October 2018: There is the most amazing design team working on my new book. Kristin Perers taking gorgeous, painterly photographs, Becks Wilkinson making food look like art, and Tabitha Hawkins weaving her styling magic. The whole house is filled with beautiful fabrics, fresh flower petals and the scent of lime leaves and lemongrass.

October 2018: At my cooking workshop this month we explored food from along the silk road. Take yourself to Xi’an in the heart of China with my recipe for biang biang noodles.

April 2018: I had the great honour and delight of been part of the judging panel for The Great Taste Awards. We have been blind tasting amazing products from pies and jams to sorbets and curry sauces. There were many highlights, but I am particularly pleased that these stand out sansho peppercorns from Vinegar Shed were awarded the rare accolade of three stars. If you haven’t tried sansho, you must. They provide an intriguing numbing of the tongue quality similar to Sichuan peppercorns, but paired with a fragrance and citrusy freshness.

March 2018: Join me for a day of discovery, exploring the exotic flavours found in the cities along the Silk Roads, the ancient trading routes connecting East and West. We will be making:

Hot and tingly oxtail with hand-torn noodles from Xian

Almond milk chicken with saffron and dates from Venice

Green-herbed plov with chickpeas from Samarkand

Spiced lamb Turkish flatbreads from Istanbul, with Aryan to drink

February 2018: It's one of the most exciting places on earth. When European capitals are shivering in the cold, Hong Kong is at its vibrant best celebrating Chinese New Year. Read my piece in delicious. magazine.

July 2017: A behind-the-scenes peek at the delicious. magazine Produce Awards where I chaired a table of expert judges. We feasted on the best of British artisan food from spelt sourdough to elderflower yoghurt ice cream. It turns out that rapeseed oil encourages robust debate amongst the foodie elite.

June 2017: I am as happy as a clam that Samarkand won the 'Food and Travel' award at The Guild of Food Writers Awards 2017.

May 2017: There is a Central Asian takeover at Dock Kitchen on 6th June. I’m excited to share a banquet with you. Of course plov will star, alongside a tasting menu of:

Tomatoes, dill & purple basil, Koryo spicy carrots, Grated courgettes with pine nuts & poppy seeds, Spicy meat dolma, Tarragon flatbreads

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Yoghurt, cucumber & rose petal soup

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Beef shashlik with tahini & pistachio sauce, Georgian quail with walnut sauce, Green herbed plov with chickpeas, Sweet & sour braised carrots

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Roasted peaches with marzipan & rose syrup, Pomegranate & vodka sorbet

Come, join us, feast!

May 2017: Samarkand has been short-listed for The Guild of Food Writers Food and Travel award.

April 2017: Itamar Srulovich tells me he found my Uighur spice mix so compelling, he put it on the Honey & Smoke menu with barbecued lamb. You have to try this recipe, it brings a flavour combination like no other - warming, numbing, fragrant:

2 tbsp cumin seeds, 1.5 tbsp black peppercorns, 1.5 tsp Sichuan pepper, 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon, seeds of 3 green cardamom, 2 cloves, 2 star anise. Roast the spices separately in a dry pan until fragrant. Grind together in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar.

March 2017: Piglet 2017 has been an amazing experience! It is THE cookbook award to my mind. The coolest, the harshest, the best. Today Samarkand trotted out of the tournament in the semi-finals in a review by Marlon James. That man knows awards, he won the Booker after all, and now he knows Central Asian food too! He said of my recipe for spicy meatballs with adjika “You will wonder, as I did, why everybody isn’t sprinkling every single meal with adjika, a spicy pepper paste from Abkhazia.” Having declared Samarkand a “wonderful book”, Caroline and I can be happy with that.

February 2017: There was a Samarkand supper club at Honey & Co. Itamar Srulovich made gorgeous plov studded with quince, barberries and pomegranate seeds. Caroline Eden and I reminisced on our travels. Patricia Niven took photographs. Yotam Ottolenghi saved the day with missing Sichuan pepper. Everyone feasting on my take on Central Asian food. What a happy evening.

February 2017: Honoured to stand in this crowd! Samarkand joins a joyfully diverse collection of books chosen by Food52 as ‘2016’s most impressive cookbooks’. The books will face off in a tournament of review battles judged by food luminaries. Let the battle commence!

February 2017: How delightful to be picked as an Instagram account to follow by food editor Sarah Akhurst. She says “Amazing food writer, beautiful Instagram account showing her recipes, travels and family.” (You can follow me here)

February 2017: On Sunday 5 February I will be speaking at The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival with Elisabeth Luard, Caroline Eden and John Wright. We will be discussing culinary adventures.

January 2017: Desert island cookbooks surely a much harder choice than desert island discs? 1000 Cookbooks asked me for my top 10. See my picks.

December 2016: Felicity Cloake has picked our book as one of the Guardian food books of 2016. What a way to end the year!

November 2016: Samarkand has launched in The Netherlands with a brand new cover. Watch out for the German and Russian editions coming soon.

August 2016: The 2016 Abergavenny Food Festival took place in glorious sunshine. I joined a lineup of passionate ranters for Rude Health (don’t subject your babies to bland mush, excite their taste buds from a young age!). I also gave a cooking demonstration where we took on pilaf cooked under a Shah’s crown.

July 2016: I welcomed Vice writer Johanna Derry to my kitchen in London where we talked about the food culture of Central Asia and ate a whole platter of plov between two.

June 2016: The city of Samarkand is on the storied Silk Road, but off the beaten path for many tourists. We make the case for the ancient Uzbek city's food and culture on the Splendid Table podcast with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Listen now.

June 2016: I’ve picked eight great places to eat and drink in Uzbekistan for Olive magazine. Get ready for crisp pastry triangles filled with lamb and fresh doughnuts with homemade apricot compote.

June 2016: Read my interview with Victoria Stewart here.

June 2016: The press coverage for our book has been overwhelming. Amongst others we have been highlighted and reviewed in The Telegraph, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, The Guardian, Waitrose Weekend, Food52, Delicious, Olive, The Metro, The Week, Vegetarian Living, House & Garden.

Read some of the quotes here.

June 2016: Co-authors, flushed with pride at our book launch party. Daunt Books is truly the ultimate of travel bookshops and a perfect setting for a book that is as much travelogue as cookbook.

June 2016: Years in the making, it’s been a thrilling journey with an amazing team. Samarkand is finally on sale! The first copies are in bookshops now or find online.

May 2016: Join me for talks at the Asia House Literature Festival and Stanfords in London next month.