Seasonal European Dishes

Book excerpt: From the award-winning food writer: “A fascinating collection of recipes and folklore that shows how the year used to be structured around feasts” (The Telegraph). From all over Europe—Scotland to the Mediterranean, Hungary to Cornwall—Elisabeth Luard has collected descriptions of traditional feasts and festivals, many of which she has experienced first hand, and hundreds of recipes for the dishes appropriate to them. As well as being a unique and wonderfully readable cookbook, Seasonal European Dishes (previously published as European Festival Food) is written with the scrupulous attention to detail and authenticity that is the hallmark of Elisabeth Luard’s food writing. The recipes are peppered with hundreds of fascinating anecdotes and little known facts about local history and folklore. Starting with December, the book is organized according to the months of the year, and so it importantly also reminds us of the cycle of seasonality that is now once again regarded as the natural and much more enjoyable way to shop and eat.