Allegra's Colour Cookbook by Allegra McEvedy
Why are most summer berries red, and what does that redness do to you? Why is pink grapefruit more fun than yellow, and blood oranges more appealing than their common cousin? What is our problem with blue food? Allegra explores the significance of the colour of food we eat and, interestingly, how it is connected to the season we eat it in - the oranges, golds and browns of autumnal food, the forest greens of winter, the revitalising yellows and new greens of spring and the vibrant reds and pinks of summer. She found that to ignore this natural system of colour and especially season just doesn't make sense - a strawberry eaten mid-winter will cost twice the price and contain less than 10 per cent of the iron, vitamin C and antioxidants than in summer, let alone the sacrifice you are making on taste. Allegra's Colour Cookbook contains a chapter for each season, with its own palette of colours, and recipes that use ingredients that are at the top of their game. Enjoy yellow courgettes, broad bean and Fresh pea tartlets in spring or duck and baked plums with pumpkin puree in autumn. At the end of each chapter there's a run-down on what it is exactly that each season's produce can do for you, and why adding it to your diet will make you, and those you cook for, feel bouncier and bonnier than before.