Ottolenghi and Prue … happy days
Would you think of taking left over lemon rind, baking at high heat until dry and charred, then grinding what are, to be completely honest here, the now shrivelled pieces of burnt rind, and using it as a condiment with sweet and savoury dishes? Nope. Us neither. But we’re not Yotam (obvs). In Ottolenghi Test Kitchen – Extra Good Things, it’s suggested Ottolenghify should be a verb (‘I Ottolenghified my roasted aubergine with some feta’) … and this sensationally delicious book is just full of twists, flavour surprises, and flair. We’re going to Ottolenghify our foodie friends’ Christmas with copies of this, with best wishes for a year full of sauces, sprinkles, pickles and flavour. Ebury Press, R595
We’ve all got that one friend. The one who loves food, but is a disaster in the kitchen. And Yotam Ottolenghi may say, “There’s an art to making toast, and Prue Leith knows it.’’ But … it’s toast. And Prue says the recipes in Bliss On Toast are easy, and most home cooks will be able to make them. The collection was compiled by Prue to celebrate her 30-odd year habit of eating something on toast on Sunday nights in front of the telly – like the rest of us, yes? But while we’re making avo and tomato toast and pâté on crisp bread (both of which are in the book, Prue’s no snob), she ups the game a little. Think duck egg with rainbow chard and Dijon butter, or figs with blue cheese, thyme and honey. Her beans on toast may use a can of white cannellini beans and store-bought white bread, but there’s chorizo and smoked paprika and softened cherry tomatoes. For keen cooks, there’s also a chapter with recipes to make sauces and breads from scratch. There are sweet options … like fried Christmas pudding, brandy cream and blackberries, and because Christmas means leftovers … we’ll be making her bubble and squeak with hollandaise on Boxing Day. Bloomsbury Publishing, R362
A few of our holiday reads …
Whatever your taste in holiday reads, there’s a wonderful selection this month. We’ve put these aside to take with us these hols. Santa Montefiore’s Flappy Investigates is light and rather silly, so perfect for a day on the lounger. All snobbery and gossip, ardent admirers and parties and small village life. Simon and Schuster • The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas broke our hearts. And we’ve a feeling John Boyne’s just released All The Broken Places is going to do it again. It’s the story of Gretel, sister of Bruno (the protagonist in the first novel), who was 12 when her brother disappeared, and is now 91, living in London and who has, when a young family move into the apartment below hers, the chance to expiate her guilt, grief and remorse and act to save a young boy. Certainly not an easy holiday read, but quite possibly the one we’re looking forward to the most. Penguin, an Exclusive Books Festive Favourites read • An Angel’s Demise is Sue Nyathi’s epic saga of love, war, bloody massacre and betrayal, as well as the cruel caprice of politics, gender-based violence and what happens when ordinary people get caught up in lies. Pan Macmillan • It’s 1561 and when sixteen-year-old Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrara, is taken to a country villa by her husband, it occurs to her that he’s taken her there to kill her. Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait shows the beauty and brutality of Renaissance Italy, and of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger. Tinder Press • Jodi Picoult. A proper holiday read, since once you start you struggle to put her books down. In Mad Honey, she co-authors with Jennifer Finney Boylan, the two alternating chapters in this book that doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, exploring identity and self-acceptance, abuse and toxic relationships, domestic violence and trust. Hodder and Stoughton, an Exclusive Books Festive Favourites read • When Tanz discovers the voices she hears in her head are not, actually, her imagination working overtime, but rather messages from beyond the grave, a whole new way of life opens for her. And not a moment too soon, since all has not gone according to plan on the career side. Tracy Whitwell’s The Accidental Medium is perfect for beach or long plane journey. Macmillan • And what, we ask, would a holiday be without a thriller? Peter James’ Picture You Dead is a Detective Superintendent Roy Grace novel … in which he’s plunged into the unfamiliar world of fine art – a world which appears to be respectable, gentlemanly and above reproach, but which in fact is all greed, deception and violence. Macmillan
Book notes
The Sex, Lies & Stellenbosch saga continues in Sex, Lies & Alibis, which boasts it’s the hottest book in town. Steamy and scandalous, this is the third in Eva Mazza’s sexy and risqué trilogy. Melinda Ferguson Books.
Staying in the winelands … in Stellenbosch: Murder Town, Julian Jansen shares the behind the headlines details about the dozen murders that have taken place in this town over the past two decades. Tafelberg
Making movies can be murder! When strange goings on happen in the script and then on the set of the psychological horror movie too … it appears the real horror lies off the page. Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard’s a scare a page. Corvus
John Grisham … another great holiday read. The Boys from the Bronx sees two boys growing up as friends. Both sons of immigrant families, they end up on opposite sides of the law, and ultimately in a courtroom showdown. Hodder and Stoughton
Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley is a brilliantly written, sharp and incredibly witty rom-com … a tale of love, luck, and the ghosts of heartbreaks past. Bloomsbury Circus
It’s 1926 in Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety, and in a country recovering from the Great War, Soho is the glittering centre of nightlife and gaiety. But beneath the dazzle, there’s a dark underbelly, and not everything is as it seems. Penguin
Oh gosh .. if your holiday’s a good few weeks long and you’re a royalist, you’re in for a treat with Queen of our Times – The Life of Elizabeth II. A whopping 624 pages, it’s said to be the definitive biography by one of Britain’s leading royal authorities, Robert Hardman. You’ll be quite the authority yourself once you’ve finished this study of dynastic survival and renewal, spanning abdication, war, romance, danger, tragedy and triumph. Macmillan
La Motte’s Vin de Joie 2022 Rosé is a salmon pink wine … all melon and grapefruit, nectarine and hint of sweet candyfloss. Drink it with a simple salad, charcuterie, salmon or crayfish. R99 from your local wine boutique or online from 
