In-depth cookery book reviews.

Live Fire: Seasonal Barbecue Recipes and Stories of Live Fire Traditions Old and New by Helen Graves

A review of Live Fire by Helen Graves

We love barbecue! But it’s only the last couple of years that we’ve been focused on upping our barbecue game, improving our skills and widening our repertoire of food cooked outside on a charcoal or wood-fired barbecue. We learned loads of BBQ skills attending Marcus Bawdon’s UK BBQ School a few months ago. The other ... Read more »

Indian Vegan & Vegetarian: 200 traditional plant-based recipes by Mridula Baljekar

Indian Vegan & Vegetarian: 200 traditional plant-based recipes by Mridula Baljekar

Glancing at the cover of Indian Vegan & Vegetarian by Mridula Baljekari, with its colourful floral and vegetal design, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a gardening book – it even has the typical heft of one. On opening it we actually said “wow” at the abundant photos of brightly coloured dishes blazing ... Read more »

The Nutmeg Trail: A Culinary Journey Along The Ancient Spice Routes by Eleanor Ford

The Nutmeg Trail by Eleanor Ford

The third cookbook by award winning food writer Eleanor Ford, The Nutmeg Trail shares the recipes and stories of how “centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world’s cuisine“. It’s a truly gorgeous book full of gloriously vivid illustrations, richly narrated history, and stories and food writing that bring the past to life. ... Read more »

Cinnamon and Salt: Cicchetti in Venice by Emiko Davies

Cinnamon and Salt: Cicchetti in Venice by Emiko Davies

Cinnamon and Salt: Cicchetti in Venice: Small Bites From the Lagoon City by Emiko Davies is a cookbook reader’s book, a title for those who are as eager to read about the culture, history and stories of a cuisine as they are to make the recipes. Cicchetti (pronounced chi-ke-tee) are small morsels of food served alongside ... Read more »

Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around The Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich

Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around The Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich

Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich are the husband and wife chef duo behind the very successful Honey & Co  in London, sometimes affectionately referred to as the Honeys. Hailing from Israel, their food is full of the vibrant colours and flavours of the Levantine region that encompasses Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, amongst others. Their ... Read more »

A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Tea by Per Oscar Brekell

A Beginners Guide to Japanese Tea - Cover

Over the last 10-15 years I’ve developed a real love for and interest in tea, especially Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese teas. Coinciding with my deep love of Japanese food and drink, I’ve researched and learned about the different types of Japanese tea (such as sencha, gyokuro, hojicha, genmaicha, matcha), about their growing and processing, their ... Read more »

Three by Selin Kiazim

Three: Acid, Texture, Contrast – The Essential Foundations to Redefine Everyday Cooking by Selin Kiazim

Selin Kiazim had an unusual and admirable ambition in mind when writing her enigmatically titled cookbook, Three. She wanted to give an accomplished eater and competent “recipe cook” the tools to have the confidence to play with their cooking, to drop their reliance on the stricture of recipes and feel free to create. The secret, ... Read more »

Vegetarian Dishes of the Middle East by Arto der Haroutunian

Vegetarian Dishes of the Middle East by Arto der Haroutunian

Our love affair with Middle Eastern food began at Uni with a Manchester Asian sweet shop that inexplicably also sold Lebanese dishes. It was affirmed by Lebanese buffet lunches of amazing quality, freshness and value, discovered at the Phoenicia restaurant just off Kensington High Street. Although now closed, memories of the tantalising fragrance of garlic, ... Read more »