Best summer books of 2023: Food and drink
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The Pepperpot Diaries: Stories from My Caribbean Table by Andi Oliver (DK)
A cookbook from a TV chef? C’mon. No, really! Quite apart from the breadth of the thing — the sheer range — this is a cookbook in the best and oldest-fashioned way. Passionate, autobiographical and rammed with Oliver’s infectious personality. I defy anyone not to love it.
Hungry Heart: A Story of Food and Love by Clare Finney (Aurum)
Couched in a memoir which, I’ll be honest, is not my favourite form, Finney’s book turns out to be the best kind of investigation/rumination/exposition on the places where food meets human emotion. Warm and lovely, but gently scholarly and greatly improving to the soul.
Kung Pao and Beyond: Fried Chicken Recipes from East and Southeast Asia by Susan Jung (Quadrille/Hardie Grant)
Jung has been food columnist at Vogue Hong Kong for ages, has travelled the world and is, quite justifiably, obsessively fond of fried chicken in all the different ways it manifests across east and south-east Asia. It is impossible to imagine a more felicitous set of preconditions for a brilliant book.
Tell us what you think
What are your favourites from this list — and what books have we missed? Tell us in the comments below
Of Ice and Men: How We’ve Used Cold to Transform Humanity by Fred Hogge (Pegasus Books)
This book doesn’t just speak to the nerd in me, it invites him out for an evening of martinis and an utterly engaging ramble through the commoditisation and exploitation of cold. And if that sentence doesn’t appeal to you, we can no longer be friends.
Rice Table: Korean Recipes and Stories to Feed the Soul by Su Scott (Quadrille)
It seems that everyone is as intrigued and excited about the thrill ride of Korean food as I am right now, but Scott, a Korean transplanted to the UK, has written a gentle book on a very human scale, inspired by reaching back to her heritage. Most enjoyable.
Summer Books 2023
All this week, FT writers and critics share their favourites. Some highlights are:
Monday: Environment by Pilita Clark
Tuesday: Economics by Martin Wolf
Wednesday: Fiction by Laura Battle
Thursday: Politics by Gideon Rachman
Friday: Critics’ picks
Saturday: History by Tony Barber
Join our online book group on Facebook at FT Books Café
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