Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

307 episodes

Rowley Leigh: The Andre Simons Awards
29/1/2026 | 17 mins.
This week, we’re with Rowley Leigh, chef, food writer and the food books assessor for the 2025 André Simon Food & Drink Book Awards to discuss the shortlist.

Rowley is an award‑winning food writer himself, but it’s his mastery of storytelling through the theatre of food that Gilly wanted to know about before we got on to the shortlist. His Notting Hill gastrodome, Kensington Place was all about being seen eating the coolest food in late century London, fashioned by his time with Roux Brothers in the kitchens of Le Gavroche and le Poulbot, and Joe Allen, Covent Garden’s post theatre supper hang out. Gilly asks how that melting pot created one of the greatest stories of modern British food.

Five out of seven of the shortlist have already been on the show. Click on the links below for the episodes.

Julian Baggini: How the World Eats: Where Our Food Comes From and Why It Matters
Alissa Timoshkina: Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe
Noor Murad: Lugma: Abundant Dishes And Stories From My Middle East
Richard Hart: Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking
Bee Wilson: The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects
Robin Sherriff: The Science of Fermentation
La Mesa Mexicana: Rosa Cienfuegos
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Clare Coghill: Cafe Cuil
22/1/2026 | 31 mins.
This week, we’re on The Isle of Skye with the author of Café Cuil, Clare Coghill.

This is so much more than a recipe book celebrating the best of Highland produce, and the CUIL, the Gaelic for cosy nook - is much more than a play on words. This is a story of brilliant enterprise in the face of adversity drawn from a sense of identity and belonging – Gilly's favourite ingredients in any cuisine.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Clare including a recipe from Café Cuil for Lobster Roll with Nduja Butter You can buy the book from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org by clicking here, which supports this ad-free listen.
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Ozoz Sokoh: Chop Chop
15/1/2026 | 24 mins.
This week, we’re diving into Nigerian food culture with culinary anthropologist, food historian and now author of Chop Chop, Cooking the Food of Nigeria, Ozoz Sokoh.

Her Kitchen Butterfly blog has been documenting the back story to this West African cuisine since 2009, but Chop Chop, her debut cookbook, has been a long time coming. It’s already been nominated for an Andre Simon award and builds upon a rich tradition of cultural prodding at a food landscape that stretches way beyond the old country.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Ozoz including a recipe from Chop Chop. You can buy it from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org by clicking here, and this supports this ad-free listen.
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Jeffrey Boadi: Plant Fuel
08/1/2026 | 27 mins.
To kick off a brand new year, we’re diving straight into the power of protein with Jeffrey Boadi, author of Plant Fuel.

As a former semi-professional footballer and tennis player, Jeffrey has been a top level athlete for most of his adult life. But it was his decision to go vegan overnight that has given him a place on the podium in the plant protein world. Gilly finds out how it happened and how he gets enough protein in plants.

Click here to buy Plant Fuel from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org and here to get to Jeffrey's Extra Bites on Gilly's Substack.

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Alison Roman: Something from Nothing
31/12/2025 | 32 mins.
This week, we’re creating Something from Nothing with Alison Roman.

The former chef, food columnist for the New York Times, senior food editor at Bon Appetit, author of Dining In, Nothing Fancy and Sweet Enough, and now owner of her own store in upstate NY is all about about doing the bare minimum beautifully.

But as one of the early queens of social media, she’s been through the highs and the lows of influencer stratosphere and cancel culture. Her recipes were among the first to go viral – listen to that chat on the delicious podcast back in 2019, and Gilly finds out what she knows now about social media that she didn't know back then.

You can buy Alison’s book - and all your food books at the CTB page on Bookshop.org
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About Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

Cooking the Books is about all of life through the prism of food, from climate change to culture and politics to people. It's for foodie book lovers who want to hear something more profound about the way we live, making the link between delicious food and the impact of food production on the land, all through four food moments from the books of our favourite food writers.Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith is the winner of The Guild of Food Writers' Best Broadcast or Podcast Award 2022, and was shortlisted for Fortnum and Mason Best Podcast 2022 and 2024.Hear how A-lister food writers have changed the conversation about food as Gilly talks through their four chosen food moments from their latest books. As she joins the dots between stories from the old country and food identity, plant-based recipes and climate change, she shows how a deeper connection with food really could save the planet.Listen to all your favourite food writers from Claudia Roden to Yotam Ottolenghi, Sheila Dillon to Anna Jones, Prue Leith to Elisabeth Luard, Gill Meller to Ravinder Bhogal, Dan Barber to Raymond Blanc as Gilly finds what's cooking in the minds of our food writing stars.Do support the podcast by subscribing, and PLEASE leave a review. You can do this by clicking HERE for the link to Apple Podcasts, click on Listen on Apple Podcasts under the show title and then click on Rating and Reviews! Thank you so much.For more information and to join the mailing list, visit Gilly SmithCooking the Books with Gilly Smith is rated in the top 2.5% of global podcasts by ListenNotes and in the top 40 of food podcasts globally by FeedSpotTheme music by Willy ZygierGilly Smith is also the presenter of the delicious. podcast and Leon's How to Eat to Save the Planet which was highly commended in the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2021. She won the Investigative Food Work Award for Right2Food (now known as the Food Foundation Podcast) in the same awards.She also produced The Big Table for Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion in World Farming, and is the multi-award winning author of Taste and the TV Chef: how storytelling can save the planet (Intellect Books 2020) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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