CE is a lively companion, adventurous and hungry, as she takes us from the Caspian Sea to the Fergana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan. This is not a traditional cookbook and the recipes play second fiddle to her encounters with people and places. Food is nevertheless integral to her story: it is her route into the domestic sphere of those she meets, and recipes abound. Her last book, ‘Black Sea’, won every food award worth its salt.