To say I was sceptical about this book would be a massive understatement.

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Last year Mark Hix published a cookbook showcasing British cuisine – here are my thoughts.

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For those who love entertaining guests at home, this book is for you.

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What a fitting book for the times we live in.

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Since I’m a fan of Abel & Cole and their policy I eagerly received their cookbook for review.

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Tunner used to cook in sweltering heat during summers and when she finally stopped working in restaurant kitchens she put a stop to it. What this book is about is how to make the most delicious meals with little fuss in the minimum amount of time.

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If there is anyone most suitable to write about British cooking, it is Ed Baines. He has years of experience under his belt at the top eateries in London, owns a string of posh restaurants and is even a judge on Britain’s Best Dish. In other words, he knows his stuff. In the introduction he says that once you taste proper home-cooked food it will be hard to go back to shops’ ready-made meals; I can’t agree more.

Most of today’s new cookbooks have enticing, drool-worthy pictures of a dish on their covers. Rightfully, trying to be a bit different the cover depicts Baines leaning against a “street”/”food” sign. Kudos to the publishers for their creativity, but unfortunately, next to other books the photo isn’t very appealing and already looks dated. It just doesn’t work for me. Let’s not judge a book by its cover now, shall we?

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Since I can remember I’ve always been a fan of plants; especially ones that give me food. When adults asked what I would like in return for doing odd jobs I asked for potted herbs you buy at your local nursery. I simply loved the idea that these living beings have medicinal properties that can help mankind in almost every conceivable way.

My plant fascination grew when I moved to the UK. I learnt a lot from Neil who already planted his own vegetables year after year before I came along. My enthusiasm is palpable as soon as spring starts and out comes a huge range of seeds to plant in containers. It will never cease to amaze me how a tiny seed barely bigger than a salt grain can grow into a big, strong plant with plentiful crop. When the seedlings are big enough they get transplanted to the garden. Now here’s the catch. WEEDING. This is my weakness in the whole process. Thus far I haven’t succeeded in constantly pulling out unwanted invaders on the vegetable plot and at the end of the growing season it’s like a jungle out there.

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