The hot news here has to be that we have a real-life, in-person cookbook club event where everyone brings something they’ve cooked from the chosen book. That’s on Wednesday 10th July. Tickets are on sale now to paid subscribers. Info here and below.
As much as I am hugely looking forward to being back in an actual room doing this, the digital meet-ups we’ve been having are pretty great too. This week we had our digital meet-up for Andi Oliver’s The Pepperpot Diaries. That was just brilliant. Huge thanks to everyone who came along and shared their thoughts.
You might notice that this new style of end-of-week newsletter round-up is more stream-lined than hitherto. Think of these as being a peek at The Kitchen Bookshelf, if you will. With links that will take you to where you can take a longer, more lingering look at anything on The Kitchen Bookshelf that takes your fancy.
Much love and thanks for being here,
Angela x
TIDYING UP THE KITCHEN BOOKSHELF - A recap on this week’s declutter of what paid / free subscribers each have access to at The Kitchen Bookshelf. That includes the new additional newsletter dropping for paid subscribers each week, starting next week.
COOKBOOK CLUB - Our cookbook club theme at the moment is: cookbooks to travel by. Our reading notes, events and discussions are:
The Pepperpot Diaries by Andi Oliver - A book that I love for its joyous exploration of a region I have never been to, but through this book feel its tastes making my mouth water to go. Head here for my reading notes on The Pepperpot Diaries, to join the online discussion and find out what happened at its meet up earlier this week.
A broader conversation sharing ideas and recommendations about books that through the way they feature food have that ability to take us to a different place or perhaps take us back somewhere. Click here to read my thoughts on what makes a good cookbook to travel by and to join the online discussion.
NEW: Sardine and Frontières by Alex Jackson - These two books by chef Alex Jackson celebrate the French food that we perhaps all dream of encountering when we travel there: simple, humble, delicious, rustique. They are the focus of our in-person event on 10th July. Tickets available via Eventbrite.
Our next Cookbook Club events
More from Cookbook Club: The basics and what to expect; Watch back my conversation with Karen Barnes, former editor of delicious magazine; The Kitchen Bookshelf reviews Five Quarters by Rachel Roddy.
RECENTLY ELSEWHERE ON THE KITCHEN BOOKSHELF
IN SEASONING - Look behind how we got Seasoning’s soufflé shot and a recipe for Spring Herb & Goats Cheese Souffle; My top tips for elderflower foraging; Why I’ll never get bored of radishes especially when they’re smacked.
MENTORING - If you’ve ever wondered how a first cookbook gets commissioned, this is my very honest account of the highs and lows of my journey to my first cookbook - including what I hope are some words of encouragement / hope to anyone eyeing up their own.
NEW WRITING / RECIPES - Why the best people poach chickens.
ODDS & ENDS
Odd scraps of cookbook news etc that don’t really fit elsewhere
The Guild of Food Writers Awards took place earlier week. I couldn’t go but if you, like me, enjoy seeing photos of worthy winners giving big smiles then head here.
This week was also the James Beard Foundation Awards and I was especially happy to see my friend Regula Ysewijn (of
) win for her brilliant baking book, ‘Dark Rye & Honey Cake’. Last summer Regula joined me on the Borough Market podcast where she shared insights on her love of British food traditions, anarchic food in art, and waffle irons (how many is too many? no such thing). You can listen here.I have more event dates set for the Seasoning book tour - all the info is here.
It ends
I leave you with a photo I love from this time last year, when I was mid photoshoot for Seasoning and we did some of it round at my flat. The team of teams.
Ax
What a great shoot team!