Reading Room: Made in India, Cooked in Britain, Meera Sodha

meera's book

Anna and I have a very talented new sister. Meera Sodha is my brother's fiancee and a rather incredible Lady. 

Meera, Anna and me

You have probably seen her gracing the colour supplements, cooking up a storm on Women's Hour, chatting away with her mum on BBC Asian Network, to name but a few. She is an incredibly modest girl who one day asked her mum for some family recipes to cook for her friends. Nothing had been written down as the family tradition was to cook by experience rather than written instructions. Meera took that as her cue to prevent these glorious recipes from disappearing into the ether and started to make records. The book wasn't intended to be published initially, but just to be a safe record of all the family food heritage. 

Meera and family

A year later, and here we are at the book launch, published by Figtree, Penguin. 

The official tag on her site is:

MADE IN INDIA: Cooked in Britain: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen is the essential book for anyone who loves Indian food and wants to know how to make it easily at home

Meera and Hugh

And that is just it. Both of my parents, incredible bastions of the leftovers brigade, have taken to this book so incredibly strongly, both have been serving up Meera's dishes on a daily basis without breaking into a chilli-induced sweat.

The book is currently number 5 in the Amazon charts...and that is the chart for ALL BOOKS. not bad huh. 

Reading Room: The Edible Atlas by (my mate!) Mina Holland

Photo Paul Salischiker

I can't wait to see my old uni pal Mina Holland tonight in town. You may recognise those cheekbones as she was contributing Editor of Observer Food Monthly,  now covering maternity leave as Editor of Guardian Cook, AND now a published, celebrated author of  The Edible Atlas (Canongate, 2014).

As this is a style Blog, what makes me most happy is how bloody gorgeous and cool she looks in this photo. Love blunt cut hair at the moment, particularly because i could only dream of such a thing with my lion's mane. 

The Edible Atlas Cover, Canongate

Here's what she says about the book;

'A book for intrepid cooks, I explore the what and why people eat as they do across the world, demystifying the flavours, ingredients, techniques and dishes at the heart of thirty-nine different cuisines. With fully adaptable recipes to suit beginners and confident cooks alike, learn to recreate dishes from across the globe. Weaving snippets of anecdote, history and literature in with recipes and words of wisdom from some of the world’s most seasoned food experts – such as Yotam Ottolenghi and Jacob Kenedy, Jose Pizarro and Giorgio Locatelli - The Edible Atlas is as comfortable in your kitchen as it is at your bedside.'  Mina

and here's what some other rather well known chefs and food writers say...

• "A fascinating project, telling some fantastic stories about a broad range of cuisines. Mina’s style is engaging and illuminating and the food cries to be cooked."YOTAM OTTOLENGHI
• "The Edible Atlas is not only a delight to read but also peppered with delicious recipes, facts and flavours from around the world"RACHEL KHOO
• "The Edible Atlas deserves a place on every serious cook’s bookshelf. Intelligent, informative, entertaining and very handsome. Mina Holland’s prose is as engaging as her recipes. She is an exciting and authoritative new voice in the world of cookery and food writing."RUSSELL NORMAN
• "Mina has managed to present world cuisine on a plate in this marvellous book."JOSÉ PIZARRO

back in HiFi, Leeds, both looking a little less sophisticated

Reading Room: Creating the Vintage Look by Ellie Laycock

This is a slightly biased Reading Room post, as it is also a little showcase for my latest illustration commission. Ellie Laycock has produced some stunning home wear projects for this book:

Creating the Vintage Look 

Published by CICO Books

Here are a few samples of the illustration style I adopted to furnish this book.

Crochet glass wear project

A new use for old metal jelly moulds

Vintage pillow case project

Russian doll light pull

Vintage tin clock

The book is released on September 30th and can be bought here. We had the launch party a few nights ago at The Old Cinema on Chiswick High Road

A little more about the author, taken from www.rylandpeters.com

'Ellie Laycock trained as an artist and works as a London-based professional photographer for clients such as Giorgio Armani, Sony Ericsson and Casa Vogue Brasil. A love of innovative design, stylish interiors, and rummaging for vintage treasures led to the founding of her new company, Hunted and Stuffed (www.huntedandstuffed.com), which specializes in luxury homeware made from specializes in luxury homeware made from upcycled vintage materials. Her unique cushions were selected to appear in the first major upcycling exhibition in the UK at The Old Cinema, west London, and are stocked in independent boutiques and online stores. She recently won the Platinum Brand Amplifier award for female entrepreneurs and the Startup Britain ‘PitchUp!’ Competition.' (CICO books)

Reading Room: Cressida Bell's 50 Fabulous Cakes

Books are a huge inspiration. No surprise there, but it is often the unlikely sources that give me the greatest pleasure. Therefore I am starting a new 'bookspiration' feature and what better way to start than with CAKE.

I assure you this is a design focussed post.

Whilst in product design, fashion, interiors, the standards have been constantly raised with groundbreaking ideas and techniques, the world of cake decorating has remained pretty twee and nostalgic. Cressida Bell, a descendant of the print obsessed Bloomsbury Group admits she is no baker, but when it comes to cake decorating, she approaches it with the focus of a high end product designer. Taking inspiration from fabrics and wallpapers, her cakes are simply inspiring. Here are some of my favourites.

Cressida Bell’s Cake Designs: Fifty Fabulous Cakes (Double-Barrelled Books, £25)  Commissions taken at Cressida Bell

Photographs by Sonja Read