This competition has now closed and we’re contacting the winner.
It’s time for another Rosemary and Pork Belly 10th birthday competition, and we’ve teamed up with Meze Publishing for this one.
Pork Belly loves recipe books, especially ones that promote British cooking with a twist, and as I write this, there are two shelves to the left of me positively groaning under the weight of them all.
Meze Publishing are celebrating British farming in all its hardship and glory with two new books – For the Love of the Land I and II.
We’ve got signed copies of these fabulous recipe books to win, but enter now before Pork Belly gets his sticky hands on them!
They’re packed with recipes that make the most of local and seasonal ingredients, to create delicious meals, puddings and bakes that anyone can cook at home.
What makes these recipe books special is that alongside each dish, members of farming families tell their stories about the highs and lows of their livelihoods. From losing sheep in snowstorms, through balancing farm and family, to developing high-tech solutions to age-old farming problems.
There’s even a directory at the back, so you can find your local farm shop, follow your favourite producers on social media or discover your nearest Pick Your Own.
Author Jenny Jefferies married into the farming life and found out first-hand its challenges and delights. Compiling these recipes and their stories became a labour of love for her, showcasing the best of British.
Recipe books celebrating British farming
The farmers are as diverse as the food they produce, and the recipes are wonderful.
How about giving traditional Shepherd’s Pie a Jamaican twist, courtesy of The Black Farmer? Or bake a Wild Garlic Tarte Soleil from Riverford Organic Farmers.
Maybe try an unusual Chicory and Potato dessert, from the North Yorkshire kitchen garden of the Black Swan in Oldstead or there’s Pique Macho, which means ‘food of the strong’, a Bolivian steak-based dish from Heady’s Farm in Buckinghamshire.
So many recipes to choose from.
For those with a sweet-tooth, there’s Mrs B’s Lemon Drizzle and Blueberry Cake, from the UK’s oldest blueberry plantation. Established in Dorset as an experiment in the late 1950s, it’s still going strong.
What about making Lavender Shortbread with a recipe from Castle Farm in Kent or Nanna’s Apple Crisp, a Canadian-British invention from Buckinghamshire farmer Heather Pearson?
Vegetarians will enjoy Roasted Cauliflower with Hazelnut Picada and Rainbow Chard in a spectacular, yet easy to assemble, dish from the award-winning Bull Organic Inn in Totnes. And then there’s the Tomato and Spinach Lasagne created by social enterprise Sitopia Farm in the heart of London?
Have we whetted your appetite yet?
Seasonal specialities include Pumpkin Soup, Strawberry Flan and Hedgerow Sponge Pudding.
Whether you’re country born and bred or have never even donned a pair of wellies, these books will put British farming at the centre of your table.
Delicious British food with a twist, is that enough to tempt you to enter our competition?
For the Love of The Land I and II are recent additions to Meze Publishing’s range of fantastic recipe books, and here’s your chance to win signed copies of them both.
Win For the Love of the Land recipe books from Meze Publishing, worth £44.
This competition has now closed and we’re contacting the winner.
With tales and tastes from the wilds of Shetland to an urban farm in Hull, almost every section of British food is covered in glorious colour.
Alongside each recipe is a story about the farms and farmers who produce the ingredients.
Just answer the question in the Gleam widget below, and you could win both books, worth a total of £44.
Competition closes midnight Saturday 15 July 2023
Open to UK residents only.
Good luck and happy cooking.
Pop over to their shop to see the full range of recipe books from Meze Publishing and if you have an idea for a cookbook and want to see your recipes in print, here’s how they can help.
Photography by: Paul Gregory, Simon Burt,
Tim Green, Geoff Reardon, Clair Irwin,
Jake Morley, Carl Sukonik, Sam Bowles,
Chris Boyd & Melissa Rodrigues
Where to next
• Brighton and Sussex Cookbooks
• Why do we still buy cookbooks
• A-Z of recipes