When Ruth Reichl, one of the world’s most famous food editors, was left feeling bereft following the closure of Gourmet Magazine, she took refuge in the kitchen.
Part cookbook, part memoir, My Kitchen Year expresses Reichl’s vulnerability during the challenging year that followed and the healing recipes she turned to. “I did what I always do when I’m confused, lonely, or frightened,” she writes, “I disappeared into the kitchen.”
My Kitchen Year is Reichl’s first cookbook in 40 years and has also been billed as her ‘most stirring.’ The 136 recipes follow the change of seasons as well as Reichl's emotions as she begins rediscover her love of cooking, “a blistering ma po tofu that shakes Reichl out of the blues; a decadent grilled cheese sandwich that accompanies a rare sighting in the woods around her home; a rhubarb sundae that signals the arrival of spring.”
Other comfort recipes include, summer peaches baked into a simple cobbler; fresh oysters chilling in a box of snow; plump chickens and earthy mushrooms, fricasseed with cream.
My Kitchen Year is due to land on the shelves on 29th September. Copies can be pre-ordered now through Amazon.