Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

This week, we meet Nick Saltmarsh and Josiah Meldrum of Hodmedods to talk about the magic of beans in their debut cookbook Whole Food.Now, Hodmedods has long since become the byword for beans in Britain, and can claim a major role in elevating the plucky pulse to enjoy its moment in the sun. Gilly's just finished another series of Bang in Some Beans for The Food Foundation Podcast – watch out for that coming in mid October presented again by Melissa Hemsley - and it seems that beans really are having their moment.Whole Food tells the whole story, joining the dots between farming and fibre, global and local, history and the power of storytelling to change the conversation about fibre and keep it there. With recipes from King Richard II’s master chefs to ancient Arabic feasts, Southern Indian temple offerings to Hampshire blue poppies, this glorious read weaves legumes, seeds and pulses easily and affordably into delicious dishes that anyone can make. It’s a must read and it’s why Nick will be on the Magic Beans panel at BrightonFoodStory on Saturday Oct 3.Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites and a recipe from Whole Food. And do come along to BrightonFoodStory on Saturday October 3. All the details are on the BrightonFoodStory Substack and Instagram, and it’s all free. And if you like what you hear on this ad free podcast, you can contribute to Gilly's Economy of Kindness by clicking here to contribute a little something, or here to become a paid subscriber on Substack.

This week we’re with former editor of the Good Food Guide, Andrew Turvil and his book,  Blood, Sweat & Asparagus Spears: The Story of the 1990s Restaurant Revolution.Like Andrew, Gilly was right in the centre of the birth of what another editor of the Good Food Guide, Drew Smith called Modern British Cooking, and has written her take on this story in a biography of Jamie Oliver, and Taste and the TV Chef. As Andrew curated the story in the Good Food Guide from a consumer guide’s point of view, they discuss where the narratives coincide. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Andrew, and if you'd like to support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free, contribute whatever you like via this link, or become a paid subscriber on Substack which gives you access to Second Helpings, monthly Zooms with a CTB guest, and a massive archive of Gilly's articles.

This week, in an extended episode, we’re with one of the most important voices in British food writing, Jeremy Lee with Kitchening, his follow up cookbook to the 2022 multi award winning Cooking.Jeremy has taken his time to become one of the central storytellers of modern British cuisine – with his cookbooks at least, despite being right there at the birth of modern British cooking. Do listen to Sheila Dillon’s brilliant interview with Jeremy for The Food Programme, but also to the CTB episode with Food Foundation ambassador and campaigner against food poverty, Dev Sharma.  For a 17 year old Indian lad from Leicester, Cooking was more about a lesson in food manners ahead of going up to Cambridge.  Click here if you’re interested in the story of British food through that lens.Meanwhile, join Gilly and Jeremy in the library at Quo Vadis to talk about his second dive into British food from his childhood garden outside Dundee through the kitchens of the nascent London food scene.Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites and a recipe from Kitchening. And if you like what you hear on this ad free podcast, you can contribute to Gilly's Economy of Kindness by clicking here to contribute a little something, or here to become a paid subscriber on Substack.

This week, we're with an absolute legend in food writing, Anissa Helou and her culinary celebration of Lebanon.Listed by Arabian Business magazine as one of the "500 Most Influential Arabs" and "100 Most Powerful Arab Women, she’s among the greats of modern food writing with the likes of Claudia Roden and Elisabeth Luard. Now, after 32 years of writing about the everyday food of the Middle East and beyond, Lebanon, A Culinary Celebration takes her back to where she began.  Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Lebanon. If you'd like to support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free, contribute whatever you like via this link, or become a paid subscriber on Substack which gives you access to Second Helpings, monthly Zooms with a CTB guest, and a massive archive of Gilly's articles. 

This week, we are live in Brighton on the hottest day of the year so far with Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, aka Honey and Co. to talk about their new book, Honey and Co.Daily.Against the sound of a massive fan at Patio Wine Bar, we talked about the huge dollop of love that the Honeys have made their brand, and how a warm hug of hospitality has not only saved their business but reminded us all of what people really want from a restaurant.Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Cooking the Books Live at Patio, Brighton, plus a recipe from Honey and Co. Daily, and from the Ingrid at Sussex Surplus who spun their food moments into small plates for an adoring crowd. If you'd like to support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free, contribute whatever you like via this link, or become a paid subscriber on Substack which gives you access to Second Helpings, monthly Zooms with a CTB guest, and a massive archive of Gilly's articles. 

This week we're with author, journalist and broadcaster, Rebecca Seal and her deep dive into the world of allergies in IrritatedShe's spent 20 years writing about food, not least as the deputy editor of Observer Food Monthly, and her life was all about the deliciousness of food. But it was her younger daughter’s allergy to soy which prompted her to explore the rise in the allergy epidemic, and to piece together a fascinating puzzle of the way we live.If you'd like to support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free, contribute whatever you like via this link, or become a paid subscriber on Substack which gives you access to Second Helpings, monthly Zooms with a CTB guest, and a massive archive of Gilly's articles. 

This week we're with Danish food writer, restaurateur and campaigner, Trine Hahnemann and her latest cookbook, Midnight Sun.This is a book about long lazy summer days - cycling to the beach, stopping off to buy strawberries from a local stall, peeling shrimps to eat with homemade mayo and bread.. But under the haze of a Scandanavian sun, food for Trine is about much more than a picnic. It’s about history, time, geography and culture, a sum of the past and a warning about the future. Gilly asks how the simplicity of a long hot summer could say so much.Pop over to Gilly's Substack for extra bites of Trine and a recipe from Midnight Sun. If you'd like to support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free, contribute whatever you like via this link. Or become a paid subscriber on Substack which gives you access to Second Helpings, monthly Zooms with a CTB guest, and a massive archive of Gilly's articles. 

This week, we’re with the WORD on Turkish food and heritage, Ozlem Warren to dig into her latest book, Istanbul.We’ve followed Ozlem on Cooking the Books through her writing career, from Ozlem’s Turkish Table which inspired a fund raising supper club for the earthquake in 2023 at Gilly’s house, through vegetarian Turkish in Sebze, and now to Istanbul, her most confidant work yet, and her warmest welcome to her homeland.If you'd like to support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free, contribute whatever you like via this link, or become a paid subscriber on Substack which gives you access to Second Helpings, monthly Zooms with a CTB guest, and a massive archive of Gilly's articles.