Consuming Passions don’t have to be about ingredients – there are plenty of other items in the kitchen that can stoke fires of passion. We asked Sydney-based food writer Jill Dupleix to tell us about her own consuming passion for… cake tins. By Jill Dupleix     The cake tin is a means to an end. Practical and sturdy, it is there simply to lead to greater things. This is why I like it so much. The materials are sensible and heat-conducting, and the shapes are fit for purpose – a heart for St Valentine’s Day, a round cake tin with two smaller ear tins for Mickey Mouse. The number of c ..read more

Enjoy our favorite gooseberry recipes Fantastic Fungi Eugenia Bone, cookbook author, recipe developer and food journalist, is also a passionate mycologist (one who studies fungi). Mushrooms became such an interest that she partnered with filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg to make the movie Fantastic Fungi, documenting the mushrooming community across the US and the amazing scientific, medicinal and culinary properties of the fungal kingdom. Fantastic Fungi: The Community Cookbook, is the cookbook spinoff which accom ..read more

In the 2019 documentary Fantastic Fungi (now streaming on Netflix), mushroom maven Eugenia Bone playfully dubs mycologists (those who study fungi) as “bloated pleasure seekers with a science bent. My kind of people”. For Fantastic Fungi: The Community Cookbook, a culinary spin-off from the documentary, Bone brought together recipe contributions from an inner-circle of mushroom pleasure seekers and evangelists across the US, all aligned with Bone’s goal that the book should “make mycophiles of those of you who aren’t already.” To celebrate the book’s debut on ckbk, we chatted with chefs about ..read more

Enjoy our favourite asparagus recipes Ken Hom’s 40 fabulous years In 1984 a young Chinese-American appeared in his first BBC television programme, a new series on Chinese cookery which, in his own words, “opened up a whole new world to the British Public.” That young man was, of course, the great Ken Hom. He thrilled viewers by cooking exciting dishes in real time and introduced British viewers to the wok – in fact his second ever programme focused on how to choose and use your wok. The book that accompanied ..read more

In praise of the Lima bean For the love of garlic Kumud Ghandi is a food scientist, nutritionist, spice maestro, author and broadcaster, whose passion for garlic in all its sweet and pungent glory has inspired her to write The Garlic Story: Nourish Your Body, Delight Your Palate: Rediscover the Ancient Superfood. Newly published and added to ckbk, the book takes us on a tour through all types of garlic and all the global cuisines in which is it such a central source of flavor ..read more

Kumud Gandhi, the founder of The Cooking Academy cookery school, is a food writer, critic, broadcaster and food scientist. She is also the author of The Garlic Story, a cookbook entirely dedicated to the pungent vegetable which plays a key role in so many national cuisines. To mark National Garlic Day in the US on April 19th, Kumud here considers the many uses of garlic in all its varied forms, and why it holds such a special place in her heart. By Kumud Ghandi For me, garlic is divine, and at the centre of what I call the holy trinity of ingredients that is garlic, ginger and chillies. Few i ..read more

Jenny Jefferies latest book expands the horizons of her work looking at farming and fishing, to take an international view, with stories and recipes from 25 producers around the world. We spoke to Jenny about how this book came about, and what she learned while bringing it together. Q & A with Jenny Jefferies, author of Islands In A Common Sea Q The stories in the book cover a huge geographic range and a diversity of cultures. How did you go about researching such a wide-ranging book to find these stories? A I read a lot. Usually by the light of my phone and after my children have gone to ..read more

? Making the most of wild garlic season A spotlight on Darren Purchese Have you discovered the brilliant Darren Purchese and his oh-so-tempting recipes yet? If not, now is the moment to do so. We are fortunate to have four of Darren’s books on ckbk, and were thrilled to sit down with Darren to chat about his life, career, and passion for pastry. Born in Surrey, England, Darren has risen to global fame from his adopted home of Australia via award winning restaurants, guest appearances on MasterChef Aust ..read more

? Publication day for Magrets & Mushrooms Happy publication day to Magrets & Mushrooms “Finding out that Jeanne Strang had written another exploration of southwestern French cuisine, bringing that story forward another thirty years, was like realizing that yet another present had unexpectedly materialized under the Christmas tree.” Anne Mendelson, food journalist and culinary historian. Our sentiments exactly. When Jeanne Strang and her husband Paul moved to Aveyron in the 1960s ..read more

On March 24th 2024, award-winning author Eleanor Ford was interviewed at the inaugural North London Book Fest by Guild of Food Writers president Orlando Murrin about her latest cookbook, A Whisper of Cardamom. Highlights include: how to avoid “dusty disappointment” when storing spices which French company makes cars, bicycles and excellent spice grinders which spice was described by a famous food writer as “beastly” which recipe in the book is Eleanor’s current favorite Watch the recording of the talk, below, to discover all this, and more… Recipes mentioned during the talk Other us ..read more