The Farm Table: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

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Former Noble Rot chef turned social media and television personality, Julius Roberts' debut cookbook The Farm Table offers a valuable introduction into the world of seasonal cooking.

The Farm Table by Julius Roberts | Waterstones

As Julius was a chef, there'll be plenty of cooking in A Taste Of The Country. (Image credit: Channel 5) More from Julius Roberts on A Taste Of The Country Food has always been a huge part of my family and how we socialise. My granny was such an incredible cook and I have such fond memories of sitting next to her on the aga, her passing me wooden spoons laden in all these different flavours for me to taste." Also this week, Julius opens the polytunnel and shows us his tomato glut before sharing the secret to making unbelievably easy homemade ketchup. But he’s not stopping there on amazing things you wouldn’t ever have thought of trying to make! He gives us his unbelievable recipe for turning a humble belly of pork into the best home-cured bacon and then churns a batch of his own butter in no time at all. So, with ketchup, bacon and butter, what else is there to do than combine them in a perfect bacon and egg sandwich?Julius is not only making pizza, but he’s building the wood-fired oven as well, with the help of his friend and builder Adam and his son Rowan. Julius’ brothers Jocelyn and Lucian are also pitching in to help with construction.With the oven built, there’s the pizza to make, and Julius is sharing his go-to recipe for pillowy dough. He rustles up a delicious simple tomato sauce to spread on the base and garden pesto to drizzle over. Then, it’s fingers crossed as he fires up the oven and makes an epic duo of ‘nduja, honey and mozzarella pizza, and potato and taleggio pizza for his friends and brothers. The joy of cooking is invariably inherited from one's family, as any Italian will be at great pains to tell you, or in my case from one's family's inclination to butcher even the simplest of meals. It's a push-pull thing, with Julius's epicurean passion coming very much from the pull of his grandmother's esteemed culinary repertoire. What’s it about: Julius’ first cookbook is a collection of 100 recipes that capture the essence of British rural life. Written over the course of a year on his smallholding in Dorset, The Farm Table offers a unique insight into farm life and features an array of thoughtful recipes that celebrate the changing seasons. Julius is a firm believer in the importance of seasonality and he showcases how to make the most of each season’s produce with simple, unfussy recipes that allow these hero ingredients to take centre stage. Think stewed plums with whipped yoghurt in autumn, poached quince with ginger cake in winter, asparagus and ricotta tart in spring and courgette frittata in the summertime. With breathtaking photography throughout, this is a cookbook that embodies the essence of home cooking at its finest.

Julius Roberts Hearty Sausage Stew Recipe | The Farm Table Julius Roberts Hearty Sausage Stew Recipe | The Farm Table

Julius pulls into the yard in a battered old red Defender not five minutes later with co-pilots Loki and Zephyr, two grey lurchers who look as if they have been preternaturally hewn from storm clouds, wind and earth. Dressed as you would imagine someone who runs a farm dresses (trousers splattered with mud; boots that look like they've been on a chain gang; sensibly warm layers on top), Julius - much like the lurchers - sports a fabulously wild head of hair - dark blonde curls tumbling from his crown like twisted ears of corn. He has a big, friendly smile on his face (which as I discover is a near permanent feature) and a bag of crab meat in his hands which is to form dinner later that evening, once we're done shooting the new winter collection on the poor lad. Enjoy the comforts of the English countryside with 100 seasonal recipes to savor throughout the year and thoughtful essays about living farm-to-table—from British chef-turned-farmer Julius Roberts.winter: an elegant, fuss-free dinner of roast pumpkin, mozzarella, hazelnuts and sage, and a hearty sausage stew Which leads me nicely on to the meal which Julius cooked for the shoot crew, which was hugely appreciated, as I imagine that after a day of being told "no, don't stand like that," "smile!" "don't smile", "legs together please," you'd be inclined to put a couple of pizzas in the oven and be done with it. Of course, that was never going to happen. Seasonal eating and cooking are concepts which humankind has lost in the last 150 years or so since the advent of industrial farming practices I hope to inspire my generation to think about their food and how the decisions we make have a massive effect on an animal's life. I want them to be excited by nature and care about animal welfare. Sure enough, wherever you're standing on the farm you're rarely more than 10 metres away from a stout little goat looking for conversation or somewhere to playfully lodge his horns.

Julius Roberts - Penguin Books Australia Julius Roberts - Penguin Books Australia

With his goats! Julius tends to the animals. (Image credit: Channel 5) A Taste Of The Country episode guide After spending the best part of 24 hours with Julius on his farm, I can see why he made the shift. With a burgeoning social media-fuelled career that he can grow from his kitchen right here in Dorset, he has indeed nurtured an idyllic set-up, one that not only nourishes him but also inspires hundreds of thousands of others to eat and live more sustainably. Cook and food photographer Julius Roberts left a fast-paced life in London, as a chef at Noble Rot Wine Bar and Restaurant, in 2016 – to set up a smallholding in the Stour Valley with his loyal lurchers, Loki and Zephyr. With the increasing demand from chefs and consumers on provenance and the accompanying desire to cultivate a kitchen garden, this book could well become a go-to for any chef who wishes to embed greater seasonal practice in their work and cooking. Why this life? Well I’m trying to live as sustainably and thoughtfully as I can, very much in tune with nature, trying to live in harmony with the seasons, and making the farm biodiverse and an amazing habitat for all sorts of plants and creatures."I decided to make a crab risotto - it was actually a first time dish so I was very excited to cook it for everyone. I initially wanted to make a squid risotto but couldn’t find any squid in the local fishmonger so crab was a worthy replacement. The local Devon crab around here is amazing. It's a simple dish with some of the last tomatoes I harvested, along with garlic, chilli and saffron, quite a wet, unctuous and rich risotto. Finished with tons of parsley and lemon zest at the end to brighten it up and give it a bit of zing. I thought it was delicious!" We heartily concur. Seasonal eating and cooking are concepts which humankind has lost in the last 150 years or so since the advent of industrial farming practices; the expectation to enjoy strawberries in January or butternut squash in May has muddled chefs' and consumers' understanding of what is available when and the optimum time to consume produce.

Julius Roberts the chef turned farmer championing the Meet Julius Roberts the chef turned farmer championing the

Spring: Spicy Green Salad with Nuts and Pecorino; Barbequed Wild Quail with Garlic Butter and Tahini Sauce A Taste Of The Country is a six-parter so here's a rundown of each episode which we'll update as the series progresses...

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After toying around for a year post-graduation with a career as an artist, some words of wisdom from his mum encouraged Julius to pursue a career as a chef: ‘I’d been brought up in a house that loved food. The kitchen was the heart of our home. My parents were very cool about letting me have free reign in the kitchen. I couldn’t see how I could make a career as a sculptor work, and my mum said “you’ve always been into food. Just go and get a job at a restaurant and see what happens.”’ Professionally trained chef Julius Roberts left a busy and frantic London restaurant life to pursue his dream of living sustainably on a small farm in the English countryside. The Farm Table transports us to his farmstead, taking us through a calendar year with diary entries and images grounded in the natural world. We take joy in reading about new goats and sheep being born, learn to grow some vegetables, and forage for simple herbs and flowers, all while discovering Julius’s outstanding recipes. Great friendship and support deserve a special treat: Julius makes everyone the legendary Italian pudding tiramisu that he first ate as a child in Florence, which they eat as they relax in the hay meadow with the work done and the sun setting, washed down with chilled local beer.