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Gilly Smith
Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith is the winner of The Guild of Food Writers' Best Broadcast or Podcast Award 2022, and was shortlisted for Fortnum and Mason Best Podcast 2022 and 2024.It's about all of life from climate change to culture and politics to people through the prism of food. It's for foodie book lovers who want to hear something more profound about the way we live, making the link between delicious food and the impact of food production on the land - through books.Hear how A-lister food writers have changed the conversation about food as Gilly talks through their four chosen food moments from their latest books. As she joins the dots between stories from the old country and food identity, plant-based recipes and climate change, she shows how a deeper connection with food really could save the planet.Listen to all your favourite food writers from Claudia Roden to Yotam Ottolenghi, Sheila Dillon to Anna Jones, Prue Leith to Elisabeth Luard, Gill Meller to Ravinder Bhogal, Dan Barber to Raymond Blanc as Gilly finds what's cooking in the minds of our food writing stars.Do support the podcast by subscribing, and PLEASE leave a review. You can do this by clicking HERE for the link to Apple Podcasts, click on Listen on Apple Podcasts under the show title and then click on Rating and Reviews! Thank you so much.For more information and to join the mailing list, visit Gilly SmithCooking the Books with Gilly Smith is rated in the top 2.5% of global podcasts by ListenNotes and in the top 40 of food podcasts globally by FeedSpotTheme music by Willy ZygierGilly Smith is also the presenter of the delicious. podcast and Leon's How to Eat to Save the Planet which was highly commended in the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2021. She won the Investigative Food Work Award for Right2Food (now known as the Food Foundation Podcast) in the same awards.She also produced The Big Table for Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion in World Farming, and is the multi-award winning author of Taste and the TV Chef: how storytelling can save the planet (Intellect Books 2020) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Official 2024 Veganuary Cookbook with Toni Vernelli
To kick off a brand new year of life through the prism of food, Gilly is with the Head of Communications and Marketing at Veganuary, Toni Vernelli to talk about the 2024 edition of the Official Veganuary Cookbook.It's 10 years since Veganuary first made January its own, encouraging people all over the world to try out a meat free month for the sake of our own health and that of the planet. And it’s been a phenomenal success with only two countries in the world - North Korea and the Vatican City - NOT signed up for this year's month long meat free pledge. Gilly finds out the secret of its success.Do head to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites from the Veganuary crew. And if you want more plants in your life, do listen in next week to Nik Sharma on his latest book Veg Table. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
20:2404/01/2024
Alex Jackson: Frontières
This week, Gilly is with Alex Jackson, Noble Rot chef, former restaurateur at Sardine and author of Frontieres.He talks about his long love affair with France, and particularly with its food, but it’s the edges that we’re after here, The Italianness of the French Riveiera , the spices of Provence, melting pot of Marseille. It’s about an adventure in French cooking through the prism of the others that make modern France French. Head over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Alex's Frontieres. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29:4828/12/2023
Kevin Geddes: Keep Calm and Fanny On
This week, Gilly's with a man after her own heart. There are very few people who write about TV chefs and their place in British food culture, but Kevin Geddes, author of Keep Calm and Fanny On and Gilly, who wrote Taste and the TV Chef (2020) are two of them.Channel 5 is showing an hour long documentary on December 28th called the 70s Dinner Party in which Gilly joins Dr Annie Gray to talk about the social history of the TV chef. She and Kevin celebrate by diving deeply into the '70s food world through the prism of Fanny Cradock, and find much more than green mashed potato and mince meat omelette.Head to Gilly's Substack for some Extra Bites on the Channel 5 show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:4822/12/2023
These Delicious Things: a charity cookbook for Magic Breakfast
This week, Gilly is with private chef, Jane Hodson, food writer, Lucas Hollweg and probably the most influential of social media food influencers, photographer Clerkenwell Boy to discuss These Delicious Things, a charity cookbook featuring recipes and childhood food memories from the likes of Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and Stanley Tucci. The idea began when Jane and Lucas, hunkered down on a winter’s night, as Jane writes in the introduction, wondered if a collective memoir, featuring the shining lights of the British food scene could raise money for the charity Magic Breakfast. With the help of Clerkenwell Boy’s contact list and influence, it’s become the best anthology of its kind that sets a new standard in charity fund raising. Click on the link to Gilly's Substack for more delicious things in Extra Bites, and here to buy it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
26:5521/12/2023
Dina Begum: Made in Bangladesh
This week, Gilly is with Dina Begum, whose book, Made in Bangladesh celebrates the food and folklore and of the old country which she left when she was four years old.It was first book, Brick Lane which first opened the door on what was happening in the kitchen of our East End curry houses, and propelled her into pole position as authority on British Bangladeshi culture. Gilly explores with her why she chose to take us back to Bangladesh and what she wanted to find.Check into Gilly's Substack to watch Dina's mum make paan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28:4014/12/2023
Joe Woodhouse: More Daily Veg
This week, Gilly is on Hove seafront with an old friend of the podcast, Joe Woodhouse to talk about More Daily Veg.A lot has happened since they first met on Zoom to talk about his first book, Your Daily Veg. While the Ukraine war has rocked his family life – his wife is the Ukrainian food writer and Cook for Ukraine champion, Olia Hercules, their three year old son, Wilf was diagnosed with a mild form of autism, and vegetables have actually landed properly on the British plate. Gilly catches up with him on a bench over looking the sea to ponder on the enormity of it all Head to Gilly's Substack to see what Joe has cooked up for us over on Extra Bites Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
26:2907/12/2023
Alexina Anatole: Bitter
This week, Gilly is talking to Alexina Anatole about the least pleasant of our five tastes: bitter. Or is it?Alexina's series of cookbooks on the five tastes: Bitter, Sweet, Salty, Sour and Umamia is a step-by-step exploration of flavour, and an impressive start to a what looks like a masisve career for this bright young spark who swapped the trading floor for Masterchef in 2020. In the first book, Bitter, she sets out to tame bitterness, showing us how to soothe it with dairy, balance it with sweetness and distract it with acidity. But Gilly quickly became much more interested in this super-driven polymath of a woman who has everything food TV needs right now.Pop over to Gilly's Substack to hear more of Alexina's hidden talents. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:1430/11/2023
Russell Norman: Brutto
This week, Gilly is with Russell Norman, the award-winning restaurateur, writer and broadcaster who brought Italy to the British high street, first through Polpo, the book and chain of Venetian style restaurants which gave us small plate food culture, and now Brutto, the Florentine trattoria next to London’s Smithfield market.Brutto, the book, is about much more than the recipes of the restaurant. It’s an ode to Florence where we find what Russell calls the 'ugly but beautiful' food that the Tuscan capital is really all about.Don't forget to head to Gilly's Substack to see what Russell has cooked up over on Extra Bites Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
33:1623/11/2023
Donal Skehan: Home Kitchen
This week, Gilly is talking about what home means to Irish TV chef, Donal Skehan.Donal has moved a lot in his massive career on TV, from Eurovision to Saturday Kitchen and on to Food Network in LA. Now, with wife Sofie and their two young boys, he’s come home to Ireland. His 11th cook book, Home Kitchen, is a meditation on home, nostalgia and who he is now as a food writer. Check Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites from Donal Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:2216/11/2023
Bee Wilson: The Secret of Cooking
This week, Gilly is with one of Britain’s very best food writers, the author of First Bite and The Way We Eat Now, Bee Wilson.After years of writing about the psychology and history of food, this is Bee’s very first cook book. It’s packed with recipes for an easier life in the kitchen, as the sub title suggests, but the Secret of Cooking is not just a treasure trove of simple dishes, but how food can heal, as Bee learnt from her own experience after her husband left her in the summer of 2020.Head to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites from Bee Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
33:5409/11/2023
Anya Von Bremzen: National Dish
This week, Gilly is digging deeply into the construction of identtiy through the food with multi award-winning Russian writer Anya von Bremzen.National Dish is a fascinating book which explores how certain foods become the cultural signifiers of France, Italy, Japan, Spain, Mexico, and Turkey. Mixing academic rigour with chats at bars and cook ups in local kitchens, she stirs up a load of our assumptions, but does she find the answer? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34:5202/11/2023
Giulia Scarpaleggia: Cucina Povera
This week, while Gilly is talking about the roots of Italian cuisine, Cucina PoveraGiulia Scarpaleggia began her food writing career as a blogger and photographer before becoming one of the most respected writers on Italian food. Her book Cucina Povera is all about her respect for the inguity of peasant cooking which reveals the soul of Italian food at its best.Head to Gilly's Substack to hear why Giulia loves British food writers so much. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:1526/10/2023
Julius Roberts: The Farm Table
This week, Gilly's with the king of Tik Tok, the idol of Insta and star of channel 5’s A Taste of the Country, Julius Roberts.His debut cook book The Farm Table is a beautifully written story of a young man following his dream from cheffing to farming, with goats who think they’re dogs, pigs begging for a tummy tickle and an idyllic walk through the seasons. An audience of 500k on both Instagram and Tik Tok has followed his insipring journey to find himself, while he’s become one of the most compelling advocates for modern British food and regenerative farming. Give that man a Netflix show, and he will save the planet. Head over to Gilly's Substack for an Extra Bite of Julius. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
33:0019/10/2023
Diana Henry: Roast Figs, Sugar Snow
This week, Gilly is with one of Britain’s very best food writers, Diana Henry.The new edition of her 2005 book Roast Figs, Sugar Snow is a lyrical walk through the autumn leaves and winter wonderlands of her favourite food places in the world as she shares the delicious finds that have made her one of Britain’s most well-respected and award-winning food writers.It’s a book that makes you feel warmed to your bones. But Diana has been dogged by depression for years, and has faced some major life challenges recently, including cheating death. Gilly was fascinated in how she created such a work of joy, and the dichotomy of pleasure and pain.Head over to Gilly's Substack to find Diana's personal photos from her trips for Roast Figs, and to hear an early interview for The Write Songs which Gilly did with Diana in 2017. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:0712/10/2023
Isabella Tree: The Book of Wilding
This week, Gilly is at Knepp with the queen of wilding, Isabella Tree.The Knepp estate is an extraordinary pioneering wilding project to restore nature which Isabella captured so beautifully in her 2019 book Wilding. Chris Packham called it ‘A poignant, practical and moving story of how to fix our broken land'. Now, The Book of Wilding breaks that story down into encyclopaedic form for everyone to refer to, however big or small their garden. And if you’d like more from Knepp, head over to Gilly's Substack to hear her 2019 interview with Isabella at Knepp where they were joined by that majestic red stag. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
30:2605/10/2023
Bri DiMattina: Nostrana
This week on Cooking the Books, Italian-Kiwi gardener and cook, Bri DiMattina tells us how she’s grown a food forest using permaculture principles in her garden in New Zealand.Her book Nostrana, meaning ‘home grown’ is also an extraordinary story of Italian food heritage in New Zealand. It’s the legacy of her grandparents growing a new world for themselves and their fellow Italians during the economic migration in the early 1900s. But as Bri celebrates its publication in the UK - and Nigella's pick in her Cookbook Corner - she tells Gilly how her Instagram page @iatemygarden was never meant for the book shelves.Check out Gilly's Substack for much more on Bri's permaculture principles than you'll find in the book! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
27:0428/09/2023
Conor Spacey: Wasted
This week, Gilly is with Conor Spacey, chef, culinary director of Food Space Ireland and one of the movers and shakers behind the Chefs' Manifesto, a community of over 1000 chefs in 110 countries making real change in the world of foodHis book Wasted is packed with recipes for the kitchen waste we all have in our homes, and it’s ingenius. Check Gilly's Substack for a chocolate cake recipe made from stale bread! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:1821/09/2023
Adriana Cavita: Cocina Mexicana
This week, Gilly is with Adriana Cavita, the brilliant Mexican chef and, now author of Cocina Mexicana, whose journey from her grandmother’s street food stall to top international restaurants like Pujol and El Bulli has brought the real flavours of Mexico to London. Have a listen to the resilience of this woman – she’s like a hurdler, jumping the barriers of gender, language, money and envy to open her own restaurant in London. She says that this book is for all the women of her home country, for women everywhere whose struggle can lead to such massive change in the world. Head over to Gilly's Substack for more from her guests in Extra Bites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28:0114/09/2023
Petty Elliott: The Indonesian Table
This week, Gilly is with the Indonesian chef behind her last sell out supper club, Petty Elliott. Her book, The Indonesian Table is a seminal work on the food of this archipelagic state of 17000 islands. We might think we know the flavours of Bali, Java, maybe even Sumatra, but Minangkabau? Manado? Banda Island? Probably not.Petty brought Indonesian food to a hungry public for the first time 20 years ago as a food journalist and chef, and has been cooking for some of the most influential people in the world since. Gilly met her at the British Library to talk about her book, why she chose this most hallowed of literary venues and being a card carrying member of this very British institution.Check Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Petty and her Indonesian Table Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28:5707/09/2023
Helen Rebanks: The Farmer's Wife
This week, in the last of this mini series on Matrescence, Gilly is with Helen Rebanks, farmer, businesswoman, teacher, conservationist and a working mother of four. She's also wife to Britain’s most famous farmer, James Rebanks whose phenomenal success with his books The Shepherd’s Life and English Pastoral (as featured on Cooking the Books), changed the way we look at farming. Now Helen tells the story of The Farmer’s Wife and looks at the values of an old fashioned way of life rooted in hard work and mothering her children on a farm in the Lake District. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:0131/08/2023
Emiko Davies: Gohan
This week, Gilly is with Emiko Davies, the Australian born, half Japanese writer on Italian food who lives with her family in Florence to talk about Japan.Her book Gohan is the story of her childhood food, fed to her by her Japanese mother in Australia and by her grandparents in Japan. It's the Japanese word for rice, but it also means ‘family meal’ and for Emiko, the only word as the title for her latest book. As she explores who she is through her food, we learn how mothers can hold the key to a child's sense of self, and how complicated - and how simple - that can be.Click here for more information on Matrescence, and head over to Gilly's Substack to hear more from Emiko on Matrescence Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:3724/08/2023
Tara Wigley: How to Butter Toast
This week, in the third in a special series this summer on Matrescence, Gilly is with Tara Wigley, co-author of the award-winning Falastin, in-house writer of Team Ottolenghi, Yotam’s co-author on eight of the biggest food books, including the million-seller, Ottolenghi Simple.. and mother of teen twins and a tween.Her hilarious and often biting ditties on Instagram have won her a new audience which is interested more in her own voice; when she asked Gilly what she thought of an early idea of a book version, she knew it would be a shoo in. How to Butter Toast is a recipe book without recipes, a rhyming route through the how-tos of cooking, but as Gilly finds out, it's also about putting form to an often chaotic life at home!For more information on Matrescence, click here.And head to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37:5817/08/2023
Shivi Ramoutar: Cook Clever
This week, in the second in a special series on matrescence, Gilly is talking about morning telly, cook hacks and motherhood with TV chef, Shivi Ramoutar.Shivi is the Caribbean Queen of Morning TV. She’s the chef on Oti Mabuse’s Breakfast Show, she was the TV Chef on Garraway’s Good Stuff and cooked with the Kemps on Martin and Roman’s Weekend Best. She's a regular guest on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, and ITV’s This Morning and has even appeared on Celebrity Mastermind. Her latest book Cook Clever is packed with cook hacks for her massive audience.And as a mother to 7 and 4-year-olds and a 9 month baby, she has plenty to say about matrescence. As we aim to explode the word into the national conversation to describe the process of mothering that really never stops, she tell us how's she's getting on. It’s estimated that perinatal mental health problems alone cost the NHS and social services around £1.2 billion annually, and Shivi is only too ready to share her journey so far. For more information on Matrescence, click here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:4010/08/2023
Chetna Makan: Chetna's Indian Feasts
This week, Gilly's at the home of award-winning recipe writer, author and YouTuber, one of Bake Off’s most celebrated winners and mother of 2, Chetna Makan to talk about her new book, Chetna’s Indian Feasts. But in this first episode of a special series this summer, we’re talking about food through the prism of matrescence, the raw ingredients which make up the heady mix of motherhood and provide the recipe for life. Like adolescence, matrescence shows us a picture of process, and with it an implicit understanding of what that means. Just as adolescents are always adults in training, so matrescents are mothers in training, and that never stops.The word was coined by anthropologist Dana Raphael in 1973 to describe the experience of half the global population but which is barely known, barely discussed, barely acknowledged. On the contrary, we’re supposed to know it all the minute we give birth. It’s estimated that perinatal mental health problems alone cost the NHS and social services around £1.2 billion annually. Imagine the impact on families and wider society of way post natal mental health issues – the massive lows that come with the roller coaster of emotions of motherhood – at all ages and stages.The aim of this Cooking the Books series is to introduce the word into the national conversation. Chetna is the first of four writers, mothers, matrescents who have much to say on the subject throughout the whole of August. For more information and where to get help, click here.Check Gilly's Substack each week for Extra Bites from each guest.And if you'd like support with your own matrescence, click here for information Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29:4603/08/2023
Maria Bradford: Sweet Salone
This week, Gilly is with Maria Bradford, author of Sweet Salone, the first book to tell the story of the food from her homeland of Sierra Leone. Maria came to the UK as a student and grew up with her guardian in a village in Kent, far from the colourful food culture spreading through London’s West African communities. But it was her sense of being different that has led to her becoming the word on Sierra Leonian food. Here she goes back to find the food that it took a lifetime to realise was such a big part of her sense of self. Check Gilly's Substack for Maria's Extra Bites Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:1427/07/2023
Imad Alarnab: Imad's Syrian Kitchen
This week, Gilly is with Syrian chef, restaurateur and charity pop-up king, Imad Alarnab, whose story has become a symbol of hope for so many migrants fleeing their war-torn homelands.His book, Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is so much more than a book of recipes from Syria. It’s the story of gritty determination to make a better life for his family, of meeting angels even when he was in the depth of despair, and the extraordinary healing that food from home can provide. Head over to Gilly's Substack to hear her very first podcast series Jaibli Salaam which tells the story of six Syrian families in Brighton through their food and music memories. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36:1120/07/2023
Amy Newsome: Honey
This week, Gilly is with cook, gardener and beekeeper, Amy Newsome. Her book, Honey: Recipes From a Beekeeper's Kitchen takes us through the beekeeper’s year, arguing the case for less but better honey from inside the bee hive. Her holistic approach takes us from terroir to table via a garden designed for bees, while her four food moments capture the alchemy a pot of honey can achieve.Check in to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Amy and her honeybees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34:4913/07/2023
Emily Scott: Time and Tide
This week, Gilly is with the woman who cooked for Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, the late Queen and the leaders of the Western world at the G7 conference in 2020. But as she opens up about what drives her, she reveals that she didn't always feel such a superwoman. Her restaurant Emily Scott Food, perched on the beach at Newquay, has settled into the excellence of the Cornish food landscape now and as she finds more time to write, she reveals in her second book,Time and Tide, much more of her inner and outer world on the Cornish coastHer food memories take her through her early tricky relationship with food. And as she explains her process of writing, we get a sense of how this newer career has given her a sense of calm she’s been chasing much of her life. Head over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Emily reading an extract from Time and Tide.#emilyscott #emilyscottfood #timeandtide #eatingdisorderrecovery #anorexia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
26:1206/07/2023
Clare Finney: Hungry Heart
This week Gilly is with journalist and author, Clare Finney whose new book, Hungry Heart is a memoir which unravels a tricky relationship with food. As she explores her own story with food, she unravels the complexities of British food culture in conversation with famous friends, Diana Henry, Bee Wilson and Gurd Loyal, academics and school friends. Head over to Gilly's Substack for Clare's Extra Bites. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
30:5029/06/2023
Ravinder Bhogal: Comfort and Joy
This week, Gilly is with chef, restaurateur, journalist and award winning writer, Ravinder Bhogal.Her latest book, Comfort and Joy: Irresistible Pleasures from a Vegetarian Kitchen celebrates the legacy of her grandfather and the life he built, ground up, for her family in KenyaHer writing is surely some of the best in Britain today, and her poetic meditations on where we are with an increasingly plant focussed food culture combined with the stunning photography by Kristen Perers, are deeply seductive. This is a gamechanger in vegetarian cook books.Check Gilly's Extra Bites on Substack to hear Ravinder reading one of these beautiful essays. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
36:3222/06/2023
Jenny Jefferies; For the Love of the Sea II
This week Gilly is going fishing with Jenny Jefferies, author of For the Love of the Sea, who has made it her mission to give a voice to the hidden fisherfolk of Britain, capturing the detail of their daily work, their passion and their massively important contribution to our economy. Gilly and Jenny discuss sustainability, politics and why an island nation has such a problem with seafood.Head over to Gilly's Substack to find Jenny's suggestion of how to write to your MP to fight for the future of our fishing culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
24:4815/06/2023
Jenny Chandler: A Good Appetite
This week Gilly is with Jenny Chandler whose book A Good Appetite is all about eating for planet, body and soul.It's a subject particularly close to Gilly's heart; her award-winning book Taste and the TV Chef looked at the influence TV chefs have had and could have in changing the way we eat. Her podcast for Leon How to Eat to Save the Planet and her work for Compassion in World Farming, the Food Foundation and Cooking the Books itself itself are all rooted in the interdependence between where food, health, soil and planet.Expect then, a good old rant about where we are in the race to save the planet, our junk food culture and an unconscious sleepwalk towards doom! Happily, Jenny has a more upbeat approach!Check Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites each week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:5208/06/2023
James Whetlor: The DIY BBQ CookBook
This week, Gilly is with James Whetlor, former chef at River Cottage and The Eagle in Farringdon with a whole new take on the barbecue.For festival goers, upcycling hobbyists and outdoor cooking fanatics, James has come up with genius ways to easily build your own. Before she traces the fascinating dark history of the barbecue with James, Gilly asks why a man who admits he can’t even put up a shelf decided to write The DIY BBQ CookBook.Check out Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites every episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:1401/06/2023
Niki Segnit: The Flavour Thesaurus - More Flavours
This week, Gilly is with Niki Segnit, the award-winning author of The Flavour Thesaurus, Lateral Cooking, and now The Flavour Thesaurus: More Flavours, The original Flavour Thesaurus published in 2011 has been called “a masterpiece” and is widely seen as a modern classic with its flavour pairings format inspired by Roget’s Thesaurus. This sequel is all about plant-led pairings, giving us imaginative and ingenious ideas to make our plant forward diets so much more exciting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
34:4425/05/2023
Saghar Setareh: Pomegranates and Artichokes
This week, Gilly is with Iranian food writer and photographer, Saghar Setareh whose debut book Pomegranates & Artichokes is the story of two food cultures that share so much in common but which are worlds apart.Saghar was born in Tehran and moved to Rome in 2007 to study at the Fine Art Academy. But by 2009 protests against the new regime broke out in all the major cities and led to what has become known as the Green Revolution or Persian Spring, and suddenly Saghar found herself unable to go home. Gilly asks her about her dedication in the book to those who dare to live a life. to those who move ‘braving the seas and the mountains, the men and their borders’.Head over to Gilly’s Substack as she takes Saghar’s orange rice cake to Claudia Roden whose legendary orange and almond cake is Saghar’s inspiration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29:5818/05/2023
Jennifer Medhurst: The Imperfect Nutritionist
This week Gilly is with former lawyer, Jennifer Medhurst, aka The Imperfect Nutritionist.And while there's plenty of talk about gut health, this episode focusses on mental health and exhaustion after the interview took an unexpected turn. Gilly asked Jennifer about a rather throwaway line in the introduction to her book about her own recovery from a long illness, and opened a fascinating discussion about the impact of diet on stress and mental health.For all those suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, long covid, or just life exhaustion, this is for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:4711/05/2023
Saliha Mahmood Ahmed: The Kitchen Prescription
This week, Gilly is back with MasterChef winner, author and doctor, Saliha Mahmood Ahmed.She’s a historian, a TV chef and a gastroenterologist with a kitchen clinic, and she’s on a mission to prescribe food to fix our obesity crisis. Gilly first meet Saliha on the delicious. podcast when she took her through the fascinating history of food in the Mughal empire in Khazana. They met again for Foodology, her often hilarious handbook to healthy eating, and now she’s back with The Kitchen Prescription, her no-nonsense doctor’s guide to the gut.Check Gilly's Substack for Saliha's video on how to make her prebiotic tabbouleh in Extra Bites Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
38:5304/05/2023
Sarah Wyndham Lewis: Wild Bees
This week, Gilly is with honey sommelier and bee champion, Sarah Wyndham Lewis. Her book, The Wild Bee Handbook is a fascinating insight into the world of the 'other' bees, the ones that don't make honey but go almost completely unnoticed. Their role in the protection of the planet is mighty, and as the unsung guardians of biodiversity, we all need to know much more about them and what we can do to protect them against the risk of extinction. Click here for Sarah's bee friendly recipes on Gilly's Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:0927/04/2023
Andi Oliver: The Pepperpot Diaries
This week Gilly is with chef, TV presenter and now, finally author, Andi Oliver. She’s one of the most successful black women on British TV, a respected pundit on Caribbean cooking on Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet and rocking it in the best frocks on the telly in the Great British Menu. And after her return to her ancestral home of Antigua with her daughter Miquita for the BBC, she’s rethinking her connection with who she is. Her mix of musings and recipes from her trip though the Caribbean are captured in her first book, The Pepperpot Diaries, a stirring together of her stories and complex layers of identity. And as she and Gilly contemplate what it means to be 60, she tells us what it’s felt like waiting to exhale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:3120/04/2023
Dr Rupy Cooks
This week, Gilly is with Rupy Aujla to talk gut health, flavour and his latest book, Dr Rupy CooksHe’ s a best selling author, a BBC presenter, a podcaster - his podcast The Doctor’s Kitchen is massive, his Instagram following is in 6 figures and somehow he manages to make it to work as a GP. If anyone can change the narrative about why heatlhy eating is so important for the whole of society, it’s Dr Rupy.And of course, it all starts in the gut. For two of the recipes from his four food moments, go to Gilly's Substack for some Extra Bites, and to hear Rupy on the latest episode of the Food Foundation Podcast on 5 years of the Sugar Tax, click here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:4613/04/2023
Sumayya Usmani: Andaza
This week, Gilly is going to Pakistan, through the memories of food writer and writing coach, Sumayya Usmani Her memoir, Andaza tells the everyday stories about life and food in Karachi. It sees the kitchen as a place where young Pakistani girls learn much more from their mothers and grandmothers than how to make a recipe, but how to feed, how to nurture and how to connect. For Extra Bites accompanying Cooking the Books episodes, go to Gilly's Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
32:0506/04/2023
Ozlem's Turkish Table
This week Gilly is with Turkish food writer and chef, Ozlem Warren Ozlem found fame as a blogger after moving here in 2009, and her supper clubs, meze nights and her book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table have made her the name in Turkish food.But since her home town of Antakya was devastated by the recent earthquake, she’s raised thousands for the relief effort with the help of food influencers like Melissa Thompson, Ravneet Gill, Ixta Belfrage and Clerkenwell Boy, as well as a Cooking the Books fundraiser supper club. Gilly catches up with her after an emotional journey back to Turkey, not least because of the death of her mother. To donate to the Disasters and Emergencies Commission Turkish and Syrian relief fund, click here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
24:2330/03/2023
Sarah Raven: A Year Full of Veg
This week, Gilly is gardening with teacher, podcaster and Telegraph columnist, Sarah Raven Sarah has seen massive changes in how our gardens grow over her 25 years as a gardening pundit. For anyone interested in food and the planet, growing, even if it’s just a few herbs on the window sill, seems a no-brainer. Her latest book A Year full of Veg gets to the heart of that relationship and how to grow your own kitchen garden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
27:5423/03/2023
Sarah Woods: Desi Kitchen
This week, Gilly is exploring the secret kitchens of Britain’s Desi kitchens with Britain's Best Home Cook finalist, Sarah Woods.Her book Desi Kitchen is part of the current crop of second generation Indian cookbooks which are hitting the shelves right now. But Sarah’s tells the story of the communities in which Desi people from the Indian Sub continent have enriched so much of Britain with their food and spiritual cultures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
31:0716/03/2023
Regula Ysewijn: Dark Rye and Honey Cake
This week, Gilly time travels through the centuries with Belgian writer Regula Ysewijn to explore the rich history of the food from her homeland.An anglophile who binged on Bronte and Austen since she was a child, Regula has spent much of her food writing life focussing on British baking. She’s a consultant for the National Trust and even wrote the Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook. But in her book Dark Rye and Honey Cake, she’s going home to Belgium, the long way. As she digs deep into the food of the ancient Dutch language low countries, she traces the influence of their festival baking on the food culture in modern Belgium. And head over to Substack for some Extra Bites from CTB guests each week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
27:1309/03/2023
Skye McAlpine: A Table Full of Love
This week, Gilly is Zooming into the 17th-century Palazzo home in Venice of Skye McAlpine. The daughter of Lord Alistair McAlpine, one of Margaret Thatcher’s closest advisers, Skye grew up in Venice where she now lives with her own family. A classics scholar with a PhD in ancient love poetry, she’s an expert on how Greeks and Romans understood love. And in her latest cook book, A Table Full of Love, she writes a culinary love letter to the friends and family whose recipes she’s gathered over time, whisking in memories and a dash of affection. If the first two books were about Venice and friends and mismatched but beautiful China collected in flea markets, this is a deeper read about memories and feelings in the language of love. Or is it?Follow Gilly @foodgillysmith on Instagram, and on Substack each week for a little Extra Bite from Gilly's guests. Come to Venice with Skye in this week’s post.If you'd like to learn how to really say something, you can join Gilly's podcasting course at Use the promo code GILLY_4-PROMO Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29:1202/03/2023
Gurdeep Loyal: Mother Tongue
This week, Gilly chats to a new voice in food writing, Gurdeep Loyal. Diana Henry calls him 'amazing, original, boundary breaking, a genius with flavour’. He's a cool hunter, a podcaster and writer and his debut cookbook Mother Tongue has exploded a whole new way of thinking about Indian food.Since he won the Jane Grigson Trust award in 2020 for his proposal for Mother Tongue, the food world has been salivating as we wait for the arrival of the final book. Anna Jones says ‘every so often a rare cookbook comes along which brings something completely new and fascinating to the world of food.’ Claudia Roden says she’s thrilled 'to be drawn into Gurdeep’s extroarindary diaspora and fantastic world of flavours.' Felicity Cloake says he’s 'a Willy Wonka wizard of flavour.'Follow Gilly on Instagram @foodgillysmith, and you can also find a little surprise over on Substack each week as she asks her guests for a little extra something. Gurdeep has not only created a special Cooking the Books Spotify playlist, but written beautifully on her Substack about his choices. It’s a must read and listen. And if you'd like to learn how to podcast and really say something, you can sign up for her Domestika course. Use the promo code GILLY_4-PROMO Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
37:0023/02/2023
Elisabeth Luard: European Peasant Cookery
This week, Gilly has lunch with one of Britain’s most respected and original voices in British food writing, Elisabeth Luard.A well-known writer, botanical artist and broadcaster, her many books have brought us stories of her family life in Andalucia in the 1960s set among the history, landscapes and culture of Europe. European Peasant Cookery was first published in 1986 and reprinted again at Christmas, and is seen as one of the most important books in modern British food writing. Tom Parker Bowles in the Mail on Sunday called it 'one of the great cook books of all time.' The 500 recipes tell much more than how to boil a lobster or salt a cod - they remind us of a way of life that Europeans had been living for centuries. Gilly takes her back to that life in Andalucia in the ‘60s to relive some of her favourite memories, and to discuss the legacy of the book at a time when the resilience skills of the peasant have never been so important.Check out Gilly's Substack for Elisabeth's Extra Bites Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
47:4016/02/2023
Olivia Potts: Butter - a celebration
This week, we’re celebrating three years of Cooking the Books with its very first guest, Olivia Potts and her latest book, Butter: A Celebration.Her journey from barrister to butter, her latest book is told with what Nigella calls 'her devilish wit', both in her award-winning memoir, A Half Baked Idea and now in a book that has GONG written all over it: Butter: a Celebration. She’s the host of the Spectator podcast, she writes for the Spectator magazine as well as running a successful catering company with her kitchen wife, best friend and fellow food writer, Kate Young. And here she talks about the enduring allure of one of the most versatile ingredients in the larder.Check out Gilly's Substack for extra content from Cooking the Books guests each week Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
35:3209/02/2023
Laurel Kratochvila: New European Baking
This week, Gilly is talking revolution in the bakeries of Europe with Berlin's Fine Bagels baker, Laurel Kratochvila.Her book, New European Baking is part guide book to the coolest city bakeries in Europe, part celebration of the return to craftmanship. As she takes us from Boston to Prague, Lisbon to Warsaw and Hackney, we join her in sniffing out the best brioches, challahs and breads of every shape and hue to meet eleven bakers who are riding the New Wave of baking.Check out Gilly's Substack each week for the podcast's Extra Bites Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
30:0702/02/2023