Delia Smith’s Winter Collection, BBC, 1995 I was given this book as a Christmas gift, when I was living in the UK in 1995. I didn’t see the TV programme and I am not very familiar with Delia Smith, however I know she has been very popular in the UK. Although I remember enjoying cooking … Continue reading Delia Smith’s Winter Collection
River Cottage Everyday, Bloomsbury, 2009; River Cottage Veg Everyday, Bloomsbury, 2011; Three Good Things, Bloomsbury, 2012. The original River Cottage book is on its way to a new home. I had better luck with River Cottage Everyday. This has been a stalwart since day one. It’s a book for everyday family cooking. There are so … Continue reading River Cottage Everyday
The River Cottage Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Harper Collins, 2001. I ignored the River Cottage tv series for quite a while and then it reeled me in. The appeal is simple but delicious food made with fresh seasonal produce. I bought the River Cottage Cookbook, read and enjoyed it and left it to languish on … Continue reading River Cottage
Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver. Michael Joseph, 2005; Jamie’s Great Britain by Jamie Oliver. Michael Joseph, 2011. I bought Jamie’s Great Britain because I enjoyed the television series and I am interested in British food. It’s my heritage, and British classics cooked well are always good. I like the idea of adapting classic dinners with … Continue reading The Naked Chef at home and abroad
The naked chef by Jamie Oliver. Michael Joseph, 1999; Jamie at home by Jamie Oliver. Michael Joseph, 2007. It’s been a while, but I am back on the job. I decided to return to an old favourite and ended up test-driving the three Jamie Oliver books on my shelves and one I borrowed from a … Continue reading The Naked Chef at Home
Five quarters: recipes and notes from a kitchen in Rome by Rachel Roddy. Hachette UK, 2015. The book I have chosen to start with, is not in fact a book I own, but one I borrowed from the library. Why if I have mumble, mumble books on my own shelves, am I borrowing another one … Continue reading Five Quarters
I have been blogging about activity in our kitchen since 2009, most recently about our Italian kitchen in Bologna. When we returned from Europe in March, I was surprised and a little disconcerted to discover how many cooking books I have at home. Does anyone care to hazard a guess? Do I really need that … Continue reading Introduction to my bookshelves
This post was going to be arrivederci Bologna, hello London. I had been thinking about what kinds of markets and specialty shops I would find near our London apartment and what ethnic food I might find in our neighbourhood. Instead the adventure is over for now and I am in lockdown in Wellington but not … Continue reading Arrivederci Bologna
As you may know, we left Bologna a little earlier than planned and in some haste. I had written this blog but not published it. As it turned out, the last meal I cooked in our Italian kitchen was my favourite – risotto. I can’t leave Italy without saying something about risotto, even though it … Continue reading Risotto
The most beloved pasta of Bologna is tortellini in brodo. I have explained in an earlier post the difference between this and tortelloni. I recently learned to make both of these and tagliatelle, which is the pasta usually eaten with ragù alla Bolognese, at the laboratorio of Bruno e Franco. This is one of my … Continue reading Sfoglia
Around the Table 