Book review: Seasoning by Angela Clutton

Food writer Angela Clutton’s newest book, Seasoning, is a guide on how to cook and celebrate seasonal ingredients that’s even caught actor and foodie Stanley Tucci’s attention.

He said that it’s a “brilliant and beautiful book that everyone who loves to cook should own”.

Each section covers a season and its produce, as well as how to shop and care for your ingredients. Take summer stone fruits, such as a juicy peach. Clutton breaks down how to find the best in the market (firm peaches with a little give), where to store them (out of the fridge if they need to soften; in the fridge if they’re ready to eat) ways to use them raw, ways to use them cooked, their best flavour pairings and how to preserve them. She then lists a handful of recipes, such as a savoury fruit salad with peaches, spring onion, lime, mirin and chilli.

The book is a refreshing reminder to find joy in living in ‘the now’, a reminder that we don’t need every ingredient at every time. There’s beauty in recognising what’s specifically available for each season, and that when we hoard produce rather than wait for it, we forget the feeling of excitement and anticipation. Clutton also reminds us about the importance of staying connected to the land and climate, explaining how essential it is to understand nature and its cycles to fully embrace seasonality.

This goes for meat and fish, too – for example, the term “spring chicken” wasn’t always just an expression of youth and liveliness. Mackerel are a fantastic, versatile summer fish that Clutton urges we use to replace farmed salmon, which can often escape to the ocean, compete and mate with wild salmon and completely change their genetic makeup.

Whether you actually are a “spring chicken” or a “seasoned” vet, Seasoning is a clever and delicious read that helps cooks analyse their own kitchen inventories and their values beyond. It’s a reminder that despite trends and technology, it’s never a bad idea to go back to basics.

Seasoning: How to Cook and Celebrate the Seasons By Angela Clutton (Murdoch Books, £30)