For our plant-based foodies, Ella Woodword’s eponymous brand is here for you. The Deliciously Ella deli is the perfect pitstop for an Oxford Street shopping break, and there’s no reason you can’t recreate the calming, zen vibe she promotes in your own home. IACP AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • The Washington Post• The Guardian • The Atlanta Journal-Constitution • National Geographic• Town & Country • Epicurious In this stunning cookbook Yotam and co-writer Ixta Belfrage break down the three factors that create flavour and offer innovative vegetable dishes that deliver brand-new ingredient combinations to excite and inspire.

What can we do to help?" That's the question Ryan Riley asked himself when people began experiencing loss of taste and smell as a result of COVID-19.

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Following COVID, food may taste "bland, salty, sweet, or metallic," according to the National Health Service. The NHS recommends adding adding spices, herbs, and sauces to food to improve flavour. Riley says spice and heat will always help, but it's that umami that's key. "Bringing in that deep rich savoriness when you have umami-rich ingredients, they stimulate all of the all of taste buds and your palate," says Riley. "So I would always say try and get as much of umami into your food, try to add a tablespoon of miso, a tablespoon of soy sauce, grate some parmesan over that pasta, try to really push the flavours as high and as powerfully as you can." In Flavor, Ottolenghi, along with his test kitchen chefs Ixta Belfrage and Tara Wigley, focus on 3 Ps: process, pairing, and produce. Add in his homemade condiments (aka his secret weapons: flavor bombs), and you can find vegetable recipes for main dishes, sides, and even desserts for the most vegetable-averse out there. At Life Kitchen, Riley uses five elements: aroma, umami, texture, layering, and trigeminal food sensations (the tingling, burning, and cooling feeling you get from spices). They used these five basic tastes when creating recipes for Taste and Flavour. Very nicely presented and just the right length of preamble to chapters and recipes to add context but not detract from the main purpose of cooking.

If you’re a MasterChef fan, then it’s likely that Monica and David Galetti’s French and South Pacific-inspired restaurant, Mere, is on your list of must-visits in London. But since this Fitzrovia hotspot is temporarily shuttered, Monica’s cookbook is an extremely suitable substitute. Get the Monica’s Kitchen cookbook at Waterstones The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem Summarises all the cool sauces, marinades and dressings that can be made in batches and stored for later use to spice up other meals. Like the café, the shop is tiny and charming and a living embodiment of the word “curated.” Their Guide to Drinking & Dining stays impeccably on brand, and honestly, you’ll feel worldlier just opening the front cover. Along with global recommendations from some of the most discerning voices, you’ll also find some extremely upscale recipes. Think pea-and-panceta croquetas from the Oldroyd, and solomillo pork with pobre potatoes from Lurra. Ok, ok, so first thing’s first: we’re well aware that Red Rooster is a Harlem staple, and calling it a London restaurant is somewhat of a stretch. Yes, they have a Shoreditch location, but its heart and soul is purely New York. Having said that: we love that Red Rooster has introduced American-style soul food to our fellow Londoners, and its nearly instant status as a London icon really represents just how open to outsiders London truly is.Umami is what we see as the most important," says Riley. "Your umami is the savoriness you get in soy sauce, cheese, mushrooms, and miso. So we've looked at adding all of those different umami rich flavors in the recipes, to add that deep, rich, savory comfort." It’s around the corner,” says Shaun. “Obviously we love it. There’s a lot more to Jamaican food. It’s broad and diverse and centred on family. That’s what we wanted to demonstrate to people. It’s cool there was so much interest.” But until that day arrives, I, like we all, must settle. I must settle for food that merelytastes like it was prepared by someone else, because it comes from a cookbook written by aprofessional so renowned in their field that they also own their own restaurant. I love Ottolenghi’s previous cookbooks, but I thought he had more or less exhausted what he could do. As he says, “how many ways can there be to roast an eggplant?” But this cookbook is an evolution from his previous work. Where most of his previous recipes have been focused in Middle Eastern cuisine, this cookbooks is… not “fusion,” which to me implies a mixing of different cuisines, but rather post-national cuisine. With the help of Ixta Belfrage, Ottolenghi is now into using ingredients with big, bold flavors. Sometimes this is in context of the cuisine they come from, other times, like with the cascabel chile oil with butter beans, it’s just because that’s the big flavor they want to play with for the dish.

A new Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook is always an event, and the vegetable-based Ottolenghi Flavor is a winner.”— Julian Armstrong, Montreal Gazette Intros to the chapters feels very comparable to Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat but without so much of a clear direction, so probably unlikely to reuse these for reference. Quite a lot of people who have COVID find garlic, onions, eggs, roasted meats really repulsive and that's because they've got a distorted sense of smell," says Riley. They've had to develop recipes that don't include those ingredients.This is a very informative cookbook that in many ways resembles a textbook in that there is so much text. Recipes are well done and distinct and there is a photo for each. While the recipes may be described as "low effort," this does not mean fast. In fact, only five of the recipes can be made in under thirty minutes or in one pan. Most take more than an hour and involve multiple steps and pans. You have to really want to make these dishes. Many recipes focus on less common vegetables such as rutabagas and celery root. Recipes all seem highly unique and creative but tend to run on the exotic side. Fans of Ottolenghi will love this book. Get The Monocle Guide to Drinking & Dining cookbook at Waterstones and Books a Million Deliciously Ella

While I am no sun-worshipper, I do find the gloomy greyness of a long British winter slightly less than cheering. So I prescribe myself the Kitchen Cure, which is to say I lose myself in cooking and eating good things full of bright flavour. (True, there’s an argument for the blanketing stodge of Beige Food, too, but it’s not a case of either/or). One of my aids in fighting the grimness outside has been this persuasively upbeat book by Craig and Shaun McAnuff who are brothers from South London of Jamaican heritage. As with their first book, Original Flava, it draws on the generous tradition of Caribbean food, though its focus — or perhaps it would be more accurate to say its inspiration — is Ital cooking; the “ital” derives from “vital” and denotes the Rastafarian approach to eating, with its emphasis on fresh, unprocessed food and and its celebration of the earth’s bounty. Natural Flava is, you could say, a natural progression, in that it is entirely plant-based. Some of the recipes are veganised versions of predominantly Jamaican classics; others are Caribbean-inflected reworkings of foods they love and have grown up eating. Amazing and unique flavor combinations that blow up your tastebuds. Ottolenghi's creative writing and informative advice with how-to help is appreciated. I feel that this book makes anyone who reads it and cooks through it a better chef. The star of this book is, somewhat expectedly, the chapter that highlights 10 different ceviche recipes, each revolving around a different main ingredient. But you’ll also find stunning photography, personal tales from Morales himself, and a general desire to zip off to Peru ASAP. (After your trip to London, of course). While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. When hot, add the mushrooms and pepper and fry for five to six minutes, until the mushrooms are golden brown. Add the lemon zest and juice and cook for a further one minute to allow the mushrooms to absorb some of the juice. Add the béchamel sauce and cheese, then stir occasionally, until the cheese has melted.Jamaican food is already influenced by so many other cultures, so it makes sense to mix up a shepherd’s pie and cook it with veg and Caribbean spices.” Shaun and Craig McAnuff: ‘We’ve had a lot of fun doing plant-based recipes’ (Photo: Matt Russell) The book has straightforward recipes that seem complex but are actually very doable even for a novice cook, if the recipe is followed correctly. Some ingredients may be a little difficult to find but can generally be substituted. I haven't had the need to tweak any recipes...well, except the spice levels, as I'm not a big spicy person. We're Craig and Shaun, two brothers from South London, but with Jamaica in our hearts and souls. Our Mum and Nanny taught us to cook, and Original Flava is all about meals that are vibrant, lively, exciting, and full of the influences from different cultures that make the Caribbean island of Jamaica so wonderful. That's why we've travelled to Jamaica to bring you its authentic and fresh FLAVAs! With a book called Flavor, it’s clear from the outset what you’re getting into. And with Ottolenghi’s name attached to it, you know it’s going to be special. “— National Post That being said, I would not suggest these recipes for beginning cooks. These dishes are elevated and elegant, the equivalent of meals from a four-star restaurant, and the ingredients he uses as his go-tos are hard to find on the shelves of many local American grocery stores. These are intermediate to expert dishes, with the refinements that come from many years of cooking. But there is nothing wrong with getting the cookbook to read and aspire to, trying one of the simpler recipes to add a dramatic flair to a holiday dinner or dinner party, and then working up to the more complicated recipes.