A Seventy Year Reign and a Special Place in our Hearts. How are you planning to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee? Did you know that Queen Elizabeth II is the only British monarch to have celebrated a Platinum Jubilee?  It’s no wonder we are all celebrating.  There are so many events lined up across the […]

Modern, fuss-free vegetarian cooking Your Daily Veg (Kyle Books) by Joe Woodhouse is like a breath of fresh air in the kitchen. The recipes manage to be both accessible and sophisticated. From a simple preparation of green beans to a brilliantly purple beetroot terrine, both budding cooks and those with decades on the clock will […]

Four seasons of home cooking – Venice by Russell Norman. Russell Norman is the restaurateur most associated with Venetian cuisine in London where his restaurants, inspired by the traditional bacari (wine bars in Venice), have served up cicchetti and other delights for many years. His earlier cookbook, Polpo, brought many of these recipes into our […]

A new pan, a new book and a new recipe I am someone who likes to relax at the end of the day by going into the kitchen to cook dinner. I like to potter about and take my time. Ramsay in 10 (Hodder and Stoughton) was therefore a challenge for me as not only […]

London’s mainline stations reveal their splendour Trains being my favourite mode of transport, coupled with a penchant for arriving early for any departure, has afforded me the good fortune of spending time in most of the railway stations featured in a newly published book, London’s Great Railway Stations (Frances Lincoln). Written by transport historian, Oliver […]

Claudia Roden revisits the Mediterranean Claudia Roden’s newly published cookbook, Med (Ebury Press), is a collection of some of her favourite recipes. Roden is not simply a food writer, she is a cultural anthropologist whose books are intricately researched culinary histories of the Levant, Spain, Italy, Jewish cuisine and more. Her international influence is enormous […]

The Royal British Legion centenary cookbook Cooking with Heroes (St James’s House) is a triumph of a cookbook. Published to celebrate the centenary of The Royal British Legion, it runs to over 460 pages. The book is composed partly of recipes created by an army of chefs, some literally from the armed forces and others […]

Relaxed, flexible home cooking with Shelf Love by  Ottolenghi Ottolenghi Test Kitchen – Shelf Love (Ebury Press) is making a splash in the world of Ottolenghi devotees who form a global band of merry home cooks. I am a proud member of that gang and happily devour every new book that is published. Shelf Love […]

Secret, surprising and unusual places to discover. If your coffee table books could do with refreshing, look no further than a copy of London Unexplored (Frances Lincoln) taking pride of place. The third in a series of magnificently photographed books on London (Unseen London and London Uncovered being the first two), this volume reveals 60 […]