Credit: Stylist
4 min read
Whether you’re looking for inspiration ahead of your big Christmas dinner or just want something to soothe your soul during the rare moments of downtime you’ll enjoy over the festive period, books about food are a delicious treat at any time of the year. Here are some of our favourites from the past 12 months, as well as some of the titles that food writer Meera Sodha returns to again and again.
Books and food go together like, well… green eggs and ham. Nothing brings more pleasure in the cold, dark days of winter than curling up with a good read and a comforting mug of intensely dark hot chocolate.
Food in books remains a constant theme – from the epic munching of The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the recipes scattered throughout Nora Ephron’s Heartburn – as writers attempt to capture just what it is about food that resonates so deeply within our lives.
So, before the Christmas holidays descend, start planning your comfort food reading list with some of the best and most nourishing writing that’s taken the spotlight in 2024 (including a delightful recipe book that features the go-to dishes of some of the world’s literary giants).
Plus, we asked Meera Sodha, whose latest vegan cookbook, Dinner, has instantly become one of our go-to titles thanks to its sesame noodles with spicy fried soya mince recipe, about the food books she can’t live without.
What I Ate In One Year by Stanley Tucci
It’s hard to resist the always-elegant Devil Wears Prada actor and food lover Stanley Tucci. Whether he was making negronis in lockdown, charmingly exploring local delicacies in his TV series, Searching For Italy or writing about his life in his first bestselling food memoir, Taste, he’s become synonymous with the specific joy that food can bring. So while his diary is an enlightening insight into what it’s like to be one of the most well-connected men in the world (Richard Madden keeps popping over; Colin Firth is late for dinner because he gets his days mixed up; Isabella Rosellini takes him to a Roman restaurant run by Carmelite nuns; Cillian Murphy leaves him stutteringly starstruck in Paris), it’s more about how food can make your day (or, in the case of Italian film set catering break it). Whether it’s Tucci’s parents grousing about the right ground beef for meatballs, Stanley making spaghetti con tonno for resistant children or whipping up an unexpected veggie feast with courgettes from the farmers’ market, this is a transporting ode to the joy of eating, cooking and sharing with the people you love.
Shop What I Ate In What I Ate In One Year by Stanley Tucci at Bookshop.org, £20
Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake by various
This illuminating and surprisingly useful compendium of recipes by classic authors includes such highlights as Joan Didion’s Mexican chicken and Agatha Christie’s hot bean salad. A particular delight is Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov – never has the boiling of an egg been quite so effortlessly wise and wry.
Shop Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake by various at Bookshop.org, £12.99
The Restaurant Of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai
A masterpiece of the ‘healing fiction’ phenomenon currently sweeping the world of books, this is the tale of a father and daughter who dedicate themselves to becoming ‘food detectives’ to help their guests recreate dishes from their past – allowing them to reconnect with lost lives and find redemption.
Shop The Restaurant Of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai at Bookshop.org, £14.99
Just One Taste by Lizzie Dent
An enemies-to-friends romcom by the wonderful Lizzie Dent that features a gastronomic tour around Italy – what more do you want from your feelgood fiction? Transport yourself to Sicily and Liguria with delicious one-liners, endless plates of pasta and sun-dappled glasses of red wine.
Meera Sodha on the books that made her
Credit: David Loftus
Cook and food writer Meera Sodha on the titles she will happily read again and again.
Agak Agak by Shu Han Lee
This is the book I keep on picking up again and again. Singapore is a melting pot of flavours: Indian, Chinese and Malaysian – all cuisines that my family and I love. I’ve picked at least 20 dishes I’d like to cook from it.
Sift by Nicola Lamb
Baking felt like magic and wizardry to me until Nicola Lamb and her bible, Sift, came along. There are plenty of simple and special recipes to sink your teeth into here.
Nights Out At Home by Jay Rayner
I love this book. It took me a while to get it off my husband, who couldn’t put it down, and I can see why. It’s so interesting to read about the origin of our many beloved restaurant dishes and it’s great to have Jay reverse-engineer his favourites for the home cook.
Dinner by Meera Sodha is out now (£27, Fig Tree)
Images: David Loftus; courtesy of publishers
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