Miss Foodwise

Celebrating British food and Culture

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

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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.

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

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 – Available soon

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 >

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 >

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 Stated (UK edition, US edition coming end of 2020)

Omnivore Books @OmnivoreBooks in San Fransisco: https://omnivorebooks.myshopify.com/

’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.

Borough Market – not just a food market

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I’ve been planning to write about Borough Market for a very long time, the draft has been in my folder waiting for the right moment, and now the time couldn’t be more poignant. After last weeks terrible events where the market was the victim of a senseless attack I knew I had to write this. Now over a week later, the market is finally opening again and now more than ever the market traders and surrounding restaurants and bars need your support.

Most of the traders are very small often family owned businesses. Loosing a week of custom, and getting over the fact that this beautiful multicultural market was soiled with violence is tough. We all know the way forward it to ‘keep calm and carry on’ so please if you are in London, take the tube to London Bridge Station and do your shopping at Borough Market. Meet there for lunch or dinner or after-work-drinks. It’s safe, probably safer than it has ever been. But mostly, it is a statement, that we will not let terrorism dictate our lives.

On my first ever visit to Borough Market 7 years ago, I never thought that today I would be working for them and writing for their mag and website. Now nearly two years ago I became a photographer for the Borough Market magazine called ‘Market Life’. It is beautifully produced and jam-packed with interesting content. Stories about the market traders and their lives, the produce, the provenance and the events at the market which have become plentiful over the years. There are panel talks, tastings, cookery demonstrations and there even is a Cookbook Club. It is such a community. I’ve worked with many of the market traders, sourcing produce for shoots, they’ve been generous with advise and for some shoots they’ve even been on hand to help me. That is why I was especially shaken by the sadness that happened last week. My first thoughts were with the traders and the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes in the Borough Market office. The people I love to work with.

Borough Market is life, it is hope. It is a place where gender, sexual orientation, colour, religion or political preference doesn’t matter. It’s food, only food. That what keeps us alive, that what we live for, that what brings people together. The market sent out a statement and I want to share with you:

Now more than ever, we need to remind ourselves that what we do here matters. A food market has nothing to do with hate. A food market is about sustenance and wellbeing, pleasure and sharing, companionship and family. That’s why it’s important.

This post was supposed to be about the history of Borough Market, but for now, it is about the present and the future……

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My Books: Belgian Café Culture

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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.

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My Books: Pride and Pudding

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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
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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
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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
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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).
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We have created something special:
The Limited edition pack
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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
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Some reviews:
in English:
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in Italian:
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in Polish:
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in Portuguese:
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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

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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.

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About my work: Magic Soup – Book Photography

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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.

About my work: The Taste of Belgium – Book Photography

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Hi guys, I wanted to share this project with you. In september I went to London to do the photography for the new book by indie publisher Grub Street. The funny thing is, it’s a book about Belgian food, by a Belgian author Ruth Van Waerebeek, in English but hopefully soon also in Dutch. The book was originally published many years ago under the name, ‘Everybody Eats Well in Belgium’.
It’s always such a treat when a publisher books you for your photography style and therefore I also get really attached to the book as it is my baby in the end as well.
Of course for this particular project I could bring more to the table as I am of course a Belgian lady and finding ‘Belgian style props’ only required me to open my cupboards or a short trip to the nearest charity shop for vintage beer glasses.
As soon as I had met with the people from Grub Street I had a vision on where I wanted to take the photography of this book. My Belgian, and Flemish roots in particular drove me to include the dark and moody photography I enjoy to do most, inspired by the Dutch/Flemish masters of the renaissance. The publisher allowed me to be creative in suggesting images and styles. It was a pleasure working with Grub Street Publishing, we got along like a house on fire. They even wrote a little something about little old me on the jacket of the book. Truly honoured.
I am very proud of this book, I hope you will like it as much as I do.
It’s full of Belgian classics, not very difficult and very tasty! There is a whole chapter dedicated to cooking with beer, what more do you want! Recipes for Belgian waffles maybe? The perfect Belgian frites? This is a book you can enjoy, there’s plenty to read.
To whet your appetite, here a few pictures and a recipe at the end.
The book is for sale on Amazon here > for £20 instead of £ 25!
*** I am not earning anything from the sales of the book. Just so you know 🙂  ***

 

Jacket text:

Ruth Van Waerebeek is an adventurous traveller, international chef and cookbook author from Belgium. She was born and raised in the medieval town of Ghent where she learned to cook at the side of her mother, grandmother and her great-grandmother. She was a chef in two leading restaurants in Ghent before she set off travelling round the world. In the 1990s she worked in full time teaching at a school of culinary arts in New York. Since 2000 she has been the brand ambassador and the house chef of Chile’s most important winery Concha y Toro. She travels regularly to the company’s major events in Europe, Russia, USA, Latin America and Asia. She now runs the Mapuyampay Hostal Gastronómico and Cooking School in the heart of Chile’s wine country. Her cooking classes have been profiled in Gourmet Magazine as one of the 50 best cooking vacations in the world.
Regula Ysewijn was the photographer on this book. A former graphic designer, she was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium where she went to art school and taught herself to cook. In her photography she is inspired by Dutch and Flemish Renaissance paintings, one of which she grew up with hanging in her parents’ dining room. She travels Europe and Britain in particular for her photography assignments and she is also busy working on her first book. When she is not photographing, she is giving workshops and lectures on topics of food photography, cooking and graphic design.
Flemish waffles
  • 15g/. ounce fresh cake yeast or 1
  • package active dry yeast
  • 480ml/2 cups milk or 420ml/1. cups
  • milk and 4 tablespoons/. cup water, warmed to 38ÅãC/100ÅãF
  • 250g/2. cups plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 100g/7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons cognac or brandy
  • 3 large egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
  • For serving: Icing/confectioners’ sugarUnsalted butter, at room temperature, or whipped cream

 

Makes about 12 waffles
In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 60ml/. cup of the lukewarm milk.
Set aside until the mixture is bubbling and foamy, about 5 minutes.
Sift the flour together with the salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a
well in the centre and add the whole egg, the yeast mixture, and the
sugar. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining milk and the
egg yolks, one at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until smooth.
Add the melted butter, vanilla, and cognac. Stir to just combine.
Fold the egg whites into the batter. Cover with a clean towel and let rise
for 1 hour in a warm spot (see Note, page 262).
Stir the batter and bake 120ml/. cup at a time in a hot waffle iron.
Serve immediately with icing/confectioners’ sugar and butter or
whipped cream.