Kirjahaku

A meditation on allotments, gardening and our connection to the earth from a prizewinning author. Perfect for readers of John Wright or those who love almanac books

Fermented food is playing a significant role in the developing discussion around gut health and the microbiome. More than the latest health trend, pickling and fermentation are techniques that have been used by human populations across the globe in food preparation for millennia. And they are part of a region's cultural heritage, passed from generation to generation, whether it's the Korean kimjang - the making and sharing of kimchi - the Japanese preparation of the nukadoko or pickling bed, or the brine-fermented fruits and vegetables of Georgia. Thom Eagle celebrates this fascinating history, explaining the different techniques and offering practical advice for enthusiasts.

Praised in Britain as a return to a forgotten tradition of literary food writing, a delectable and surprising celebration of cooking through the story of an early spring meal First, Catch is a cookbook without recipes, an invitation to journey through the digressive mind of a chef at work, and a hymn to a singular nine-dish festive spring lunch. In Eagle's kitchen, open shelves reveal colorful jars of vegetables pickling over the course of months, and a soffrito of onions, celery, and carrots cook slowly under a watchful gaze in a skillet heavy enough to double as a murder weapon. Eagle has both the sharp eye of a food scientist as he tries to identify the seventeen unique steps of boiling water, as well as of that of a roving food historian as he ponders what the spice silphium tasted like to the Romans, who over-ate it to worldwide extinction. He is a tour guide to the world of ingredients, a culinary explorer, and thoughtful commentator on the ways immigration, technology, and fashion has changed the way we eat. He is also a food philosopher, asking the question: at what stage does cooking begin? Is it when we begin to apply heat or acid to ingredients? Is it when we gather and arrange what we will cook--and perhaps start to salivate? Or does it start even earlier, in the wandering late-morning thought, "What should I eat for lunch?" Irreverent and charming, yet also illuminating and brilliantly researched, First, Catch encourages us to slow down and focus on what it means to cook. With this astonishing and beautiful book, Thom Eagle joins the ranks of great food writers like M.F.K. Fisher, Alice Waters, and Samin Nosrat in offering us inspiration to savor, both in and out of the kitchen.

NOMINATED FOR THE 2018 ANDRE SIMON FOOD & DRINK BOOK OF THE YEARBBC RADIO 4 FOOD PROGRAMME BEST FOOD BOOKS OF 2018THE TIMES BEST FOOD BOOKS OF 2018FINANCIAL TIMES SUMMER FOOD BOOKS OF 2018"A one-off, the kind of food book that I believed was no longer being published... When I reached the last page, I went back to the beginning." – Bee Wilson, The Times"A book as rich and rewarding as the rabbit stew he spends so many chapters making." – Jenny Linford, Times Literary Supplement"A wonderful taste of fresh air... First, Catch is almost revolutionary... His words are delicious, musical heaven." – William Sitwell‘Thom Eagle’s writing is pure joy – effortless and unaffected. Even such a seemingly banal and simple thing as boiling vegetables is engaging and illuminating in his hands. He is easily one of my favourite writers, and this book deserves to become a classic.” – Olia Hercules, author of Mamushka and Kaukasis"It feels so tantalisingly transgressive to find a book that looks beautiful, feels lovely in the hand and just contains words — gorgeous, thoughtful essays... from a talented chef and writer." - Tim Hayward, Financial Times‘The thing to do is just begin. The question, of course, is where?’So opens Thom Eagle’s hymn to a singular early spring meal. A cookbook without recipes, this is an invitation to journey through the mind of a chef as they work. Stand next to Thom in the kitchen as he muses on the very best way to coax flavour out of an onion (slowly, and with more care than you might expect), or considers the crucial role of salt in the creation of the perfect assembly for early green shoots and leaves.In an era when we are so distracted that we eat almost without realising what we’ve just put in our mouth, this is food and writing to savour, gently steering the cook back towards simplicity, confidence and, above all, taste.

From the author of the Fortnum & Mason Debut Food Book of 2019, Summer's Lease looks at the cooking techniques we use instead of heat which, in letting us step away from the stove, lend themselves perfectly to summer eating: breaking, salting, souring and ageing.The long dog days of a tiring summer are no time to be a cook. A few charred sardines are of course a wonderful thing, but there the grill sits, pouring out heat into the already-hot kitchen; anyone with any sense who wants charred sardines is somewhere close to the seaside.... It is a time when you might, if you weren’t so hot, wonder what it means to cook at all. Is there cooking without fire...?We understand that when we say something is cooked, we mean it has been heated; but we also understand that a cook does much more than just cooking. The chopping, the beating, the marinating, the dressing... What cooks do is best defined not by the word “cooking”, but by the idea of metamorphosis. Cooks transform ingredients.Through recipes and meanderings, award-winning food writer Thom Eagle explores what it means to create dishes without a reliance on fire and flame, and offers a unique and tantalising glimpse inside the mind of a chef.