Skip to product information
1 of 1

A Curious Absence of Chickens

A journal of life, food and recipes from Puglia - Shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Food Book Award
  • Author
    • Sophie Grigson
Format
Regular price £12.99
Regular price Sale price £12.99
'Sophie Grigson has written twenty odd excellent cookbooks, but I think this is the best of them. It is her first book for a decade and was obviously driven by a real love of her subjects, which are Puglia, people and food. It is witty, informative, fascinating and stuffed full of recipes you want to cook.' Prue Leith

'Puglia is a region I wanted to get to know intimately, to understand culture, life, history and geography, reflecting through the prism of the food that's put on the tables of locals and tourists, too. I'm reminded of my 20-year old self, scribbling in notebooks as I first travelled through Italy's south, only this time I'm back to stay.'

After her children grew up and left home, Sophie Grigson found herself living alone. About to turn 60, she took the decision to sell or give away most of her belongings, to pack up her car and to drive to Puglia on her own to start a new life. In a part of Italy where she didn't know anyone, having last visited the region 40 years ago, this narrative book of food writing, stories and recipes brings to life the region, its food and the local characters that she meets along the way.

This is a book about courage, hope, new horizons and, above all, delicious food.

'Vivid, humorous and unsentimental, Sophie's portrait of modern Puglia, still seeped in old ways, is a delicious treat' Xanthe Clay

'OMFG! This beautiful book is transporting me there. I can't put it down. And the lack of chickens...I never bloody noticed!' Matt Tebbutt
  • Published: Jun 09 2022
  • Pages: 320
  • 200 x 128mm
  • ISBN: 9781472278883

Not available for shipping to the following countries:

  • ASM
  • CAN
  • GUM
  • MNP
  • UMI
  • FSM
  • MHL
  • PRI
  • USA
  • VIR
View full details

Press Reviews

  • Xanthe Clay
    Vivid, humorous and unsentimental, Sophie's portrait of modern Puglia, still steeped in old ways, is a delicious treat.
  • Prue Leith
    Jane Grigson, the best cookery writer in my lifetime, would have been so proud of her daughter. Sophie Grigson has written twenty-odd excellent cookbooks, but I think this is the best of them. It is her first book for a decade and was obviously driven by a real love of her subjects, which are Puglia, people and food. It is witty, informative, fascinating and stuffed full of recipes you want to cook.
  • Matt Tebbutt
    OMFG! This beautiful book is transporting me there. I can't put it down. And the lack of chickens... I never bloody noticed!
  • The Times
    Part travelogue, part recipe book, A Curious Absence of Chickens recounts a lone foodie's peregrinations through southern Italy with humour and candour.
  • Daily Mail
    [A] delicious account of new friends and fantastico food that will leave you hungry for more.
  • Delicious Magazine
    Take a vicarious trip to southern Italy with seasoned cookery writer Sophie Grigson...She recounts her impressions of everything from the idiosyncrasies of her local market to the region's famous storied olive groves in this charming, sparingly illustrated read, bookended with traditional recipes (some with her slant). One to savour.