Olia Hercules was born in Ukraine and forged a career as a chef in the UK. She is the author of the award-winning cookbooks Mamushka and Kaukasis. Her new book, Summer Kitchens, is a return to the people, landscape and recipes that continue to beckon her home.
'A complete revelation' Nigella Lawson
'What a wonderful world Olia and this cookbook transport us to' Anna Jones
This summer, here are the only recipes you need...
What is a 'summer kitchen'? In Ukraine, it means a small cooking space located in the veg garden, away from the main house. Calling on fond childhood memories and countless conversations and cooking sessions, Olia Hercules shows how you can truly make the most of summery ingredients to create new, inventive and utterly delicious plates of food. Her recipes include burnt aubergine butter on tomato toast, sourdough garlic buns and poppyseed cake with elderflower and strawberries - each bite more delicious than the last.
As you cook your way through generous salads, moreish mains and sweet delights, you'll discover a way of cooking that is both traditional and contemporary, because these techniques and flavour combinations have been handed down through generations, yet reworked for every home kitchen.
Summer Kitchens also has a detailed chapter on fermentation, preserving and pickling (an ancient practice in Ukraine) that will inspire beginners and frequent picklers alike. It's a gorgeous way to discover sustainable, healthy and delicious food for the summer and beyond.
'I'm so glad she's sharing these culinary secrets' Melissa Hemsley
Summer Kitchens is a complete revelation. This wonderful book is such a stunningly beautiful evocation of spirit of place and sensibility, and I long to cook my way through it
This is an important book. As a record of a way of life that wastes nothing and respects people, land and season, delight in the old ways runs through it like a silver thread. Wonderful stuff, and timely
What a wonderful world Olia and this book transport us to. Pure magic in its recipes and its storytelling
Reading my way through Summer Kitchens has set me off falling in love with Ukraine. I've never been there but Olia's beautiful words, her do-able and delicious sounding recipes, and the snapshots and scenery are all absorbing. I'm so pleased she is sharing these culinary secrets