Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith

312 episodes

Ilhan Abdi: The Ramadan Kitchen
05/03/2026 | 21 mins.
This week as millions of people all over the world are celebrating Ramadan, we’re with London-based Somali-Egyptian food writer, Ilhan Abdi to talk about her book, The Ramadan Kitchen.

A former Amazon corporate employee, she left to focus on cooking content, gaining 265k Instagram followers (@Ilhanm.a) through live Ramadan cooking sessions inspired by her mum’s dishes during lockdown, and has since become a mother herself. She tells us about her recipes inspired by Ramadan traditions, including suhoor and iftar dishes like Somali rice, samosas, and syrup-soaked doughballs.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Ilhan including a recipe from her book, and a beautiful prayer that means so much to her.
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Pary Baban: Nandên
26/02/2026 | 31 mins.
This week we’re exploring the food and culture of Kurdistan with author of Nandên: Recipes from My Kurdish Kitchen, Pary Baban

Born in Southern Kurdistan, in Qaladze, a place known for its resistance and community, Pary fled Kurdistan with her family to escape what became known as the Anfal Genocide, and this is a hard listen. But it’s her passion for using the food of her land in her restaurant Nandine in South London and now the book, Nandên meaning kitchen to keep her Kurdish culture alive after generations of hardship and displacement, that makes this an essential listen.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Pary, including a recipe for Yapraxi bahara, the stuffed vine leaves in her food moments.

You can buy the book from the CTB Bookshop at Bookshop.org by clicking here.
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BOSH! More Plants
19/02/2026 | 30 mins.
This week, we’re back with BOSH!, the recipe developing duo who have changed the conversation about plant-based diets.

Gilly has followed their journey over the last 10 years and watched them become the biggest influencers in the plant-based space. Now, as she explores their latest book, More Plants, she finds out how they got their ready meals to the supermarket ready meal shelves - and why that matters.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of BOSH! including a recipe from More Plants.

You can buy it from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org which supports this ad-free listen.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tamar Adler: Feast on Your Life
12/02/2026 | 52 mins.
This week we are LIVE in Brighton with James Beard award-winning New York food writer, Tamar Adler to learn how to Feast On Your Life.

Her latest book is the result of a deep depression that overwhelmed her after the publication of An Everlasting Meal, which is now widely seen as a modern classic. Feast on Your Life is a record of daily food delights that she wrote to find her way back to the light, and the result is an extraordinary, gentle reminder to look at the small things, to focus on life through the prism of food and find joy even in the darkness.

Pop over to Gilly's Substack for Extra Bites of Tamar and Cooking the Books Live including a recipe for the green risotto from Tamar’s food moments cooked up by Ingrid Wakeling and her team from Sussex Surplus.

You can buy the book from the CTB shop at Bookshop.org by clicking here, and you can book tickets for the next CTB Live on March 10th here.
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Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees: You&Me&You&Me&You&Me
05/02/2026 | 29 mins.
This week, we’re with husband and wife novelists, Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees to celebrate Publication Day of their new time travelling rom com, You and Me and You and Me and You and Me

Their use of food as device in this story of Jules and Adam’s long-term marriage hitting a midlife wobble and getting a second chance is a glorious way of getting under the skin of the writing process. Writers, listen up. Gilly popped down to their home in Brighton a couple of days before the book hit the streets and the airwaves, voiced by Sally Phillips and Rory Kinnear, and shortly before a MAJOR streaming channel propels it into the stratosphere.

Click here to buy the book, and here for Extra Bites of Josie and Emlyn on Gilly's Substack
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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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