Paul Ainsworth shares his favourite foods in his first cookbook

It’s always exciting when a top UK chef publishes their debut cookbook – none more so than Paul Ainsworth. With a portfolio of Cornwall-based restaurants under his belt and 18 years at the stove, Ainsworth has poured his experience into For the Love of Food.

It’s a jam-packed tome, with just about every recipe you could ever want for a gastropub or classic restaurant, clearly picked and personalised with expertise. From snacks to curries to roasts, it reads like a menu at a lovely lunch that would get anyone excited. Ainsworth has given it an extra twist by focusing on his favourite foods. Just look at the section titles and you’ll see what I mean: the book starts with ‘Beach Breakfast & Brunch’, takes a gander through ‘For the Love of Sandwiches’ and ‘Pasta Favourites’, and lands on ‘…& Custard’. The chef delights in showing variety through focus.

Of course, as Ainsworth’s restaurant empire is set by the coast, fish plays a pivotal role. There’s an entire chapter dedicated to ‘From the Sea’, though seafood in the form of prawn cocktails and tuna tartare crops up in other chapters. Ainsworth’s version of a traditional roast dinner uses turbot as its centrepiece instead of a cut of meat, and which, he says, “encapsulates everything that [he] love[s] about sitting down with friends and family.”