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 […]
Med – A Cookbook – Review
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 […]
Cooking with Heroes – Review
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 […]
Ottolenghi Test Kitchen – Shelf Love
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 […]
London Explored – Book Review
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 […]
An A – Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy
Rachel Roddy’s paean to pasta. The legions of Rachel Roddy fans have been waiting with excited anticipation for her newly published An A-Z of Pasta (Penguin, Fig Tree). Renowned as an award-winning food writer and columnist in The Guardian, she has garnered a loyal following. Subtitled, stories, shapes, sauces, recipes, this is Roddy’s paean to […]
Sicilia – Review
A love letter to the food of Sicily Ben Tish, the author of Sicilia (Bloomsbury), is an accomplished chef, food writer, restaurateur and teacher. He runs two restaurants in London that celebrate the food of Sicily. Shortly before the first lockdown, my family and I celebrated a milestone birthday at one of these, Norma, a […]
Ripe Figs – Recipe Book Review
Recipes and stories from the Eastern Mediterranean Ripe Figs is a book about resilience as much as recipes. Yasmin Khan has travelled around the Eastern Mediterranean in search of stories about food from refugees who have landed on its shores. While exploring their cuisine and the dishes they have brought with them in their hearts […]
Chasing Smoke with Honey & Co.
Cooking over fire around the Levant In her introduction to Chasing Smoke (Pavilion) – the latest cookbook by the inimitable and much-adored Honeys (Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich) – Sarit writes about her memories of family BBQs in Israel where she grew up. Her job was to ferry the meat from the kitchen to the […]
For The Love of the Sea
A cookbook that celebrates the British seafood community. For The Love of the Sea is an unusual cookbook packed with recipes for fish and shellfish. Compiled by Jenny Jefferies (Meze Publishing), it is a collection of stories told by those who go to sea to catch the fish we eat, who process and cure it, […]