John Maynard Keynes once said “The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” Granted, the great economist may not have been talking about the popularity of cook books, but it still applies.

After all, with new book The 7-Day Basket, it feels as though Ian Haste has moved on from many of the old tropes. The idea is simple: present a shopping list of goods and you then rustle up meals for the next seven days, saving time, food and money.

“It’s been hard to keep this quiet for a year, knowing I had a book deal and a great idea,” admits Ian. “You won’t believe how difficult that is among chef friends. ‘What’s your concept?’ Not telling you!

“Four or five years ago, we moved in with my mother in law. I was shopping in a Tesco Local each night and put all my ingredients together. I’d see the same group of people there every night with the same random mix of food. It became apparent people don’t cook as a chef sees things. I see a chicken breast and think that I can use that in four various meals. The whole idea is if they fill their basket with everything they need for a week, there’s zero waste in that basket.

Ian’s wife Nicola runs a highly successful YouTube channel, but he confesses to being a rookie when it comes to internet fame. “I’m a newbie to YouTube, but my family are the dinosaurs of it.” Ideally, he’d become a home dad, and combine his skills with his channel, Haste’s Kitchen. “It’s a CV for me. I do more work with blue chip brands all over the country. Presenting, cooking and recipe writing to the masses is where I’d like to be.” More haste isn’t
necessarily a bad thing.

Ian Haste’s The 7-Day Basket (£25.99, Headline Publishing) is out on 11 July