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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.

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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

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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.

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msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Apple rose blossom tarts with rose jam. Rose Appl Apple rose blossom tarts with rose jam.  Rose Apple Blossom Tarts

Serves 8

Equipment: 
Microwave
Cupcake or muffin tin

I use a red-skinned apple to make these, to get a hint of blush at the edges of the ‘petals’.

Ingredients:
4 Pink Lady or Royal Gala apples, cored, cut into quarters, sliced thinly into half moons
1 lemon, squeezed
1 pack all butter readymade puff pastry 320g, on a roll, cut into 8 strips about 6 cms long
100g of melted butter
1/2 jar of rose jam
1 or 2 tbsp cinnamon or cardamom, ground 
Pinch maldon salt
2 or 3 tbsp icing sugar

Instructions

Prepare a bowl of acidulated water (cold water with lemon juice) to prevent browning.
Core the apples, and cut them in quarters. Slice thinly into half-moons (a mandolin is useful for this). 
Put them into a large bowl of cold water with the lemon.
Microwave the bowl of sliced apples for 5 minutes until soft enough to bend slightly but not cook them.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Roll out the puff pastry. Divide into 8 sections by cutting the roll into quarters then halving each quarter. You will end up with 8 approximately 6cm strips.
Brush the strip with melted butter then paint with a layer of rose jam. You can then dust with either ground cinnamon or cardamom.
Lay the apple slices along the top of the pastry strip, overlapping them. Fold up the bottom half of the pastry strip to make an pleat with the skin side of the apple half moon poking over the top.
Roll up the folded pastry strips until they look like a rose made of apple at the top
Place ‘rose’ side up, in a buttered cupcake tin
Repeat until all are done and bake for 20 -30 minutes.
Using a tea strainer or small sieve, sprinkle with icing sugar.
A lovely vegetarian recipe from @lulugargari - a g A lovely vegetarian recipe from @lulugargari - a green bean and basil pesto with Italian lemon 🍋 pasta. Fresh, light. This was at an Italian cooking class/demo @eatalylondon hosted by @ilovefruitandvegfromeuropecouk @flickflock #london#italy🇮🇹
Digital chefs came from Italy yesterday to teach h Digital chefs came from Italy yesterday to teach how to make pumpkin, chilli, taleggio fondue Paccheri pasta- warming and filling for autumn days. Thanks to @ilovefruitandvegfromeuropecouk @flickflock @eatalylondon @danielerossichef @lulugargari for the event. We then got to go shopping in Italy with a £50 voucher. I spent it on mostardi di frutta, burratta, carciofi, cheeses,. My sis in law @bro0907 spent it on two bottles of wine. 😂 #italianfood #italianingredients #cookingclass #campaniafood
Inspired by @kathybrownstev’s book on edible flo Inspired by @kathybrownstev’s book on edible flowers I did an edible flower supper club featured in my first book ‘supper club’ This weekend I briefly visited her garden. Decades of work and creativity went into creating this English oasis. It’s an hour and a half out of london near Bedford. It closes at the end of September: open Tuesdays and this coming weekend. It was odd to go on holiday so near to where I live! We had a beautiful Airbnb in Pavenham. The countryside starts nearer to home than I thought. #uk #england #gardens
Visited The speciality fine food fair today for th Visited The speciality fine food fair today for the first time. So many tastings! Great to see new products. Particularly impressed by @lamiriharissa which is smoked and delicious run by Jo Lamiri’s children and @quirkymonkeycoffee which is mushroom infused coffee and hot chocolate run by an autistic guy Darwin setting up his own business. Good for him. #foodexplorer
Bones and all. Just made tomato sauce pasta from m Bones and all. Just made tomato sauce pasta from my home made sun dried tomato concentrate made @tenutacammarana in Sicily last summer. It’s the taste of sunshine. Plus my English home-grown tomatoes. #Tomatoes 🍅 🍅 🍅 #dinner #babyledweaning
I’ve made a South African/ Botswana dish that is I’ve made a South African/ Botswana dish that is creamy samp with chakalaka. Samp is corn like hominy or pozole a native Indian or Mexican food. It’s strange that it’s a staple food in Africa. Corn is a new world food I think. Samp itself is quite bland, often eaten with beans. Chakalaka is delicious with peppers, Piri piri seasoning, ginger garlic onions tomatoes and carrots and baked beans.
Samp from Botswana. It’s husked corn and makes a Samp from Botswana. It’s husked corn and makes a porridge like carb- creamy samp. I’m rinsing, soaking and cooking today and will combine it with chakalaka tomorrow. #southafrica #botswana #samp #newworldoldworld
Did my living room floor with @woca_denmark_uk_ire Did my living room floor with @woca_denmark_uk_ireland natural floor soap yesterday which smells lovely. But high traffic areas need rewarding. This is a Scandinavian technique- regularly waxing pale wood floors. I did this floor during the first year of lockdown. I prefer waxed floors to varnished. #interiors #woodfloors
Handbag condiments: @tajinuk , salt @maldonsalt do Handbag condiments: @tajinuk , salt @maldonsalt do a great little handbag tin, soy sauce bottles, and of course a handbag @marmite . I’ve also been known to carry a handbag @wd40uk and a handbag @cremedecassis to make poor white wine drinkable. What do you carry in your bag? Are you like Beyoncé and carry hot sauce in your bag?
Alliums in a purple pot. Note to self: plant more Alliums in a purple pot. Note to self: plant more bobble headed alliums. Love the colour and shape. This is in a neighbours garden who I met on Saturday while working in the front garden. Traditionally the British have front gardens but now they are turned into driveways and building are developed into flats. Only very rich people in london can afford houses. But the front is very important for the community- it’s how you meet your neighbours. On Saturday I visited 2 different sets of neighbours gardens- the first time since I moved to this street 23 years ago. Our front garden is communal and has been an unloved space- I’m trying to change that. Tonight I cleaned all the wheely bins. A yucky job but otherwise they smell so bad in summer. I was thinking about all the terrible dirty jobs that someone has to do- clearing up after a road accident, or sorting out sewers, or unblocking toilets. The stuff that nobody likes to think about. #frontgardens #neighbours #londoners
What I’ve been up to: awning from @victorianawni What I’ve been up to: awning from @victorianawnings which has transformed our al fresco eating possibilities. Also been working on the front garden of our building using talented work men I found on fb marketplace: railings by @lincsecproducts ( the gates were bought by me some years ago and I’ve scraped off the rust and repainted), the arch, which took me 3 years to find on fb marketplace for the right price and size. The wisteria which will grow over the arch planted by @christina_erskine ( I’ve always wanted a wisteria and they apparently add to the value of your house), the Swiss style bike/buggy shed. Needs to be painted dark green to match the walls. My friend Jim repaired the walls, the coping, and laid the  concrete plinth. Now need to find coping for the pillars or perhaps urns for more plants. 47cm2. #interiors #exteriordesign #gates #railings #bikeshed #awning #design
Made a vegetarian paella with La bomba rice from @ Made a vegetarian paella with La bomba rice from @brindisaspanishfoods I used red and green peppers, saffron, sherry, Nyora peppers, smoked almonds and green olives #vegetarian #vegetariansummer #paella
Quick snap of my bedroom chimney wall with the @sa Quick snap of my bedroom chimney wall with the @sanderson1860 wallpaper - finally done. Never wallpapered before. By the way I’m totally open to interiors collaborations email me: marmitelover@mac.com #interiordesign #wallpaper #london
I was sent some incredible olive oil from Sicily b I was sent some incredible olive oil from Sicily by fattoriabaronemocciarolidestri Terrediequila wonderful quality. Intense new grassy flavours. #oliveoil #sicily
Cooking powders or flavour bombs: two of my favour Cooking powders or flavour bombs: two of my favourite are ‘chaat’ which you can buy in Indian shops- here I’ve sprinkled yoghurt with lime/achaar chaat and decorated with day lily petals. My other favourite culinary powder is @tajinuk which gives instant mexicanness to any dish. #tajin #chaat
Me and my beautiful granddaughter Ophelia. I look Me and my beautiful granddaughter Ophelia. I look a mess ( really need to dye hair but it’s sooo expensive) but I don’t care because my heart just bursts when I cuddle this little being who has been in my life for 8 months. Babies are a blessing. #granfluencer pic: @clairebelljar
Made arepas last week with masarepa, a precooked m Made arepas last week with masarepa, a precooked maize meal, topped with Wensleydale cheese which isn’t too dissimilar to a fresh Latin American cheese. I also added fresh corn kernels for texture. #colombia #venezuela #arepas #vegetarian
Quinoa salad cooked in a mushroom stock cube solut Quinoa salad cooked in a mushroom stock cube solution with hazelnuts & preserved lemons, home grown curly parsley. I’m not cooking most of my grains in a rice steamer. Turn out fluffy & perfect every time. #quinoa #grainbowl #summerfood
I took this photo of Jane Birkin when she performe I took this photo of Jane Birkin when she performed at @theroundhouse in 2008. Shabby chic with a sweet voice. #RIP #janebirkin #concert #london #rockphotographer
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