Pride and Pudding by Regula Ysewijn

The History of British Puddings, Savoury and Sweet

Yes, yes yes! It’s finally here! The English edition of Pride & Pudding by the wonderful Regula Ysewijn / Miss Foodwise, a cookbook I have been looking forward to for months! There is no doubt that Regula is an incredibly talented woman, her blog and photography skills are beyond anything I will ever achieve but what makes her even more special is her true kindness and her passion for all this British. In the same way as I have lost my heart to Ireland, she has lost hers to the UK. For years she has managed to capture the true spirit of the country, in her recipes as well as in her countless writings about her trips where you can discover more about small towns and their local producers.

I am absolutely a big fan of rediscovering and using historical recipes and I’m not always the biggest fan of some of the newer food trends, so for me Regula has always been a massive inspiration. To me, she’s this generation’s Julia Child, just with a better hair & dress style (Sorry Julia). Julia thought the world how to cook French recipes, and Regula will do the same for authentic British cooking.

Hasty Fritters by Regula Ysewijn

Her first book took her years to write as she did it all herself, with the help of her equally creative and kind husband Bruno, who was responsible for some of the artwork in the book as well as the stunning cover. I have reviewed a lot of books the past years but never have I known more inspiring, talented and creative people than these two as the book is an absolute gem.

Now I must say I’m slightly biased when it comes to my enthusiasm for this book as I have had the pleasure of meeting her before in Belgium, when I took part in a Food Photography class she once taught. I know that I’m only a small blogger and my words don’t always make a big difference, but she has been getting amazing reviews from people far more important than me, including none other than Jamie Oliver, who spoke very fondly of her in the past and is a big fan of her book: ‘A truly wonderful thing of beauty, a very tasty masterpiece!’ So it’s safe to say that this cookbook is an absolute must have for those who want to explore the historical British kitchen.

The must try recipes are: Bread-and-butter Pudding (21st century), Bakewell pudding (19th century), Cabbage pudding (18th century), Ypocras Jelles (16th century).

Apple Charlotte by Regula Ysewijn

Summer Pudding by Regula Ysewijn

Book description
The great British pudding, versatile and wonderful in all its guises, has been a source of nourishment and delight since the days of the Roman occupation, and probably even before then. By faithfully recreating recipes from historical cookery texts and updating them for today’s kitchens and ingredients, Regula Ysewijn has revived over 80 beautiful puddings for the modern home cook.

There are ancient savoury dishes such as the Scottish haggis or humble beef pudding, traditional sweet and savoury pies, pastries, jellies, ices, flummeries, junkets, jam roly-poly and, of course, the iconic Christmas pudding. Regula tells the story of each one, sharing the original recipe alongside her own version, while paying homage to the cooks, writers and moments in history that helped shape them.

About the Author
Regula Ysewijn is a photographer and graphic designer who was born and raised in Antwerp where she went to art school and taught herself to cook. In her work she is inspired by the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance paintings she grew up with.
She fell in love with Britain after hearing a nursery rhyme when she was only a small child. Soon after her first visit to Britain when she was 9 she started reading about British history and folklore and travelled around the country with her parents every holiday.

Five years ago she started to write about Britain’s culture and food history on her blog and today she has finished her debut book for which she investigated the history of British pudding. Regula has photographed a number of cookbooks for other authors and her photographic work, blog and writing have been featured by Great British Food Magazine, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Saveur, Pretty Nostalgic Magazine, SBS Australia, and many more. She is also a Great Taste Awards judge.
‘Pride and Pudding’ is available on Amazon UK, Amazon US and Amazon DE and is published by Murdoch Books on 7th of April 2016.
Regula’s blog can be found on www.missfoodwise.com

Win win win
I’m giving away one copy of Pride and Pudding!
Want to win this beautiful book?
1. Like my post and page on Facebook
2. Tag 1 friend in the comments on Facebook who you’d love to share a lovely ‘Pride and Pudding’ meal with.
Competition ends on the 30th of April, open to anyone living in Ireland, UK, Belgium or the Netherlands.

Photo by Regula Ysewijn