• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Pick of the food and garden books 2020

December 6, 2020 2 Comments Filed Under: Books, Christmas, Christmas Gifts, Christmas Presents, Food, Gardens, Shopping, walking/hikes, Wine

Food and drink books 2020 pic: Kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Winter Warmers by Jassy Davis (Harper Collins)

A stocking filler for the mixologist, this cute illustrated book, written with customary wit by Jassy, has recipes for mulled drinks, hot toddies, buttered rum, and Mexican hot chocolate with tequila. I discovered last Christmas how Baileys is an ideal substitute for milk in morning coffee. After the privations of lockdown, this book is a joyful paean to letting go over the holidays.

Cook, Eat, Repeat by Nigella Lawson (Vintage)

After a three year gap since her last book, Nigella reflects that: “It’s a strange thing to start a book in one world and finish it in another’. Written during lockdown, there is a contemplative introspection in her food essays on anchovies, rhubarb, the joys of brown food, Christmas food and the quotidian comfort of cooking. There is more writing and less recipes than usual, which for me is a treat as I simply love her writing voice. That said, I want to try the Basque Burnt Cheesecake and the Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread.

Scoff by Pen Vogler (Atlantic)

George Bernard Shaw was referring to accent when he said “It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman despise him” but he could easily be talking about food and class in the UK. Vogler’s thorough research as a food historian gives her the wide perspective to bounce through subjects such as restaurant trends, etiquette, posh foods versus lower class foods, ‘Golden Shred marmalade is declassé while Oxford marmalade is not’, at the same time remaining readable and entertaining.

Carpathia by Irina Georgescu (Frances Lincoln)

Over the last decade cookbooks by Olia Hercules and Caroline Eden, amongst others, have thrown wide a window on the unfamiliar cuisines of Eastern Europe. Georgescu does the same here with Romanian food, a melting pot of influences from Turkey, Greece, Austria and Hungary.  Romania is still very agricultural and the food is highly seasonal. The hunger gap lasts from December to May (our is shorter- from April to May), therefore preservation techniques such as smoking and pickling are vital to last through the lengthy winter. The recipes, simple yet evocative, that I’ve tried work well; I’d like to have a go at the pickled gherkin ragout.

Summer Kitchens by Olia Hercules (Bloomsbury)

The folksy cover with a garland of yellow fruit, posted to me during Lockdown 1, this felt like the perfect cookbook for the season, when the sun shone day after day. The title refers to the separate outdoor kitchens that most people have in the Ukraine, adjacent to kitchen gardens where the fertile soil is known as ‘black gold’. Here families could cook and feast in the shade, and sometimes fruit trees would grow through the roof ‘the underlying intention to try and live in harmony with nature’. As in Romania, the harvest is an opportunity to  ferment, pickle and preserve; sour flavours are incorporated into soups, smeared onto rye bread, folded into salads or to enliven a casserole. There are several recipes for dumplings and fritters, lighter and subtler than you might imagine. The photography is atmospheric reportage.

Red Sands by Caroline Eden (Quadrille)

After the award-winning Black Sea, Eden ventures into four of the five stans of Central Asia’s Silk Road: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Her books are for cooks who are inspired by travel; dusty overland journeys through desert scrubland, glinting oilfields and extreme temperatures of the Steppe. During lockdown, this reader was pierced by vagrant longing, the frustration of not being able to travel. Of the recipes, I want to try the Canned Peach and Sour Cream cake, Sour Cherry Borscht soup, and Prunes cloaked in Chocolate. Beautiful location photography by Theodore Kaye.

Oats in the North, Wheat from the South (Murdoch) and The Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook (Titan)  by Regula Ysewijn 

Regula Ysewijn, a presenter on the Belgian Bake-Off, is in love with British food history. She and her partner, artist Bruno Vergauwen, produce the most beautiful books. Every detail, design, photography and food styling is exquisite. The title refers to the crop division in the UK, similar to the wheat (north) and corn (south) split in Mexico and the butter (north)/olive oil (south) segregation in Italy. In the dedication, she acknowledges the debt that all bakers owe to slaves ‘sugar has a cost, and that cost was held by those in bondage’.

She also wrote and created the historical recipes for The Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook (although while the photography and design of the book isn’t bad, it wasn’t by Regula and Bruno which would have improved it ten-fold. Nice endpapers though). Both of these books would make gorgeous gifts.

Jikoni by Ravinder Bhogal (Bloomsbury)

Jikoni means ‘kitchen’ in Kenya and Ravinder, like most restaurateurs, has had a tough year keeping her eponymous Marylebone restaurant going.  She’s a chef with a witty fusion touch, mixing Asian flavours with British home cooking. This book unfurls her fragrant and glamorous style with recipes such Coconut Kadhi soup with Pea and Potato Pakoras and Clams Moilee (a South Indian broth) with Lemon Vermicelli Upma (a noodle stir-fry) along with memories of her upbringing and family. Despite the exotic names, the recipes are easy.

Home Cookery Year by Claire Thomson (Quadrille)

This thick tome is a good present for the neophyte but adventurous cook, containing 200 recipes split into four seasons. Often using pantry ingredients, it’s a welcome and useful update to Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries. Stuck for dinner ideas? Turn to Winter and make a Miso & Mustard Butter Baked Potato, or Crumpets with Eggs Arnold Bennet or a Sardine Pasty.

A Foodie Afloat by Di Murrell (Matador)

Another travel inspired cookbook from Di Murrell who spent years on a slow barge through the waterways of Northern France, foraging, market grazing and boozing. For all of us who have been stuck indoors for most of this year, ruminate and nibble your way through recipes such as Tarte Maroilles (a stinky Chtimi cheese), Camembert in Puff Pastry and Pears with Roquefort.

The Vegetarian Kitchen by Prue and Peta Leith (Bluebird)

I was pleasantly surprised by this cookbook as I usually don’t like books by TV chefs. I always assume they are ghost written. But Peta Leith, Prue’s niece, is obviously an upcoming talent in food writing. I loved both her recipes and some good old favourites from veteran Prue. I’m going to try the Grapefruit Treacle Tart.

The Pastry Chef’s Guide by Ravneet Gill (Pavillion)

The unfortunate thing with books that are published early in the year is that by the time it comes around to Christmas and the end of year reviews, you’ve forgotten them. Not really forgotten them but they’ve become part of your repertoire, part of the library and you cannot remember whether you got it in 2020 or a couple of years beforehand.

This is why all the top chefs and cooks have their books out in September/October, just in time for Christmas. Small authors avoid publishing at this time because they will be drowned out by the publicity juggernaut that authors like Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater or Nigella Lawson have access to as bestsellers. So it’s a dilemma.

One of the books that I’ve most used this year is The Pastry Chef’s Guide by Ravneet Gill, a young pastry chef. I’ve used many of her recipes, for lemon drizzle cake, for apple cake etc and they’ve all worked very well. Her instructions are clear and well thought out and her experience shows through the writing. Highly recommended.

Burma, Food, Family and Conflict by Bridget and Stephen Anderson 

I discovered this book earlier this year when it was short-listed for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards. I met the Anglo-Burmese authors for a fantastic lunch at the River Café soon after. Stephen has a Burmese fusion restaurant in Valencia, Spain (now a delivery service called Decolonial Food) and his sister Bridget is a lecturer at Bristol University. The book is from the point of view of their grandmother Gertrude, the daughter of Sir William Carr, the Chief Justice of Burma and Ma Khin, a Burmese woman who rolled cheroots (cigars) for a living. ‘Their controversial marriage sent shockwaves through both British and Burmese society.’

The book interweaves personal history, food and politics. I’ve made the fermented tea leaf salad recipe ‘Lahpet Thoke’ which seemed to work well. A wonderful present for those who like a bit of background with their recipes.

Which Wine When by Claire Strickett and Bert Blaize (Ebury Press)

I love any book that makes wine more accessible and I like the concept of pairing junk or snack food with wine. Here takeaways are taken seriously, a good idea in lockdown when we cannot go to restaurants. Match fish and chips with an English blanc de blanc, hamburger with Bordeaux red, a cheese toast with Merlot,  chocolate chip cookies with sweet Marsala, and there are suggestions for homely dishes such as sausage and mash and Spag Bol.

Garden, Nature, and Outdoors books

Great Trees of London map pic: Kerstin rodgers/msmarmitelover.com

Great Trees of London Map by Paul Wood (Blue Crow Media)

Another stocking filler, more of a leaflet than a book. Paul Wood guides us through a snapshot of interesting London trees. Visit the Strawberry Tree in Waterlow Park, the Fig in Amwell Street, the Almond in Stroud Green on your Christmas walks.

The Five Minute Garden by Laetitia Maklouf (National Trust)

I like this sort of book, a small handy size manual you can keep next to the back door. Every so often I pick it up, flick to the month and see what little tasks I can do in the garden. It’s prettily presented and none of the tasks are overwhelming. I just looked at December, I need to clear up the rest of the leaves, do some mulching and buy some hellebores. Laetitia’s point is do five minutes a day and maybe one full day a month in the garden. I like that she has decorative crafty garden projects as well as the mucky tasks.

The Kinfolk Garden by John Burns (Artisan)

This is a large coffee table tome, a real gift book written by the editor-in-chief of Kinfolk magazine. The Kinfolk style has become a meme for understated hipsters.  It isn’t so much for actual gardeners with black fingernails, more for designers who have the time and budget to employ other people. There are plenty of photos of subjects standing around looking moody and cool in large coats. It’s super aspirational but also inspirational. I enjoyed looking at the gardens of artists and architects. A small criticism: the colour printing of the photos seem to lack depth, especially as printed on matte paper, with the effect that the book consists of muted shades of brown. Buy this for the aesthete in your life.

Recent posts

midsummer supper club June 17th 2023 Msmarmitelover

My next supper club: midsummer June 17th

May 28, 2023

I organised a street party for the Coronation

May 10, 2023

The Seafood Shack in Ullapool, Scotland.

May 4, 2023

Previous Post: « A Christmas shopping wish list
Next Post: Tofu recipes for the unconvinced »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gill

    December 7, 2020 at 7:33 pm

    Hi Kerstin
    Really like your blog,as your interests ( food,travel,gardening) coincide with mine! Like you I was grabbed by Peta Leiths grapefruit treacle tart – don’t bother, vaut pas le detour as the Michelin guides don’t say
    I had to google how to segment a grapefruit ( yes I d never done it except with mucky fingers) pink grapefruit – lovely.treacle tart ( actually syrup) also lovely.combo- not so much
    By the time I had painstakingly segmented said grapefruit, borrowed a flamethrower to flambé it and made the whole damn thing I ran out of ooomph.i dont think those flavours / textures go well together at all. ( Though I might concede a bit of citrus zest in the t.t. )
    In short IMO not worth the effort. But I never listen to anyone’s advice !
    Gill

    Reply
    • msmarmitelover

      December 7, 2020 at 7:35 pm

      Thanks Gill. I will take your advice! Thanks for letting me know x

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy cir Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy circa 1987 pic: kerstin Rodgers #rip #tinaturner #rockphotographer #kerstinrodgers #teenagephotographer
Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on war photography in the Ukraine . Go to the exhibition @thebppa @thebargehouse in SE1 last few days 
Had to stop filming cos I was told off. The photographers would be less forthcoming if they were filmed I was told. 
Anyway @frenchpete_1 should be followed by a camera crew cos he’s a star.
For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pas For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pastry quiche and a little one with less blue cheese & no salt for my 7 month old granddaughter. She absolutely loved it. I’m enjoying seeing her experience and explore new foods with baby led weaning. Avocado, strawberries, kiwi & buttered crumpets are a hit. Pasta less so. Who is this child? Are we even related? #babyledweaning #quiche #homemadepuffpastry
Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The natio Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The national newspaper again. These are the stories I love to do: I go off on an adventure, take my time, interview people (especially women), photograph them in their environment and create recipes on site. This story cost me a lot more than I made as I had an accident and lost my excess. My own damn fault though! Loved loved loved having a campervan. Thanks for lending me it @camperdays.international and sorry about the hole in the side.  https://www.thenational.scot/news/23505593.foraging-seaweed-western-isles/
My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @l My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @lk.general.building left yesterday. They’ve been working since January. I had the awning installed, the encaustic Minton tiles removed and put back with green grout. The terrace was causing damp so this had to be done. My calamondin plant is looking lovely. The benches which I repaired with hard wood & I repainted using a mix of 2 colours. The marble table I bought in Suffolk at a car boot. Everything is still dusty & I’m waiting for the window cleaner to arrive.
Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine f Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine for their contribution of these beautiful dry ciders for the coronation street lunch. Gorgeously illustrated labels. #stcuthbertsrd #kilburn #london #cider #artisanaldrinks
When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. It’s smoother. Artisanal distillery @devoncovevodka contributed some bottles to my coronation lunch which gave everyone a feeling of being at a classy party. Thanks so much. And also @rawfoodanddrink for arranging. If you want to read my blog post about how and why I organised this event, copy and paste this link: https://t.co/GWNNW2XKba #coronationstreetparty #biglunch #community #kilburn #london #forthepeoplebythepeople
I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now. They sent a selection: elderflower bubbly, st. Clements orange 🍊 Sicilian lemonade, @belvoirfarm_uk lemonade, which were all delicious and just the tickets for the fortuitous mini-heatwave that occurred on the Sunday coronation lunch. #thankyou #community #coronation #streetparty #biglunch
Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! T Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! Tiny bit in the guardian. Decent pic in the Mail and The Star credit @asproider #coronationlunch #kilburn #stcuthbertsrd #kingscroftrd #fordwychrd #templarhouse
My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, s My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, spinach, cheddar. I used crème fraiche and blind baked puff pastry shells. I was up at 11 last night making these for todays street party, which featured in the mail, telegraph, mirror, metro courtesy of photographer Gavin Rodgers @asproider
Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebr Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebrides with @outerhebrideanforager Fi bird. She’s cutting sea spaghetti. I drove my campervan @camperdays.international from london to the Hebrides- using my gas stove to cook foraged and local ingredients. A real food safari. With the sea spaghetti I made a sea spag vongole with giant parlourdes picked up from the sand at the same time. Great fun, beautiful weather and, the day of the full moon, a wonderfully low tide. This was on south Uist.
More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-ba More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-based version of the original. Beautifully constructed, designed and written by @nikisegnit it’s vegetarian rather than vegan but recommended for both. She widens the sensory vocabulary around plant flavours in this book- encouraging new delicious sounding combinations. Now she includes new categories such as flower & meadow, caramel roasted, zesty roost- just the words make me salivate. #foodbooks #bookstagram #newbooks
Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainman Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainmansion I found out so much about marmalade. I’m going to make it this winter. I found out the worlds best maker is Japanese, in fact I was most impressed by the Japanese marmalades in general. Everyone wore orange. I must have tasted 50 marmalades. I met Paddington’s sister, karen jankel who is michael bond’s daughter, born in the same year as Paddington. She gave a charming talk on Paddington, mentioning how the queen insisted on having real marmalade sandwiches in her @launerlondonofficial handbag during the shoot. The house itself is Tudor and Georgian. I stayed in my campervan from @camperdays.international in the car park, cosy in the rain. Another freewheeling adventure. #yorkshire #marmalade #travel #food #ontheroad #campervan
I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a vegetarian rather than a vegan. How I still need butter. And how restaurants & plane meals are now vegan rather than vegetarian. But, there are still more the double amount of vegetarians as vegans in the UK. I’ve written a vegan cookbook V is for vegan (link in bio) and am a big fan of vegan foods. I’ve not eaten meat for over 40 years. This is a sustainable diet, in terms of longevity. Vegans that I knew from the early noughties have reverted to meat eating. #newpuritanism? #vegetarian #vegan #foodwriter
Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a seaweed that tastes just like truffle. Just done a little kelp foraging at low tide with @thetempleharris’ Amanda Saurin. Isle of Harris. Turquoise sea, white sand, cloud hovering just above. @camperdays.international @roosterpr
I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to Sophie of @tobia.teff she uses the iron-rich, gluten free teff grain from her homeland Ethiopia. She showed me how to make injera, the Ethiopian flatbread which is fermented. She also talked about the coffee ceremony, 3 cups, which they pair with toasted barley or, currently, popcorn! I’d love to visit Ethiopia and find out more about their ancient food culture, history, 3.5k year old monarchy and religions.
Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @bre Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @brentcouncil Willesden library. I’ve been doing this a few times a year for the last few years. Wouldn’t it be great if they had a kitchen set up permanently. Libraries are community centres and could be used to teach how to cook from scratch.
Mother’s Day flowers from @siennamarla who is ex Mother’s Day flowers from @siennamarla who is experiencing her own first Mother’s Day with Ophelia. I’m still living in chaos & work was slow yesterday due to rain. Only another month…
Last week I did a wild foraging walk with @luciath Last week I did a wild foraging walk with @luciathewildkitchen in Kent @kent_downs_aonb just outside Canterbury. I’m going to help out during her May wild asparagus workshop. This chef lived in France, is a brilliant forager and cook. Her campfire meal of lentils, wild garlic raitha and a dukkah of alexanders, Parmesan was genuinely delicious not worthy like so much foraged food.
I did a bushcraft workshop with @naturalpathwaysbu I did a bushcraft workshop with @naturalpathwaysbushcraft Hannah Nicholls in Kent. An all female group, this felt very empowering and I must get myself one of these fire sticks. @kent_downs_aonb
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2023 msmarmitelover