Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

This week, Gilly is with Clare Finney, author of The Female Chef. The book - and the chat - is a wonderfully multi-layered exploration of what it means to be a woman in a professional kitchen in 2021. With interviews from many of Britain’s biggest names in food, including Thomasina Miers, Zoe Adjonyoh, Andi Oliver and Ravinder Bhogal, and with a foreword from Sheila Dillon, it moves the conversation on from the hugely important subject of equality in the workplace to examine the many and nuanced notions of femaleness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with vegan queen, retreat chef and recipe consultant, Bettina Campolucci Bordi whose new book Celebrate is about flavours from around the world, influenced by her own peripatetic childhood and Skandi/Bulgarian parentage. But more, it’s all about wellness and conscious cooking, dressed up for a great big party. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Dan Saladino, co-presenter of Radio 4 and BBC Sounds’ The Food Programme whose whopping 400 page debut, Eating to Extinction is a story of the world’s rarest foods and why we need to save them It’s a sweeping story of our relationship with food, of loss of diversity and its impact on humankind, our gut and our planet, woven through with wonderful tales of resilience and know-how of the food heroes, farmers and growers who hold the key to our future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Saliha Mahmood Ahmed, Masterchef 2017 winner and author of Khazana, a history of the Mughal empire whose day job as gastroenterologist has inpsired her latest book Foodology, a food lover’s guide to digestive health. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly talks the politics and culture of cake and bread with craft baker at Fortitude Bakehouse, Dee Rettali who was one of the first people to bring biodynamic, organic foods to London in the mid '90s. She's also made cakes for Madonna and Prince Charles, so famed is she for the sustainability and craft she puts in the mix. She founded Patisserie Organic in 1998 and her Soho-born coffee and sandwich shop Fernandez & Wells blazed a trail way before the boho bakeries and hipsters made real bread cool. Her book, Baking with Fortitude takes its name from her bakery chain, Fortitude Bakehouse but decribes a woman with grit in her belly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with surely everyone’s food hero, Claudia Roden who brought Jewish and Middle Eastern food to the world. Yotam Ottolenghi and Sam and Sam Clarke at Moro are among the many chefs who say that it all started with Claudia. Now, at 85, she’s got a new book out, Med which brings her personal stories and inventive flourish to the flavours of the Mediterranean. And she's still FULL of stories. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Gilly is at the Abergavenny Food Festival with Financial Times restaurant critic and Kitchen Cabinet panellist, Tim Hayward. His latest book, Loaf Story is a love letter to bread, but tells a story of Britishness and class.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Gilly is with one of the most important voices in food right now, sheep farmer and award winning author, James Rebanks.  His books The Shepherd’s Life and English Pastoral beautifully and powerfully remind us of the connection between what we eat, where it comes from and the relationship between humans, nature and climate change in a way that will make you punch the sky and cry your heart out. Here he gives us his four food moments from this year's Fortnum and Mason Food Book of the year award, English Pastoral. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we're staying in the Mediterranean as Gilly sniffs the lemons of the Amalfi coast with everyone’s favourite Italian, Gennaro Contaldo.Since Gilly first met Gennaro, the conversation about food has changed: veganism, eating less but better to save the planet, regenerative farming for soil health, it’s a whole new language. But, as Gennaro shows us in his latest book, Limoni, it’s actually the very essence of the Mediterranean Diet.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with GP, Dr Simon Poole whose latest book The Real Mediterranean Diet shares the latest science behind the world’s oldest and healthiest diet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Kylee Newton whose fermenting and pickling masterclasses were featured in the Guardian and The Times.  Formerly a fine purveyor of presrves and pickles, her brand Newton & Pott has morphed from production to media as Kylee’s latest book The Modern Preserver hits the shelves.   A serial entrepreneur and all-round creative, her story of making it up as you go along will be familiar to many listeners who’ve always wanted to turn their hobby into their world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly Smith talks to scientist, Guardian food writer and finalist for a James Beard food photography award, Nik Sharma. He argues that his Flavour Equation is about the emotion, sight, sound, mouthfeel, aroma and taste of food which add up to the only way to eat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly talks to Orlando Murrin, former editor of BBC Good Food magazine, founder of Olive magazine, Waitrose columnist and president of the Guild of Food Writers about his role in creating modern British food culture back in the 90s and 2000s. And as a seasoned trendsetter, he tells us how his new book Two’s Company tackles the issue of waste. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’re on a bit of a summer special when Gilly is in the hot seat for a change. Food writer Bee Farrell chats about her book, Taste and the TV Chef, which recently won a clutch of awards including the International Impact Award. Bee is currently doing a PhD in the anthropology of food in the C21st and is fascinated with the rituals and performance surrounding eating, regenerative gastronomy and food storytelling, and asks Gilly if influencers really can save the planet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is off to Puglia to catch up with adventuress-in-chief and legendary food writer, Sophie Grigson two years after she upped sticks and left the UK for a brand new post-kids adventure in Italy. Her new book, A Curious Absence of Chickens is an immersion into the heart of her new world, and a set of goals for anyone who wants a taste of a more delicious way to live. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’re off to the Baltic with Polish food writer, Zuza Zak whose latest book Amber and Rye takes us to Estonia, Lativia and Lithuania, an arty new Europe where food has so much to say. Zuza tells Gilly how her trip to the Baltic cities of Vilnius, Tallinn and Riga was a journey back through her childhood memories to a place made magical through separation and storytelling.  Through Lithuanian and Greek mythology, traditional dishes and a renaissance in food culture, we go deep into this magical world and find something rather precious. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is Zooming down to Cornwall to meet the woman of the moment,Emily Scott, one of only two British chefs chosen to feed the leaders of the Western World at this summer’s G7 summit. Her debut cookbook, Sea and Shore is an ode to the simple life, something she's finally managed to balance with feeding Joe Biden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly heads down the Regent’s Canal to Hackney’s favourite café, The Towpath with owners and authors of the book of the cafe Lori de Mori and Laura Jackson. It's a place which Keira Knightly, no less, says is the reason she lives in London and, as Gilly explores why it is a ' jewel-like dream of a place', she stumbles across the meaning of life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly Smith Zooms to Rome to talk about the the jigsaw puzzle of pasta shapes that make Italy what it is for Guardian food columnist and multi award winning author, Rachel Roddy.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly Smith is off to Vietnam through the memories and food of film maker, supper club host and food writer, Uyen Luu to talk about her new book, Vietnamese.  Uyen arrived in the UK aged 5 with her mother and brother, part of a mass exodus of over 800,000 boat people who fled Vietnam between 1975 and 1995. By 2010, she would become the word on Vietnamese cooking and a contributor to Observer Food Monthly after huge success with her London supper clubs.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly Smith is with Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovitch from Honey and co. as they chase smoke and cook over open fire around the levant. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly Smith is off to Sicily with Norma chef, Ben Tish via the four food moments in his latest book Sicilia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is zooming into Manhattan with Bill Buford, the former fiction editor of The New Yorker and author of Dirt to hear how he uprooted his family and immersed them for five years in an epic adventure in French cooking. Through his four food moments, he tells her how he went in search of the roots of great French food and found the heart of food culture in Lyon, gastronomic centre of the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Raymond Blanc OBE, and it's been a big year for him. His beloved mother, known affectionately as Maman Blanc died while suffering from COVID, he survived a very serious dose of COVID  himself through which he learned, finally, to meditate. And he’s released not one but two books – The Lost Orchard in which he lovingly reintroduces us to the apples and pears of our British heritage, and Simply Raymond an homage to his mother and her simple but delicious rustic cooking. As Gilly zooms into le Manoir, she finds him in reflective mood, celebrating the legacy of Maman and Papa Blanc, the role of Le Manoir in British culinary history and planting trees with Prince Charles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Kim Duke, co-founder of Life Kitchen, the cookery classes and book for people living with Cancer which are all about working with super-flavour to learn to taste again when in chemo. Her debut cook book, Weekly Provisions comes three years after this collaboration with her best mate, Ryan Riley and hot on the heels of COVID which also ripped the pleasure of taste from so many of its victims. The result is an extraordinary book which hits us over the head with flavour as Kim remixes her original dishes with the chutzpah that characterises the story of this pair of Newcastle’s have-a-go cooks.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Anna Jones, vegetarian queen of simple, creative, delicious sustainability in the kitchen on the four food moments from her latest book One Pot, Pan, Planet, how Jamie Oliver helped to light her fire, cooking for the Obamas and how a simple life really is the way to save the planet.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is in the Syria of Anas Atassi's childhood which inspired his book Sumac. He and his family left the country before the war began in 2011 which has left more than 380,000 people dead and devastated its ancient cities and their cultural heritage. But as Syrian refugees spread across the world, its food has become its identity, and as Anas takes us through the food from the old country, he tells us why it matters so much. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly talks with Rob Howell whose book Root tells the story of one of the new stars of the Bristol sustainable food scene. Root the plant-focussed restaurant, comes from the stable of Josh Eggleton, a long-time advocate of the field to fork movement at the Michelin -starred Pony and Trap, and co-founder of the Eat Drink, Bristol Fashion festival which promotes the importance of food sustainability. Rob talks through the four food moments from the book which bring us up to date with one of the UK's most exciting food cultures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly Smith remembers the late great Anthony Bourdain, surely the most exciting storytelling in food who shocked the world by taking his own life in 2018. His assistant, lieutenant, gate-keeper and co-author is Laurie Woolever who had just begun to put together their next book, a travel guide to some of Bourdain’s favourite cities. As she talks through her four food moments from World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, the book that it became, we journey into the mind of a man who had so much to say about food and the world.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with the star of the future of the British curry house, vegan cook and serial entrepreneur Grace Regan, a Young British Foodies street food finalist, a Red Magazine Women of the Year short-lister and long-lister for the BBC Food Rising Star Award. Her street food stall, curry house and now book, Spice Box draws on her great aunt Dolly’s food from the old country and her annual trips travelling off the beaten track in India. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is walking through the back streets of old Bombay with Naved Nasir, executive chef at Dishoom to find the Irani Cafes which inspired the book and the restaurant chain, and to talk about nostalgia, cultural appropriation and how to save a restaurant in a Pandemic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Ollie Hunter, activist chef and hyper local champion whose restaurant The Wheatsheaf near Hungerford won the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Business of the Year award in 2019. A former Masterchef finalist, he’s a philosopher. an alchemist and a revolutionary, and his latest book Join the Greener Revolution is his manifesto to eat to save the planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly's in Florence with Australian-Japanese food writer, Emiko Davies who has made Tuscany her home. In her latest book, Torte della Nonna, she digs deep into the culinary and family history of Florentine sweets to find a tradition sticking deliciously to what it does best. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Durkhanai Ayubi whose book Parwana tells the story of her family’s memories and recipes from her native Afghanistan set against a sweeping history of a country ravaged by power plays and unwelcome international interference. To access the recipes from Parwana as well as a curated collection of hundreds of the world's greatest cookbooks with over 87,000 recipes, CKBK  is offering listeners a 25% discount if you use the code cookingthebooks on checkout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with food writer, Katie Caldesi who wrote The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook with her husband, the Italian chef Giancarlo Caldesi after he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. With a foreword by Dr David Unwin, the pioneering low carb GP whose diabetic patients have seen astonsihign results, and expert nutrition advice from Jenny Philips, it’s a must read for anyone with a tell-tale big belly.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we hop into the back seat of chef Theo Randall’s parent’s car and head through 1970s Italy, stopping at markets and stalls, delis and trattoria to find the inspiration behind some of the best food in London and Theo’s Italian Deli Cookbook.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is virtually in Birmingham with chef Brad Carter whose book Staff tells the story of his journey through DJing and all-night raves to his Michelin starred restaurant, Carter’s of Moseley.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with JP McMahon, chef patron at Michelin-starred Aniar and the brains behind Galway’s food symposium, Food on the Edge. His activist influence is vast, and even in a pandemic he’s doing his bit with a new book, Lessons from Lockdown, an anthology of thought-provoking letters to an imaginary young chef from his vast network of brilliant chefs around the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, chef Dan Barber's restaurant deep in the countryside of New York.  In his 2014 book, The Third Plate, Dan wrote a new manifesto in food, taking us right back to its roots to tell a story which has changed the way many chefs all over the globe are thinking about the way we eat. And this month at the top of the show,  we’re finding out about SuperLooper, the children’s clothing rental business that could save the planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Gilly Smith talks British food and class with food historian, Pen Vogler in a romp through etiquette and faux pas, dysfunction and obsession around food in her new book, Scoff. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly Smith talks to Kirsty Scobie and Fenella Renwick about winning the Jane Grigson Trust award for new food writers with their debut cookbook The Seafood Shack. As they take her through their four food moments, the stories of the sea, the local fishermen and the scallop divers set against the 80 delicious recipes reminds us that food is much more than what’s on the plate.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly talks to Sam Rice, co-author with Mimi Spencer of The Midlife Kitchen whose new book The Midlife Method offers a more holistic approach to the way we eat as we get older. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is with Sam Gates’ whose Batch Cook Book went straight to number one on Amazon when it came out at the end of last year. It's a sure sign that people are desperate for tips on how to get the most out of their Lockdown cook ups but also, perhaps it's an indicator of an interest in reducing waste. Plus the last of the soundbites from this year’s online version of the Oxford Real Farming Conference which you can now watch for free at orfc.org.uk, Dr Vandana Shiva, a modern day revolutionary who takes on the biggest companies in the world in her fight against Big Tech in the food industry.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, as we head towards Blue Monday, the day when the credit card bills hit the door mat and midwinter can feel very bleak indeed, Gilly meets Razzak Mirjan whose recipe book From Beder’s Kitchen raises awareness around mental health as a tribute to his brother, Beder who took his own life. Razzak and chef,Tom Cenci talk about food and mood, mental health in the professional kitchen and the outpouring of love from the food community for the project.And listen in to Anna Lappe at the top of the show. Anna is one of the most influential and inspiring speakers on climate and food in the world, and previews her talk at this year’s online version of the Oxford Real Farming Conference: Spinning Food: PR Tactics Industry Uses to Shape the Story of Food. You can watch the whole conference after Jan 13th on the ORFC youtube channel or by going to orfc.org. And do find out all abhut Anna and her extraordinary work at annalappe.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly talks to Kate Allinson and Kay Featherstone, two former restaurant owners from the Wirral who have made simple, healthy food accessible to millions of people who never learned to cook. What started as a WeightWatcher’s blog has became a triple whammy cookbook sensation, and here they take us through their four food moments from the latest in the series, Pinch of Nom: Quick and Easy. And throughout this season, we'll hear from the Oxford Real Farming Conference where the most inspiring speakers in the world on food and climate like Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, Guy Singh-Watson and Anna Lappe join the dots of an increasingly food-shaped world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly talks with the visionary writer, architect and philosopher, Carolyn Steel whose book Sitopia was one of 2020’s most important reads. Through four food moments tracing right back to the beginning of civilisation, Carolyn redraws the lines around a food-shaped world, joining the dots in the history of how we eat, and pointing out where the breaks began which left us fighting to save the planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Christmas week, Gilly talks with Danish food writer and activist chef, Trine Hahnemann about a gloriously plant-based, uncommercial hygge Christmas in her latest book Scandinavian Green. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly talks to doctors, food writers and supper club hosts Emily and Amy Chung, aka The Rangoon Sisters about the four food moments from their debut cookbook, which is number 8 in the Observer Food Monthly’s top ten food books of 2020.  The sisters have been cooking up their Burmese family food since their first visit back to the old country in 2012, and find the food from their diaspora has hit the spot with a much wider community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Gilly is off to Indonesia with Australian caterer and food writer, Lara Lee to explore food and identity in her debut cook book, Coconut and Sambal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Italian food expert, Christine Smallwood takes Gilly Smith through the markets and osterias of Puglia to the cool new restaurants of Milan and childhood memories of Ischia as she discusses the place of the vegetable in Italian cuisine.This season is sponsored by Odysea whose range of Mediterranean foods are just what we need to get through a COVID winter. This week, home mixologist and Bake Off star, Tom Gilliford talks us through why molasses are a delicious alternative to refined sugar in your cocktails this Christmas. Music by Willy Zygier Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.