Bread and Butter: Canongate Books

What do a lime pickle sandwich eaten in a 1980s school canteen in London, a lasagne sent in the post and a mango stone chased by a dog have in common? They are all dishes that have made Chitra Ramaswamy who she is. In this lyrical exploration of the joys of breaking bread, one of Britain's most original writers and brilliant restaurant critics traces twelve meals that have shaped her.

Bread and Butter takes us from a family takeaway in a McDonald's drive-through car park to a Michelin-starred tasting menu eaten alone. From the historic Bangalore tiffin room where a daughter glimpses her mother's younger self over masala dosas, to a Glasgow cafe where a chance encounter over liquorice sticks sets in motion the everyday miracle of a child's birth.

Through her desert island dishes Ramaswamy celebrates the extraordinary power of the table: to collapse time, repair what is broken, and deliver, in a single bite, an appetite for life itself.