Stomach-churning meals you will NEVER want to cook! New recipe book based on discarded shopping lists features delicacies like kitchen roll pie and rat poison ragu

  • Photographer Thomas Lakeman worked on the 112-page project
  •  À La Cart'  features some of the world's quirkiest recipes
  • Currently trying to raise funds on Kickstarter so the book can be printed 

A salad of crisps and bacon studded with artfully arranged Silk Cut cigarettes sits next to a burger featuring two nine volt batteries, a ragu made from rat poison, and a kitchen roll chicken pie. 

They certainly aren't the most appetising of meals but that hasn't stopped South London photographer Thomas Lakeman from publishing an ode to these bizarre dishes.

The 31-year-old's impeccably styled and beautifully shot cookbook A La Cart is a photographic series of imaginative recipes made using all the ingredients on discarded shopping lists found in supermarkets across London. 

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9 Volt burger features two GV batteries stuffed into fruit bread and accompanied with flowers and vegetables

9 Volt burger features two GV batteries stuffed into fruit bread and accompanied with flowers and vegetables

Cat food cupcake featuring a cupcake made with cat food and sweetcorn topped with cotton wool and a candle

Cat food cupcake featuring a cupcake made with cat food and sweetcorn topped with cotton wool and a candle

The book is currently being crowd sourced through Kickstarter, and Thomas hopes there will be enough pledges to buy it. 

He told FEMAIL: The book features 112 pages of colour photographs and will be crowd sourced through Kickstarter. 

'People can pledge to buy the book and by doing so it allows us to generate enough pre-orders to print the first run of the book.'

Japanese Cotton Noodles: Cereal with cotton buds and chopsticks

Japanese Cotton Noodles: Cereal with cotton buds and chopsticks

A toilet roll pastry with bird food, soy beans, white sauce and leeks, held together with Pritt stick

A toilet roll pastry with bird food, soy beans, white sauce and leeks, held together with Pritt stick

Thomas who confesses to collecting discarded items first came up with the idea of the cookbook about a year ago. 

He said: 'I've been collecting peoples discarded items for years. My work looks at personal identity and what you can tell about people from their belongings. 

'I've been collecting shopping lists for the past eight years but it wasn't until recently that I decided they weren't shopping lists at all, but recipes.'

A dish of tongue with cornflakes, cheese and sausages and bottles of orange and lemon juice

A dish of tongue with cornflakes, cheese and sausages and bottles of orange and lemon juice

Toilet rolls stuffed with tinned fish and vegetables with an olive oil glaze (right) and the recipe on the left 

Toilet rolls stuffed with tinned fish and vegetables with an olive oil glaze (right) and the recipe on the left 

A sandwich with mayo and three 13 AMP plugs
Plug sandwich

Pictured: A sandwich with mayo and three 13 AMP plugs features in the book 

The beautifully shot images were styled by Italian stylist, Caterina Gobbi, and were taken in his home studio. 

Each of the 'dishes featured has an accompanying recipe printed next to the shopping list. 

Thomas continued: 'Each dish has a recipe that's been written by a very amusing food and travel writer, Nick Savage. 

'They're written in a very dead-pan serious tone, in keeping with traditional cookbooks.'

Thomas's wife Gee models the fruit and veg facemask made with lemons, sweetcorn, onions and beans 

Thomas's wife Gee models the fruit and veg facemask made with lemons, sweetcorn, onions and beans 

Silk Cut salad with green leaves, crisps and what seems to be bacon 

Silk Cut salad with green leaves, crisps and what seems to be bacon 

Chocolate meatball salad with leaves, chocolate and meatballs, served in a kitchen roll wrap 

Chocolate meatball salad with leaves, chocolate and meatballs, served in a kitchen roll wrap 

Shopping list: Juice, washing up liquid and strawberry mousse
Shopping list: Chicken, mushroom and toilet rolls

Discarded shopping lists: Juice, washing up liquid and strawberry mousse (left) and chicken, mushroom and toilet rolls (right) were just some of the items people had reminded themselves 

Sophisticated styling: Pudding of strawberry mousse with a washing up liquid foam

Sophisticated styling: Pudding of strawberry mousse with a washing up liquid foam

The making of the Kitchen Roll Pie, built with layers of mushroom, chicken, cured ham,  and kitchen roll. 

The making of the Kitchen Roll Pie, built with layers of mushroom, chicken, cured ham,  and kitchen roll. 

Thomas is currently trying to raise fund on Kickstarter to print his first book,  A La Cart
A drink made from floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, kitchen cleaner, and hand wash features in the tome

Thomas is currently trying to raise fund on Kickstarter to print his first book,  A La Cart (lef).  A drink made from floor cleaner, toilet cleaner, kitchen cleaner, and hand wash (right) features in the tome 

Thomas, who lives in Brixton with his wife Gee Woods, a jewellery designer, and French bulldog puppy Lola, says his book A La Cart is his mother's favourite project but confesses his father is bewildred by the subject matter

'My dad is still a bit confused as to why I'm making a book with recipes for bleach cocktails and mouse poison Ragu!' he said. 

As well as Silk Cut salads, and rat poison ragu, Thomas's inedible cookbook features grotesque gastronomic combinations such as toilet rolls stuffed with tinned fish and vegetables, a dish of tongue with cornflakes, cheese and sausages, and a chocolate meatball salad. 

  

 

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