Towpath: Recipes and Stories

by Lori De Mori, Laura Jackson

Overview

Selected as a Best Cookbook of the Year by The Guardian, The Independent, Stylist and Daily Mail

'Towpath is one of the reasons I live in London.' Keira Knightley

'Dive in and cook up a Towpath feast for your friends and family.' Fergus and Margot Henderson

Inspired recipes from the beloved East London cafe, along with stories capturing the ebb and flow of community, food, and the seasons

A lot has changed since Towpath first rolled up its shutters 10 years ago on the Regent’s Canal in Hackney and everything but the toasted cheese sandwich was cooked from home across the bridge. And a lot hasn’t. It is still as much a social experiment as a unique and beloved eatery. What happens when seasonality means you close every year in November, because England’s cold, dark winters are simply inhospitable to hospitality from a little perch beside a shallow, manmade waterway that snakes through East London? What if you don’t offer takeaway coffees in the hopes that people will decide to stay awhile and watch the coots skittering across the water? If you don’t have a phone or a website, because you’d rather people just show up like (hungry) kids at a playground?
 
Towpath is a collection of recipes, stories and photographs capturing the vibrant cafe’s food, community and place throughout the arc of its season—beginning just before the first breath of spring, through the dog days of summer and culminating—with fireworks!—before its painted shutters are rolled down again for winter.

'The pages feel personal, with a sense of place, time and friendship that make the book feel incredibly meaningful…It is a cookbook original, charming, and tasty in equal measure.' Foodism

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645020134
Publisher:	Chelsea Green Publishing
Publication date:	10/07/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Laura Jackson cooked at Rochelle Canteen and at the Auberge de Chassignolles in France before coming to Towpath. She’s drawn chefs like Rosie Sykes, Davo Cook and Rachel O’Sullivan to cook with her in Towpath’s kitchen. Her food is seasonal, honest, unfussy and comforting – and so delicious people have been known to come for breakfast and stay through lunch. She delights in making everything from pickles to ice cream herself. And takes her inspiration where she finds it – so long as it’s about making the ingredients shine.

Lori De Mori is the author of four books about Italian cooking and food culture. Her writing has appeared in the Best Food Writing anthology (Marlowe & Company, 2000), Gourmet, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, the Independent, the Telegraph, Olive and elsewhere. Her last book, Beaneaters & Bread Soup (Quadrille 2007), was shortlisted for both the Guild of Food Writers’ and the André Simon Food Book of the Year. This is her first book about one of her own culinary adventures.

Lori De Mori is the author of four books about Italian cooking and food culture. Her writing has appeared in the Best Food Writing anthology (Marlowe & Company, 2000), Gourmet, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, The Independent, the Telegraph, Olive and elsewhere. Her last book, Beaneaters & Bread Soup (Quadrille 2007), was shortlisted for both the Guild of Food Writers’ and the André Simon Food Book of the Year. This is her first book about one of her own culinary adventures.

Editorial Reviews

‘That’s what Towpath is to De Mori and Jackson – an invitation for people to start enjoying life.’

Financial Times

‘De Mori and Jackson have managed to translate Towpath magic into a cookbook through stories and recipes…Every recipe is a keeper.’

The Independent

‘Towpath: Recipes & Stories … celebrates all the good things about life.’

Stylist

‘A heart-warming read with a collection of appealingly stylish dishes.’

Daily Mail

‘A truly special place’

Evening Standard

‘Towpath is one of the reasons I live in London. It’s a jewel-like, dream of a place. Somewhere to sit and watch the world go by. It’s the perfect mix of strength and fragility. A treat for each one of the senses. This book is an invite into their magical world.’

Keira Knightley

‘Lori & Laura are a magical team with the ability and flair to know what is right, beautiful and tasty. Laura cooks an incredible, culinary juggling act – it’s hands off, down-to-earth cooking as she battles with crazy cyclists, the weather and a canal. This book is packed full of food you want to know and cook. I suggest you dive in and cook up a Towpath feast for your friends and family.’

Fergus and Margot Henderson

‘This is a cookbook that absolutely everyone should possess. It’s a life-changing kind of thing that you’d want to pass on to your children. My favourite food from my most favourite place that serves food in the whole world, but now also with all the stories and histories. I want to go full-on ‘Julie and Julia’ on it and cook a dish every day until I have cooked every single one. The only tricky thing about this book is that I will cook so much from it, I will probably have to get one each year as it will be cooked from to death.’

Olia Hercules

‘When people ask about my favorite restaurants, I instantly think of Towpath. Warm, quirky, intimate, it’s a restaurant you never want to leave. This cookbook is the same: personal, inviting and filled with fantastically appealing food. If I can’t get to Towpath, it’s the next best thing.’

Ruth Reichl, chef, food writer and editor

‘I find myself transported. Your voices, my dears, are as clear as bells, the words float off the pages like the coots of the canal. The sense of place and time, wonder and friendship, the sheer joy of generosity and giving and pleasing are all beautifully woven together, a joy to conjure. The love and respect you have for each other shines through on every page as you recall adventures and dishes and people and instances galore through the years together creating an idyll on a canal. This book, inspiring as it is useful, is a masterclass in the good things in life.’

Jeremy Lee, chef and author of Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many

'The pages feel personal, with a sense of place, time and friendship that make the book feel incredibly meaningful…It is a cookbook original, charming, and tasty in equal measure.'

Foodism

From the Publisher