Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes [Hardcover]

This delightful tome takes the reader on a worldwide journey, experiencing the cuisine of the author's best-loved places.

'Finland still remains a dream; a faraway land where Father Christmas lives and glides here and there with his sleigh, ducking through falling cloudberries and past my mother ice-skating to school.....'

'Falling Cloudberries, A World of Family Recipes' is Tessa's second book, a personal collection of family recipes from around the world.

The exquisite cover opens up to reveal a recipe mix of unusual, exotic tastes and familiar, family favourites.
A family tree introduces Tessa's family members and the book is further enhanced by old family photos. This gives the recipes a sense of place and history as they have been handed down through the generations.

399 thick, high quality matt pages, split over main chapters:

1. Falling Cloudberries (Finland) page 14
2. Oregano, Oranges & Olive Groves (Greece) page 70
3. Cinnamon & Roses (Cyprus) page 144
4. Monkeys' Weddings (South Africa) page 218
5. Washing Lines & Wishing Wells (Italy) page 276
6. Suitcase of Recipes (World) pages 334-385

sandwiched between an introduction entitled 'Food from many Kitchens' and a concise index, concluding with a charming acknowledgment page, entitled 'from Tessa'.
A thin blue satin ribbon keeps your page when you have to put this book down, a book that is arguably 'just a recipe book' but almost demands to be read like a novel, at any time in any place!

The first glimpse of Tessa's unique writing style is captured in her introduction:

'These are the recipes I grew up with; the recipes that have woven their way through the neighbourhoods of my mind, past indifference and into love. Those that have stayed while others might have fluttered away with a gentle spring breeze. These are the ones I choose to share; the ones that special people have taught me and that I have recorded, sometimes over a pot of coffee at my own kitchen table, and sometimes struggling to understand through the barriers of a language on a journey somewhere....
I have always kept my favourite recipes in journals and I hope you will find a place for them among your own tablecloths. Here are the recipes that I love'

and is present throughout at the head of each chapter and within each recipe.

Recipes include:

Fresh Salmon, Dill and Potato Soup
Moussaka
Beef Casserole with Carrots, Onions and Cream
Pork Schnitzels with Sautéed Potatoes
Cranberry Sorbet
Salt Baked Fish with Lemon and Parsley Salad
Lemon & Oregano Chicken
Stuffed Egg-Plants
Spinach Pilaf
Baklava with Nuts & Dried Apricots
Filo Millefeuille with Oranges
Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing
Barbecued Spare Ribs
Milk Tart
Lemon Crème Brulée
Champagne Risotto
Veal Loin with Mustard, Pancetta & Cabbage
Coffee Granita with Whipped Cream
Couscous Salad
Crème Caramel

'I always long for those lunches that begin anywhere between noon and 5 pm and end only when the owner decides it's time to drag the tables off the beach.................On our way back we are twice blessed - with the haphazard washing lines of octopus silhouettes and a Greek sunset.'

I have loads of cookery books, I'm something of a cookery book addict. I could not resist this one because the photos and overall presentation of the book was mouth-watering. I bought this book just before Christmas and used it all over Christmas. Every recipe I have tried from it has worked beautifully! I made the pineapple upside-down cake for my in-laws and it was fantastic. I have made pineapple cakes in the past but Tessa's recipe includes a caramel sauce that you cook into the cake so that when you turn it upside-down, it makes the cake beautifully moist.
One of my favourite foods is candied yams (sweet potatoes) which I always used to cook in the oven. Tessa's recipe cooks them slowly on the stove top in orange juice which moistens and caramelises at the same time - gorgeous.
Apart from the recipes, what I love about the book is the way the reader is drawn into Tessa's own family history. You are introduced to the members of her family through her family tree and the book is beautifully illustrated with old family photos. This gives the recipes themselves a sense of place and history as the recipes are handed through the family. The author has travelled widely and collected recipes along the way. The food takes the reader on a worldwide journey, experiencing the cuisine of the places she loves.
Tessa says in her introduction, "These are my favourite recipes". They are fast becoming mine, too!

I got this book as a christmas present from my sister and brother in law and loved it immediately. It still is one of the most beautiful cookery books I own and I've got about 300 - 400, roughly estimated. But it is not only extremely beautiful, it's also interesting to read (and no, it's not supposed to be a memoir, it says " a world of family recipes" on the front, so it will obviously be mainly about cookery) and the recipes are just great. I'm the queen of cheesecakes at work now, just because of Tessa's marvellous "Ricotta Tart with a Chocolate Crust". The ricotta makes a wonderfully light cake (but if you can't get any just use full fat cream cheese) and the added orange juice and rind give it a fresh moreish taste. People will definitely leave nothing on the plate and ask you for the recipe! Another good thing is that this book offers recipes from quite different parts of the world (due to Tessa's family history): Finland, Greece, Cyprus, South Africa, Italy and some other countries she travelled. Buy it for yourself or as a wonderful present for someone who likes stories and cookery! For me, it's one of the books I'd never part with.