Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from Sardinia
uild of Food Writer’s Awards, Highly Commended in ‘First Book’ category (2021)
In Bitter Honey, seasoned chef Letitia Clark invites us into her home on one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean Sea – Sardinia.
The recipes in this book do not take long to make, but you can taste the ethos behind every one of them – one which invites you to slow down, and nourish yourself with fresh food, friends and family.
The importance of eating well is even more pronounced here on this forgotten island. Try your hand at Roasted eggplant with honey, mint, garlic and salted honey, or a salad of Pecorino with walnuts and honey, followed by Malloreddus (the shell-shaped pasta from the region) with sausage and tomato.
Each recipe and the story behind it will transport you to the glittering, turquoise waters and laid-back lifestyle of this Italian paradise. With beautiful design, photography, full color illustrations and joyful anecdotes throughout, Bitter Honey is a holiday, a cookbook and a window onto a covetable lifestyle in the sun – all rolled into one.
Author
Letitia Clark was born in the UK in 1987. After completing a degree in English Literature at Durham University she put her love of food into practice and completed the diploma course at Leith's School of Food and Wine. Her first professional kitchen was The Dock Kitchen, where she worked for a year. Craving the literary side of her life she went back to Edinburgh University to complete a Masters in English Literature, while cooking and baking in the now notorious Peter's Yard in the evenings. From here she briefly pursued a career in publishing, before feeling herself called back to the stove and becoming head baker at Spring. She worked her way around the pastry and savory section, before accepting a job as Head Pastry Chef at the now Michelin-starred Ellory. After 7 months here, with itchy feet yet again, she moved to Morito, where she met her Sardinian partner, Luca, who was also a chef. Craving open spaces, rustic Italian food and a self-sufficient lifestyle they quit their jobs and London and moved to rural Sardinia. Here they are building a small farm and dairy, while Letitia writes about the food they cook and records the recipes.
Review
Patricia Wells At Home In Provence showcases more than 175 recipes, each augmented by kitchen lore, quirky quotes, and "trucs" borrowed from everyone from three-star chefs to the village butcher. Simple, clear, detailed recipes make any cook a master at preparing "Anne's Goat Cheese Gratin", "Curried Zucchini Blossoms", "Tunna Tapenade", Roasted Tomato Soup with Fresh Herbs", Fusili with Sausage, Fennel & Red Wine, "Spaghetti with Gren Olive Pasta Puttanesca", "Monsieur Henny's Rabbit Bouillabaisse", "Winemaker's Grape Cake", "Spanish Chocolate Marquise", and over 150 more! -- Midwest Book Review
Relaxed and unfailingly enticing, this superb collection of 175 recipes will make readers feel as comfortable in their kitchens as its accomplished author is at Chanteduc, her 18th-century farmhouse in northern Provence. -- Publishers Weekly