A Waterstones 'Best Books of 2022: Food and Drink' A Times Food and Drink Book of the Year 2022 and a Spectator Cook Book of the Year 2022 A Stylist Christmas Gift Pick 2022 'If pasta is a religion, this book is its sermon' Russell Norman, founder of Polpo and Brutto 'Rewarding ... you discover a lot about Italy here ... huge fun' Sunday Times In one shape or another, pasta has been an Italian staple since the days of ancient Rome. It has been the food of peasants, the pride of royalty and a culinary badge of honour for Italian emigrants all over the world. It's hard to imagine Italy without pasta, yet the history of the country's most famous food has changed with the fortunes of eaters and cooks alike. In A Brief History of Pasta, discover the humble origins of fettuccine Alfredo that lie in a back-street trattoria in Rome, how Genovese sauce became a Neapolitan staple and what conveyor belts have to do with serving spaghetti. Meet the people who have shaped pasta's history, from the traders who brought pesto to the world to the celebrity chef who sparked national outrage by adding an unpeeled garlic clove to his recipe for amatriciana sauce. Renowned culinary historian Luca Cesari delves into the fascinating variety of his country's best-loved food, serving up the secrets behind the creamiest carbonara, the richest ragu alla Bolognese and the tastiest tortellini.

Fans of "Food for Free" will be delighted at this new format--ideal for carrying in a rucksack. Over 100 edible plants are featured together with recipes and other interesting culinary information. With details on how to pick, when to pick, and regulations on picking, this new format of a best-selling title provides a portable guide for all those who enjoy what the countryside has to offer. More than 100 plants are listed, fully illustrated, and described, together with recipes and other fascinating information about their use throughout the ages. The recipes are listed so that you can plan your foray with a feast in mind. This is the ideal book for both nature-lovers and cooks. Particularly with today's emphasis on the freshest and most natural of foods. There is also practical advice on how to pick plus the countryside laws and regulations on picking wild plants.

Patrick McGuigan is a British food journalist and cheese writer, who contributes to The Telegraph, Delicious and The Financial Times, among many other titles. He has travelled the world, from the Swiss Alps to the hipster cheese bars of New York, to write about cheese makers, maturers and retailers. A senior judge at the World Cheese Awards, Patrick also teaches cheese courses at the School of Fine Food and is a co-founder of the British Cheese Weekender and London Cheese Project festivals. He is particularly partial to a slice of Kirkham's Lancashire. www.patrickmcguigan.com

Once, nutmeg was worth its weight in gold. For much of human history, the tiny Banda Islands in Indonesia were the only source of this esteemed spice. From the age of the Silk Roads through to the mid-19th century partial shift of production to the Caribbean, covering battles between the Honourable East India Company and the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, this book traces the story of nutmeg, revealing its extensive and often surprising influence over conflict, politics, social mores, and Western society. Beautiful antique silver, gold, enamel, bone, ivory, treen and Tunbridgeware graters and rasps demonstrate how much nutmeg was valued throughout history. This book gathers pictures of some of the finest examples world-wide, alongside mechanical and base metal graters and spice containers. It illustrates, and provides useful information on, the history of pomanders which were associated with nutmeg, as this spice was once thought to ward off pestilence and plague. Combining the social history of nutmeg with explanations of the spice production and transportation process, and illustrating in detail examples in international nutmeg grater collections and museums, this book is the essential reference work for collectors, antique dealers and auctioneers.

A Garden of Herbs by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde. This book is primarily intended for those who are going to create an old fashioned herb garden, and who want to know how to use these herbs as our great grandmothers did: but even if you buy your herbs at the store, this practical handbook will show you how to make hundreds of teas, syrups, conserves, pies, candied flowers and leaves, wines, sweet waters and perfumes from well known wild and garden herbs that are readily available. Most of the recipes are taken from old English herbals (Gerard's herbal, John Evelyn's Acetaria, Coles Art of Simpling and many others) and the author one of the two or three most outstanding herbalists of this century adds many more of her own. Miss Rohde first provides a brief historical description of the herb garden, discussing some of the major books on herbs that have been written in England since the Anglo-Saxon Bald's leech book. Then in a long chapter entitled "Sundry of herbs" she lists the common herbs in alphabetical order, giving descriptions, recipes, hints on preservation, etc, for each one. There are recipes in this chapter for such dishes as artichoke pie, chervil broth, pickled cow slips, dill pickles, marigold pudding, nettle spinach, sauce eglantine (from roses), tarragon vinegar, violet cakes and wormwood brandy. There is an entire chapter on salads made with all kinds of herbs, which includes recipes for vinegar and mustard. ther chapters cover herb pottages and puddings, drinks and homemade wines (from mint, currants, lemons, dandelions, blackberries, sage, apples, gooseberries, apricots, turnips, etc) and some additional recipes- almond milk, beet-root biscuits, parsnip cakes, potato pie, and many more unusual herb foods. A practical chapter on the picking and drying of herbs and a final chapter on the use of herbs for scents (in pomanders, ointments, bath waters, eau de cologne and other perfumes) complete the volume. Miss Rohde's charming presentation and the ease with which her herbal lends itself to hours of browsing, will make this book a source of delight for anyone interested in plants or their lore.