Book Description

An exploration of our long culinary history through the prism of a booklet of surprisingly cosmopolitan recipes, produced in 1913 to raise funds for the Huntly Town Band just before First World War broke out. It embraces notions of hospitality, hamewith and identity; hierarchies of landed gentry, the kirk, tenant farmers - community and kinship.

Janet Starkey, who lives in the Scottish Borders, lectures on the Middle East and has published many books and articles on that region. Her latest book, The Scottish Enlightenment Abroad: the Russells of Braidshaw in Aleppo and the Coromandel is currently in press. With family roots in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire that can be traced at least back to the 1690s and continue to the present, she returns to explore her family heritage through this new publication. More information about ingredients and those who donated recipes in 1913 are to be found on www.pandjstarkey.com

Clare Blois, a member of Janet’s extended family and a great cook, is an award-winning Scottish oil painter. The powerful island seascapes and skies of the Highlands are enduring themes in her oil paintings, as are the gentler farm landscapes of the north. Clare exhibits in many well-established galleries in Scotland and elsewhere. www.clareblois.co.uk/