This is the time of year I admire most. fall. The auburn, crimson, carnelian and feuille morte leaves — autumnal weather may mean it’s nippy outside, but this time of
Posted by Nigella on the 1st April 2021
Photo by Matt Russell
I’ve been so looking forward to featuring Yasmin Khan’s latest book on Cookbook Corner. I read it early, in proof stage, loved it, and have been impatient to share it here with you. As with her earlier books (The Saffron Tales and Zaitoun have both featured in Cookbook Corner) Khan takes us beyond the recipes to tell the story of the communities behind them, bringing her compassionate and engaged attention to the hardships as well as the joy. Ripe Figs is a journey - personal and political - through Greece, Turkey and Cyprus told through the people she meets and the food they cook, with a particular and poignant emphasis on the migrant kitchen, and the displacement of peoples. This may make it sound like a tough read and, yes, many of the stories here come out of great strife and suffering, and this absolutely needs to be written about, but Khan has a rare ability to present the unidealised truth behind the food she