There are so many books to choose as a ‘best of’, but this one always seems to be up there. 'Cookery For Northern Wives' by Margaret B. Stout is special to me for many reasons. Firstly, I was given a copy by Neil Henderson on Shetland, many moons ago. He had invited me to those incredible islands to cook their astonishing produce at the Shetland Food Festival. He was a huge supporter of Slow Food and this book is so much more than just a recipe book. It is about the culture of the islands, the people of Shetland, the language, the dialect.

I have to admit it, a little, or a large part of me, fell in love with Shetland when I was there. The other reason is the food is just so good, the ingredients they have to hand are incredible. There is a network of small artisans all working together to make good food for people either living or visiting the island, with such a protective feeling of their culture, which I support.

So much so, one year at Terra Madre, a global meeting of food communities in Turin, we took a load of Shetland black cabbage, black potatoes and Native Shetland lamb, mutton and North Ronaldsay mutton out for everyone to taste.

Then my copy was lent to a dear friend and marvellous cook, who you will all know, I won’t name her, she still has my copy, so I bought another copy and smiled when I did. I love that all books have not just a story inside them, but also how you came to own it.

The recipes here are brilliant, and you should get a copy and read the recipes out in a Shetland accent. Stap, for example, is 2 haddocks, 2 haddock livers, pepper and salt, basically cook the livers and chop them up and add to the cooked fish. Now another recipe is for Prog, it reads ‘This dish is similar to Stap’. It is all brilliantly written and put together with no real care for what the ‘hoity toity’ think.

Please buy this book and enjoy every single word. I hope it has the same effect on you as it did me, as you make your Blaand or Eggaloorie.