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
It’s probably time to talk pasta. Pasta is the most important food in Italy and Bologna is no exception. Most Italians eat pasta every day either at lunch or dinner, or both. Each region has its specialities. In Wellington the pasta section in the supermarket is one or two bays in an aisle. In Bologna … Continue reading Pasta
Around the Table 