My love, nay, complete obsession with little local foodie shops all started last summer with our epic cider and cheese campervan tour of Somerset. And lucky for me, this new book Taste Britain: a food lover’s guide, has arrived in the nick of time to inspire me with new routes and new ideas for foodie travel in the UK this summer.

From the genius publishers of Wild Swimming, Taste Britain is a celebration of local food throughout the UK, guiding you through area by area to the best farmers’ markets, specialist shops, pick you owns (my personal favourites!), gastro tours and regional specialities and introducing new food heroes that are hidden to all but the best chefs. In fact, looking at this, it’s hard to imagine that the UK used to be somewhere that foreigners would avoid simply because the food was bad – the pictures are glorious and every page is packed with ideas.

Want to go foraging for mushrooms in South Wales? They have a man who runs guided tours. Looking for sustainable fish and the home of the banoffee pie in Sussex? Done. I really like the format of the book, the feel of the pages and the way that it makes you flick through, dreamily, to plan your next foodie adventure. And more than that, it’s inspiring me to plot a future where I’m running my own deli, like the small producers here, or organising guided blackberry picking tours, or starting up a whole new foodie enterprise. The fact that I enjoy eating way more than cooking doesn’t even come into it.

As a travel guide writer myself, I know that the only way to judge whether a guide is on the money is to look at the area you know the best and see if it lives up to your own personal local knowledge on the area. The southwest region looks pretty good to me – a lot of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, of course, Bordeaux Quay in Bristol (which I still haven’t been to) and a few tourist traps in Bath get a mention (Sally Lunn’s? Full of American tourists last time I looked), but they’ve got the big hitters covered – Riverford, River Cafe, the delectable Michael Caines, Mark Hix and a few cideries. I’m a bit relieved that they haven’t found my favourite secret cider farm in Somerset – it’s no slight on them, I’m sure they would have if they had had more space and if they launch a stand-alone book to the region (which would be great, by the way).

This is a guidebook that by rights should stay in our car, so whenever we take a long distance trip up north to see my family, we’ll have some fun stops on the way, but it looks too good and has been sat on our coffee table for the past few weeks in a ‘hey look at us, we love food’ kind of way. But we’re up in Manchester this weekend so you never know, it might well get a road trip as a special treat.

The only thing I don’t like is the fact that Alex James from Blur wrote the introduction (it’s just because I find him smug and annoying, and it all sounds a bit like someone else has written it for him – it’s a bit unnecessary. I do love Blur though…) but other than that, it’s an utter delight.

I reckon you foodie folk would love the book – it’s out on 12 April and costs £19.95 through www.punkpublishing.co.uk. Start planning your summer foodie break now!

My Favourite Ingredients
By Skye Gyngell

I enjoy a good cookbook like the next person. They are a source of inspiration and in them you can find ideas, matches you would have never thought of . They can even be reminders of the simpler dishes that we know we’d love, but in our quest for culinary excellency put at the back of our minds and seem to forget about.

Skye Gyngell is an acclaimed Australian chef and food writer whose work was centric to gaining the Petersham Nurseries Cafe (Richmond, Surrey)  its reputation for great food and a string of awards. The recipes in her latest book are a breath of fresh air.

She takes advantage of seasonal produce where possible (and you know just how much I like seasonal recipes!); uses flavour enhancers like garlic, olive oil and honey and loves prime foods such as fish, shellfish, cheese, nuts and pulses.

It might sound like the base for every cookbook, but as I said this book is a breath of fresh air with its simple combinations. The ingredients she uses add light and clean flavours to the dishes she presents us with and a touch of classic and easy never goes amiss at a time when every chef out there seems to have forgotten the basics and gone for far too experimental solutions for my liking.

For the cold winter nights we still need to suffer we can resort to the comfort food she decides to share with us: stracotto, pork belly, chicken with garlic and fennel or a mouthwatering slow-cooked shoulder of lamb with red wine vinegar. I can just see myself sitting in the living room when the rain is pouring outside and the temperatures drop below zero.

Or how about a touch of Mediterranean flavours to warm you up? Fried eggs with sage, chilli and garlicky yoghurt are a perfect idea to start the day or friends can be wowed with her recipes for grilled poussins with lemon, marjoram, flat bread and garlicky yoghurt; salt-baked wild salmon with roasted tomato aioli, potatoes and purslane; squid with peppers, red wine and wild marjoram and chicken with figs and honey (like me, Skye is a big fan of using honey in cooking).

Not only do her recipes bring fabulous to simplicity, but I also find the structure of the book itself endearing with personal introductions to each core ingredient by means of its role in her day-to-day life and direct suggestions on when and how to use them when one wants to step away from the recipes.

A must buy as a present or a cosy indulgent treat for yourself. I’m sure everyone will find it useful and a great read.

SKYE GYNGELL’S MY FAVOURITE INGREDIENTS is published by QUADRILLE on Feb 5^th 2010
RRP £14.99, paperback

Last year was the year of tight purse strings and cutting back.

Many people busk in a new-found love for eating in and cooking. Whether we physically have to or are now capable of appreciating such simple pleasures the fact is that we do want to take advantage of all the food that is available to us and make the most of it.

Of course, if you are like me you will end up cooking far too much and buying spices, herbs and whatnot in bulk to “save” which means supplies are left dozing in the cupboard after they’ve been used the one time, so I feel that, as well as giving some delicious recipes in her latest effort, Day Lewis inspires her readers to be a little bit more daring, experiment with what they have at hand and spruce it up with a few extras for a fantastic brand-new dish.

I have been pouring over the beautifully descriptive recipes for the past couple of weeks and picked the Braised chicken and rice with orange, saffron, almond and pistachio syrup as my first try with wonderful results. A dish that I’ll definitely be making again, especially since I bought a rather pricey bottle of rosewater for it that I doubt I’ll be using in anything else any time soon!

Next on my list a fantastic beef stew with mustard and thyme dumplings to ease the cold winter nights that have now landed upon us and leftover chicken from our Sunday roast went straight into her Lemon and chicken risotto.

I’m also eyeing up the spicy chicken wings with blue cheese dressing to serve up at a Christmas dinner with friends – A scrumptious nibble that is bound to cheer everyone up.

I have only a couple of bones to pick with this book, mainly the photography that seems to have lost the vibrancy of the original colours and a couple of lax timings – I mean, it has to be either 5 or 10 minutes to reduce a syrup, but not somewhere vaguely in between. Very confusing for a beginner…

But all in all this is a good cookbook, one that I will be definitely be using over and over and one that I would recommend to those with over-flowing kitchen cupboards!

Now on sale
QuadrillePublishing Ltd.
RRP £20.00

It seems fitting that I add a review of my favourite curry recipe book, written by Keith Floyd. You only have to look at the state of the book, and the food stains on the pages, to see how much it’s been used. It contains some of his favourite curry recipes, and has definitely been key to me making curries that I, and friends have really enjoyed.

Having a curry takeaway or eating out in an Indian restaurant, is certainly one of my favourite ways to spend an evening. The mix of spices, meat and creamy sauces is something that really appeals to me, especially when washed down with a beer or two!

I thought for a long time that it wasn’t possible to cook a really decent curry at home, but this book has helped prove me wrong. Covering Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Malaysian, Egyptian and Indonesian, there’s a large scope of recipes to discover and build upon.

The introduction covers Keith’s memories of growing up with his gardening and cooking mother, and her tin of ‘Madras curry powder’, which was used to make ‘a thing called curry’. This awful meal occurred at least once a month, but it still really intrigued Keith.

Luckily for us the recipes in this book are all born from his travels, and not from a tin. He covers what equipment you’ll need – there isn’t much – and the best way to store, buy and cook your spices, before jumping into the recipes.

The recipes themselves are split into five chapters, chicken, meat, fish, vegetable and rice, breads and chutneys. The recipe for naan bread in the last chapter is very good, although simple, it was easy for me to go on and make a peshwari, keema or garlic naan. All of which tasted authentic and delicious.

You’re advised at the beginning that it’s best to prepare everything first, before starting to cook your curry. With most of the recipes being for 4-6 people, you’ll probably need to get some friends round for a treat, or treat yourself and freeze some for later.

I’ve tried the Red Chicken with Walnuts, Green Chicken Curry, Hot Thai Beef Curry, Golden Pork, Pickling Spiced Lamb, Curried Prawns and Pineapple and the Mango and Vegetable Curry, to name just a few. All have been way up there with the best home cooked curries I’ve made.

Just flicking through the book now, I’ve seen some recipes which I haven’t tried yet. The photos do a good job of enticing you in. In fact, I may just nip to the butchers now, and make a curry for dinner. Curried Lamb with Green Peas is calling me.

To sum up, if you’re looking for a curry recipe book, you can’t do much better than Keith Floyd’s. He was one of the best chefs we’ve had the privilege to know, and he really knew how to cook a good curry.

I’m not ashamed to say that desserts are not my forte. If eating out, I’d always opt for a starter and a main course, and be happy to pass on the dessert. That is, unless cheese counts as a dessert? The thing is, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, or so I thought.

For the last few years, probably since being with my sugar loving girlfriend, come to think of it, I’ve been developing a bit of a taste for sweet things. With this has come a new interest in creating desserts, and finally broadening my repertoire beyond the easy to make pancakes.

Luckily for me we already had the French Desserts recipe book, and it’s proven useful in my quest to make great looking desserts, that taste delicious too. After all if we’re honest, can anyone create better looking desserts than the French?

The book is short and sweet at 63 pages, but it’s all about quality, not quantity. It covers the main areas, light desserts, tartes, gateaux and basics – the recipe for sweet pastry is a great base to build upon, and add your own fillings too.

Each recipe is coupled with a full page photo, expertly taken, which is definitely beneficial. It’s a lot easier to know what you’re doing, if you can see what the finished article is like. Not to mention, a great way to imagine what it might taste like. You can see the lightness of the chocolate mousse, and the smoothness of the raspberry bavarois.

If you’re just after the classic recipes, don’t panic. Crème caramel, crêpes, tarte tatin, poached pears and tarte aux pommes are all there, each with a mouth watering photo. I’ve slowly been working my way through the book, and haven’t found a dud yet, although I haven’t attempted the souffles.

This recipe book will keep me going for some time. It’s helped me discover a love for working with pastry, and especially how to make desserts that are worthy of a photo, without having an icing sugar coating, to cover the burnt bits.