Cheese on toast will never be the same now that I am in receipt of seemingly eccentric yet oh so down to earth The River Cottage Year cookbook in all of its bendy, pliable paperback glory!
For I'd only just read of the fearlessly bearded and bespectacled, shaggy headed English farmer/chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his fantastic, rustic, completely authentic farm cottage industry culinary adventures in strictly seasonal produce when the last of the Christmas parcels from overseas plopped onto the front porch
Apparently Hugh's all the rage with the hip, organic set in England these days, with several super-duper drop your mouth open at the photography cookbooks on the market and a television show & online courses to boot www.rivercottage.net. Bit like survivor meets Alice Waters a few decades back, only everything is centered in the here and now in dreamy, rain-drenched rural Dorset countryside with Fearnley-Whittingstall in comfy oldt-shirts, shoving his specs back on his nose with his elbow whilst stuffing a duck.
Food & Wine Magazine had featured The River Cottage Year as a top pick for holiday cook book giving and after making a quick search online, I'd filed a mental note to pick up a copy when over in the UK later this winter.
So low and behold, what do I discover right there on my red flannel pj'd lap midst prezzie opening frenzy yesterday afternoon, but my very own wish list in material form - courtesy of clearly (dearly) psychic sibling, my brother Stu!
Of all the cookbooks in UK bookstores today (Jamie, Nigella, both on my top picks for perfectly translatable Sonoma Vineyard Kitchen recipes), there must be a myriad of British chefs in print to pull from. My brother and I speak all too infrequently on long distance calls, but when we have time for a chat, we generally talk it up a storm. Sufficiently so for he to have figured out my current obsession with seeking out the seasonal for family meals.
I can't wait to dive into this book. I could eat it! From its rainbow tinted outer pages, to the thick, creamy Italian paper stock and wholesome food photography, I'm inspired. Leeky Welsh Rarebit first. Then maybe the parsnip risotto? Mince pies I already have - see previous blogs! Although the harvesting seasons are a little off from California to the frozen countryside of an English December, the premise of the book appears altogether more easily embraceable than Barbara Kingsolver's meaty Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I thoroughly enjoyed but promptly forgot most of what she'd preached
Comments