Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

This week, we’re off to a farm just outside London but which feels like it’s on a different planet, with Tamara Schiopu in My Vegan Farm Food.  Tolhurst Organic, a 20-acre farm on the Hardwick Estate, is a dream of how farming could be – and is about so much more than growing. This is about community, where the growers work the land and live on the river under the famous willows of Kenneth Grahame’s children’s books. Hardwick Hall, the original inspiration for Toad Hall, overlooks the Victorian greenhouses and the 500-year-old walled kitchen garden where the produce is only half the story. Gilly, who has written the foreword to My Vegan Farm Food, finds out why Tamara, who co-wrote it with Samantha Kroes, chose to tell the story of Tolhurst in a cookbook. Pop over to Gilly's Substack for a glimpse of that extraordinary community life Tamara describes on Extra Bites

This week, we’re off to Brazil with food writer and former Ottolenghi chef, Ixta BelfrageHer latest book, Fusao meaning fusion, is about more than the melting pot of Brazil’s huge diasporic food cultures; it’s about who she is after a deep dive into her own ancestry, the histories of Brazil and her own connection with food as medicine. Gilly finds out if this weighty book, packed with stories and recipes is an attempt to find her own place in a country which she barely knew at all. And you can buy Fusao at the Cooking the Books shop on bookshop.org by clicking on the link.Head over to Substack for Extra Bites from Ixta including a recipe from the book.

This week, we’re with Tim Siadatan, the man behind one of the most iconic restaurants in London, Padella to chat about his eponymous debut cookbook.Tim started his journey in food on an apprentice scheme at Fifteen, with the most iconic of chefs, Jamie Oliver. From there, he rocketed through the food firmament from St John with Fergus Henderson to Moro with Sam and Sam Clarke, before setting up his own restaurants, Trullo and Padella with his mate from the River Café, Jordan Frieda.With Padella on the bucket list for every tourist coming to Borough Market, it’s no surprise to find Tim’s first cookbook sub-titled ‘Iconic Pasta at Home’. Gilly asks him what iconic means to him.Head over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Tim, and if you'd like to buy the book, head to Cooking the Books page at Bookshop.org

This week, we’re back with Cooking the Books favourite, Tara Wigley and the second in her brilliant series of culinary confusions, How the Cookie Crumbles.After co-writing the Ottolenghi big hitters with Yotam and other members of the Test Kitchen, she’s found her own niche in rhyme.  After How to Butter Toast charmed a whole new readership, she’s back with all we  wanted to know about ingredients, cooking and kitchens, but were afraid to ask.And it's that sense of anxiety, over-thinking and delightful neuroses that makes her stand out in the food writing community. Gilly chatted to her a month about that nail biting bit before publication, and asked her how she thought the cookie’s going to crumble.Head over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Tara. And if you'd like to buy the book, head to Cooking the Books' page on Bookshop.org where you can find many of the books featured on the show.

This week in a special extra episode, we’re live in Paris at the legendary Belleville bistrot Le Mistral with Chris Newens, the winner of the 2024 Jane Grigson Trust Award for best debut food writer for his gastronomic journey through the arrondissements of Paris, Moveable Feasts.The name of the book is a nod to Chris’ idol, Ernest Hemingway and his memoir of a struggling expat writer making his way in Paris during the 1920s. And in front of a live audience made up of many of his friends and fans who have already made that left turn and are living the expat dream, we talked about curating the bubble of Parisian gastronomy. We began with an introduction to the evening by the queen of French food, Francophile journalist and author of Amuse Bouche, how to eat your way around France, Carolyn BoydAnd you can buy Moveable Feasts and Amuse Bouche at the Cooking the Books shop on bookshop.org by clicking on the links.And then head over to my Substack for the fascinating Q&A at the Paris show on Extra Bites. 

This week, we’re with yet another lawyer turned chef, Malaysian restaurateur and award-winning author of Sambal Shiok and now Simply Malaysian, Mandy Yin.She’s the super-driven restaurateur who started selling satay burgers at a street stall after getting burnt out in corporate law, and who went on to be lauded by all the food critics for her London laksa bar, Sambal Shiok.As a mum of a three year old now, she’s making it easy on herself, and on the growing number of people who really really want to cook her super tasty laksas and satays in Simply Malaysian. This is about giving yourself a break – as a mum.  Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Mandy's Extra Bites, including some top tips for new mums! You can buy Mandy's book from the Cooking the Books shop at Bookshop.org which supports independent bookshops.

This week, we’re off to the Cairngorms of Scotland with anthropologist, food journalist and woman of the wilds, Ghillie Basan.After bringing the food of Turkey, Morocco, Lebanon, The Middle East, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Kenya to an international readership hungry for different flavours and food cultures, Ghillie's latest book, Food Whisky Life focuses more on her own life. It’s a story of resilience, enterprise and whisky, getting on with it as a single mum in the wilds and pulling brilliant ideas out of the bag to make life work deliciously.You can buy Food, Whisky, Life from the Cooking the Books shop at Bookshop.org which supports independent bookshops. And head over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Ghillie.

This week, we're with Channel 4 news writer, social media food influencer and nominee for the Jane Grigson Trust Sous Chef Award for debut food writing, Felicty Spector.Bread and War: A Ukrainian Story of Food, Bravery and Hope  is an exploration of the profound role of food in wartime Ukraine.  Felicity’s trips through devastated villages, bombed cities, family kitchens, and precarious bakeries meeting everyday extraordinary people showed her how food, particularly bread, has become a powerful symbol of Ukrainian identity, resistance, and hope.Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Felicity. You can buy Felicity's book from the Cooking the Books shop at Bookshop.org which supports independent bookshops.

This week, we’re off to the Greek Islands with chef and food historian, Carolina Doriti for a deeper dive into the stories of Greece through its food. Taking the tourist to see the traditions, the artisans and the produce of our favourite holiday islands, says Carolina, helps to connect them more with the food and the people, an essential element of sustainable travel. As she takes us through four food moments from four of her favourite islands, we learn about how to slow-cook chicken in a tserepa, why to pair Samos wine with poached peaches and how to transform rusks with lemon leaves.Head over to Gilly's Substack for a recipe from the book and for Extra Bites of Carolina.