Miss Foodwise

Celebrating British food and Culture

About my work

‘The Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook’ my new book

by 1 Comment

Copyright Greetje Van Buggenhout

I’m happy to announce the publication of my new book: ‘The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook’!<
(Scroll down for the reference list which wasn’t printed in the book because of the page count limit)

For this book I jumped into my collection of cookery books of not only the early 20th century in which Downton is set but also the Victorian era when our most beloved cook Mrs Patmore was training as a chef. I made a little excursion into the oldest cookery book in the English language for the first festive recipe for goose and witnessed the curiosity for continental cooking around the late 1920’s….

Read More »

Oats in the North, Wheat from the South – Introducing my new book

by Leave a Comment

In my new book ’Oats in the North, Wheat from the South’ I’m showing the reader how the diverse climate of the British Isles influenced the growth of cereal crops and the development of a rich regional baking identity with it. Imports of spices, sugar, treacle, fortified wines
and citrus added flavour, colour and warmth to a baking culture much adored and replicated all over the world.

With the help of historical cookbooks, diaries and newspaper archives, I have given the most traditional recipe of a bake – which means, how it usually appears in old cookbooks – but often also a more recent version of that recipe to show how recipes evolve through a change of taste, economy and fashion.

With a foreword by food historian Dr. Annie Gray.

The book was nominated for the André Simon Award and included in ‘The best cookbooks of 2020’ list by BBC Radio 4’s The Food Program in the US in  The New Yorker magazine and The Washington Post.

Erratum

There are two errors in Oats in the North: When halving the recipe for Flapjacks the butter wasn’t halved, use 100g instead of 200g. For the Bannocks the same thing happened; use 225 ml of buttermilk instead of 450 ml. Mea culpa!

Praise for Oats in the North, Wheat from the South:

”An excellent and diligently written book celebrating some super-tasty British treats”
—  JAMIE OLIVER

A feast for the eyes, as well as the stomach, meticulously researched and beautifully photographed, this is a true love letter to the food Britain does best. One to savour, and treasure, but most of all, one to bake from!’
—  FELICITY CLOAKE, THE GUARDIAN

”While this is a book that you just long to bake from instantly, it is also one to be read, and savoured, as it brings alive the link between culture, climate and cuisine.”
—  NIGELLA LAWSON

“It’s a love letter to British baking and all that that implies. It brings together buns and bakes that you’ll find in every local shop, and cakes and breads that have long since disappeared. Here you’ll find recipes both old and new, resurrected for the future, together with the stories that make them such a window onto both the past and the present. The joy of Regula’s writing is that through it all, we realise that it takes an outsider looking in to show us who we truly are.This is a beautiful book. It is a lyrical book. It is a book full of good things, modern and old, with a multitude of real heritage and imagined tradition behind them. Enjoy.
 — Dr Annie Gray, food historian

‘Regula – who is Belgian – has an obsession with Britain, not just its food but its literature, landscape and architecture, and we’re lucky to have such an enthusiast looking in from the outside. As well as recipes, she writes about the connections between bakes and ingredients – it’s often difficult to unravel the threads that link foods – and tells stories. A book to read as well as to cook from and an absolute gift for the curious baker.’
— Diana Henry

This stunning ode to British baking went semi-viral earlier this year, when the Tokyo-based writer Kat Bee tweeted a page from the book in which the author, Ysewijn, acknowledges the inextricable role of slavery, particularly in the Caribbean, in the development of British sweets: “Sugar has a cost, and that cost was paid by those in bondage.” This clear-eyed perspective on the line between the past and the present runs throughout the book, which threads together Cornish pasties, treacle tarts, seed cake, and all the other greats of the British baking canon. 
–Helen Rosner, The New Yorker

Virtual Book Tour!

As the Covid19 Pandemic hit right in the week of my book launch we had to cancel all events in the UK and the US and do as much virtually as we could. Here is a great selection of podcasts and interviews!

BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour – Last guest that episode, find it here >

Olive Magazine Podcast – find it here >

Tea & Tattle Podcast – find it here >

Cooking with an Italian Accent podcast – find it here >

Borough Market‘s Borough talks – find it here >

Sunday Post interview – find it here >

At the Sauce Podcast – Find it here >

Good Food Hour – KSRO Radio Sonoma County US – Find it here >

Milk Street podcast – Boston – Find it here >

Further listening:

Gastro Podcast, The Great Pudding Off (2019) – Find it here >

 

 

Book reviews that could be helpful:

Nigella Lawson’s Cookbook Corner >

Shiny New Book’s Review >

Desperate Reader’s Review >

My Custard Pie’s Review >

Extract on the Telegraph >

Article on Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) >

Try a few recipes

Belgian Buns over on the Telegraph >

Carrot cake with cashew topping on the Telegraph >

Chelsea Buns over on The Sunday Times >

3 recipes on the Otago Daily Times NZ >

COVID19 measures: Large outlets will send even outside the UK, for local delivery the independent book stores mentioned below have stock and are happy to send to you.

For sale at

Amazon UK and Waterstones UK

And Indie bookstores with in particular the following stores:

In the UK

Cookbookbake in Brighton (also shipping to you)

Warwick Books in Warwick (also shipping to you)

Toppings & Company in Edinburgh, Ely and Bath (also shipping to you)

Browsers Bookshop in Woodbury (delivers locally)

In Australia

Dymocks (@dymocksbooks:https://bit.ly/2REYCok
Readings (@readingsbooks) :https://bit.ly/34EU6LL
Booktopia (@booktopiabooks) :https://bit.ly/2K9rZuH

In United States

’Oats in the North, Wheat from the South’ Published with Murdoch books in Britain, Australia and New Zealand in April and the US later this year (with a different title: ‘The British Baking Book” and cover) with Weldon Owen.

San Fransisco: Omnivore Books @OmnivoreBooks

Los Angeles: Now Serving @nowservingla

Barnes & Noble

Lebanon

Papercup bookstore, Beirut

Selling the Dutch edition in Belgium

Luddites, Antwerpen (selling both EN and NL)

Boekhandel Novelle, Kortrijk

Paard Van Troje, Gent

Standaard Boekhandel

Fnac

 

Figgy Pudding for my ‘National Trust Book of Puddings’

by 4 Comments

Today is Stir-up sunday and the most important day on the pudding calendar. Today is the day to prepare the Christmas pudding, or plum pudding. Why this should be done a month before Christmas is something I’ve written about in a previous posting here and in my book Pride and Pudding. But this year I wanted to give you an alternative to the traditional plum pud.

A figgy pudding is just another name for a plum pudding – and both of them generally refer to puddings made with raisins or currants and no figs at all. However there have been recipes for figgy pudding in the late 19th century, but those recipes did refer to puddings made with figs and didn’t give a recipe for plum pudding. Using dried figs, this results in a dark and luxurious winter pudding. Why not have this as your pudding on Christmas day for a change this year?

This is a recipe from my little book the ‘National Trust Book Of Puddings‘ which was published in april (2019)….

Read More »

Copper pudding pot in collaboration with Netherton Foundry

by 2 Comments

Win this specially designed copper pudding basin and my book Pride and Pudding!

I’m very excited to share with you that I’ve designed a copper pudding basin in collaboration with Netherton Foundry. If you don’t know Netherton Foundry yet, they are an artisan maker of extraordinary spun iron, cast iron and copper cookware from Shropshire, UK. Husband and wife team Neil and Sue have created a brand that makes the hearts of foodies skip a beat, their wares are practical, versatile, durable and they look beautiful. I’ve met Neil and Sue years ago online and we’ve been talking about collaborating ever since.

I talked to Neil about creating a pudding basin because I felt there was something missing in the pudding market, a durable non ceramic pudding basin that has little cutouts where the string can be fitted in when closing a basin with baking paper. I was thinking spun iron, but Neil, being so experienced suggested copper. It’s not just a material that perfectly manages the heat, copper is also traditional for the more decorative jelly moulds and basins and it can be immersed into water without hurting its fabric. The basin is tin-lined, just like the original historical ones.

This week Netherton Foundry is holding a competition so you can win a copper pudding basin (worth £ 142) and my book Pride and Pudding (Murdoch books)!

To win the competition you need to do this before 10 november:
If you have social media accounts, please do one or all of the following:
Follow @nethertonfoundry and @RegulaYsewijn on Twitter then find the pinned competition tweet on the Netherton Foundry page and retweet it.
OR find the competition post on Netherton Foundry Facebook and like it and the page and then share the post.
OR follow us on Instagram, find the competition on the Netherton Foundry insta and like it, comment and tag 2 friends…

Read More »

Renaissance Tarts – Cooking Class & Talk

by 6 Comments

Clara Peeters, Antwerp, 1611

New date for this workshop:
Friday 28 july 2017 – 14h – in the Historical Kitchen of Port Eliot House, St-Germans, Cornwall UK.
Learn about these intricately decorated tarts and their meaning, see how they were made using the original tools.

Growing up in Flanders, Belgium, it feels as if still life paintings have always been a big part of my life. My entire childhood I’ve sat at the dinner table at my parents house, gazing at a dark still life painting with a pumpkin which hung on the wall on the other side of the room. Nothing makes sense in the image, why has the pumpkin such a prominent place on this formal dining table, and why is it on a formal table with china cups in the first place. A pumpkin like this would be more at home in a kitchen scene, on a bare wooden table, ready to be cut, its pips taken out, and the flesh diced for soup or stew.

Mysteries like these in food paintings have always intrigued me. One of my first books was a shabby old artbook with renaissance still life paintings by the Dutch and Flemish masters. All the food in the paintings had such carefully thought out symbolism. Bread indicates humility and catholic faith, a peach means truth and oysters mean lust. A glass of wine with little liquid in it symbolises the fragile nature of life but also wealth. In combination certain fruits and foods can tell a story. A paining with peaches and a butterfly mean hope and faith. Oysters or oyster shells in the vicinity of a woman in a painting means that the woman is promiscuous. If a bun of bread is near, it means she has lost her humility and has given in to the desires of the flesh. Heavy stuff no? An abundance of fish symbolises the catholic faith, but a cat near the fish means doubt, the painting could mean a warning not to take everything for granted when it comes to faith (big lessons to learn here)….

Read More »

My Books: Belgian Café Culture

by 29 Comments

belgian-cafe-culture-book-regula-ysewijn-visual

A week after the launch of Pride And Pudding, exactly one year ago, I started working on a new book, a passion project…

This book ‘Belgian Café Culture / Authentieke Belgische Cafés (in English and Dutch) is a plea to carefully handle the fragile café heritage of Belgium. For too long have we taken these little cafés for granted. Not enough have we stopped to think about their history and their relevance in our culture. They are part of our social and cultural patrimony in Belgium. When I walk the streets, everywhere I look I see forgotten and lost cafés.

When I read in the papers that a much-loved café was going to close down I went to visit it, to talk to the people there who were about to lose their local. I was probably one of the last to document it. Nothing could be done; the owners of the building wanted to renovate the café and there is wind of a more hipster implementation. For this reason alone a lot of authentic cafés have had to go.

Although this heritage has always been staring me in the face, I only realised how fragile it is, and how important it is to preserve it, after taking a Belgian beer sommelier course which involved a lot of homework visiting cafés. The news of the closure of café Den Akker gave me the drive to do something about it in the only way I know how: by writing this book and documenting the importance of it.

…

Read More »

Bakewell puddings and Bakewell tarts

by 5 Comments

bakewell-pudding-regula-ysewijn-5943-postcard-shop

It was Bakewell tart on Great British Bake Off yesterday last week! And when Mary said this is what a Bakewell tart should look like… I had to disagree. Traditionally early Bakewell tarts did not have a topping of icing. Nor do they have that lonesome cherry which we associate with cheap shop bought mini-bakewell tarts. Mary’s Bakewell tart didn’t have the cherry but did have the icing with a fancy pattern. It looked the part, don’t get me wrong, but if you visit the town of Bakewell you will see that proud Bakewell tart bakers clearly state that they do not add icing to their Bakewell tarts as icing is not part of the original recipe… But what is the original recipe? When does it stop or start being original? It’s a tough question.

And then there’s that other Bakewell bake… The Bakewell pudding!

Imagine a pub in a quintessentially English village: you enter with an appetite and the special on the menu is a pudding named after that village. You just have to try it, don’t you? And so the Bakewell pudding rose to fame. Even though Wonders of the Peak, the first travel guide to the Peak District, was written by Charles Cotton in 1681, tourism reached a high in Victorian times, helped by the development of the railway and an increasing interest in geology. Victorians also came to ‘take the waters’ in the spa towns of Buxton, Matlock Bath and Bakewell….

Read More »

My Books: Pride and Pudding

by 39 Comments

pride-and-pudding-press-regula-ysewijn-2961-smallerPride and Pudding – The history of British Puddings Savoury and Sweet takes you on a journey through the fascinating culinary past of Great Britain.
Published by Murdoch Books in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Also available in a Dutch translation.
Pride and Pudding was selected as one of the best ‘Books of 2016’ by Sheila Dillon from the BBC Food Programme, Delicious Magazine, the Irish Times and the Guardian. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Andre Simon Award and the Fortnum & Mason award. The book won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for the UK, in the Food Heritage category.

Why this book?

Every book I write is about preserving a heritage, because in the present day far too much importance is given to new and exciting things while the past holds a treasure of beauty that is often forgotten. (See my other book Belgian Cafe Culture HERE)
Captivated by British cuisine – from its ancient savoury dishes such as the Scottish haggis to traditional sweet and savoury pies, pastries, jellies and ices, flummeries, junkets and jam roly-poly – I tell the story of British food, paying homage in particular to the great British pudding, which is versatile and wonderful in all its guises.
By tracing back to authentic cookery texts, the earliest of which dates from 14th century, I have re-created more than 80 recipes for the twenty-first century, and in the process I have rediscovered long-forgotten flavours and food fashions. I show you how pudding evolved over the centuries from being a savoury, often meat-based sausage-like dish, to the more dessert puddings we know today.
Pudding was so important in British culture that even foreign visitors wrote about them and British food, for example this one, by a French visitor in his diary:
“Blessed be he that invented pudding for it is a manna that hits the palates of all sorts of people…ah what an excellent thing is an English pudding.”
In the book I explore how religion and politics all influenced food and flavours, and how wartime shaped what British food is today.
Part food history and part recipe book, I tried to capture the essence of Britishness through its food, this is a different kind of cookbook.
It took me 2,5 years to complete the book, of which most of it was research.
The illustrations in the book are created by my husband and tell part of the stories, as do the photoghraphs which I have taken myself. I also designed the book, so as you can see this is a very personal project.
 pride-and-pudding-book-award
—
To order online Amazon UK and Waterstones (I don’t receive any commission from sales by clicking) Or signed copies through email, see contact page
—
Praise for Pride and Pudding
It’s a labour of love that revives your faith in cookbooks – erudite, original, beautifully written, gorgeously shot and styled – something you’ll definitely want to own and leaf through. If it doesn’t win one of next year’s food writing and/or photography prizes I’ll be amazed.
Fiona Beckett
award-winning food and wine writer. Wine columnist for The Guardian and the author of 23 books on food, wine and beer.
This is quite definitely the most beautiful food book I have ever seen.
Regula Ysewijn has the aesthetic eye of an Old Master and the intelligence and attention to detail of a well-read scholar.
Every page is a delight. I would never have believed that a prune tart or cabbage pudding could look so captivating. You will want to have Pride and Pudding on your bookshelves. Not only because is it an extraordinarily fine looking book thats a pleasure to handle and behold, but also because the contents are fascinating.
Pride and Pudding is an astonishing achievement from an exceptional writer.
Joanna Blythman
acclaimed journalist and author of 7 books, most recent: ‘Swallow this’
Cook favourite and maverick creative Regula Ysewijn, is set to publish her first book, Pride and Pudding, in April. What started out as a childhood hankering for traditional English fare has become an all-consuming social study of the historical treats of Britain. And this is the beautifully illustrated, hardbacked result. Ysewijn collected handwritten cookbooks and vintage pudding moulds. She researched the etymologies of our dish names and the chronologies of our tastebuds. Crucially, she cooked the ancient recipes she came across, photographing, in glorious , painterly detail, jaune manges and apple tansies and glimmery almond flummeries. What a beauty of a book this is.
The Guardian – Cook
A truly wonderful thing of beauty…a very tasty masterpiece’ – Jamie Oliver
—
missfoodwise-regula-ysewijn-withbook
bookpagesflowV4bookpagesflowV2.33-cropbookpagesflowV10
—
Where to find my book 
The English version is available online: Amazon UK and Waterstones! (I don’t receive any commission from sales by clicking)
The Dutch book costs 35 euros + shipping cost. You can find it in bookstores in Belgium and Holland (not signed).
—
We have created something special:
The Limited edition pack
PRIDE-AND-PUDDING-LIMITED-EDITION-regula-ysewijn-LR
The Limited edition package with handmade pudding basin, a signed book, card set and signed art print. 
Another news is that I’ve been working on a little project with pottery artist Solomia Zoumaras to create a Pride and Pudding – pudding basin! We’re still trying out glazes and clays but we managed to get a good one out of the kiln to show to you lovely people! The cool thing is that on the outside the pudding basin is quite modern, but the inside has a different shape so that your christmas pudding will come out pudding-shaped! So here is the deal: There will be 25 pudding basins, handmade by Solomia and printed with a design from the book. These basins come with a signed book (Dutch or English) a card set designed by Bruno, and a signed art print of one of the illustrations.
 
The limited edition costs 120 £ + shipping and contains*:
• A signed book – made out to whom you wish and personal message if you would like that
• The hand made pudding basin, designed by Solomia and I
• A card set with 5 cards (see below)
• A signed and numbered aprox. A5 size art print of one of the illustrations
Status pre-order for Limited edition:
Available: 25 / Sold: 15
Payment possible with paypal : contact me for a shipping quote
—
pride-and-pudding-regula-ysewijn-handmade-basins-limited-edition-5831pride-and-pudding-regula-ysewijn-handmade-basins-limited edition-5791
—
book-launch-antwerp-regula-ysewijn-0683
pride-and-pudding-regula-ysewijn-800
Some reviews:
in English:
—–
in Italian:
—–
in Polish:
—–
in Portuguese:
—–
in Dutch:

book-launch-antwerp-regula-ysewijn-0693booklaunch-pride and pudding-Antwerp-regula-ysewijn-0362plum-pud-solomon-regula-ysewijn-4198-2-edited-darkerpride-and-pudding-black-pudding-unbaked-regula-ysewijn-combi

bakewell-pudding-regula-ysewijn-602-2To see my other books see the books page, to order a limited or signed copy email me x

 

About my work: Hemelse soepen, the Magic soup book in Dutch

by 2 Comments

The Dutch version of the book MAGIC SOUP I photographed last year has been published! And… the Belgian publisher Luster has kindly given me a nice parcel to give away to one of you lovely lot!
Just leave a comment below and tell me what your all time favourite soup is! The winner will be pulled out of a funny hat!

Hemelse Soepen is available in The Netherlands and Belgium in Dutch and other than a different cover and language, the book is completely the same as the English version. Full of wholesome and flavoursome soups which are not reduced to a starter but are more the star of the meal.

Over a period of 3 weeks during a hot summer a year ago in London, I photographed  ‘Magic Soup’. Magic Soup is written by Ottolenghi’s former head chef Nicole Pisani and author Kate Adams. The two ladies have come up with a fun and nutritious set of soup recipes for all different occasions, some are to impress your guests with, some will give you strength and will feel like an immense hug when you’re feeling unwell, some look dainty, others look robust and down to earth. There is a soup for everyone in this book. I might be biased but I think this book is great and it places soups back on a higher shelve.
Not only does the book tell you how to make a good stock, it teaches you how to make your own Kimchi, scallop ceviche and cured salmon. Exciting much? Soups range from a fertility soup, pickled soup, nettle soup with flowers, beetroot and burrata, Ramen, Miso to a good old watercress soup with crab toasts. I tasted most of these dishes during our delicious lunches, they are good.

…

Read More »

About my work: Magic Soup – Book Photography

by 102 Comments

Over a period of 3 weeks during a hot summer in London, I photographed the newly published book ‘Magic Soup’. Magic Soup is written by Ottolenghi’s former head chef Nicole Pisani and author Kate Adams. The two ladies have come up with a fun and nutritious set of soup recipes for all different occasions, some are to impress your guests with, some will give you strength and will feel like an immense hug when you’re feeling unwell, some look dainty, others look robust and down to earth. There is a soup for everyone in this book. I might be biased but I think this book is great and it places soups back on a higher shelve.
Not only does the book tell you how to make a good stock, it teaches you how to make your own Kimchi, scallop ceviche and cured salmon. Exciting much? Soups range from a fertility soup, pickled soup, nettle soup with flowers, beetroot and burrata, Ramen, Miso to a good old watercress soup with crab toasts. I tasted most of these dishes during our delicious lunches, they are good.
Shooting this book was so much fun I really wanted to share it with you, here are some pictures from the book, but also some ‘making of’ pics and incidentals.
Many thanks to the lovely ladies over at Orion Publishing, Nicole and Kate, the authors and inspiring chefs, Tamzin the prop stylist extraordinaire and Caroline who did everyone’s work justice with her design of the book. We were a great team.
I’m giving away a book
Finally, I have one book to give away. I’m not asked to do this by anyone, I just want to spread the soup love. So to win this book, just like my facebook page, twitter if you’re on twitter, and instagram (if you already are, superb!) and let me know if you’ve done it in the comments below, also tell me what your favourite soup is, just for the fun of it. Straightforward. Then I’ll just stick your names in a hat and pick one out. No fancy systems, just old school.
Magic Soup was published in February 2015 by Orion/Hachette.
The book is for sale at most book stores and online.
Happy New Year Ozoni

 

Pea and mountain ham – right: curry leaves
French onion soup – Lime & Lentil soup with marinated feta
Tomatoes and a pretty blue dress
Lamb shank left: Magic Soup

 

Kate Adams and venison meat balls
Nicole Pisani 
My setup at Fist Option Studio Shoreditch – the many props
Nicole and her pretty blouse

Don’t forget to leave a comment in order to win a copy of this book!

 

The Competition is now closed and has been won by Sally! Thank you everyone for entering, how amazing!! Again I am sending this book at my own expense as a gift to one of you.