Salt Sugar Smoke

I first spotted this book by Diana Henry in Lakeland in the run up to Christmas it was on offer then at around £12 or so and I ummhed and arrghed over whether to buy it or not.  However yesterday I noted that it was down to £10.49 so I nabbed a copy and I am so glad that I did.  Not only does it have some very different recipes but it is a very good read about personal hands on experience testing the boundaries of preserving methods.  A woman after my own heart.  So if like me you are passionate about preserving and putting good food on your family's table this tome is one that needs to sit firmly on your bookshelf.  I have only read a little way through it so far but it is a wonderful mix of recipes, hands on experience, lovely anecdotal stories with plenty of reassurance and simplified instructions for how to start to learn to preserve for yourself

I am looking forward to reading more over the next few days or so. There are some lovely recipes.  As I have recently posted I made my first attempt at Gravadlax over the Christmas holidays and this book has recipes for Beetroot cured Gravadlax; Whiskey and brown sugar cured gravadlax and Eastern Gravadlax amongst many other simple and useful ideas.  However what has taken my fancy is a recipe for Purple Fig and Pomegranate jam.  That's it on the front cover to your left in a bowl served with Labneh a soft yogurt cheese.  What I really like though is that on many of the recipes where the ingredients or preserve is not as well known the author has given a how to use section which I think is brilliant. In a lot of cases recipes have survived but the common everyday usage of that item our social heritage has not always survived and it is a matter of trying that ingredient in different ways to find out what works for yuu as a family.

Well worth the buy.

Catch you later.

Pattypan

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