It is not often that the author’s picture transcends the food photography in a new cookbook, but such is the case with Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros. Her portrait on the back cover is as enticing and exotic as the pink cloudberry sorbet on the front cover.

The book tells the story behind the face. Tessa Kiros was born in London to a Finnish mother and a Greek-Cypriot father. She grew up in South Africa before travelling through Asia and Europe and cooking in London, Sydney, Athens and Mexico. She then married an Italian and now lives in Tuscany.

In Falling Cloudberries, subtitled A World of Family Recipes, she tracks her life’s journey through recipes — from the fresh salmon, dill and potato soup of Finland to the oven-baked fish with tomato and parsley from Greece. There is Cypriot moussaka, South African barbecued ribs and, from Italy, pasta with sardines and wild fennel, and baked amaretti and Vin Santo plums with mascarpone cream.

It is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have seen, with evocative food photography that adds immeasurably to its charm. This is a book for anyone in love with food, cooking and the journeys on which it can lead us. The only possible downside is that you may still be leafing through it, sighing deeply with pleasure, instead of rushing around cooking dinner.

Ingredients
Serves 4

Prep: 40 min
Cook: 40 min

4 sweet red peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, flattened
1 small red onion, sliced
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
Sea salt and pepper
300g plain Greek-style yoghurt
40g pitted black olives, roughly chopped
1 tbsp finely grated lemon rind
Leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs, chopped

METHOD

Heat the grill to high. Cut the peppers in half lengthways and remove the seeds. Arrange on a foil-lined oven tray, skin-side up, and grill for about 30 minutes or until soft and swollen. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool for ten minutes, then peel off and discard the skin.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until it starts to bubble. Tear the pepper halves into chunks and add to the pan with salt and pepper. Add 750ml of water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Purée the soup, which should be fairly thick. Taste for seasoning and serve hot with a dollop of yoghurt and a scattering of chopped olives, lemon rind and rosemary.

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