The Consolation of Food

'A touching, honest and often funny read' - The Spectator 'Best cookbooks of 2019' roundup

'Time spent with Val is not just time spent in wonderful company but with an intelligent, proper cook I could sit at a table with this man for days. He cooks like he eats; just delicious, delicious food.' - Angela Hartnett

'A narrative of emotional light and shade, intertwined with recipes.' - Karen Barnes, editor, delicious. Magazine

'Your stories make me laugh and your recipes make me hungry.' - Nathan Outlaw, chef

'It's a blokeish book a quality I mostly find hard to take, but he's a bloke with access to his heart...and he really is a top cook.' - Sheila Dillon

This is a story book with food in it. Organised chronologically from childhood to adulthood, Valentine Warner presents a collection of personal stories about life and death, catering disasters, TV shenanigans and travel adventures.

Featuring 75 recipes that are dear to his heart, this is a cookbook for the modern world that recognizes the affirmative powers of time spent foraging or fishing for ingredients, and of cooking; to soothe the soul, to lift spirits and to celebrate the pure life-changing and life-affirming joy of good food.

A book to dip in and out of, or to enjoy in a single sitting, The Consolation of Food is an affirmation of the joy and pleasure that the presence of food has played throughout Valentine's life; comfort food in the truest sense of the word.

'In this book, Warner writes from the heart and delivers a collection of vignettes that are deeply personal, emotionally engaging, often hilarious and always compelling. I read it in a single sitting and loved every word.' - Russell Norman