Diacono writing new book, live on Substack

A book written in instalments over a year, penned in real time and shared live.

Mark Diacono

Mark Diacono knows how to write a good book. He’s the author of an impressive 14 award winning books, including HERB/a cook’s companionSOURA Year at Otter Farm (winner Andre Simon Food Book of the Year), A Taste of the Unexpected (winner Guild of Food Writers’ Food Book of the Year) and a handful of books for River Cottage.

Opting for this innovative and more liberal approach to his new book, he says “The thrill of there being the shortest of intervals between the cooking, harvesting, observing and the communication of it – us interacting with it – has totally set me alight”.

Just as all of his previous oeuvres, he promises that this will be a beautiful book. Written ‘live’ and photographed throughout the year, with each chapter building the picture of an abundant year.

The new book, entitled ‘Abundance: A Year of Stories and Recipes from a Gardening Cook‘ follows Diacono’s magic formula of “one foot in the kitchen and one in the garden, with delicious punchlines throughout”.

Abundance will include 100+ seasonally adaptable recipes that embellish the best of what the season offers both gardener and shopper. “The sense of abundance relates not just to what the garden and shops offer, but also to the sense of an abundance of pleasure, of rootedness, of the elemental satisfaction that comes with eating simple food from the landscape in which you live, prepared with your own hands”, explains Diacono.

To join the fun, you’ll need to be a paid subscriber (£40/yr) to Diacono’s Substack, although the good man does explain that some of the new book will be available on the free side of the paywall.