In our most recent episode of the podcast, author Sarah Winman mentioned one of my (Sophie’s) favourite books of all time, Patience Gray’s Honey from a Weed.
This book came to me by my friend Kate McKay, a ceramic artist and wonderful cook, and her mother Robbie Howard, also a wonderful cook (if you ever were lucky enough to visit the Lynwood Cafe in Collector NSW in the early nineties when she was at the helm then you’ll know what I mean). Kate’s copy is always to be found on her kitchen dresser (see below, it’s right in the middle of those books!) and for years, whenever I visited her at Collector I’d take it to bed and read a new chapter.
Now I have my own copy and recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Patience Gray wrote this book in the eighties and it has stayed in print ever since. It’s the story of fasting and feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia, all places that she lived in and travelled to with her sculptor partner Norman Mommens who was ever in search of marble and inspiration for his work.
So the book is history, memoir, cookery and observations about living life well wrapped in one beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully written offering.
Honey from a Weed is like no other book I’ve ever read, reading each recipe is like stepping over the threshold into another time and place, into a cool kitchen on baking hot Greek island with no refrigeration, a kitchen full of wild ingredients and rare knowledge being shared abundantly. It is a joy to read and re-read.
But back to the reason I’m telling you all about it, and why there’s a photo of pesto here too.
When I asked Sarah to tell me who she thinks writes food well it was Patience Gray’s name that bubbled right up. She reminded me of an early chapter ‘Chopping and Pounding’ where the author tells us;
“pounding fragrant things - particularly garlic, basil, parsley - is a tremendous antidote to depression. But it applies also to juniper berries, coriander seeds and the grilled fruits of the chilli pepper. Pounding these things produces an alteration in one’s being - from signing with fatigue to inhaling with pleasure. The cheering effects of herbs and alliums cannot be too often reiterated.”
I agree entirely. A mortar and pestle is my favourite kitchen appliance (after my hands). If you have one too and haven’t made pesto in it for a while, here’s a friendly reminder to grab some basil and a few spare minutes and pound garlic and salt together, then add the pine nuts, basil, oil and cheese. The heady smell of the basil and the rich oily pine nuts really do do something good to your head.
Of course if pressed for time, a food processor is faster and produces more pesto in a more uniform quantity than our hands and mortar/pestle but I think the flavour is better this way and taking the time to pound out something that’s on your mind, breathe in the basil and end up with a green sludge that transforms pasta into such a delicious meal is I would say, a very worthwhile trade off for 10 minutes of our time.
Here’s a simple pesto recipe by way of Patience Gray
Pesto
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 big bunch of basil (about 3 handfuls of leaves)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Place the garlic and salt in your mortar and pound together. Add the pine nuts and bash away again until you have a rough paste. Now add the basil, a handful at a time, pounding until you have what Patience describes as a ‘molecular state’. I’d say just until you have a lovely green sludge. Her description sounds way better I realise.
Now stir in the olive oil and cheese. Check the flavour, adjust seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon if you think it needs a little acid boost.
For more about Patience Gray, this is a great profile of the writer and her work. And this episode of The Splendid Table is a good introduction to her too.
Emiko Davies on her love of Honey from a Weed
Chef Alex Jackson cooks Patience Gray’s ‘zuppa di fagioli’
Write to us and we’ll send you wine!
If you would like a book and recipe recommendation to help navigate life’s twists and turns, please write to us. Each episode we choose a letter to read out (anonymously) and then prescribe something to eat and something to read that we think might help.
Thanks to Single Vineyards we have been able to gift a case of Highgate wine to each episode’s letter writer.
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Very handy for upcoming Christmas feasting and summertime reading! Click here to find out more about their wines on offer.
Email your letters to either Sophie at sophie_hansen@me.com or Germaine at newchaptersbibliotherapy@gmail.com
We would love to hear from you! Thank you for reading and we’ll see you next week for our Christmas episode!
Sophie & Germaine x