‘A Cook’s Year in a Welsh Farmhouse’

The local award-winning food-writer, journalist and broadcaster Elisabeth Luard will be the keynote speaker at a special evening organised by Chapters, the National Library of Wales’ patron scheme. Elisabeth will discuss her new book entitled ‘A Cook’s Year in a Welsh Farmhouse’ at the Drwm on Friday, 6 May at 7.30pm.

The book published by Bloomsbury is inspired by the Welsh landscape surrounding Elisabeth’s home, an eighteenth-century farmhouse near Tyn y Graig, Ystrad Meurig and her response to the changes she sees in her garden and the surrounding countryside throughout the seasons. The chapters are divided by month, each one with a special collection of seasonal recipes and reflections. It is the story of a year spent planting and picking in the garden, roaming the countryside with her grandchildren and introducing them to the pleasures of rural living.

Elisabeth's cooking is rooted in the culture of the Mediterranean where she once lived, as well as being inspired by traditional Welsh recipes. She believes strongly in the use of locally sourced meat for her dishes and rakes the countryside for ingredients like fruit for Hedgerow jelly, nettles for soup, elderflowers for cordial.

The new book is also an artistic collaboration between Elisabeth and the celebrated artist and photographer Clare Richardson who lives and works in Carmarthenshire. Each chapter contains full colour photography by Clare and watercolour illustrations by Elisabeth herself that perfectly capture the sense of life in the Welsh countryside.

For tickets for ‘‘A Cook’s Year in a Welsh Farmhouse’ contact the Library’s Shop on 01970 632548 or buy online

Further information:

Rhian Haf Evans
NLW Fundraising Executive: Events & Donors
01970 632 938
rhian.evans@llgc.org.uk