Wild Kitchen: Nature-Loving Chefs at Home

Journalist Bingham, a former editor at Elle Decoration, satisfies in this compendium that reads like a cookbook but has the look and feel of a décor magazine. Recipes abound, but the focus is on the design of chefs’ home kitchens, which reflect a range of culinary aesthetics. All are inspired by nature and art, such as Guardian food columnist Palisa Anderson’s kitchen, which features shelving crafted from reclaimed wood; Australian chef Darren Robertson’s beach home, which features abundant natural materials; and Danish chef and stylist Mette Helbaek’s indoor “kitchen garden.” A recipe (in metric and imperial measures) and cooking tips accompany each chef-and-kitchen profile. Some tend toward the fanciful, among them shiso rice studded with umeboshi plums, elderflower fritters, and a shiitake dashi with scallops. Others may be hard to reproduce in the average home kitchen, as with Irish chef Cliodhna Prendergast’s pancake feast, which calls for foraged spruce tips as part of the homemade syrup recipe. On the tips front, Anderson’s technique of rinsing produce using the top rack of a dishwasher is delightfully fresh, fun, and inspired. This is a true kitchen voyeur’s delight. (Oct.)