By Lucy Lillystone, Ellie Brady, Kate Baguley, Laura Jones and Sarah Lundy
With restaurants and bars opening their (out)doors again in the UK this week, we have decided to showcase some foodie literature and cookbooks to get us ready for spending some much-needed time away from our own kitchens. Get back into the joy of good food, fresh pints and good company with these yummy reads!
Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want by Ruby Tandoh
Best known as a Great British Bake Off finalist, Ruby Tandoh’s book Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want celebrates the pleasures of food, exploring both the best and worst aspects of food culture. Written in a warm and energetic voice, Tandoh offers sympathetic advice on the dieting industry, shopping tips, interesting facts and statistics on topics such as how we eat in public. The book celebrates food as power, interspersing the narrative with her own memories of food and recipes that comforted her when her grandfather died. The book also contains practical, simple recipes tailored to practicality and accessibility. Short, sweet and simply delicious, Tandoh makes her readers fall deeply in love with the nourishing qualities of all kinds of food.
Midnight Chicken by Ella Risbridger
To say that this 2019 debut cookbook is uplifting would be an understatement. Beginning with her rediscovery of the joy that simple, delicious home-cooking can bring after a mental health crisis, Ella Risbridger tenderly brings the reader into a world of delicious, accessible recipes. In her funny, and often heart wrenching book, she shares anecdotes of midnights spent greasing a chicken to roast, her friend scorching the bottom out of her favourite muffin pan and the simple act of cooking and eating for love. Her humanity shines through her writing - as does her clear adroitness as a cook. Full of deliciousness and an emphasis on eating with people, this book is sure to encourage you to round up those you have been missing and go for some grub.
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
While not being your typical cookbook choice, Nora Ephron’s short novel Heartburn is peppered with recipes that will heal your heart. Food underscores the narrative of this book, following a cookery writer’s journey through heartbreak and after the year we have all had, soul-healing recipes are exactly what we need. From her infamous key lime pie to the perfect mashed potato, Heartburn will have you hungry to read on, yet needing to stop for a snack.
Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher
Although primarily a love story, true foodies will spot the opportunity to drool over freshly baked scones, cakes laden with cream and dainty teacups filled with the sweet scent of tea. With pubs and restaurants reopening, let us not forget the decadence of afternoon tea – a luxury that has dwindled in recent times. When we first meet Sophie, she is at a bit of a crossroads in life, keeping a secret buried. A secret so important, it means she has given up her dream of moving away from quant village life and instead, has found herself working at the local teashop. It is not long before exciting news reaches the village and brings with it, Hollywood heartthrob Billy Buskin. As the story unfolds, friends reacquaint over steaming mugs of hot chocolate and slices of lemon drizzle cake. Whilst reading this, you will be reminded of how much you have longed to sit and natter away the hours, with good company and good food.
Is Butter a Carb? By Rosie Saunt and Helen West
Food can be the most exciting thing in the world, but there is sometimes a dark shadow that hangs over it. With wellness trends and diet culture rife even during the pandemic (I am sure that the “my diet until 21 June” meme with a picture of ice did not pass anyone by), Rosie Saunt and Helen West have written a book to calm the nagging voices about juice cleanse fads, so that food can be celebrated for all the enjoyment it brings to our lives. Is Butter a Carb? uses evidence-based, body positive and practical advice to prove there is nothing to be feared from a bit of fat and carbs. So, revisit your favourite restaurant with your favourite people to soak up the joy of communal eating again (and having someone else cook for you!)
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