Newsletter: 🥢🍜The art of Japanese cooking at the Midnight Diner, and a dream team of Guild of Food Writers Award winners 🏆🏆

Learning Japanese

In celebration of the publication of The Japanese Cookbook, and its addition to ckbk, our co-founder Matthew Cockerill has taken a deep dive into Japanese cooking, via cult TV show Midnight Diner (Streaming on Netflix). Set in the titular diner, in which the chef ‘Master’ creates favorite dishes for the characters who visit, the show is a masterclass in Japanese comfort food and classics.

In his feature Midnight Diner: Comfort Food from Japan, Matt has compiled an enthusiast’s directory of references and recipes to help you cook your way through your streaming obsession. From the simple – Salmon with Tea Broth – to the esoteric – Broiled Air-Dried Mackerel – this is a must read for a culinary top hits list of Japanese cooking.

The Japanese Cookbook is an excellent single volume introduction to Japanese cuisine. Food writers Yasuko Fukuoka and Emi Kasuko introduce the culture of food in Japan, from its links to Buddhism, to the importance of individual ingredients such as rice and tea. There is thoughtful explanation of equipment and technique. And there are 130 well explained, easy to follow, and utterly tempting recipes.

Try Broccoli and Cucumber Pickled in Miso, or this Salmon Teriyaki. Go for ultra-comforting Buckwheat Noodles with Dipping Sauce, followed by this fresh and easy Green Tea Ice Cream.

To delve further into Japanese cuisine, explore our Japan bookshelf.

Find all 130 recipes from The Japanese Cookbook

Pictured above: Deep-Fried and Marinated Small Fish from The Japanese Cookbook by Emi Kazuko and Yasuko Fukuoka

Celebrating our Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award winners

Last week saw the annual celebration of food writing talent that is the Guild of Food Writers Awards ceremony.

Their Lifetime Achievement Award represents the pinnacle of achievements in the industry. We are fortunate at ckbk to showcase the work of many of this dream roster of culinary masters. For a whistlestop tour, take a look at our Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award Winners, before exploring each of their books. Ten masters of the art, whose books add up to a library of wonderful food and knowledge. For just a few examples…

Get serious about Italian food with Anna Del Conte. No one knows more about pasta, as evidenced in her books Anna Del Conte on Pasta and her Pasta-Lover’s Cookbook.

Her Spaghetti alla Pugliese is a ckbk favorite.

Take a journey into Indonesian food with the exceptional Sri Owen, whose four books on ckbk cover everything Indonesian, and new-wave Asian, and include her important work The Rice Book.

Spice up your life with her White Crab Meat in Hot Ginger and Tamarind Broth.

2023 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Ken Hom was at this year’s ceremony. A leading authority on Chinese food, the eight of his books on ckbk are ever popular.

A consummate broadcaster, his YouTube Channel is also a great way to explore his food and see Ken at his best, demonstrating the food he loves.

Ken Hom's YouTube Chicken Stir Fry has over 250,000 views

His video for a Chicken Stir Fry has over 250 thousand views, and is a masterclass in good wok technique.

Ingredient focus: raspberries

The raspberry is a fruiting plant with many varieties, and is part of the rose family, which includes blackberry, dewberry, cloudberry and others. They can be any color, from white to black, but are most commonly deep ruby pink. The fruit is known to have been cultivated by the ancient Greeks, and are universally popular. Their combination of sweetness and bright tart flavor is winning. Delicious eaten raw, they also make a good inclusion in many recipes, traditional and modern.

An ode could be written to Raspberry Jam, a much-loved classic preserve that uses the fruit’s acidity well to balance the sugar. The fruit’s fresh taste lends itself to summer desserts, such as this Raspberry Sorbet or these Raspberry Swirl Yoghurt Lollies. In combination with meringue, or in a roulade, they are ideal, again tempering the sweetness. Try this Cracked Raspberry Meringue.

The fruit also pairs very well with chocolate, particularly any origin with bright fruit notes. Try this Chocolate Berry Tart.

For these and more great raspberry dishes take a look at these Radiant Raspberry recipes.

6 of the best recipes with choux pastry

There’s a day for that, they said. There is! National Chocolate Éclair Day is June 22, and in honor we will celebrate the glory of choux. Here are six wonderful recipes with choux.