Writing & Consultancy

Food Beyond Terroir: My first academic book, this co-edited volume explores the complex ways taste and place intersect with political, ecological, social, and economic issues, challenging terroir-inspired notions of a fixed taste of place and pushing the boundaries of what we think we know about taste-place relations.

SOAS Food Studies Centre: I am a post-doctoral Research Associate at this Centre, having done an MA in the Anthropology or Food (2015) and then a PhD: ‘Making Local Specialities: Food, Place and Value in Istria’ (2024) at SOAS. My research interests include the cultural economy and place making, rural and gastronomic tourism, hospitality and cooking, localised and post-socialist food systems.

Gather Cook Feast: A cookbook featuring over 120 wonderful recipes evoking the landscapes of the British Isles, written with Jessica Seaton, co-founder of clothing brand Toast, and beautifully photographed by Jonathan Lovekin and Nick Seaton. Published in April 2017 by Fig Tree (Penguin).

The Kitchen Cabinet: BBC Radio 4’s successful culinary panel show. Jay Rayner chairs an expert panel who answers questions from audiences around the UK. I had the original idea for this programme and was its food consultant for its first decade on air.

Riverford: Well established organic vegetable box scheme operating across the country. I collaborated with Riverford for many years – running cooking classes, developing preserving kits and writing and editing their cookbooks, among other things.

The Gift of Waste: A short book about Londoners’ varied approaches to cooking and reducing food waste, including recipes, useful tips and stories stretching from their London kitchens to Pakistan, Ukraine, Tanzania and beyond. My conclusion: a one-size-fits-all approach to reducing food waste will not chime with most people’s experiences, practices or values.

Eat Slow Britain: My first book, published by Alastair Sawday in partnership with the Soil Association. Eat Slow Britain tells the stories of 88 British food businesses, from pubs to high-end hotels, artisan cheesemakers to pig farmers. Each business, in its own way, takes a ‘slow’ approach to food.

The Highbury Cookbook: A project in partnership with my fabulous local greengrocer, Mrs Lovell, who has since tragically passed away too young. We had been collecting recipes and stories from cooks in the Highbury area of London to capture the feel of the community connected to the shop and its ties all around the world.

Adventures: Over the years I have been collecting travel and food stories, in particular from 2008 when Matt & I spent a year slowly travelling around Europe, Turkey, north and west Africa to undertake some light research into food and cooking. It’s amazing what you can learn and appreciate about a place through its food…