Herb / Mark Diacono. A plot to-plate exploration of herbs that majors on the kitchen
Mark Diacono's latest book – published in spring 2021 – Herb inspires us to make the most of this world of flavours
HERB is a plot-to-plate exploration of herbs that majors on the kitchen, with just enough of the simple art of growing to allow the reader to welcome a wealth of home-grown flavours into their kitchen.
Mark is a gardener as well as a cook. Packed with ideas for enjoying and using herbs, HERB is much more than your average recipe book. Mark shares the techniques at the heart of sourcing, preparing and using herbs well, enabling you to make delicious food that is as rewarding in the process as it is in the end result. The book will explore how to use herbs, when to deploy them, and how to capture those flavours to use when they might not be seasonally available. The reader will become familiar with the differences in flavour intensity, provenance, nutritional benefits and more.
Focusing on the familiars including thyme, rosemary, basil, chives and bay, HERB will also open the door to a few lesser-known flavours. The recipes build on bringing your herbs alive – whether that’s a quickly swizzed parsley pesto when short of time on a weekday evening, or in wrapping a crumbly Lancashire cheese in lovage for a few weeks to infuse it with bitter earthiness.
With a guide to sowing, planting, feeding and propagating herbs, there are also full plant descriptions and their main culinary affinities. Mark then looks at various ways to preserve herbs including making oils, drying, vinegars, syrups and freezing, before offering over 100 innovative recipes that make the most of your new herb knowledge.
Herb is available now through all the major bookchains, on and off the high street.
But more excitingly , Mark is also offering HERB at four prices if you buy direct. He wants to ensure that those who might benefit most from the book are able to get their hands on it, so you can pay whichever suits you: Click here to find out more.
To find out more about Mark and his Otter Farm project, click here.
Herb is published by Quadrille an inprint of Hardie Grant, an amazing souce of food and recipe books.
Mark uses a variety of our pans in the book including the versatile 10 inch (26cm) spun iron frying pan, click here for more info.
Netherton Foundry, Shropshire, England. A family business crafting traditional cookware in Highley, Shropshire from iron, oak and copper,using materials predominantly sourced in our own and neighbouring counties. Copyright 2021.
