria with a Japanese mother and finds Japanese-Australian cooking a natural fit – and in Zero F*cks Cooking, shows off some insanely easy tricks that make it easy for anyone to make Japanese food at home.
In Yumi's busy life she's always been and remains the only cook in her household and thus quite an expert in inclusive and easy food. In her Zero F*cks approach she encourages the home cook to unshackle themselves from guilt and stress and enjoy what can be done simply and well.