The Modern Peasant
  • Published: 15 April 2014
  • ISBN: 9780701189402
  • Imprint: Chatto & Windus
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $39.99

The Modern Peasant

Adventures in City Food

Formats & editions
EBook
30 May 2013
Tr. Paperback
15 Apr 2014
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Have you ever wanted to leave your old life behind? To flee the city and take on a simpler existence in some far flung Mediterranean idyll? Somewhere you could cultivate the land, produce your own olive oil, grow figs, tomatoes and salad greens…

*WINNER OF THE FORTNUM & MASON FOOD BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2014*

Inspired by those who were bold enough to make that leap, but firmly rooted in London, food writer Jojo Tulloh wondered if some kind of peasant-like self-sufficiency could be achieved for city-dwellers; looking around her she found she was not alone.Beneath Victorian railway arches, on inner city roof tops and on borrowed land, a new breed of food producers were baking bread, making cheese, keeping bees and growing vegetables. Inspired by their success, Jojo watched and learned.

In this evocative and illuminating book, Jojo shares her knowledge of this fast-changing culinary scene. Alongside vivid stories from her visits to producers and tips for baking and pickling, fermenting and foraging, she presents fresh tasting, achievable recipes for modern peasants – sourdough pizzas of nettles and sausage, celebratory paellas of squid and home-grown peppers, chutneys, jam and pickles – and in doing so shows how a food philosophy that takes the best from past traditions can put flavour and excitement back into everyday cooking – even amidst the roar of city life.
  • Published: 15 April 2014
  • ISBN: 9780701189402
  • Imprint: Chatto & Windus
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $39.99
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About the author

Jojo Tulloh

Jojo Tulloh is the author of two books, East End Paradise (Chatto & Windus 2011), which explored seasonal cooking and growing inspired by her East London allotment and The Modern Peasant (Chatto & Windus 2013) which won the Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year award in 2014. The latter used the skills gleaned from interviews with independent food producers to gain a new level of self sufficiency in baking, butchery, beekeeping, vegetable growing, fermenting and cheesemaking and combined stories with recipes. The book, inspired in part by Patience Gray’s cult book, Honey From a Weed, began with a journey to the legendary food writer’s remote Apulian home. For five years Jojo wrote the Kitchen Garden Cook column for Gardens Illustrated (for which she was awarded The Fortnum and Mason Cookery Writer of the Year award in 2017). As well as writing for the Financial Times and the Observer she has written and published pamphlets of her own on Elizabeth David’s marginalia, Patience Gray and Dorothy Hartley and most recently the previously untranslated recipes of Marguerite Duras. Jojo is currently working on a food book inspired by a garden designed on forest garden principles on the edge of Exmoor in North Devon. www.jojotulloh.com

Praise for The Modern Peasant

This book is the thoughtful, entertaining result

Carolyn Hart, Telegraph

Both bold and intelligent…You will not put it down, I guarantee you. And when finished you will want to show it to your friends

The Foodie Bugle

Enchanting

Mail on Sunday

An interesting and inspiring read and one I am likely to return to in future for reference

Saffron Strands

As elegant and original as [Tulloh’s] recipes. Beautiful prose. Woodcut-style illustrations instead of photographs

Henry Dimbleby, Guardian

Even if keeping your own hens will only ever be a dream, it’s fascinating to read of the highs and lows faced by those living the good life

Sally Hughes, BBC Good Food Magazine

A pleasurable and inspirational jaunt through the philosophy of self-sufficiency that just might be the impetus for kick-starting a whole new different way of life

UK Regional Press

A tempting and considered guide to swapping convenience foods for the homegrown, homemade and sustainable

The Simple Things

This well-versed book is like a wonderful introduction to the best culinary library out there… It’s a must for any foodie

Alys Fowler, Gardens Illustrated

An interwoven tapestry of recipes, food philosophy and sparkling storytelling

Food and Travel