The Kitchen Bookshelf recommends
New releases to look forward to over the next few months, and a few oldies too
New releases
Italian Coastal: Recipes and Stories From Where the Land Meets the Sea by Amber Guinness (published May 2024 by Thames & Hudson)
What a total and utter beauty of a book. Everything about the design - from the cover to the photographs, to the sea blue tint of the paper edges - makes you feel like you are on holiday. I think even the size of it (taller than many modern cookbooks) is somehow evocative of indulgence. All of which makes it sound like Italian Coastal might be ‘just’ another beautiful Italian cookbook that is style over substance. Categorically not. Amber writes beautifully and has really interesting and helpful sections about store-cupboard produce, the processes and heritage behind mozzarella / ricotta / pecorino, the geography of the area she is focussing on and much more. Read it, cook from it, let it transport you far away from any humdrum.
A Floral Feast by Carolyn Dunster (published March 2024 by Pimpernel Press Ltd)
I do love a flower cooking book. (Maybe I’ll do a whole section on The Kitchen Bookshelf about some of the best / faves.) This one is subtitled ‘A guide to growing and cooking with edible flowers, foliage, herbs and seeds’ and that sums up perfectly just what this is. Carolyn doesn’t assume any pre-knowledge, making this an excellent choice for anyone just starting out on planning to grow their own edible garden. This book has everything you need to know about what , when, where, how. and it’s not too overwhelming, either.
Sift: The Elements of Great Baking by Nicola Lamb (published May 2024 by Ebury)
This is half a technical guide to the nuts and bolts of baking - with every process, ingredient and technique given Nicola’s incisive accessible touch. Then half gorgeous recipes. Set to be the baking book of the year?
UPDATED: Since writing the above I’ve now had the chance to have more of a proper look at this book and my goodness, what a TRIUMPH of a baking book. As I’ve stated elsewhere, I love a bit of cookbook nerdery and this has that in handy spades. There’s just so much helpful information about the ins and outs of baking technique and science. Than the gorgeous recipes. A winner, a must-have.
Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Journeys by Caroline Eden (published May 2024 by Bloomsbury)
Caroline always brings a journalist’s eye to her food travels. Her previous books - Samarkand, Red Sands, Black Seas - have focused on the food and stories of particular regions. This time Caroline is back home in Edinburgh, mulling on all she has seen and eaten and experienced across her extensive time overseas. Will that make this more of a reflective read? How differently does she think and feel when writing at a geographical and time distance? I look forward to finding out.
Steak by Tim Hayward (published May 2024 by Quadrille)
I mean it as a huge complement to Tim when I say that few food writers bring his level of nerdery to a subject. (And remember I say that as someone who wrote a book all about world vinegars…) This latest of his promises to be “a love letter to the British beef industry, with long reads on the current climate of meat eating, butchery, international steak houses and recipes too.”
Vegetables: Easy and Inventive Vegetarian Suppers by Mark Diacono (published June 2024 by Quadrille)
I expect this to be a ‘best in class’ example of a cookbook genre that has been much-mined in recent years. Mark never fails to fully commit to his subjects. One of the very best writers around - his Abundance substack is a total joy.
Old(er) favourites
The Pepperpot Diaries by Andi Oliver
I love this book. A gorgeous - and hard to achieve - mix of recipes and personal story. Here those are bound together cohesively by diary entries, clear and very cookable recipes, and terrific writing that truly feels like Andi is talking to you. Also comes with a playlist which is a very nice touch and again roots this book as being very distinctively true to the personality of its author.
The Farm Table by Julius Roberts
I think being won over by Julius’ charms is somehow inevitable. The recipes might be nothing new, but somehow the way he puts it all together just wins me over. Simple food, simply and deliciously cooked. There is a straightforwardness to it all and perhaps that comes from being a farmer? I think Julius has such a vital role to play in framing the way farming is seen moving forward. (And so am hugely looking forward to my conversation with him on June 3rd.)
Is it a worry that I either already have or have on pre-order every book you recommend ?