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# A Collection of Recipes for Always This is a genuine book of sorts. Part memoir, part recipes. A collection for always. From Now. And from Then. - As you will see if you have read my other books - I haven't changed much. I still love lemons and roses. - Perhaps my tastes have evolved a little, s...

# A Collection of Recipes for Always This is a genuine book of sorts. Part memoir, part recipes. A collection for always. From Now. And from Then. - As you will see if you have read my other books - I haven't changed much. I still love lemons and roses. - Perhaps my tastes have evolved a little, swayed by new discoveries. Essentially the cravings that pull me are forever the same. Sour. Salty. Buckets of leafy greens. Small splashes of strong flavour. Colour and seasons - they are all still there, crisscrossed with snippets from my travels and our everyday shifting needs. - When I was young, I already knew that I wanted to travel, or be a trapeze artist (or a fashion designer and live in Paris). I dreamed of elephants in faraway jungles, swimming in clear jewel lakes at sunrise and collecting firewood with my grandfather; cherry pies in lavender fields, the colours of Mexico, sugar lemon tarts, collecting stories in forest rain, eating noodles on a boat on a warm night on a river; while enjoying chocolate and vanilla sundaes at my mother's checked table. - I am obsessed with collections. The kitchen - my favourite part of the house - is filled with tins, plates and cloths I have brought home from my travels, and with them, the stories. My treasured basket of spices that I fill and refill - I know exactly which side the tamarind is, and where each rumpled packet and intriguing scent comes from. (I don't think anyone else knows what's what in it.) In our garden outside is a collection of rose bushes that I sometimes like to gather some petals from to slip into a few of our dishes, and every year I replant the chilli seeds my friend in Pondicherry gave me and save the seeds again for next year. - I travel and collect things that I love. Memories, tastes, colours and stories. I bring them home and make the beautiful meals I had, so we can live them all over again. This is a collection of the recipes of my life. Some of my memories - and some from these days. From the sweet memories of my childhood in South Africa that have stayed with me, to the travels and wonderful journeys that have peppered my pathway and formed the lamp-posts of my life, to where I am today - living in the countryside in Italy with my family and four cats, finding a grounding balance in the everyday. Here it is. For me and for you. What I have been doing. Where I am at - nowadays - with some reminiscing. Tess xxx