09 Dec Food Roots

We’ve not featured many cookery books here – though we stock a few good ones – reckoning that Penang’s food obsession looks after itself. But why not make an exception for the exceptional? Newly published is Andrew Johnson’s AJ’s Food Roots: Southeast Asian and Sri Lankan Flavours (Landmark Books) . Born in Penang into an ethnically mixed family (the Sri Lankan recipes are a nod to his mother) and having travelled all over Southeast Asia from a young age, AJ’s inspiration in cooking comes from a vast range of cultures, peoples, herbs and spices. It’s a cook book with panache – and would make a great seasonal gift. His Facebook page Cooking with AJ is worth a look too.