Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

This week, we meet Jago Rackham to talk about his first book, To Entertain: Instructions for a Dinner Party.

But the book is not quite what it seems. The millennial Substacker who hosts supper clubs and pop-ups fashioned as dinner parties,  has, with his long term partner, the artist Lowena Hearn, earned the social media title of East London’s power couple. But Gilly finds a rather old-school English couple from another time among the pages of this very literary book.   

 Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Jago including his playlist, and to see Lowena's art.

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This week we’re with the prince of plants, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his High Fibre Heroes.

Hugh and Gilly have been talking about the national diet for years on this show and before it was even born. They both campaign with the Food Foundation for policy change to make healthier food more accessible for every child in the UK, and Hugh's last book How to Eat 30 Plants a Week was all about adding way more colour and texture to the nation’s plate. Now he’s joined the growing family of fibre authors banging in some beans and plenty of veg for the sake of our health.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Hugh and two recipes from the book.

Click to listen to The Food Foundation Podcast's Bang in Some Beans mini series produced by Gilly.

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This week, we’re back at Patio in Brighton for Cooking the Books Live with Tim Anderson and his latest book, JapanEasy Kitchen

In front of a live audience, we find out about the nine magical Japanese pantry staples which Tim says can transform anything we want to cook, how this white man from Wisconsin has claimed the space in British food media as Mr Japanesasy and his insider tips for the best Japanese finds. We start by talking through his cannon of books ready to be signed and sold on the pop up CookBookBake stall at Patio and noticing just how beautiful they are. 

 Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Tim and a recipe from JapanEasy Kitchen. And if you like what you hear on this ad and sponsor free podcast, you can give a little back by clicking here to contribute a little something, or here to become a paid subscriber on Substack.

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This week, we’re looking in depth at the shortlists in the food categories at the Fortnum and Mason Awards with Marie Mitchell, one of the judges and last year’s award winner for her debut cookery book, Kin.

Under the guiding eye of Mark Diacono who played head judge this year, Marie along with fellow judges, Ravinder Bhogal and Richard Bertinet have plucked the best of the best in food and drink – books, podcasts, radio, TV and social media - talks through the shortlists in the food categories, and how it feels to be one of last year’s winners. 

No Extra Bites this week, but if you like what you hear on this ad and sponsor free podcast, you can give a little back by clicking here to contribute a little something, or here to become a paid subscriber on Substack.

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This week, we’re off to Lebanon via Reigate with the man behind Comptoir Libanais and Yalla Yalla, Jad Youssef.

Lebnani is Jad’s debut cookbook that's all about the Lebanon of his childhood, the rituals and traditions of the food from his homeland that he's brought to the menus of restaurants all over the world.

His fear is that Lebanese food is losing its identity, not just through war, displacement and massive food insecurity at home,  but through social media influencers and their chocolate hummus and sweet potato falafel. Gilly finds a man deliberately trying to keep a food culture alive in the Uk that's already moved on in the homeland, who tells her why it matters.

And if you like what you hear on this ad and sponsor free podcast, you can give a little back by clicking here to contribute a little something, or here to become a paid subscriber on Substack.

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This week, we’re off to Malaysia with The Malay Cook, Ranie Saidi.

The Malay Cook is the debut cookbook from this lawyer turned supper club host at Soho House and Curry Club London and now author.

It's an homage to the memory of his grandmother, a wedding caterer who brought him up while his parents were studying. But the book is not just about  her recipes as he remembers them, but about building his own identity in his new home in the UK.

For Gilly, it’s an opportunity to immerse herself in the tastes and smells of her earliest years growing up in Penang and Ipoh. Ranie’s recent remaking of her family’s curry recipe has been a highlight of her culinary year so far. 

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites to read all about it, and for the gulai recipe from the book which he reckons was its inspiration. Riches indeed.

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This week, we’re back with farming champion, Abby Allen and her latest book, The Farm Kitchen.

Abby was, until recently, the face of Piper’s Farm, the online farm shop which brought together the best farmers and producers in the South West. Her passion in creating a resilient food and farming system to food lovers across the Uk now comes from a new company, Pipers and co,  run by Abby and husband Will which continues to build a network of farmers and producers who do the right thing by the soil, the planet, the animals and us.

And all while she’s been growing a whole new human called Olivia. Gilly begins by finding out how the mothering is going.

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This week, we’re with the queen of modern Caribbean cooking, Shivi Ramoutar.

It’s 10 years since her debut cookbook, Caribbean Modern: Recipes from the Rum Islands launched this Trinidadian lawyer and supper club host from Leicester to become the Caribbean queen of daytime TV.

The 10th anniversary edition – simply called Recipes from The Rum Islands is just as much about identity and belonging, but as the co-presenter now of Jimmy and Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast and a regular on This Morning, not to mention a mum of three young wildlings, as she calls them, she’s got a different perspective.  Gilly asks her to revisit a time when she first began to dive into her heritage and its food.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Shivi and a recipe from The Rum Islands. And if you like what you hear on this ad and sponsor free podcast, you can give a little back by clicking here to contribute a little something, or here to become a paid subscriber on Substack.

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 This week we’re exploring the cuisine of Saudi Arabia in Madeeha Qureshi's debut cookbook, The Red Sea.

Madeeha who spent her first 18 years in Saudi, came to our attention on Masterchef when she reached the finals in 2021, impressing judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with her fusion of Saudi Arabian, Middle Eastern, South Asian and modern flavours.

Now, many of us will think of Saudi as a place which is repressive for women and the LGBTQ community, but this is not Madeeha’s story.  If Cooking the Books is a place to explore the secret kitchens from different culinary cultures, it’s also about the lived experiences of the authors who tell that story – many of them women. Gilly asks Madeeha to show us around her Saudi Arabia through her food moments. 

Pop over to Substack for Extra Bites of Madeeha including a recipe from her book, and for Gilly's post about the complexity of telling stories about place and politics.

And if you like what you hear on this ad and sponsor free podcast, you can give a little back by clicking here to contribute a little something, or here to become a paid subscriber on Substack.

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This week we’re in Brighton for Cooking the Books live with bean queen, Ali Honour.

The author of Beans describes herself as a chef and food systems agitator, which brings together the best things about beans – how delicious they can be while saving the planet and the health of the nation. In front a live audience of keen beans and bean deniers – let’s call them beanos - we find out why. 

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Ali and a recipe from Beans by clicking here. And do follow Bang in Some Beans on the Food Foundation podcast, produced by Gilly and presented by Melissa Hemsley. Here's episode 4.

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