We need to give up this pretence of effortlessness and start calling the dish what it is: a laborious meat-and-cheese architecture project
What is this “rustling up a lasagne” thing – apart from a straightforward contradiction? Nobody ever says they’re rustling up a shepherd’s pie, or a moussaka, or a three-layered chocolate cake. But a lasagne? Sure thing.
I have a clear memory of the moment when, only recently out of our student years, a friend first pulled this misrepresentation out of her hungover hat. It was the day after a party, with a big clear-up under way and an agreed need for carbs. There was exhaustion, there were bin liners in hands, but she was busy “rustling”. And then, a mere few hours of laborious cooking and construction later, there it was on the table: the absolutely standard lasagne, in its “oh this old thing” white baking dish.
Keren Levy is a London-based freelance writer. She has been published in The Guardian, the Spectator and on BBC Worklife.