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Some favourite reads from 2016
These are some of the fantastic books that I’ve enjoyed this year. All ten were published in Britain, but they have taken me through time and space as only good books can – to Calcutta and the...
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BEATING THE JANUARY BLUES – IN A MORTAR
How many mortars do you have? While I was working on Yashim Cooks Istanbul, I added another two to my kitchen collection, one stone, one made of olive wood. Various recipes in the book call for...
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Istanbul, mon amour
Cumhuriyet Kitap, Turkey’s answer to the TLS or The New York Review of Books, recently ran an essay I wrote on Istanbul. It was translated and introduced by Selçuk Altun, whose novels include The...
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Crisis averted: what to do on the plane!
Since the US and UK banned laptops and tablets from the airplane cabins on flights originating in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, I’ve read some really daft articles...
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Pleasing the Guild
Count Palewski, Polish ambassador to the Sublime Porte, burst into the room, waving a paper. ‘Yashim! Yashim! Have you seen this?’ Yashim glanced over his shoulder, knife poised above a bowl of little...
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A Pilgrim’s Guide to Sacred London
You may be surprised to discover that I’ve co-authored a guidebook, particularly if you are one of those (splendid) readers demanding a new Yashim story instead. Well, have you seen his cookbook?...
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A Day with the Guild
I spent a lovely day this week being inducted into the Guild of Food Writers, beginning with a lunch for new members at my favourite restaurant, Quo Vadis, on Dean St. It used to be a brothel, like...
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Win an Ottoman audiobook!
‘Astonishingly colourful and provocative history.’ Years ago I was on a train, reading The Independent, when I suddenly blushed. My heart raced. Without warning, I had come across a review by Jan...
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A writing week in Dorset
Ever since we began renovating a big Edwardian house in Dorset, close to the famous fossil beach at Charmouth, I’ve been looking forward to using it to bring together creative groups of people. In...
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A Guided Pilgrimage
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