Fiona Sims is a well known author, so may already be familiar to some of our readers.
Fiona shares her time between her home in London, her second home on the Isle of Wight, and travelling around the world writing articles on food, wine and travel for various very famous and respectable publications. She describes herself as a British 'food, drink and travel writer and editor who skips the globe in pursuit of top chefs, pioneering food producers, hot hotels, legendary winemakers, brewers and distillers'.
Fortunately for us, Fiona also enjoys life at a much slower pace, not only spending much of her time on water, but also, we are told, cooking aboard. She finds the time to write books and has already written two books for boaters: first, 'The Boat Cookbook', a best seller now in its second edition, and 'The Boat Drinks Book'. Her latest book, 'A Year on the River' is described as the 'absolute guide to Growing, Sourcing, Foraging, Cooking, Preserving and Pickling', but it turns out to be a lot more than that.
A Year on the River
Another delightful book from Bloomsbury, once again with the over-sized cover making it so easy to save your place. It is a good size, not too big, and packed with good quality colour photographs. This means that you are not confronted with great long pages of text, but instead everything broken down into nice sized bites.
The various sections in the book are colour co-ordinated; thus green for spring, yellow for summer, orange for autumn and blue for winter. Within each of these sections are tips as to what is in season, the author's favourite foraging items, and a thorough guide to foraging. The recipes for seasonal food then follow - and perhaps I can be forgiven for thinking they would all be recipes including foraged foods. They are not, of course, but either way they include many mouth-watering ideas. I love the way the recipes are split into 'breakfast, quick and light, bigger plates and sweet treats'. And an added bonus, at the end of each section, you will find Tipple Time - a beautifully written guide as to what to drink, then some recipes for cocktails and mocktails, and even snacks to accompany a fine beer.
Apart from the sections devoted to the seasons, there is a long section on boating life. Fiona looks at the galley, and the essential kit you would need for a small cooking space where storage is at a premium. And she suggests a few items that it may well be worthwhile to store. She gives us the basics for foraging, and goes on to river fishing; she tells you how to make pickles and preserves, and how to make British drinks such as elder-flower cordial and fruit liqueurs.
Then Fiona mentions wineries and breweries that are well worth visiting, and to be found within reach of canals or rivers. She talks about safety, and canal and river rescue. She highlights books to read about British waterways, and boating TV shows. Then there are sections on sustainable boating, boat rental, great holiday trips on canals and rivers, and waterways heritage. Finally, Fiona writes about BBQ's and picnics. I can't actually think of anything that has been left out, unless readers want to know about the grittier side of boating. But that would hardly be appropriate here!
One final thing that I forgot to mention, is that Fiona also tends to slip in useful and curious bits of information: for instance the folk lore behind the lowly Hawthorn. Whether you are a live-aboard boater, spend a lot of time on your boat, or perhaps fancy a holiday on one, you will find plenty to interest you in this beautifully presented book. It is lovely to browse through, even before you turn to the recipes for delicious meals, treats and beverages.
