
The first thing that struck me about this book, covering the food of North Africa, was its complete lack of pictures. Apart from the odd very instructive illustration here and there, there are no pictures at all, no photos of celebrity chefs mugging for the camera, no artfully arranged plates of food, no soft focus [...]

Interesting little book, this. Alex Mackay’s Everybody, Everyday is the latest in what seems like a very, very long line of cookbooks aimed at helping people feel more confident in the kitchen, and cook better food more easily asa consequence. There’s nothing wrong with that, and many of these books have some excellent ideas that [...]

This book feels like a rediscovered treasure found once again at the back of a dark attic, loved but forgotten. Dusted down and spruced up, it suddenly fits again, makes sense again. You wonder why it was cast aside in the first place, wonder why people stopped loving it. Recipes From the Spanish Kitchen was [...]

Years ago, I used to live in a little flat on the side of a big house. It had a long set of stone stairs leading up to the front door, and the top of the stairs caught the sun for a good few hours a day, even in winter. One of the first things [...]

Leon is a fast food chain with a difference. Firstly, the food is quite good, and secondly, it’s prepared on the basis that it should taste good and do you good at the same time. This, Leon: Baking & Puddings, the restaurant’s third cookbook, stretches that last point to the maximum. There are recipes in [...]