Delicious UK – (01)January 2021

Dear Elisabeth

Inveteratetraveller,anthropologistandfoodwriterGhillieleft

behindglitteringrestaurantsinfavourofa dilapidatedcroftinthe

ScottishHighlands,whereshesingle-handedlyraisedherfamily.It’s

onlynatural,then,thatshefindsa kindredspiritinglobe-trotting

Elisabeth,whosewritinglenthercourageintoughtimes

RECIPEGHILLIEBASANPHOTOGRAPHSDANJONES

FOODST YLINGJENBEDLOEST YLINGVICTORIAELDRIDGE

I’mwritingtoyouwithheartfeltappreciation

forsogenerouslysharingyourlifeandfood

withyourreaders.ThelasttimeI sawyou

wasata supperclub,andinthegapsbetween

courses,asyouquietlysketched,I wasstruck

thatyou’reashumbleinpersonasyouarein

yourbooks.InSquirrelPie, yourtravelogue

from2016,youdescribeyourselfasa “food

writerbytradeanda travellerwheneverI get

thechance”.Butyou’realsoa giftedartist

andstoryteller,andanextraordinarymother.

Inthemid1990sI’djustpublishedmyfirst

cookbook,writtenandphotographedinthe

basicconditionsofa tinycroftintheScottish

Highlands(noelectricityorrunningwater,

a bucketinthesnowfora fridge,a camping

stoveanda mirrortoreflectanyraysof

sunlightontothefood).I rememberonetime

lyinginbedwithflu,tryingtokeepwarmas

a bitingblizzardblastedtheoldstonewalls.

I wasbeginningtoquestionthewisdomof

livingsoremotelywitha babyandonly

pocket-changeforanincome– untilI picked

upyourlatestbookatthetime,FamilyLife.

Admittedlyyou’dchosen,inFamilyLife, to

liveinsunnyAndalucía,wherethemarkets

oozedwithdeliciouslyarousingaromas...

Cinnamon,saffron,clovesandvanilla;

succulentplumpolivesandfruityoil;and

freshlybakedcrustyloavesrubbedwith

juicygarlic.Butyourmovetherewithyour

childrenwasa gamblethatattimesyou

navigatedonyourown,usingyournatural

historydrawingsascurrency.

Whileyougottogripswithunfamiliar

thistlestemsandtheinksacsofcuttlefish,

yourchildrenattendedthelocalschool,

wheretheylearnedhowto“trapandskin

rabbits,stakepasturestoholdtheforest’s

hogsandmendthehand-drawnthreshing

sled”.Theselittlestorieswerenuggetsof

reassurancetomeasI raisedmychildren

onmyownandshowedthemhowto

skin,pluck,plant,forageandenjoythe

wildernessaroundthem.

Apartfroma batteredCordonBleubook

leftoverfrommydiplomain1979,I didn’t

haveanycookbookstorefertountilthelate

1990s– therehadn’tbeenmuchroomfor

themintherucksackofmyitinerantlifestyle

LETTER TO MY FOOD HERO

Ghillie Basan writes

to Elisabeth Luard