Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith
Food & Cooking Podcasts
Cooking the Books is about all of life through the prism of food, from climate change to culture and politics to people. It's for foodie book lovers who want to hear something more profound about the way we live, making the link between delicious food...
Location:
United Kingdom
Genres:
Food & Cooking Podcasts
Description:
Cooking the Books is about all of life through the prism of food, from climate change to culture and politics to people. It's for foodie book lovers who want to hear something more profound about the way we live, making the link between delicious food and the impact of food production on the land, all through four food moments from the books of our favourite food writers. Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith is the winner of The Guild of Food Writers' Best Broadcast or Podcast Award 2022, and was shortlisted for Fortnum and Mason Best Podcast 2022 and 2024. Hear how A-lister food writers have changed the conversation about food as Gilly talks through their four chosen food moments from their latest books. As she joins the dots between stories from the old country and food identity, plant-based recipes and climate change, she shows how a deeper connection with food really could save the planet. Listen to all your favourite food writers from Claudia Roden to Yotam Ottolenghi, Sheila Dillon to Anna Jones, Prue Leith to Elisabeth Luard, Gill Meller to Ravinder Bhogal, Dan Barber to Raymond Blanc as Gilly finds what's cooking in the minds of our food writing stars. Do support the podcast by subscribing, and PLEASE leave a review. You can do this by clicking HERE for the link to Apple Podcasts, click on Listen on Apple Podcasts under the show title and then click on Rating and Reviews! Thank you so much. For more information and to join the mailing list, visit Gilly Smith Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith is rated in the top 2.5% of global podcasts by ListenNotes and in the top 40 of food podcasts globally by FeedSpot Theme music by Willy Zygier Gilly Smith is also the presenter of the delicious. podcast and Leon's How to Eat to Save the Planet which was highly commended in the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2021. She won the Investigative Food Work Award for Right2Food (now known as the Food Foundation Podcast) in the same awards. She also produced The Big Table for Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion in World Farming, and is the multi-award winning author of Taste and the TV Chef: how storytelling can save the planet (Intellect Books 2020) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Twitter:
@gillysmith
Language:
English
Contact:
44 7930400808
Email:
gilly@gillysmith.com
Episodes
Jad Youssef: Lebnani
4/23/2026
This week, we’re off to Lebanon via Reigate with the man behind Comptoir Libanais and Yalla Yalla, Jad Youssef.
Lebnani is Jad’s debut cookbook that's all about the Lebanon of his childhood, the rituals and traditions of the food from his homeland that he's brought to the menus of restaurants all over the world.
His fear is that Lebanese food is losing its identity, not just through war, displacement and massive food insecurity at home, but through social media influencers and their chocolate hummus and sweet potato falafel. Gilly finds a man deliberately trying to keep a food culture alive in the Uk that's already moved on in the homeland, who tells her why it matters.
If you'd like to support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free, contribute whatever you like via this link, or become a paid subscriber on Substack which gives you extra benefits.
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Duration:00:30:05
Ranie Saidi: The Malay Cook
4/16/2026
This week, we’re off to Malaysia with The Malay Cook, Ranie Saidi.
The Malay Cook is the debut cookbook from this lawyer turned supper club host at Soho House and Curry Club London and now author.
It's an homage to the memory of his grandmother, a wedding caterer who brought him up while his parents were studying. But the book is not just about her recipes as he remembers them, but about building his own identity in his new home in the UK.
For Gilly, it’s an opportunity to immerse herself in the tastes and smells of her earliest years growing up in Penang and Ipoh. Ranie’s recent remaking of her family’s curry recipe has been a highlight of her culinary year so far.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites to read all about it, and for the gulai recipe from the book which he reckons was its inspiration. Riches indeed.
On which, if you like what you hear, you can support CTB which is advertising and sponsorship free by contributing whatever you like via this link or becoming a paid subscriber on Substack.
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Duration:00:29:03
Abby Allen: The Farm Kitchen
4/9/2026
This week, we’re back with farming champion, Abby Allen and her latest book, The Farm Kitchen.
Abby was, until recently, the face of Piper’s Farm, the online farm shop which brought together the best farmers and producers in the South West. Her passion in creating a resilient food and farming system to food lovers across the Uk now comes from a new company, Pipers and co, run by Abby and husband Will which continues to build a network of farmers and producers who do the right thing by the soil, the planet, the animals and us.
And all while she’s been growing a whole new human called Olivia. Gilly begins by finding out how her how the mothering is going.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Abby including a recipe from The Farm Kitchen.
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Duration:00:37:40
Shivi Ramoutar: Recipes from the Rum Islands
4/2/2026
This week, we’re with the queen of modern Caribbean cooking, Shivi Ramoutar.
It’s 10 years since her debut cookbook, Caribbean Modern: Recipes from the Rum Islands launched this Trinidadian lawyer and supper club host from Leicester to become the Caribbean queen of daytime TV.
The 10th anniversary edition – simply called Recipes from The Rum Islands is just as much about identity and belonging, but as the co-presenter now of Jimmy and Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast and a regular on This Morning, not to mention a mum of three young wildlings, as she calls them, she’s got a different perspective. Gilly asks her to revisit a time when she first began to dive into her heritage and its food.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Shivi and a recipe from The Rum Islands.
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Duration:00:23:59
Madeeha Qureshi : The Red Sea
3/26/2026
This week we’re exploring the cuisine of Saudi Arabia in Madeeha Qureshi's debut cookbook, The Red Sea.
Madeeha who spent her first 18 years in Saudi, came to our attention on Masterchef when she reached the finals in 2021, impressing judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with her fusion of Saudi Arabian, Middle Eastern, South Asian and modern flavours.
Now, many of us will think of Saudi as a place which is repressive for women and the LGBTQ community, but this is not Madeeha’s story. If Cooking the Books is a place to explore the secret kitchens from different culinary cultures, it’s also about the lived experiences of the authors who tell that story – many of them women. Gilly asks Madeeha to show us around her Saudi Arabia through her food moments.
Pop over to Substack for Extra Bites of Madeeha including a recipe from her book, and for Gilly's post about the complexity of telling stories about place and politics.
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Duration:00:23:04
Cooking the Books Live: Ali Honour
3/19/2026
This week we’re in Brighton for Cooking the Books live with bean queen, Ali Honour.
The author of Beans describes herself as a chef and food systems agitator, which brings together the best things about beans – how delicious they can be while saving the planet and the health of the nation. In front a live audience of keen beans and bean deniers – let’s call them beanos - we find out why.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Ali and a recipe from Beans by clicking here. And do follow Bang in Some Beans on the Food Foundation podcast, produced by Gilly and presented by Melissa Hemsley. Here's episode 4.
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Duration:00:48:58
The Jane Grigson Trust Sous Chef Awards Shortlist
3/12/2026
This week we’re discussing the shortlist for the Jane Grigson Trust–Sous Chef Award 2026 with two of the judges, Nicola Lando and Jeremy Lee.
This year, it celebrates its 10th anniversary with a stunning shortlist of books about secret kitchens and migrant stories which will all be featured here on CTB when they’re out in the bookshops. Ahead of next week’s awards, Gilly asks Nicola, founder of Sous Chef and a graduate of her How to Cook a Book food writing retreat, and Jeremy Lee, award-winning author of Cooking and chef proprietor at Awards HQ, Quo Vadis, what they look for in a winner.
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Duration:00:27:18
Ilhan Abdi: The Ramadan Kitchen
3/5/2026
This week as millions of people all over the world are celebrating Ramadan, we’re with London-based Somali-Egyptian food writer, Ilhan Abdi to talk about her book, The Ramadan Kitchen.
A former Amazon corporate employee, she left to focus on cooking content, gaining 265k Instagram followers (@Ilhanm.a) through live Ramadan cooking sessions inspired by her mum’s dishes during lockdown, and has since become a mother herself. She tells us about her recipes inspired by Ramadan traditions, including suhoor and iftar dishes like Somali rice, samosas, and syrup-soaked doughballs.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Ilhan including a recipe from her book, and a beautiful prayer that means so much to her.
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Duration:00:21:22
Pary Baban: Nandên
2/26/2026
This week we’re exploring the food and culture of Kurdistan with author of Nandên: Recipes from My Kurdish Kitchen, Pary Baban
Born in Southern Kurdistan, in Qaladze, a place known for its resistance and community, Pary fled Kurdistan with her family to escape what became known as the Anfal Genocide, and this is a hard listen. But it’s her passion for using the food of her land in her restaurant Nandine in South London and now the book, Nandên meaning kitchen to keep her Kurdish culture alive after generations of hardship and displacement, that makes this an essential listen.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Pary, including a recipe for Yapraxi bahara, the stuffed vine leaves in her food moments.
You can buy the book from the CTB Bookshop at Bookshop.org by clicking here.
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Duration:00:31:32
BOSH! More Plants
2/19/2026
This week, we’re back with BOSH!, the recipe developing duo who have changed the conversation about plant-based diets.
Gilly has followed their journey over the last 10 years and watched them become the biggest influencers in the plant-based space. Now, as she explores their latest book, More Plants, she finds out how they got their ready meals to the supermarket ready meal shelves - and why that matters.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of BOSH! including a recipe from More Plants.
You can buy it from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org which supports this ad-free listen.
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Duration:00:30:23
Tamar Adler: Feast on Your Life
2/12/2026
This week we are LIVE in Brighton with James Beard award-winning New York food writer, Tamar Adler to learn how to Feast On Your Life.
Her latest book is the result of a deep depression that overwhelmed her after the publication of An Everlasting Meal, which is now widely seen as a modern classic. Feast on Your Life is a record of daily food delights that she wrote to find her way back to the light, and the result is an extraordinary, gentle reminder to look at the small things, to focus on life through the prism of food and find joy even in the darkness.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Tamar and Cooking the Books Live including a recipe for the green risotto from Tamar’s food moments cooked up by Ingrid Wakeling and her team from Sussex Surplus.
You can buy the book from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org by clicking here, and you can book tickets for the next CTB Live on March 10th here.
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Duration:00:52:54
Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees: You&Me&You&Me&You&Me
2/5/2026
This week, we’re with husband and wife novelists, Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees to celebrate Publication Day of their new time travelling rom com, You and Me and You and Me and You and Me
Their use of food as device in this story of Jules and Adam’s long-term marriage hitting a midlife wobble and getting a second chance is a glorious way of getting under the skin of the writing process. Writers, listen up. Gilly popped down to their home in Brighton a couple of days before the book hit the streets and the airwaves, voiced by Sally Phillips and Rory Kinnear, and shortly before a MAJOR streaming channel propels it into the stratosphere.
Click here to buy the book, and here for Extra Bites of Josie and Emlyn on Gilly's Substack
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Duration:00:29:29
Rowley Leigh: The Andre Simons Awards
1/29/2026
This week, we’re with Rowley Leigh, chef, food writer and the food books assessor for the 2025 André Simon Food & Drink Book Awards to discuss the shortlist.
Rowley is an award‑winning food writer himself, but it’s his mastery of storytelling through the theatre of food that Gilly wanted to know about before we got on to the shortlist. His Notting Hill gastrodome, Kensington Place was all about being seen eating the coolest food in late century London, fashioned by his time with Roux Brothers in the kitchens of Le Gavroche and le Poulbot, and Joe Allen, Covent Garden’s post theatre supper hang out. Gilly asks how that melting pot created one of the greatest stories of modern British food.
Five out of seven of the shortlist have already been on the show. Click on the links below for the episodes.
Julian Baggini: How the World Eats: Where Our Food Comes From and Why It MattersAlissa Timoshkina: Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern EuropeNoor Murad: Lugma: Abundant Dishes And Stories From My Middle EastRichard Hart: Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough BakingBee Wilson: The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects
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Duration:00:17:21
Clare Coghill: Cafe Cuil
1/22/2026
This week, we’re on The Isle of Skye with the author of Café Cuil, Clare Coghill.
This is so much more than a recipe book celebrating the best of Highland produce, and the CUIL, the Gaelic for cosy nook - is much more than a play on words. This is a story of brilliant enterprise in the face of adversity drawn from a sense of identity and belonging – Gilly's favourite ingredients in any cuisine.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Clare including a recipe from Café Cuil for Lobster Roll with Nduja Butter You can buy the book from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org by clicking here, which supports this ad-free listen.
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Duration:00:31:47
Ozoz Sokoh: Chop Chop
1/15/2026
This week, we’re diving into Nigerian food culture with culinary anthropologist, food historian and now author of Chop Chop, Cooking the Food of Nigeria, Ozoz Sokoh.
Her Kitchen Butterfly blog has been documenting the back story to this West African cuisine since 2009, but Chop Chop, her debut cookbook, has been a long time coming. It’s already been nominated for an Andre Simon award and builds upon a rich tradition of cultural prodding at a food landscape that stretches way beyond the old country.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Ozoz including a recipe from Chop Chop. You can buy it from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org by clicking here, and this supports this ad-free listen.
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Duration:00:24:43
Jeffrey Boadi: Plant Fuel
1/8/2026
To kick off a brand new year, we’re diving straight into the power of protein with Jeffrey Boadi, author of Plant Fuel.
As a former semi-professional footballer and tennis player, Jeffrey has been a top level athlete for most of his adult life. But it was his decision to go vegan overnight that has given him a place on the podium in the plant protein world. Gilly finds out how it happened and how he gets enough protein in plants.
Click here to buy Plant Fuel from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org and here to get to Jeffrey's Extra Bites on Gilly's Substack.
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Duration:00:27:58
Alison Roman: Something from Nothing
12/31/2025
This week, we’re creating Something from Nothing with Alison Roman.
The former chef, food columnist for the New York Times, senior food editor at Bon Appetit, author of Dining In, Nothing Fancy and Sweet Enough, and now owner of her own store in upstate NY is all about about doing the bare minimum beautifully.
But as one of the early queens of social media, she’s been through the highs and the lows of influencer stratosphere and cancel culture. Her recipes were among the first to go viral – listen to that chat on the delicious podcast back in 2019, and Gilly finds out what she knows now about social media that she didn't know back then.
You can buy Alison’s book - and all your food books at the CTB page on Bookshop.org
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Duration:00:32:01
Emiko Davies: The Japanese Pantry
12/25/2025
On Christmas Day, we’re combining all the things that Cooking the Books is about – identity, belonging, food cultures and vicarious travel thorugh food with Emiko Davies in one of Gilly's favourite books of 2025, The Japanese Pantry.
As Emiko puts the pieces of her Italian living Australian-Japanese ancestry and influence together through all her books, The Japanese Pantry reads like she’s landing softly among the flavours of her Japan. Gilly explores that journey with her.
Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Emiko, including an outtake of the book. You can buy her book from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org which supports this ad-free listen.
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Duration:00:30:49
Skye McAlpine: The Christmas Companion
12/18/2025
This week, we’re with the Spirit of Christmas herself, Skye McAlpine and The Christmas Companion
Among all the talk of the pressures, the aspirational values and the industry of Christmas, Gilly finds herself feeling like the Grinch in the presence of the Christmas Fairy as she asks Skye about about the nostalgia, the beauty and the magic of giving.
Click here for Extra Bites of Skye on Gilly's Substack and here to buy The Christmas Companion on the CTB shop at Bookshop.org
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Duration:00:27:44
Cherie Denham: The Irish Kitchen
12/11/2025
This week, we’re with Northern Irish food writer Cherie Denham and photographer Andrew Montgomery in The Irish Kitchen
If you’ve listened to Gilly's chat with Andrew on her Substack a couple of weeks ago, you’ll know that this is no ordinary book. It follows their first book, The Irish Bakery, published by Montgomery Press, Andrew’s own company designed to do exactly what he wants.
The 90 recipes by Cherie are framed within stories about memory of home and rural life while Andrew’s extraordinary atmospheric photography captures the people, landscapes and food traditions still alive and well in contemporary Ireland. It’s part-cookbook, part cultural document of Irish home cooking and small producers, and a work of art. I
You can only buy The Irish Kitchen from Montgomery Press, and Andrew has even given CTB fans a discount. Click here and use COOKING10 as the promo code.
And do pop over to Gilly's Substack to see some of the wonderful photography, as well as a recipe from the book in Extra Bites.
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Duration:00:29:00