Books June 2009
Valentine Warner. What to Eat Now. More Please
Have you seen Valentine on the telly? He’s a bit hard to miss actually. When I first spotted him I thought my box had gone on the blink, as his head seemed disproportionally large for his body. I then discovered he is the son of Sir Frederick Archibald Warner, GCVO, KCMG ex Conservative MP and that his mother is the wonderfully named Simone Georgina de Ferranti. So it’s probably genetic; like floppy fringes.
Serendip - Peter Kuravita
This is a journey through Serendip (Sri Lanka) by food. To peoples ‘ houses via markets and memories, taking in curries, street snacks, sticky desserts, celebration foods and family favourites. The recipes are easy to follow with handy tips when needed.
Cook in Boots- Ravinder Bhogal
Chapters headed ‘Fall off the carb free wagon’, ‘Work to live, live to eat’, ‘Remote control and a meal for one’ don’t exactly inspire me, but I am merely a heterosexual man and what do I know of the modern young woman’s needs? ‘Bugger all’, says my wife.
My cousin Rosa -Rosa Mitchell
The book is divided into sensible sections that essentially follow the long timeline of an Italian meal – antipasto, brodo, pasta, carne e pesce, verdura and dolce. Each is punctuated by Rosa’s reminiscences of her life and her family’s life in Sicily and the photographs throughout are in the currently popular style which flattens colours to attractive earthy tones.
