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‘YOU’LL WANT TO COOK IT ALL’ – Evening Standard

‘Rachel Roddy’s writing is as absorbing as any novel. Her prose is so elegant and her story-telling so compelling that I almost forgot I was reading a cookbook.’ – Russell Norman, Polpo

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From the award-winning weekly Guardian Cook columnist and winner of the Andre Simon and Guild of Food Writers’ Awards comes an Italian food book of sumptuous recipes, flavours and stories from Sicily and Rome.

For the last twelve years, food-writer, cook and photographer Rachel Roddy has immersed herself in the culture of Roman cooking, but it was the flavours of the south that she and her Sicilian partner, Vincenzo, often craved. Eventually the chance arose to spend more time at his old family house in south-east Sicily, where Rachel embraced the country’s traditional recipes and the stories behind them.

In Two Kitchens Rachel celebrates the food and flavours of Rome and Sicily and shares over 120 of these simple, everyday dishes from her two distant but connected kitchens. From tomato and salted ricotta salad, caponata and baked Sicilian pasta to lemon crumble, honeyed peaches and almond and chocolate cake, they are the authentic Italian recipes that you will want to cook again and again until you’ve made them your own.

‘This is a recipe book that reflects the way I cook and eat: uncomplicated, direct and adaptable Italian family food that reflects the season. The two kitchens of the title are my kitchens in Rome and Sicily. In a sense, though, we could have called the book “many kitchens” as I invite you to make these recipes your own.’ Rachel Roddy

Two Kitchens chapters:

Vegetables and Herbs – Tomatoes; Aubergines; Peas; Broad Beans; Cauliflower; Potatoes; Onions; Herbs

Fruit and Nuts – Lemons; Peaches; Oranges; Grapes and Figs; Almonds

Meat, Fish and Dairy – Beef and pork; Chicken; White fish; Fresh anchovies and sardines; Eggs; Ricotta

Storecupboard – Chickpeas; Lentils; Preserved anchovies; Flour; Bread

Rachel’s first book, Five Quarters: Recipes and Notes from a Kitchen in Rome, won the Andre Simon Food Book Award and the Guild of Food Writers’ First Book Award in 2015.

Publisher Review

Rachel Roddy's 2015 debut, Five Quarters, remains a delightful read, quite apart from the recipes. It tells the story of the author's move from London to Rome, and the resultant change in her relationship with food. In Two Kitchens, she relates the next stage of her Italian education: an exploration of the culinary culture of Sicily, where her partner was born. The flavours are fresh and summery - chicken balls with lemon and ricotta, for example - and much time is devoted to vegetables and other side-dishes. As in Five Quarters, Roddy's warmth, humour and love of Italian ingredients shines through the prose. * The Week - Best Cookbooks of 2017 * This charming book is a classic in the making. * Crumbs Magazine - Book of the Month * Best of all is Rachel Roddy's Two Kitchens, a wonderful account of the cooking of Sicily and Rome by an English writer who lives in Rome with a Sicilian husband. This is cooking that's grounded in the place but with the appreciation of someone who comes to a rich tradition from outside. It's a fine selection of recipes, written in the most engaging way. -- Melanie McDonagh * Evening Standard, Best Cookbooks for summer 2017 * It is a book full of lip-smacking recipes and, in the margins, a vision of a lifestyle to envy. * Herald * She had me at griddled aubergine left overnight in a deep pool of olive oil with chilli and garlic. -- Victoria Moore * Daily Telegraph * Buy Rachel Roddy's brilliant Italian-Sicilian cookbook, Two Kitchens. -- India Knight * Sunday Times * Expect simple dishes with Italy's bountiful ingredients at their core, from honeyed peaches to Sicilian pasta, as well as plenty of Rachel's beautifully evocative writing. * Jamie Magazine * Guardian columnist and Rome-resident Rachel Roddy is one of the current most popular voices in food writing, with her debut book Five Quarters winning her the Andre Simon Food Book Award. In this, her second title, Rachel shares over 120 traditional Italian recipes, with their inspiration coming from both her own Roman kitchen alongside the one of her Sicilian partner Vincenzo. With writing as gorgeous as the recipes it sits alongside, this is a book to treasure and one to which you'll often return. * Chilterns Bookshelf Magazine * Two Kitchens: Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome by Rachel Roddy, the award-winning Guardian Cook columnist and winner of the Andre Simon and Guild of Food Writers', delivers a glorious book highlighting the food that comes from her two kitchens in Sicily and Rome. Rachel's first title Five Quarters is on my bookshelf and I cannot wait to have this title join it. I had the privilege of reviewing the electronic version and it is spectacular - Rachel's beautiful writing, stunning photographs and scrumptious recipes makes this title a must have. * Eat Your Books Blog * Fantastic * @ottolenghi * Such a talented storyteller and skilled cook. * The Foodie Bugle * Rachel Roddy's first book, Five Quarters, became the kind of read that cookbook lovers and foodies urge each other to buy. Her new book is full of recipes further expanding on the idea of Five Quarters, that no two Italian dishes are the same. * Evening Standard * Roddy's writing often reminds me of a more generous, more evocative Elizabeth David. -- Nancy Harmon Jenkins * The Art of Eating * Her writing is elegant and her recipes tempting - the perfect combination. * Evening Standard * Rachel Roddy brings the warm flavours of the south into our northern kitchens. Her dishes from Sicily and Rome are linked by family stories, and both place and food are beautifully photographed. I shall cook from this book with pleasure. -- Jill Norman Rachel Roddy describing how to boil potatoes would inspire me. I want to live under her kitchen table. There are very, very few who possess such a supremely uncluttered culinary voice as hers, just now. * Simon Hopkinson * This very entertaining book is a perfect marriage of the personal with the practical. Rachel has the ability of combining intimate reminiscences with excellent recipes. If you want to know anything about the food of Rome or Sicily, this is the book for you. -- Anna Del Conte Rachel Roddy's writing is as absorbing as any novel. Her prose is so elegant and her story-telling so compelling that I almost forgot I was reading a cookbook. * Russell Norman, Polpo *