A Long and Messy Business

Book excerpt: 'I get fed up with the number of cookbooks that promise quick and easy meals, those that promise a three-course dinner that can be knocked up in thirty minutes. Most cooking, and certainly most enjoyable cooking, takes a little longer. I can knock something up in a hurry if I have to – there are plenty of quick and easy recipes in this book – but that ability was a long time in the acquisition, and I still prefer to take my time, in order to do it better than I did it last time.' These recipes and essays, first published in the Financial Times, are a distillation of Rowley Leigh’s forty years as both a professional chef and a home cook. They detail with precision and wit how to cook and enjoy both unusual and familiar ingredients through the seasons. With Leigh’s succinct wine recommendations and over 120 recipes, this is a book to get messy with overuse in the kitchen and to pore over in an armchair with a glass of the author’s beloved Riesling close to hand.