Hello,

I have a little Boxing Day book reading tradition. I ask for a special book for Christmas, then very patiently wait until Boxing Day to even look inside the cover. Cup of tea, comfy chair, book, and that is me for a couple of hours. This year my special book was The Irish Kitchen. Of course it didn’t disappoint.

The Irish Bakery is maybe my favourite book of all time, for its stories, its recipes, its photography. And while some have said that The Irish Kitchen is even better, well I don’t like to compare, let’s just call both of these beautiful books absolutely wonderful.

There is more sitting at the kitchen table reading either book out loud to my husband and daughter – is there anything more comforting than being read to or reading to someone? Sundays, in the quiet of the early morning, sitting at the kitchen table with my first cup of tea for the day, craving softness and beauty, waiting for everyone to wake up, I reach for these books over and over again.

 

 

There are over 90 meticulously tested recipes by Cherie Denham.

Those Traditional Batch loaves on page 98 (above centre) remind me of the little Australian country town I lived in until turning six, tightly clasping my older sister’s hand we would walk around to the Post Office to see if the baker had delivered the bread for the day. Once home, sometimes I would sneak a little bit of the middle section of the loaf, and say a mouse must have eaten it! That bread was too good to resist!

We planted a Sloe and a Damson tree in our Irish Food Hedge years ago, I’m finally going to use Cherie’s recipe on page 78 (above right) to make Damson and Sloe Gin. These books are full of stories to read and recipes to make and make again.

 

 

The Irish Kitchen.

Recipes by Cherie Denham. Instagram @cheriedenhamcooks

Photography by Andrew Montgomery. Instagram @montgomeryphoto or @montgomerypress

Essays by Kitty Corrigan. Instagram @corrigankitty 

You might remember me writing about the Irish Bakery back in October 2024. Please click here to read it.

 

 

The Irish Bakery and The Irish Kitchen are independently published and can be purchased direct from Montgomery Press. The Montgomery Press is a new imprint set up by Andrew Montgomery to produce high quality, beautifully designed art books. To read more about Montgomery Press please click here

To purchase The Irish Bakery or The Irish Kitchen you can click the link

https://montgomerypress.co.uk/products/the-irish-kitchen

 

 

If you already have The Irish Kitchen or The Irish Bakery, what are you looking forward to making? For me it is Cherie’s Irish Farmhouse Apple Tart, the Irish Butter Shortbreads and the Soft and Fluffy Blaas, all favourites and all from The Irish Bakery.

Until next time,

Jude x