The British Table

From a James Beard Award–winning author, a fresh take on traditional recipes from England, Scotland and Wales. The British Table: A New Look at the Traditional Cooking of England, Scotland, and Wales celebrates the best of British cuisine old and new. Drawing on a vast number of sources, both historical and modern, the book includes more than 150 recipes, from traditional regional specialties to modern gastropub reinventions of rustic fare. Dishes like fish pie, braised brisket with pickled walnuts, and a pastry shop full of simple, irresistible desserts have found their way onto modern British menus—delicious reminders of Britain’s culinary heritage. The book blends these tradition-based reinventions by some of the finest chefs in England, Scotland, and Wales with forgotten dishes of the past worthy of rediscovery. “Colman Andrews[‘s] writing changes the way I cook, and I look forward to every book. The British Table is no exception.” –Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse and The Edible Schoolyard “Leafing through these beautiful pages of unfussy food, I find myself wanting to cook everything, eat everything—or just climb on the first plane to England.” –Ruth Reichl, former editor-in-chief of Gourmet and author of My Kitchen Year “Both a lovely and a loving book.” –Nigella Lawson, host of Simply Nigella and author of the award-winning cookbook, How to Be a Domestic Goddess Colman Andrews is the recipient of eight James Beard Awards, including the 2010 Cookbook of the Year award for The Country Cooking of Ireland. A founding editor of Saveur, he is the author of several books on food.

Like Nigel Slater’s multi-award-winning food memoir ‘Toast’, this is a celebration of the glory, humour, eccentricities and embarrassments that are the British at Table.

In spite of the general phobia of federalism, there is a strong federalist trend within British political culture. In three very different historical contexts, federalism inspired the action of political movements such as the Imperial Federation League, the Round Table and the Federal Union. Indeed, it was regarded as the solution to problems arising from the first signs of the possible collapse of Great Britain and its Empire. The Round Table Movement played a particularly interesting role in this regard, attempting to reverse the rapid and inexorable decline of the British Empire. It was a political organisation with roots in all the major peripheries of the Empire and almost unlimited financial resources. This volume discusses the strategies and means employed by the group in order to maintain the British Empire’s global prominence. The book’s main argument is that we did not have a “British century” – the nineteenth – and an “American century” – the twentieth – but, rather, four centuries of Anglo–Saxon supremacy, which witnessed the affirmation of the national principle – expression of the Continental political tradition – and its overcoming through its opposite, the federal principle, the expression of the insular political tradition.

'Beautifully put-together with wonderfully crafted, full-on flavour recipes for everyone. A proper family feast of a cookbook!' Tom Kerridge ‘This is a gorgeous book.’ Nigella Lawson ‘Lennie and Jessie are as madly entertaining to read as they are to be around. They are also brilliant storytellers so every recipe is as personal as it could be: a classic Jewish chopped liver served on Friday night dinners, aromatic Beef Stifado eaten on Greek holidays or an orange and pistachio cake created by son and brother. I adore this family.’ Yotam Ottolenghi ‘This book encapsulates humour, kindness, bucket loads of love and, most importantly, good food. I’m so happy to have the Ware family in my life and in my kitchen.’ Sam Smith 'damned good food' The Telegraph ‘Mum. Guess what?’ ‘What Jessie?’ ‘We’ve written a cookbook’. ‘I know darling! Do you think anyone will want to buy it?’ ‘Well, it’s the recipes we’ve made our guests – the really good ones. Like the Sausage and Bean Casserole we made Ed Sheeran, the Drunken Crouton and Kale Salad we made Yotam Ottolenghi and the two Blackberry and Custard Tarts we served Nigella.' 'You ate a whole one before she arrived, darling.' 'It’s a bloody good recipe mum.' Cooking through Table Manners is like having Jessie and Lennie at the table with you: brash, funny and full of opinions. In true Ware style, their cookbook is divided into Effortless, A Bit More Effort, Summertime, Desserts and Baking (thanks to Jessie’s brother Alex), Chrismukkah (Christmas, Hanukkah and celebrations) and, of course, Jewish-ish Food. These delicious, easy dishes are designed for real people with busy and sometimes chaotic lives with the ultimate goal of everyone eating together so unfiltered chat can flourish.

While the British were in India they developed a curious cuisine all of their own. As they made their mark on their host culture, the formidable memsahib - or English housewife - made sure that much traditional cuisine was rejected in favour of an impossible combination of European customs, and the results were frequently chaotic.Anglo-India cooking was at its best when it achieved a kind of cultural balance; mulligatawny, kedgeree and Worcestershire sauce are all products of the Raj.David Burton's book - subtitled 'A Culinary History of the British in India' - is now considered a classic, and was acclaimed by the Observer on publication as 'one of those rare and delightful works from which, once caught, you have no desire to escape'.

These are the most memorable images of animal behaviour from the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. They have been specially selected for this unique book from the hundred of thousands of images received over the last 50 years. From a flamingo courtship dance to Amazon river dolphins playing water polo, the images show extraordinary, surprising and often deeply moving acts of animal behaviour. Each photograph is accompanied by a short story describing how the picture came to be taken and its importance both photographically and as a record of an unforgettable moment. The collection gives us a glimpse into an often hidden world of love, death, survival and joy, and many of these award-winning images have inspired photographers and others to better understand the lives of our fellow animals. Capturing animal behaviour as it has rarely been seen before, this beautiful book is a must-have for photographers and all those with a passion for animals.

A masterful and witty account of Britain’s culinary heritage. This a revised and updated edition of an award-winning book, recognized as the authoritative work on the subject of British food. It is a breathtaking attempt to trace the changes to and influences on food in Britain from the Black Death, through the Enclosures, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution, the rise of Capitalism to the present day. There has been a recent wave of interest in food culture and history and Colin Spencer’s masterful, readable account of Britain’s culinary history is a celebrated contribution to the genre. There has never been such an exciting, broad-scoped history of the food of these islands. It should remind us all of our rich past and the gastronomic importance of British cuisine. “A breathtakingly comprehensive, wide-ranging and fascinating food history.” —Daily Mail