Monday, August 9th

I read The Collector of Worlds by Iliya Troyanov, about Richard Francis Burton's life. The first two parts of the book wasn't bad, but as Burton succumbs to fevers during the final section, so does the narrative of the African section.

Cypress by Craig Deihl is a very pretty cookbook. Unfortunately, as with most restaurant cookbooks, all recipes seem to comprise many others, so that every dish seems to be a day's work.

Butternut & cheese Pie

1kg Butternut cubes, cooked and pureed

3 Free Range Eggs, beaten and mixed into butternut

300g Cream cheese, beat into eggs

15ml Cumin seeds, crushed, stir into mixture

15g Fresh ginger, peeled and pulverised, stir into mixture

3ml Salt, add

300g Double gloucester cheese, grated, add HALF to mixture

Mix everything well, pour into shallow Pyrex, top with remaining cheese, bake for 40 minutes at 180C.