My favourite part with cookbooks (apart from the recipes and good-looking photography) has to be the stories behind the recipes. This is one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed Sarah Rankin’s book, Kith (as in 'kith and kin').
The introduction is short, but you get a sense of this Masterchef finalist’s love and passion for food. It resonates with me, reminding me of my own family and friends.
There is, of course, a housekeeping section of conversion tables, the firm foundations including recipes for basic sauces, stocks, bread, butter, pasta, creams and my favourite – pastry, covering shortcrust, puff, choux, hot watercrust but not filo; Sarah’s thoughts on this is, “Are you serious!? Buy it!”, which is what most of us would do. Within these sections, we can glimpse into her kitchen, the kit she uses, and why.
Kith is split into four seasons with other snippets, thoughts and ideas acting as supporting characters. At the start of each chapter, Sarah explains what each season means to her, from what’s available to musings on local suppliers and ingredients. Each recipe has a tale attached to it, a hint, a tip, and some of her gran’s recipes, including gingerbread, eclairs, marmalade, and tablet, each with childhood memories.
Sarah is very much about local and seasonal, simple grub to posher endeavours, traditional Scottish staples to international dishes. Pasta and panna cotta sit happily next to skirlee bon-bons and clootie pudding.
Kith is very much a homely and comforting collection of recipes that are easy to follow and can be as simple as a salad or a more elaborate ham hock terrine. Warmth and humour lurk within the pages of Sarah’s book, another reason why I love it. If, like me, you read cookbooks like a novel, then Kith is certainly for you.
If you have someone in mind who would like Kith, it would make a fab present for Christmas.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I'm off to make Sarah’s Granny’s Eclairs!
Published by Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh. www.birlinn.co.uk
Photography by Katie Pryde. www.katieprydephotography.co.uk