He would talk about interrogating Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg Trial, and we were like, ‘oh granddad, shut up, stop with the stupid war shit.’ We were so un-interested, and I feel really wistful that we didn’t sit him down more.

My grandfather was a Soviet hack, but we didn’t have much respect for him at the time. How did you go about researching seven decades of family history? Her memoir Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking is a tale “of food and longing” over seven decades of the Soviet experience, taking in Lenin’s bloody grain requisitioning, Second World War starvation, Stalin’s table manners and Khrushchev’s kitchen debates. But in 1974, when she was still a little girl, her mother decided she’d had enough and packed up the family to move to America, which meant giving up their Russian citizenship for good. Balsamic vinegar ice cream (mmm nummy) served with homemade sardines was a little too avant-guard for my taste, and the seafood stew (which is amazing and stunning to present at table with all its happy open clams grinning up at you from inside the pot) tasted like a Spanish jambalaya, which just happens to be something I don't like very much.Anya Von Bremzen was brought up in a Moscow communal apartment where 18 families shared one kitchen. Really fantastic fava bean artichoke stew, saffron ice cream ( eight egg yolks-no joke), chorizo cooked in hard cider, salted cod and orange salad (soak the fish for three days!), strawberry fennel gazpacho. I think the author did an interesting job of combining nouveau Spanish cooking (famous new chefs with TV shows!) with some classic stuff (recipes for food that can be found at any old bar after a day of hiking in the mountains). In other words: I still need to master the Rosemary Apple Nut Tart recipe (it burnt but was still edible and almost even qualified as delicious). This cookbook club meeting revealed that The New Spanish Table has a wealth of scrumptious recipes but they are sometimes very complicated and the book doesn't necessarily get you through all the tough parts with great ease. In this way you find out whether or not you want the book, get an idea of which recipes are mind-blowing, extend your palette and your cooking ability, get together with friends, and have a very merry time.The greatest thing about the cookbook club is that warm, proud feeling as you finish your dish: I made that?

The idea is that several foodie friends get together and cook recipes all from the same cookbook. The first book we tested in our fledgling Cookbook Club.

Anya von bremzen books