This is a cookbook with a difference, teeming with recipes and references. For Jake Tilson food is not only a journey of discovery but also the heart of family life and central to our culture. The act of buying food, of preparing, cooking and sharing it binds all the bits of life together. Whether visiting his wife's family in the rich cattle lands of Aberdeenshire in north-east Scotland where food is an essential part of hospitality, or working his way through the entire breakfast menu in two West Broadway diners, or preparing hill-fresh herbs from his parents' garden in Tuscany, or finding the best second-hand cooking utensils in southern California, his unquenchable interest in every aspect of food is deliciously conveyed. A Tale of Twelve Kitchens is also the story of how that interest in food has shaped Jake's life - his childhood, his friendships, his travels and his family. Always alive to the possibilities food offers in any context Jake's acute eye, evocative writing style and enticing culinary experiments make this an extraordinary book, to be read, savoured, used - and above all enjoyed.

Author Biography

Jake Tilson was born in London in 1958. His parents were artists at the centre of the London contemporary art scene in the 1960s, so Jake and his two sisters grew up in an atmosphere of both visual and political awareness. At an early age he learned to garden, shop, cook, travel, look, draw, collect, photograph and take care of himself. And at the centre of all the family's activities was food. Jake studied painting at Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London and his work has been exhibited around the world and is held in many museums and public collections. He is married to the Scottish ceramic artist Jennifer Lee, and they live with their daughter in Peckham, London.