cookingthebookswithgillysmith

19/08/2022

Thank you for following me on this account but I’ll be closing it at the end of August.

CTB will be continuing to thrill your ears, but if you like what I do, you might find even more of it over .

See you there!

11/08/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books but as I’m currently enjoying getting lost in the back roads of France, can I suggest a little deep dive into the archive?

When CTB started back in Feb 2020, the idea was to chat about four food moments in my guests’ books, whether that was a novel, memoir or trad food book. The novels used food to tell their stories, to put flesh on the bones, as metaphors for complicated character traits or delicate storylines. I loved it.

So if you’re looking for a summer read, can I point you to the interview with author of The Mercies, Kiran Millwood-Hargrave about the love between women in the 17th century witch trials? Or The Offing by Benjamin Myers, a glorious story of walking the North and becoming a man? Or have a listen to how I made the rather spiky Joanne Harris like me as we chat through The Strawberry Thief.

Google or click on CTB all episodes on your podcast app or in my Instagram linktree - you know how to find podcasts by now. Happy summer listening.

04/08/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books and I’m with Gelf Anderson, executive chef at River Cottage and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s main man to talk about his new book, Great Salads.

You know you’re going to get quality food chat when it comes from River Cottage, and after playing captain’s mate there for the last 10 years, Gelf is still pulling rabbits out of the bag. Literally. We chat about what makes a River Cottage chef then and now as we continue to look for ways to eat amazing food to save the planet.

Click on the link to Cooking the Books in my linktree to listen.

Image by James Aitkens

Don't forget that Leiths Online is offering a discount for Cooking the Books listeners. To get 10% off the Essentials online course that Gilly is on, go to leithsonline.com/courses/essential-cooking , click ‘enrol’ on course page and apply the code: GILLY10 at checkout:

And if you fancy a Free Hollandaise mini-course, sign up for a Workshop account or login at: app.workshop.ws/profile and click ‘Redeem Coupon’ on the sidebar. Enter code GILLYSGIFT and click redeem.

28/07/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books and I’m with Amber Guinness.

Her stunning book A House Party in Tuscany captures the spirit of her parents who lovingly restored Arniano,a humble ruin of a farmhouse they found back in 1989 and where they raised their daughters.

But this was no ordinary restoration; Tatler lists it among the ‘interior’ wonders of the world, which Amber has now turned into a retreat for artists where the stylish hosting is in the image of her parents. Her book is the story of the house, her family and their eye for beauty, with stunning food conjured up like a dream from the Tuscan countryside peppered throughout the memories.

Click on the link to CTB in my linktree to listen. Gorgeous image by

21/07/2022

t’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books and we’re Zooming off to the South of France to hang out with Debora Robertson aka whose latest book Notes from a Small Kitchen Island is a celebration of hosting, of feeding friends and living life beautifully.

It’s bubbling over with life experience, with family dishes and food memories from years of late night chats with friends over beautiful, seemingly effortless dinners. The recipes are almost an afterthought, a generous share of how she did it.
�Sound familiar? Well, guess who’s picked the book in her Cookbook Corner this week. Yup, Debora Robertson has been Nigellad!

Diana Henry too. She says ‘like books by Nigel and Nigella, this is already a friend.’

You may know her as The Telegraph columnist who shows us how it’s done. She’s the 'how to' guru, the doyenne of the declutter, the dog mother of canine cuisine and queen of cooking for cats. But in this week’s episode, she tells us that her Girl Guide ability to do things well comes from a family tradition of using your hands to 'dignify your life, to give it meaning and grace.'

Click on Cooking the Books in my linktree to listen.

Don't forget that Leiths Online is offering a discount for Cooking the Books listeners. To get 10% off the Essentials online course that I’m on, go to leithsonline.com/courses/essential-cooking , click ‘enrol’ on course page and apply the code: GILLY10 at checkout:

And if you fancy a Free Hollandaise mini-course, sign up for a Workshop account or login at: app.workshop.ws/profile and click ‘Redeem Coupon’ on the sidebar. Enter code GILLYSGIFT and click redeem.
yneedwards

14/07/2022

It’s Leith’s time again and it’s bread week. I’m not great at bread - or baking in general - but this focaccia has turned out exactly as it was supposed to. I’m gradually acceding to the fact that following the rules does reap its rewards. I shall break them like crazy in October when I have a chef’s diploma in my hands, but in the meantime, Leiths leads and I will follow.

Except that it was supposed to be rosemary focaccia. But I haven’t got any in my herb garden (I will, Mark! I will) so fennel it had to be. Looks a bit like a bloke’s forehead, but tasted delicious.

Oh, and if you don’t already follow me , pls head on over because I’ll be closing this account at the end of the month.

14/07/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books and I’m talking The Great British breakfast with Guardian writer, author and culinary detective, .

Her latest book ‘Red Sauce, Brown Sauce: a British Breakfast Odyssey’ is her second foray into food-as-national-identity by bike; she toured France for her last book ‘One More Croissant for the Road’ and found much more than a tasty bite in both.

After years of Brexit, Covid conspiracies and partygate, Britain is a divided nation, and Felicity has prised it open even further as she investigates the biggest divide of them all: red sauce or brown. Her 2,388km cycle around Britain over 7 weeks which took her deeply into British food is a fascinating (and often hilarious) snapshot of Britain as she finds a country in transition with a food culture slipping right now into the pages of history.

And no, Wilf (pictured) is not in it. I couldn’t handle talking to Felicity about missing dogs. Here he is instead, ready for whatever breakfast is coming his way today. Not sure he likes red OR brown sauce though.

11/07/2022

What do you cook for super-duper food writers at a podcasting retreat? Well, how about a collaborative cook up of local seasonal ingredients, flavoured with a little Greek, a dash of Danish, a squeeze of Lemon Boy and a lot of brains behind Ottolenghi? Result: a heavenly taste of Sussex under an almost full moon. The podcasts are coming along pretty well too.

08/07/2022

08/07/2022

The first of the Kemptown Bookshop Cooking the Books lives was a delight! Food chat, food stories, food people … what more could you want from a Thursday evening? AND a fab new direction for the podcast.

, already dubbed , is making waves in the food world since winning The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver. She is definitely one to watch. She’s got Asian cook hacks and zingy energy to burn, and of course, she completely wowed the room last night. She brought cakes and stories of her Auntie Daeng and Granny Woolf, and the till pinged with book sales in return. Cathy , who only just bought the shop in May, provided the wine, and we partied like it was a Friday night.

There are plenty more food writers coming along. Go to the Kemptown Bookshop website to book your tickets for .wigley and , the Ottolenghi two who’ll be down to talk about their award winning book Falastin in Sept, and watch for new dates.

Thanks so much to everyone who came and helped to launch this lovely new thing in my life.

07/07/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books, and we’re digging deep into the roots of Jamaican food with Riaz Phillips, winner of this year’s Jane Grigson Trust Award for his book West Winds: recipes, history and tales from Jamaica.

He’s been telling stories about Caribbean food in the UK since winning a Young British Foodie Award winner in 2017 for his self published book Belly Full, a guide and history of the Caribbean eateries which have shaped the landscape of food in Britain since the Fifties.
By 2018 he was on the Observer Food Monthly’s annual list of '50 Things we Love'.

Click on the link to CTB in my bio to find out just how much impact British history has had on Jamaican food, and how much Jamaican tradition has influenced modern British food culture. A fascinating listen about food identity, cultural storytelling and living in limbo.

30/06/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books, and after another week of horrifying news in Ukraine, I’m properly humbled to be catching up on news from the front line with Olia Hercules, the award-winning food writer who put the food of her home country on the map.

Since the war began on February 24th, she’s found herself fighting to keep its stories in the headlines as Russia razes it to the ground. With her Russian food writer friend, Alissa Timoshkina, she has raised millions through their campaign. It’s inspired thousands of pop ups all over the country, not just to raise money but to keep that rich food culture alive in our hearts and minds.   

She wrote her latest book, Home Food: Recipes to Comfort and Connect in Lockdown just after giving birth to her second child, which is no mean feat, but she could have had no idea at the time that she would launch it in a war zone. Here she tells us about her mission to tell the story of her homeland, and about her channel which she created to support and rebuild Ukraine. Essential listening. Click on the link to CTB in my bio.

Image by

04/06/2022

Prep.

I may be in Barcelona this gorgeous Sunday morning but in my head, I’m in Glastonbury, packing up my panniers and heading off in search of the best in British breakfast with who, as always, has me in stitches. There’s a Catalan joke in there. 😉☀️

Red Sauce, coming soon to Cooking the Books.

26/05/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books and I’m with Joe Woodhouse to talk about cookery courses, food photographer and launching your very first book in the middle of a war when your wife is Ukrainian food writer, Olia Hercules.

His book Your Daily Veg has been lauded by Nigella, Anna Jones and Cooking the Books favourite, Rachel Roddy, and is packed with recipes inspired his career to date styling and photographing food from all over the world, but also by a lifetime of being a vegetarian in a family of farmers.

19/05/2022

It’s Podcast Day and this week, I’m with one of my favourite people in food to talk about what ‘feel good food’ means when everything in the world seems to have been turned upside down.

When Melissa Hemsley said yes to my invitation to be on a brand new indie podcast two years ago before we’d even met, the rest of the A-listers flooded in. And that’s because she’s not just the best-selling green queen, but one of the most generous, genuine and well-respected members of the food community. Her recipes are super simple, zero waste and delicious, but she’s about much, much more than that.

Her latest book, ‘Feel Good’ is, I think, what makes her so compelling as a read, both in her books and on her social media where she regularly hosts discussions on how to live a better life. Feeling ‘good’ means so many things to so many people in this age of uncertainty and anxiety, and Melissa’s light touch on mental health, how to eat to save the planet and be a properly good citizen is why I keep going back to her. She hates the word ‘influencer’ but among the chaos of social media, her clear narrative of how to be good to yourself, to others and the planet is a bit of a beacon.

A lovely listen for anyone who likes a mix of chat about life, love and purpose topped with crunchy little nuggets of goodness.

Transcripts are available at GillySmith.com - click on the Podcast tab to find your way to CTB. And if you want to join me on my adventures in cookery, click on my linktree to Leiths to get some special CTB discounts.

17/05/2022

The Guild of Food Writers Awards shortlist is out and Cooking the Books fans will know these fabulous finalists in the First Book category well. Click on the link to Cooking the Books in my linktree to hear Dee Rettali and .saladino discussing their books while Malaysian writer .global tells why has so much to add to the canon.

16/05/2022

Unbelievably thrilled to be shortlisted for Cooking the Books in this year’s Guild of Food Writers Awards. I’m up against Jessie and Lennie Ware for Table Manners and Lucy Dearlove for The Unsociable Kitchen!! 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣

Huge congrats to all the nominees across the categories.

13/05/2022

Who needs an award on the mantelpiece when you get a hug from Claudia Roden at the glittering Fortnum and Masons?

Huge congratulations to all the nominees and winners last night. My head hurts this morning, but what a joy to hang out with such talent.

13/05/2022

Who needs an award on the mantelpiece when you get a hug from Claudia Roden at the glittering Fortnum and Masons?

Huge congratulations to all the nominees and winners last night. My head hurts this morning, but what a joy to hang out with such talent.

13/05/2022

Who needs a gong on your mantelpiece when you get a hug from Claudia Roden who won the Judges’ Award at last night’s glittering 10th Fortnum and Mason’s Awards?

Huge congratulations to all the nominees and winners last night. My head hurts this morning, but what a joy to hang out with such talent.

06/03/2022

Lots of people are joining in with the campaign which Olia Hercules and her Russian food writer friend Alissa Timoshkina set up to raise funds but also to encourage us all to remember the country behind the headlines. (I think we might now begin to add Alissa’s food from her book Salt and Time to remember the depth of Russian food culture too.) The idea is to cook, post, raise funds and the vibrations, play music and keep the country alive.

We’re doing it too. Ruth Nieman’s biblical cuisine Cooking the Books supper club at our house on the 21st March is now going to be a event, so please do come and join us. As I love to do on the podcast, we’ll be discussing food and identity, the role of food in giving us a taste of nation and culture, and to see beyond the bleak narratives of the headlines.

Ruth is donating part of the £45 ticket price for the feast which celebrates her Andre Simon shortlisted book Freekeh: wild wheats and ancient grains to the campaign, and we’ll do the same for anyone staying over (£60). If you’d like to come to this, we have a few tickets left so do let me know at [email protected]

17/02/2022

is making me cry again on Cooking the Books NOW on . CTB is on every day at 10am for the next few weeks. How cool is that? And I’ll be one of the panellists at Podcast Radio’s The Podcast Futures on 22nd February – 22.2.22 – in Westminster. Registration for the event is free. Do come. And do follow Podcast Radio to find some excellent podcasts.

11/01/2022

It’s a thing of mystery to me how food writers - not chefs, even if they do win - can rustle up a dinner for 27 in someone else’s house. I can barely find a corkscrew in an alien kitchen, yet and Auntie Safia blew in like something out of a Chocolat trilogy and magicked up this astonishing feast last night to celebrate Saliha’s latest book, Foodology. Have a listen to her episode a few months ago on Cooking the Books (link in bio) to hear why and how to feed the gut the most delicious food.

Saliha (full time gastroenterologist and mother of two young children…) then effortlessly regaled us with stories of gut and MasterChef, stories of Mughal influences on global food and had everyone asking when this woman will be given her own TV show, before serving up another course and sitting down to eat with our guests. Meanwhile Auntie Safia waved her magic wand and it was all cleared and left cleaner than when they arrived. ‘It’s just like a wedding’ she beamed when I asked her how she did it.

Breakfast for the sleepovers was a suitably gut loving live yoghurt from and local bacon and eggs from , before a light mist wafted them homewards. Thanks to everyone who came, and to Saliha and Safia for a truly wonderful night.

Do sign up for my newsletter at GillySmith.com for news of the next Cooking the Books supper club.

06/01/2022

It’s Podcast Day on Cooking the Books, but there’s a very good reason why I’m waiting another week to issue in a new season for a new year, and reaching instead into the archives again.

Since we chatted about her latest book Med back in September, the wonderful Claudia Roden has been awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours for her astonishing contribution to the way we understand food.

If you didn’t catch it first time round, click on the link in my linktree to hear why there’s simply no one to touch her as a storyteller and adventurer, and why at 85, she’s still got so much to say.

Huge congratulations, Claudia. I know you don’t partake of the Gram but I hope .roden will take some of our Cooking The Books love to you. ❤️❤️❤️

18/09/2021

Head to on Instagram for updates on the podcast and for more general news about what Gilly gets up to. Sign up for the newsletter at GillySmith.com