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The Farm Table

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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.

“A heartwarming and uplifting book. The recipes are utterly gorgeous.”—Nigel Slater


“Julius is a true artist and his talents are an inspiration.”—Courteney Cox

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.

Broken into sections based on the season, The Farm Table encourages cooking with seasonality in mind through scrumptious recipes to inspire joy and confidence in the kitchen.

Recipes

Braised Pumpkin with Sage and Hazelnuts; Plum and Fig Leaf Jam
Chicory Tart Tartin with Thyme and Cheese; Slow Cooked Squid with Saffron and Chickpeas
Spicy Green Salad with Nuts and Pecorino; Barbequed Wild Quail with Garlic Butter and Tahini Sauce
Squash Blossom Ravioli; Fire Grilled Plums with Brandy, Labneh, and Mint

Combining honest tales from farming life, delicious home-cooked recipes, and stunning photography of the Dorset countryside and coast, The Farm Table encourages us to embrace the pace of a slower life, take inspiration and delight from nature, and always gather around the table to enjoy the journey.

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2023

84 people are currently reading
687 people want to read

About the author

Julius Roberts

7 books10 followers

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5 stars
183 (61%)
4 stars
87 (29%)
3 stars
24 (8%)
2 stars
2 (<1%)
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1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Lucia del Carmen.
18 reviews1 follower
August 9, 2024
Am I allowed to review cookbooks on here? I don’t know.. but I will do it anyways.

This is the first cookbook I’ve ever bought for myself and it was such a worthy purchase!! Roberts writes about his journey from the alienating restaurant scene to becoming a self-sufficient farmer. He emphasizes the importance of seasonal and local produce, simplicity, and knowing exactly where your food is sourced from (because it makes your meals more delicious but also minimizes their environmental impact). There are four chapters, following the four seasons which he introduces with beautiful imagery of his English countryside farm. I could flip through the book forever because the photographs are so dreamy and the food looks amazing. I will be trying all the recipes!!
Profile Image for Esther Hong.
433 reviews20 followers
March 27, 2025
Love the idea but only saved two recipes that are “doable” for me and some bits and bobs on seasoning and ingredient combos.
Profile Image for nika zzz.
97 reviews2 followers
Read
May 28, 2025
Brez besed, čudovita. Prebrano v slovenščini.
Profile Image for Jessica.
1,987 reviews40 followers
March 25, 2024
Julius Roberts was working in a London restaurant but was realizing that he didn't enjoy the restaurant hours/life. He had always been interested in the ingredients and the head chef's constant search for the best quality ingredients. So he quit his chef job and moved out to his family's home in Suffolk where there was more land and he could grow some vegetables and raise some animals. He started with 4 pigs then continued to add animals and gardens until he outgrew that space and needed to find a larger farm further out. What I liked the most about this book was his introductions to each section (the recipes are organized by season) where he talked about what was going on at the farm during that season. I also love how honest he was about how hard it is to raise animals and then slaughter them. There weren't tons of recipes I wanted to try personally, but I love that he organized them by season and there are lots of beautiful pictures of both the food and the farm.
Profile Image for Giovanna Jansen.
Author 1 book19 followers
May 26, 2023
4,5 ster
Prachtig en inspirerend boek! Met niet alleen lekkere, seizoensgebonden recepten, maar ook boeiende en inspirerende verhalen van Roberts als boer met liefde voor de natuur én dieren.
Profile Image for Ella Ball.
37 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2024
best secret santa gift ever (thanks freya <3 ) i’ve wanted this book since i saw it about a year ago in a little book ago in melbourne!! i fancy the pants off this man- something about grubbing about in the dirt and cooking up a good meal *swoon*…. and the recipes look so tasty and so seasonal and so so tasty! i cannot wait to actually get cooking! the lovely little anecdotes as-well! eep! this is so so lovely!
Profile Image for Blake Spradlin.
70 reviews
January 6, 2025
Lovely recipes and essays about eating seasonality and the beauty of the planet we live on. Will revisit this time and time again
Profile Image for Havers.
906 reviews21 followers
April 15, 2024
Wie wird ein Bestseller gemacht? Eine Frage, die ich mir insbesondere im Fall von Julius Roberts‘ „Vom Kochen und Leben auf dem Land“ gestellt habe, weckt der Untertitel „Homefarming-Kochbuch mit über 100 leckeren, saisonalen und naturnahen Rezepten und Geschichten über das Landleben“ doch Erwartungen, die der Autor meiner Meinung lediglich hinsichtlich der Geschichten über das romantische Landleben erfüllt. Stellt sich nun natürlich die Frage, warum dieses Lese-/Kochbuch so erfolgreich ist.

Dazu muss man sich vor Augen halten, wie dieser Bestseller gemacht wurde. Roberts‘ kochtechnische Qualifikation kann dafür ja wohl nicht verantwortlich sein, hat er doch weder eine Ausbildung als Koch noch sonderlich lange als Angelernter in der Küche des Londoner Restaurants durchgehalten. Meiner Meinung nach liegt das in erster Linie an der ausgezeichneten Arbeit (dafür auch die drei Sterne der Gesamtwertung) der Fotografin Elena Heatherwick, zumindest was Coverfoto und die idyllische Darstellung des Landlebens betrifft.

Nicht vergessen sollte man außerdem, dass der charmant lächelnde Julius Roberts vom Coverfoto extrem gut vernetzt und über die Maßen präsent in den sozialen Medien (TikTok, Instagram) ist. Die 847.000 Follower bei Instagram sprechen für sich. Und sowohl in Interviews als auch in seiner Kochshow „Taste of the Country – Sommer auf dem Land“ präsentiert er sich sympathisch und gibt genau die Antworten und Statements, die die Leser und Zuschauer hören wollen und erwarten.

Die Rezepte an sich haben mit Landküche, speziell mit der, die ich aus England kenne, wenig bis nichts gemeinsam. Das fängt schon bei den Zutaten an: Sardellen und Chilischoten in gefühlt jedem zweiten Rezept, französischer Comté anstelle englischen Cheddars auf der Quiche (?), italienische Rohwürste statt Bangers im Wursteintopf. Pastinaken, Möhren etc. Mangelware. Meiner Meinung nach sind die vorgestellten Gerichte eher eine wilde Mischung aus verschiedenen Länderküchen, überwiegend Italien und Frankreich, die in englischen, bäuerlichen Haushalten auf dem Land so nicht zubereitet werden. Und das schon mangels der Zutaten, die der schmal sortierte Dorfladen üblicherweise nicht im Angebot hat. Des Weiteren ist mir auch absolut unverständlich, warum ein Kochbuch, das mit vegetarischen Rezepten wirbt, dermaßen fleischlastig sein muss.

Für mich ist das Buch die Mogelpackung eines Aussteigers mit monetärer Sicherheit im Hintergrund, der seine Nische gefunden hat. Mit der bäuerlichen Realität, auch der in Dorset/England, hat es allerdings überhaupt nichts zu tun. In erster Linie ist es ein Lesebuch für Stadtmenschen, die von einem Idyll auf dem Land fernab der Städte träumen.
Profile Image for Verena.
383 reviews
March 11, 2024
Julius Roberts war Koch in einem schicken Londoner Restaurant, aber nicht richtig glücklich damit. Die Lieferant:innen, die das Lokal mit regionalen Lebensmitteln versorgten, inspirierten ihn dazu, aufs Land zu ziehen. Zuerst legte er sich Schweine zu, dann einen ganzen Hof. Seine Eltern zogen direkt mit aufs Land. Zuvor hatte er nichts mit Landwirtschaft zu tun, aber eben mit Lebensmitteln, v.a. solche von hoher Qualität.
Und darum geht es ihm. Es sind auf den ersten Anschein simple Rezepte, bodenständig. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf den natürlichen Aromen der Lebensmittel – und diese können sich dann am besten entfalten, wenn sie so frisch wie möglich sind und so wenig Strecke wie nötig zurückgelegt haben. Saisonalität & Regionalität, darum geht es. Beim Fleischkonsum geht es Roberts um Qualität statt Quantität. Für vegetarisch und vegan lebende Menschen ist es schwer, das zu akzeptieren, das wurde auch in der Leserunde deutlich. Aber natürlich hat er Recht, dass es einfach ist, Menschen, die grundsätzlich Fleisch essen wollen, davon zu überzeugen, weniger in besserer Qualität zu essen, statt ständig viel billiges Zeug aus Massenproduktion. Ich selbst werde von den Fleischgerichten nichts nachkochen, aber es sind so viele tolle vegetarische Rezepte enthalten, dass ich voll auf meine Kosten kommen werde, da bin ich mir sicher. V.a. im Frühling und Herbst – das Buch ist in Jahreszeiten eingeteilt – habe ich mir ganz viele Rezepte markiert, die ich nachkochen möchte. Bärlauch, Spargel, Tomaten, Zucchini, frische Kräuter, ich freue mich schon sehr auf diese Zeit!
„The Farm Table“, wie das Buch im Original heißt, beginnt jede Jahreszeit mit einem kurzen Text, der Einblick in Julius Roberts‘ Leben und seine Arbeit auf dem Land gibt. Wunderbar atmosphärische Fotos des traumhaften Hofes und tolle Bilder der Gerichte runden alles ab.
Natürlich darf man nicht vergessen, dass Julius mittlerweile bekannt ist, viele Follower auf Instagram und im britischen Fernsehen eine eigene Show; jetzt das Kochbuch. Dadurch kann er für sich auch das leicht romantisierte Bild vom Landleben und vor allem der Hofarbeit aufrechterhalten, denn ganz abhängig ist zumindest sein Lebensunterhalt davon sicher nicht.
Ein kleiner Sicherheitshinweis darf nicht fehlen: wenn man erstmal anfängt, seine Rezepte durchzublättern oder die Reels auf Instagram durchzusehen, bleibt man min. ½ Stunde hängen, hat ganz viel Hunger und will einiges nachkochen. So ging es mir zumindest.
Profile Image for Kerry Croucier.
1,037 reviews13 followers
September 13, 2024
How many of us have dreamed of chucking everything, finding a place in the middle of nowhere, and starting a farm? Just me? Well, maybe not. Julius Roberts walked away from his life as a chef in London and started a small farm, with an eye toward sustainability. In his cookbook, THE FARM TABLE, Roberts details his journey with gorgeous photos and stories of his triumphs and lessons learned. Interspersed with these stories are recipes, by suggested season, to share with the reader things he loves with hopes that it will guide them toward more flavorful foods.
There is so much to talk about here, I took so many notes, but the things that stand out to me are Roberts’s assertion that “cooking should be playful, instinctive, and freeing!” He presents what he feels is “simple home cooking, made from love not only for people, but the land it comes from.” Seasonality is key in his recipes, as is his encouragement to play with the ingredients and make the dishes your own. For Roberts, eating produce that is in season means it’s at its prime for flavor, only needing a little seasoning to bring out the best flavor.
I went through this cookbook slowly (getting comments from my family as they watched me carry it from place to place, wondering why I hadn’t finished). It is a very British cookbook, which for some may make them pause, but there are many recipes that will fit any palate and have familiar ingredients, such as the very delicious Pasta Diavola with Burrata and Basil which screams Spring, the Nectarine, Mozzarella, and Basil for a simple Summer dish. There are also multiple zucchini recipes for Summer, and hearty fare for Fall and Winter months.
If you can’t leave it all behind, THE FARM TABLE is the next best thing.
Thank you to Ten Speed Press for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own and freely given.
Profile Image for R.C..
219 reviews
June 13, 2024
Beautiful photography, evocative prose, and delicious recipes all come together in this superbly crafted celebration of the English countryside. It's clear from the start just how much Roberts loves the rural side of his homeland, and the images he grants us through both photos and text are simple yet profound. This is most definitely a book for anyone who loves either the cuisine or countryside of Britain.

You'll see a subtracted star here, however, and that's due to Roberts' views on meat consumption and animal welfare. He devotes no small amount of space in the beginning essay of the book to discussing the emotional struggles he grapples with annually as he brings his animals to the slaughter. He gives them names; he helps them give birth; he raises their young; and he mourns when they pass away from injury or illness. So when it's time for them to make their final journey onto someone's plate, it makes sense that he's grieving. The question must be begged, then: why send them to death at all? That's not a question he addresses, instead treating the whole issue of animal death as an unavoidable emotional toll on the caring farmer. Now, I would much rather a farmer care deeply for their flock, and grieve when they're put to death, than not; but I would rather even more that they didn't put to death any animals for consumption whatsoever.

Roberts states that "it is a great privilege to know ... the moral cost of death and what that really means." I believe that he is indeed aware of the cost, and feels it deeply. I'm not sure, however, that he realizes that (unless there's a medical diet restriction) eating meat is a choice, and not an inevitability.
7 reviews
Read
January 11, 2025
browsing the cookbook feels like visiting a farm, mud squelching underfoot, and driving down country roads while watching out for sheep. It brings back memories from visiting the UK! the prose is also easy to read.

Notes to self
tried
- easy chicken traybake, p. 220; very doable and fragrant, good for potlucks. I love aleppo peppers and haven't had them outside of the western borders of east Asia
- potato / cabbage / bacon soup -- I saw this on instagram and wanted to try out my new dutch oven. It was ok; I don't usually eat smoked meat. Center-cut bacon in the US is more similar to British back bacon

want to try
- elderflower panna cotta with roasted strawberries + black pepper, p. 165
- pork belly braised in cider, p. 80
- ginger cake, quince + creme fraiche -- was excited to find quince at my local Asian market and Whole Foods in Sept / Oct.

Other pluses
- photos of food and the farm (haired pigs!)

Profile Image for Reading Fool.
1,114 reviews
February 15, 2024
This cookbook was so interesting to read because the author's story/history is so fascinating. Julius Roberts became famous through his TikTok and Instagram accounts as he documented his journey to live self-sufficiently with nature after he moved from his urban existence to a rural life. The book is organized into four sections, one for each season of the year. The photographs are gorgeous; some recipes are simpler than others though all are tempting. I have tried one recipe thus far - the Hearty Sausage Stew - during a recent snowy weekend. It was perfect comfort food that was enjoyed by the entire family. This book will be appreciated by anyone who appreciates farm-to-table cooking.
Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Kate.
672 reviews37 followers
Read
July 29, 2024
This type of cookbook is not for me. It’s mostly beautiful photographs of baby goats and countryside and non-fiction about cooking.

It’s the type of recipes I imagine very fancy people make or celebrities with chefs dine on.

The few recipes I tried were the easiest in the book and with the least amount of ingredients. They were tasty but mostly pasta dishes. I wasn’t interested in any of the desserts even though those are typically my favorite.

Profile Image for Tala Parker.
213 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2025
The perfect cookbook for me; engaging and accessible writing, beautiful photos and design, and approachable recipes that encourage adaptation. And it all centers around eating locally and seasonally(!) — I flagged numerous of Robert’s recipes throughout the book, and even those that I’m less keen to make myself gave me flavor and technique inspiration. Will be returning to again and again! (Ps. The recipes I’ve tried so far have been big successes)
3 reviews
September 6, 2024
I own lots of cookbooks and this is my new favorite. Recipes are easy and work as quick meals or for entertaining. The Shepherds Pie as an example is easy but somehow so much better than any other recipe I’ve used before. You’ll want to make everything and read and re-read. Julius has a great Instagram page too for watching him whip together his yummy recipes in his own kitchen and garden hut.
Profile Image for Sarah.
72 reviews1 follower
September 17, 2024
An absolute delight to read full of gorgeous pictures and cozy lasting recipes.
The focus on local, homegrown, and seasonal food that in turn becomes wholesome dishes was a joy to read. I will definitely be returning to the recipes again and again.
Profile Image for Andrea.
870 reviews9 followers
November 14, 2024
After seeing his recommendation for this cookbook by Stanley Tucci recently, I borrowed it from the library. Unfortunately its long ingredients list and text made it uninviting to me. It will not be a cookbook to add to my collection.
Profile Image for Ann.
330 reviews5 followers
December 8, 2024
There were only 2 or 3 recipes I'd make from this cookbook
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews

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