Neil's cookbook of the week: The Balkan Kitchen by Irina Janakievska

It could only be one book this week, and of course it is 'The Balkan Kitchen' by Irina Janakievska, winner of 'Narrative Cookbook of the Year' at the inaugural Food Seasons Awards at The British Library, which I was lucky enough to help judge. This is a great book—one that delves into under-explored food communities, with food history and culture at its core. I adore it and know I am going to learn so much from each chapter.

It shows the power of food, and many of the dishes are completely new to me. It is a book for teaching and exploring another part of the world, where inspirations collide and flavours mix—from hints of the east, west, and everything in between. A treasure trove of delicious recipes and very good photography.

I especially enjoyed the personal stories—heartwarming tales that show just how much food and its history can mean. I love the dish that is similar to haggis, and Imam Bayildi—a dish that looks incredible. I adore aubergines, and according to legend, this one made an imam faint from sheer deliciousness.

The bread section is excellent, full of interesting ideas. One that stood out for me is Soparnik, a herby chard and wild garlic flatbread-style pastry, generously drizzled with olive oil.

This is a brilliant cookbook, shining a light on an often-overlooked food culture from the Balkans, and showing how food sits at the heart of a place, even in a rapidly changing world. Rush out and get yourself a copy.

Neil's cookbook of the week: The Edinburgh Book of Plain Cookery Recipes

This book is very special to me, given as a thoughtful gift by a dear friend on our five-year anniversary at Cafe. It is a wonderful book, and again from the 1930s, when a cookbook consisted of so much more than just dishes with recipes. It was about how to run a house, how to be frugal, thrifty, sensible, and how not to waste food. Keeping a tight ship is always a good idea, and 'The Edinburgh Book of Plain Cookery Recipes' is so good—it is fabulous reading, prepared, as it says in the front pages, for The Edinburgh College of Domestic Science.

This really appeals to me, as my great-grandmother went to a cookery school in Edinburgh in the later part of the 19th century. I do not know which school it was, but flicking through this book makes me wonder if she would have known this place. She worked as a cook at The Royal Hotel in Coupar Angus and met her future husband, my great-grandfather, there. He was an ostler—someone who looks after horses and carts—and the rest is history.

There are some incredible dishes here, with my favourite being ‘Poor Man’s Goose’, which contains no goose at all, but sheep’s liver and heart, bacon and onions, layered up with sliced potatoes, sage and onion—it actually sounds quite nice. And still with a French influence, as there always will be, with croquettes and a good recipe for Maître d’hôtel butter to go with grilled steaks.

With a section on invalid cookery and how to make sandwiches, there is something for everyone here. If you can find a copy of this book, I would buy it—it is quite rare.

Neil's cookbook of the week: The Food of The Scots by Alexander Fenton

My choice of book for you this week is not really a recipe book at all, but a wonderful compendium: ‘The Food of the Scots’ by Alexander Fenton. This book has been such a great read. It is never far from me and is full of interesting facts and figures about what Scots used to eat and drink throughout time.

Until relatively recently, we ate a simple diet of oatcakes, cheese, broth and some meat. Very few wild plants were used, and although crops were grown, it was simple fare. It takes me back to tales from my grandfather, who was sold at a fair in Dundee as fee’d work, to be employed on a farm as a labourer. All his wages were paid to his parents, and he was given lodgings — a very simple straw bed — and food, which consisted of a short menu of potatoes, onions, milk, and sometimes, as young boys, they would be invited into the farmhouse to eat with their employer. Fascinating stuff.

Life was harsh, but records show that if you did have money, you ate quite well — especially at festival times such as Christmas, Beltane, Whitsunday and Easter — when animals were slaughtered and feasts were had. The main diet consisted of oats, which grew easily in a wet and rather damp environment. This book focuses beautifully on what we actually ate throughout history.

Peasemeal was eaten a lot and called brose, although a savoury porridge of oats was also referred to as brose. It was commonly offered around the hearth at most mealtimes, filling children’s tummies and providing a very healthy staple. Beremeal was another grain used, preferred in the Highlands and Islands over oats. A form of barley, it was again a staple — used to make a bannock and served with butter, cheese or honey, perhaps. But there was always a pot of soup simmering away on the hearth.

The wealthy would be eating lots of beef and veal, shellfish, all sorts of game, and spending a lot of money on it too. Cheesemaking was a great way to preserve milk, which happened in the summer months before fridges, so it was vital to preserve as much as possible — even the blood from a freshly slaughtered pig, used to make black pudding.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: A Bird in the Hand by Diana Henry

This is a true favourite of mine. There’s something hypnotic about cooking a chicken, and here Diana Henry does it so well in many different ways in A Bird in the Hand: Chicken Recipes for Every Day and Every Mood. Nigella has said, “I wish I had written this book,” and I can see why. I think Diana has written over ten books now and is a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers.

I got this copy from an event she hosted at the Edinburgh New Town Cookery School, and as she was signing it, she told me—not to tell anyone—but Café is her favourite restaurant. So many great recipes here: a chicken with prunes and red wine really floats my boat, as does her way of roasting a bird with thyme, lemon and smashed garlic potatoes.

Diana has the ability to produce food that we actually want to eat. Food that can grace any table, is full of flavour when shared with loved ones, and comes with easy-to-follow recipes. It’s making me dribble like Tinto just reading it—and any leftovers (if there are any) are always welcome the next day. Versatile and a real crowd pleaser, chicken isn’t a boring meat when a master like Diana is in control. I like this book a lot.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: Taste of the Sea by Rick Stein

This week I have chosen a great book from one of our favourite all-time seafood chefs, Rick Stein. He has been cooking with passion for many decades and providing us with many happy hours of television. It would be hard to dislike what he does. I have always said, he has the best job on the planet. He gets to travel the world, cook beautiful day boat fish, doesn’t bother what the critics say about him, seems very happy, enjoys a glass of wine and has written scores of books, many of which we all have.

He is a true master of the craft of fish cookery, and I admire his rustic, often sometimes chaotic approach to cooking. He really enjoys what he does, and it shows. What I like about him is that he is always learning and noting things down. This book 'Taste of the Sea' is, I believe, his first book with a television programme, showing off the picturesque corner of the world, his beloved Cornwall, with chocolate box villages, seaside harbours and estuaries full of food for him to play with.

The Telegraph newspaper's quote on the back of the book reads: “We should treasure Rick Stein” and I agree. There are over 160 recipes here, both classics and some different takes. His signature dish appears here, tronçon of turbot with hollandaise, such a simple dish, and one I will order if I ever get to his fabulous-looking restaurant. If you haven’t picked this book up for a while, I would suggest you do so today. It is a very good book indeed.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: Recipes of the 1940's by Irene Veal

I felt that, as it is a week of remembering the end of the war in Europe and victory for the Allies, it would be a good idea to share a book from the 1940's. The war was fought just as much at home as on the battlefield — with the ever-worrying knock on the door, women working the land, working as mechanics, and doing all sorts of jobs in factories as the men were away.

Cooking must have been a way to take their minds off the news, and with the difficulties of rationing, powdered eggs and milk, it must have been pretty tricky. The “Grow Your Own” campaign, Dig for Victory, was a great way to get more food on your plate and in your tummy. With every square inch of land being used for growing veg and rearing chickens, there was a black market in eggs, chocolate and other luxuries.

This book, ‘Recipes of the 1940’s’ by Irene Veal, is a celebration of food that offers us recipes and dishes served at the best restaurants at the time — The Savoy and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a fabulous place still there to this day, tucked away in a wee alley off Fleet Street. An old haunt of Dickens and many more through time, it was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London in 1666 and is ageless.

Lots of tripe was consumed, I gather, and sausages weren’t rationed — though I do wonder what was in them. I believe fish and chips weren’t rationed either; there must have been queues round the block on a Friday evening.

I adore this book; it gives us a slice of what folk ate during those tough years of the war. A book to appreciate, and to think back on what life must have been like 80 years ago.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: The Mirabelle Cookbook by Marco Pierre White

If ever there was a chef that I had huge admiration for, it would be Marco Pierre White. I know chefs of a certain age all say the same, but he did change the way we eat out. He did make cooking cool, and it was rock and roll then – although not now.

This book, 'The Mirabelle Cookbook', is a piece of art. It isn’t too over the top; most of the recipes inside are achievable by us all at home. It is clever – he thinks a lot about why people eat, and how they eat food.

This was a great restaurant. I ate there once and loved it. It was a big place, scores of chefs and waiters, and it was just simple, well-sourced, good cooking, served well and in a nice space. Marco had demanding standards, something many should now look back on and consider. He got it done, and yeah, he shouted a bit, but he was fair.

A great regret of mine was not working at Harveys with him when I was offered a job. It still plays on my mind. I wonder what I would be doing now if I had. I would have been working alongside Stephen Terry, Philip Howard, Gordon Ramsay and so on – in another life.

It is never good, I know, to have regrets, but to look back and remember the great food at that time was just brilliant. The guys at Cafe take the mickey out of me for my love of chervil. Here, Marco uses it a lot, and I like that…

This book is very Cafe, and it just works. Go get a copy.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: The River Cafe Cook Book Two

A true modern classic this week: 'The River Café Cook Book Two' by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. It’s a restaurant I think about most days—a place many of you will have been lucky enough to eat in, right on the River Thames near Hammersmith. A simple interior, buzzy atmosphere, an incredible wine list, welcoming service—and the food has always been outstanding. I hope the River Café is running the canteen in heaven when I get there, as most things I see and read in their books are just so good.

It was one of the first true, proper Italian restaurants where ingredients were pushed to the forefront, showcasing food for flavour, texture, seasonality, freshness—not for any other reason. This was book two, following the very popular and very cool 'The River Café Cook Book'. It’s incredible to think this book was first published in 1997—that’s 27 years ago—and it’s still oh so cool. This followed two years after their first bestseller, which won Glenfiddich Book of the Year and cemented the success that made the River Café a true destination.

Many good cooks and chefs have worked here. Jamie Oliver was discovered here, Theo Randall spent years in the kitchen, and many more besides. I love eating here—the food is sublime, with an uncomplicated approach. Think spaghetti with ricotta and rocket, artichokes, wood-roasted vegetables, a simple dish of courgette, parmesan and rocket, or tagliatelle with walnuts and parmesan.

I always say the most amazing food I ate here was squid with chilli, rocket and olive oil. Then a piece of gorgonzola—it was perfect. And the chicken with mascarpone, prosciutto and marjoram stuffed under the skin, roasted in a wood oven for incredible flavour. The first time I ate lamb with salsa verde, I almost fell off the cool chairs they have. Buy this book, read it, use it—and go eat there.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: Pasta Grannies

This week I bring you a book that really excites me. It’s called 'Pasta Grannies', a book full of love and real food, written by Vicky Bennison. It delves into the world of pasta and gnocchi, and the grannies who make this incredible food, which is photographed so beautifully here. If only there were a similar modern version of our Scottish grannies—I wonder what would be in it?

One quote from Lucia, aged 85, is: “When you have good ingredients, you don’t have to worry about cooking, they do the work for you”—and this is so true. We all know Italy has incredible produce, but here in this book, the methods of making old types of pasta by hand are extraordinary. The history of food is a powerful thing. Many of the nonnas in this book have their little secret ways of doing things, a twist or sneaky tip that makes what they do sing.

Sadly, this book arose because younger people aren’t that interested in making their own pasta—they say “Why, when you can buy it?” This book took five years to write, covering different regions, seasons and ingredients, dotted around the beautiful Italian countryside.

It’s a book that makes you want to go to the local deli, buy some good flour and eggs, and get rolling pasta. The different shapes and techniques fascinate me. It makes me hungry just reading the recipes, looking at the pictures, and imagining myself on a sun-drenched terrace perfumed by the smell of lemons and herbs.

A great food book—I simply adore it, and I adore all the grannies here too.

Neil’s cookbook of the week: The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook

A firm favourite in our house when the kids were wee and we cooked proper food for them, 'The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook', put together by Yorkshire Television in the 1980s, is packed with fabulous recipes. This book really has it all—it’s great fun to flick through or read, featuring everything from old classic dishes and nursery food to hearty pies, stews, cakes, teacakes, and tea loaves.

Mrs Chef cooked from this a lot when I was at work, and many Forbes family favourites come from here. I adore this book, especially the fact that some recipes were sent in by members of the public, sharing old family traditions—it’s brilliant. Mary Berry was involved with the programme, which was hugely successful, and the book likely did very well too.

The Scottish oatcakes recipe from Mrs Anne Wallace of Dunlop, Ayrshire, is wonderful. A pilchard pizza from Mrs A.E. Phillips of West Sussex sounds interesting, and a bowl of Dundee Broth would be perfect on a cold day. This book is well used, and honestly, if it were the only cookbook you owned, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

With over 1,000 recipes, including Sussex Swimmers, Cockle Cake, and Gypsy Bread, there’s something for everyone. Go on—find a copy and have some fun in your own farmhouse kitchen.