Sophie Grigson’s Sunshine Food

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Sophie Grigson, bubbly cook of the many earrings has a passion for the Mediterranean and not just the food, warmth and colour but also the home made drinks like Limoncello and Mint tea. In her newest book sunshine Food she captures the essence of holidays in the sun. Understandably Sophie’s ideal holiday spot is not the Cost de Sol. Asked to describe her perfect place, she searches out the ever diminishing number of small towns or villages off the beaten track, with perhaps a sandy beach, a small bar and an unpretentious restaurant frequented by the locals. “ Then absolutely critical, there must be ruins and local markets and narrow old streets to wander through”. The hotel or holiday house doesn’t have to be grand but certainly won’t be one of those concrete edifices that have mushroomed like some fungal disease all along the shores of the Mediterranean. Finally the food must be good honest gutsy food, not grand, but made with fresh local ingredients, cooked in the time honoured way without frills and fuss. It’s worth remembering that the Mediterranean is of course not just the south of France, Spain and Italy. There’s also Greece, Turkey, the Lebanon, Israel and North Africa , Egypt, Tunisia and on finally to Morocco. The sunny food of these countries is immensely seductive to us northerners and Sophie seems particularly fond of the robust flavours of Morocco, Sicily and Greece. Sophie Grigson’s Sunshine Food Published by BBC Cooks £20.00 Sterling

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Darina Allen
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