The Botanical Kitchen
Recipes, travel and the occasional rant
Ragini Dey runs The Spice Kitchen restaurant in South Australia which has now expanded to include cookery and spice appreciation classes. What I love about her is that she makes everything from scratch – spices mixes, pickles and chutneys and these are all covered in this wonderful book. First off the look and feel of […]
The Amalfi coast is one of Italy’s most magical places. Sun drenched and scenic but surprisingly laid back. This book exudes the classic Italian style that is this region. Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi have travelled across the Amalfi Coast in search of recipes that define the area. This is their fourth book and my first. A little […]
I love Nigella. For me she’s just totally and utterly glam. I loved that she was recently on the cover of one of my favourite magazines and came across as this earnest, shy woman despite the sexy goddess persona we see on TV. Nigella Bites – a cookbook I use time and time again Her […]
If you’ve read my review of Roast Figs, Sugar Snow, you’ll know that I am already a fan of Diana Henry’s writing. I love the ways she explores different writers, cooks, chefs and foodie businesses and converges them with wonderful recipes to make for books which are good reads as well as great recipe books. […]
It was my birthday yesterday and I wanted to celebrate but also do something completely different. Friends suggested various bars and restaurants but to be honest I really didn’t want a big night out. I thought about the theatre but there isn’t anything that I feel compelled to see. This year I just wanted a […]
Eric Lanlard has become a true baking celebrity with so many TV programmes and appearances to his name. I had the honour of meeting him recently and was really rather surprised at how down to earth he is. And I say honour because there is some proper talent and experience behind that sparkling, cheeky personality! […]
This is the perfect book if you want to help your children understand the full cycle of food and have a lot of fun. I think it’s really important that children have a good relationship with food and the authors of this book feel the same which is why I connected with it straight away. […]
This book like the one that accompanied series two (which I took part in!) was written by Linda Collister with inputs from Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry and the contestants. It’s split into eight categories : Cakes, Biscuits, Breads and Sweet Dough, Tarts, Pies, Desserts, Puddings and The Basics. Each section has a basic recipe and then three […]
Vivien has been making and demonstrating preserves for 25 years. She has won numerous awards and has 18 years of judging preserves at competitions on her CV too. I recently met Vivien at a special jam making evening in London. She’s incredibly down to earth and not as scary as you would imagine WI judges […]
About the author Miranda was on the first series of The Great British Bake Off and I think we all remember her for the ‘soggy bottom’ comment from Mary Berry! I also remember her as the ‘queen of iced biscuits’. Such attention to detail – a girl after my own heart! What I also liked […]
The author of this book, Michael Paul, sums up exactly how I feel about Paris – “The more I roamed the streets, the greater my passion for the pastries, chocolates and desserts of Paris became.” I love gawping through the windows of patisseries as much as wandering around the Louvre and this book brings back all […]
This book accompanies the new TV series of the same name on BBC2. I could watch these two chatting and laughing away all day but sadly there are just 4 episodes . By these ‘two’ I mean of course Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo. they’ve been around for as long as I can remember and […]