The book list
Award-winning writer and cook Mark Diacono shares the books that are exciting him this month – and picks a dish from each to entice you in... Strap in for American pies, UK seafood, Scandi seasonality and exciting veggie recipes
Recipe I can’t wait to make (above): Sweet and sour dal with chickpea flour pasta rags.
I didn’t know that… Who knew lime leaf salt would have such a transformative effect on a tomato salad?
Photographs by Kristin Perers
BOOK OF THE MONTH
COMFORT AND JOY
Born in Kenya to Indian parents, Ravinder Bhogal developed an early love of veg from her grandfather’s allotment and the produce of local women growers. This engaging book shares that love and revels in Bhogal’s belief that “vegetables are the soul of the kitchen... [offering] endless opportunities for play”. The recipes deliver on that: hot and sour sweetcorn risotto with lime leaf butter, and mango and ‘golden coin’ curry (see p94) are among the many that insist on being made. Bhogal moved to London at an early age, and everything about Comfort and Joy reflects the richness of her heritage and experience (turn to p88 for my interview with her). If you like modern, inventive and crosscultural recipes, written with warmth and love, there’s no one doing it quite like Bhogal.