Newsletter: 🪴 Mark Diacono’s plant to plate cooking + the final instalment of our iPhone food photography course 🤳

🪴 Mark Diacono’s plant to plate cooking + the final instalment of our iPhone food photography course 🤳

👩‍🎓Student cooking sorted save 25% on ckbk subscriptions!👨‍🎓

Plot to plate inspiration from Mark Diacono

‘What you have in front of you is, undoubtedly, a beautiful book. And I think it’s not too impertinent to suggest that I hope it gets grubby with muddy fingerprints, and smeared and splattered with butter and beetroot. Because I believe that this is a book that will, if you let it, if you really use it, change how and what you grow, what you cook and how you eat, forever and for the better.’ Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in A Taste of the Unexpected

We are delighted to bring you two books from food writer, photographer, and gardener Mark Diacono. His book A Taste of the Unexpected, winner of the Guild of Food Writers Food Book of the Year 2011, shares the author’s journey to growing his own food, and is both approachable and a joy to read. It is a perfect companion to both the experienced and the novice the gardener cook—as Mark puts it:

‘This book is an invitation to grow and to eat a little more adventurously, in order to go about creating your own unique edible garden.(…) Food is at its finest when it slows down a little, when we give it a chance to be enjoyed for the journey as much as the result. Growing even a little of what you eat helps you do just that. And once you start, you’ll very quickly find that food becomes something that you do rather than simply what you eat, and that life becomes quietly, immeasurably, sweeter.’

A Year at Otter Farm, winner of the Andre Simon Food Book of the Year Award 2014, continues this work, charting the creation and running of his smallholding in Southwest England—the plants he grows there, and the food he cooks and eats. The project draws on his unique experience, from the early days of River Cottage alongside Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a Masters in Environmental Management, and his wide portfolio of award-winning food journalism and books.

This book talks us through the farm, from The Veg Patch, to The Forest Garden, and The Animals. There is a chapter for each month of the year with key crops and plentiful advice, and each season has a chapter of recipes, such as this one for October, November & December.

Between them the books are a treasure trove of advice, inspiration and encouragement—and with over 170 recipes between them you won’t run out of delicious things to make with your spoils. Try Brussels, Celeriac & Red Cabbage Slaw, this Squash, Shallot & Mushroom Tart, or a peppery Nasturtium Risotto. Sweet things include this Mulberry Clafoutis, and this Sweet Cicely Shortbread.

Find all 51 recipes from Taste of The Unexpected

Pictured above: Smoked Fish Chowder from A Taste of the Unexpected by Mark Diacono

Our iPhone food photography class: part 7, Bringing it all Together

‘I’ve always admired how professional food photographers captured that ‘wow’ moment on a plate! Now I can do it myself, just using my iPhone. What I learnt in Rupa’s course changed the way I see and shoot food, whether it’s for my restaurant, cookery school, or social media.’ Dipna Anand, chef, restaurateur, author, and cookery school founder

We’re back with the final feature in our series for all you keen food photographers—now amounting to a 7-part complete iPhone photography course. Expert Rupa Nagamootoo’s series—Food Photography with Rupa: 7 Steps to Standout Food Content—offers exceptional guidance to hone your food photography skills using just your phone. This week Rupa takes us with her on location with chef Dipna Anand—whose book Dip in Brilliant you can find on ckbk—walking us through all the stages she goes through on a live photoshoot, from preparation to taking those attention grabbing shots!

So read on to learn how to put all those other classes to good use creating great pictures, or catch up on the whole 7-part course here.

Browse Rupa's 7-part food photography course

IACP awards: the shortlist

The annual International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards honor the authors, publishers, and other contributors behind the best cookbooks published each year. Huge congratulations to all the shortlisted titles announced by the IACP. We are proud to have three of these on ckbk.

Convivir: Modern Mexican Cuisine in California’s Wine Country by Rogelio Garcia has been shortlisted in both the Chefs & Restaurants category, and for Food Photography & Styling. Islas: a Celebration of Tropical Cooking – 125 Recipes from the Indian, Atlantiic, and Pacific Ocean Islands by Von Dias has been shortlisted in the International category. And French Charcuterie at Home: Terrines, Rillettes, Saucisses & Pâtés en Croûte by Gilles Verot and Nicolas Verot has been shortlisted in the Single Subject category.

Congratulations all! The results are announced at the awards ceremony on November 5 in Brooklyn.

Tell us your favorite Elizabeth David recipe

We are excited to involve you in a new project for us at ckbk, and ask for your valued input. When we were developing ckbk, we gathered top 10 lists of favourite cookbooks from the great and good of the food world to build the 1000 Cookbooks list of the most influential cookbooks of all time.The author who received the greatest total number of votes was Elizabeth David, whose cookbooks helped to transform food and cooking in post-war Britain. Her books are absolute classics.

ckbk is now working on an exciting new project with the Elizabeth David estate, and it would be great to know which are some of our ckbk subscribers’ favourite Elizabeth David recipes. Please do let us know. You can drop a comment in our Facebook ckbkclub post, or send us an email at hello@ckbk.com

Ingredient focus: butternut squash

Butternut squash is a type of winter squash with a long elongated body, a thin hard skin, and sweet, firm, vibrant orange flesh. Roasting or other dry cooking intensifies the flavors, and the caramelised edges are a treat. Butternut squash takes its place in many different dishes and cuisines, it is great as the base of soup, in a pasta filling, or even in sweet dishes.