Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels

by Caroline Eden

'With its union of practicality and magic, a kitchen is a portal offering extended range and providing unlikely paths out of the ordinary. Offering opportunities to cook, imagine and create ways back into other times, other lives and other territories. Central Asia, Turkey, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, Russia, the Baltics and Poland. Places that have eased into my marrow over the years shaping my life, writing and thinking. They are here, these lands I return to, in this kitchen.' With its alluring pantry, shelves of books and inquisitive dog, Caroline Eden finds comfort away from the road in her basement Edinburgh kitchen. Join her as she cooks recipes from her travels, reflects on past adventures and contemplates the kitchen's unique ability to tell human stories. This is a hauntingly honest, and at times heartbreaking, memoir with the smell, taste and preparation of food at its heart. From late night baking as a route back to Ukraine to capturing the beauty of Uzbek porcelain, and from the troublesome nature of food and art in Poland to the magic of cloudberries, Cold Kitchen celebrates the importance of curiosity and of feeling at home in the world.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel, Cooking, Cookbooks, Foodie

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2024

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darwin and cloudberries were the stars for me. Very interesting overall, makes one want to delve further into the different countries. Nice read with lots of atmosphere.

[Ruby Lyons ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars.

Ugh. Another accidental non-fiction book and I just didn't like this one.

I've been getting more into the "dish" podcast, and discussing all different types of food and dishes, so thought I'd enjoy this but...
it was just sooo boring and I hated the writing style too.

[Christine Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written combination of travel and food writing, with politics and history threaded throughout, and interspersed with recipes. The description of the magic of airports is spot on.

[Elizabete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just lovely. Eden who is a travel and cookbook writer takes a crack at combining the two in this memoir. The book is divided in four seasons through which we together with Eden visit places loved by her and read in tasty details musings about cooking, food, friendships and reflections about the places.

I could be biased because quite a few of the places Eden travels to are places I too have lived, eaten or loved in. From Istanbul to Riga, Krakow to Bishkek and Lviv, it was wonderful to return with the author. A warm read to cleanse the soul.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elements 4

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This pulled me out of my very horrible reading slump!! 💘

[Mark Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

feel like I should've loved it but the stories felt a little directionless. might re-evaluate once i try some of the recipes

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing Caroline's penchant for prose and poignant observation, I knew Cold Kitchen would be a treat. And from the first page it exceeded my expectations!

The core of the book is a basement kitchen in Edinburgh's New Town, a space lovingly curated into the heart of her home.

From here, Caroline reflects on her extensive travels through Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia.

Cold Kitchen is arranged in four parts, a homage to each season. With striking accuracy, Caroline evokes the shifting nature of Edinburgh and conjures the annual cycles of ritual and agriculture she's encountered in her travels.

Whether reading on the bus or in my own kitchen, I've been transfixed by her prose and stories.

(My bookseller review.)

[Emily Duchon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part travelogue, part memoir, part cookbook and foodie porn. I loved it and found it to be a perfect comfort meal.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels by Caroline Eden is a captivating blend of cookbook, memoir, and travelogue that invites readers into the rich tapestry of Eastern European and Central Asian cuisines. This hybrid work not only presents a collection of recipes but also weaves personal narratives and reflections from Eden's culinary adventures, primarily set against the backdrop of her cozy basement kitchen in Edinburgh.

Eden's writing is characterized by its warmth and thoughtfulness, making the book feel like a conversation with a friend rather than a traditional cookbook. Each recipe is accompanied by stories that highlight the cultural significance of the dishes, allowing readers to appreciate the connections between food and memory. This approach transforms cooking into an exploration of identity and heritage, making it more than just a series of instructions.

The recipes themselves are diverse, reflecting the various regions Eden has traveled to. From hearty stews to delicate pastries, each dish is thoughtfully curated to evoke the flavors and aromas of the places she has visited. Reviewers have noted that the recipes are accessible yet rich in flavor, encouraging home cooks to experiment with ingredients that may be new to them24.

A prominent theme in Cold Kitchen is the idea that food serves as a bridge between cultures. Eden emphasizes how cooking can tell human stories and foster connections, both with our own pasts and with others. This sentiment resonates throughout the book, making it not just a collection of recipes but a celebration of culinary heritage.

Overall, Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels stands out as a significant contribution to both culinary literature and travel writing. Its engaging narrative style, combined with practical recipes and evocative storytelling, makes it a delightful read for anyone interested in food, culture, and travel. Whether you are an experienced cook or a novice looking to explore new cuisines, this book offers inspiration and insight that transcends the kitchen.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up.

I love how evocative a particular food or meal can be. There are certain dishes or foods that can take you back to a particular point in your life, or remind you of a specific person, place, or time.

That concept is at the core of Cold Kitchen . Caroline Eden is a food, travel, and arts writer in the UK, who has written two food books chronicling her travel and culinary adventures. In this book, she recalls past trips and meals from the vantage point of her basement kitchen in Edinburgh.

“Sometimes what we choose to cook mirrors what our soul misses, and sometimes the food we eat is a reflection of past routes taken.”

Each chapter of the book represents a particular dish and a particular trip. In a chapter about Russian hand pies, she recalls a seven-day, 5,772-mile railway journey she took with her husband to Vladivostok, on the Pacific edge of Asia. At the end of each chapter is a recipe of the dish she discussed.

This is a very interesting book, in that less-familiar ingredients from Europe, Asia, and Africa are explored. There’s a springtime soup from Georgia (the country), an apple strudel from the Ukraine, and a watermelon and feta salad which takes inspiration from the winter melons of Uzbekistan.

If you’re well-traveled or have a travel bucket list that includes some of these countries, this book is for you. And if you’re an adventurous chef, this book is for you. It’s truly a fascinating read.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/getbookedwithlarry/.

Check out my best reads of 2024 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2024.html.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a melange of writing, about how the author sets up home in her Edinburgh flat, and makes the kitchen space (that is practically the entire below-street-level floor) a home for her and a TARDIS for her to travel to times and places some distance away. Each chapter, and we get one per month for the year this loosely covers, the focus dithers between the dish she's making and the place that inspired it. This is almost a Cold War Kitchen, therefore, for pretty much everywhere was once behind the Iron Curtain (with the exception of Turkey, and the actual Scottish hillwalking contents).

And with that in mind I really ought to have liked this more than I did. I can forgive the typical Proustian response food causes for her – although how she tastes everything so forensically while a smoker I'm not sure. I've covered much of the ground here, from Bishkek (alright not on the night of violence after a contentious election) to Armenia and Riga's market hangars, but I really didn't get the feel of going back, however much I loved the places myself.

And I certainly could have done without the dog being mentioned so much.

There still is good writing here – the Bishkek night is certainly engaging, and her reactions to Krakow are definitely worthwhile. There is some peculiarity, too – the line about Turkey and the South Caucasus being so alike, when they're clearly not, and the fondness for the ubiquitous plov. But the bigger picture remains that this fits between two stools, and the way it hangs on to both with one desperate buttock each is most awkward. We have some kind of food writing, an homage to ex-Soviet wonders with a recipe every chapter to help us taste along, and we have her exploring the old Bloc, if that is what we're here for, really quite ineffectually and really badly interrupted by the cooking.

It doesn't give me pleasure to be cold to the Cold Kitchen. But this isn't the full, juicy manti it could have been – it's the handle bit you don't even really have to eat.

[Sonia Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Caroline Eden's series of travel cookery books for some time as she manages to evoke a sense of place directly linked to the food of the region, town or village that she has visited.
Cold Kitchen is her personal musings on a year in her basement kitchen in Edinburgh, In this space we follow her through the seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn with memories of travel and food relevant to each of these seasons. The writing as always is impeccable with the stories of her travels drawing you in to Istanbul in Winter, the Trans- Siberian express, Baltic villages and of course Scotland. Each chapter revolves around particular travel moments, often a montage, which resolve into the perfect recipe that is captured in the authors Edinburgh kitchen.
The author has a beautiful way of describing a place, relating it to food, smells, tastes and conversation. Food and its sharing is the most ancient of ways to show trust, friendship and to immerse yourself in another culture - this is clear from the authors writing.
For me definitely cold kitchen but with warm memories and I would highly recommend this and the authors other works, Red Sand, Black Sea and soon to be published Green Mountains. I also have on my list to visit Istanbul in Winter - a place I have always wanted to explore but had never contemplated a winter visit prior to reading this book.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC, all views are my own.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and researched, this book is the best of many worlds: a travel narrative with insights into central Asian and eastern European cultures and history, a meditation on home and why we cook, lots of food appreciation and, much to my surprise, I actually want to make at least half of the 12 recipes included in the book!

I loved how the book alternated adventures with nesting and the memoir aspect of it worked well: it wasn't a confessional book, but I felt like I got to know the author through her travels and writing and cooking. This paragraph in the chapter about Ukraine (and strudel) encapsulates the beautiful balance of the book: "Why bother, you might ask, when you can buy a perfectly good strudel? Because baking is a series of alchemical collisions, which, hopefully, add up to a deliciously harmonious thing to eat. And those steps, and that belief, and the effort poured in? It is about as gratifyingly far from the sterile world of consumerism as it is possible to get. In short, it is a mindful practice, and a defense when faith has failed, and the deepest gloom descends."

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cold Kitchen was my entry to Caroline Eden’s writing (and to the word moreish). I am so happy to have discovered both and will be seeking more. This landed in my hands at exactly the right time! The recipes are closely related to her travels in Eastern Europe and Central Asia but they are beyond my execution. However, through her vivid descriptions I can imagine the experience of tasting them as she shares her experience visiting the countries. Of particular interest to me due to current events were the travels in Russia and Ukraine and I come away with better understanding thanks to Eden’s writing. Her visit to Latvia conjured complicated memories of my year of study of the Russian language with Professor Friedenberg. The much loved and ever present in the kitchen beagle, Darwin, brought memories to me of the much loved beagles in my life, Sammy and Cassie. I had no idea when I opened the book how personally significant it would be.

[Sophie Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe a better title for this book would have been ‘The Cold War Kitchen’, but maybe that’s what it’s alluding to anyway. I was quite surprised that all of the countries Caroline has visited for the purpose of this book were in the old Soviet Bloc (or adjacent to), I guess this would explain the many mentions of Russia’s war against Ukraine, only it felt a bit superficial, like it was done to ensure every reader understands her dislike towards Putin’s reign.

There were some factual problems in the Polish chapter. To some extent it felt like the author asked Chat GPT about a brief of the political landscape and issues revolving around Jews, issues you wouldn’t know well unless you were Polish or heavily into Polish history/politics. Were all other chapters misinformed as well?

Despite all that, I enjoyed the writing style and the book. Would love to read her other ones as long as they have more food, and less politics, inside :)

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully evocative and at times deeply moving memoir of year in the author's Edinburgh kitchen, where she shares her travel memories through food. Reminiscing on significant dishes she enjoyed in various travel destinations, she recreates them in her kitchen, while reflecting on and recounting the circumstances in which she first enjoyed them.
Her excellent prose is warm and exceedingly thoughtful, and she lucidly conjures the various backgrounds - people, politics, places - that contributed to her memories.
Lovely writing that moved me to tears once or twice, and moved me to the kitchen to cook a couple of times too.
Note - I "read" this on audio-book, which was allegedly narrated by Eden herself. The narration was stilted and disjointed, with some narrative pauses and pronunciations so peculiar that I regularly wondered if it was AI generated. It was quite annoying at times.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me of a pillow my grandmother has designed specifically for afternoon naps. It is filled with dried lavender, pine needles, and rosemary leaves, padded, and covered in a leaves and berries Morris print of gray and green.

I dipped into this book now and then through the eternal night of after Christmas to mid-February and it was just like my grandmother's pillow: a multi-sense transportation to Edinburgh and around central Asia and Eastern Europe. I could smell what Caroline Eden had smelled, taste what she tasted, her writing so evocative that I could see what she saw and felt a little of what she felt. I feel like I've napped on a pile of fragrant herbs - refreshed, senses ready, feeling open to the world.

Top notch travel writing, top notch food writing. A book I'll read again.

[Thomas Land · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars/
72%

A really stunningly written book, with a lot of self reflection and meanderings of a mind that spends a lot of time in the kitchen - a mindful and thoughtful space. With this, Eden brings us a travel book investigating the scent and soul of locations around Europe; with the food. The thing that fuels us is also such a defining feature about a group of people anywhere in the world, and Eden brings that to the forefront of her travels.

The 3 star is due to teh perhaps on-the-nose level of waxing lyrical and philosophical about specific aspects of the landscape and the quality of the ingredients which made me role my eyes more than once. However, that is personal preference.

It is a blend of travel and an examination of why food matters and how it can evoke memories and stories years later. It is a great book and one I recommend.

[Sylvie Vanhoozer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kitchen is a treasure room and a birhtplace. A rich hunting ground... the kitchen is a place where history, nature and culture collide. p.3

She well understood that joy - or paradise, even - [...] is hiding in the good meaning things that exist in the everyday: in the mint crushed between fingers, in the glint of an ice-cube, in a basket of warm bread and in the cracking of a walnut... in the bowl of a well-made soup, slowly cooked, ready to make life a touch more pleasing, survival a little easier. 88

The kitchen cannot exist without its past and, by inhabiting it now, I am experiencing a connection to those who came before me. They are part of the chemistry of the kitchen, its identity. 171

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel and cookery writer Caroline Eden takes a whole new approach in 'Cold Kitchen' by staying put in her Edinburgh basement kitchen and travelling in her mind as she recreates dishes that conjure up the far-flung places she has visited. It is a love-letter to home, as well as a testament to the power of food to spark memories. The book is structured around the seasons of the year, with around three chapters per season which carry the reader off to destinations as diverse as Uzbekistan, Istanbul, Riga, Tajikistan, Lviv and the highlands of Scotland. It is a book to dip into, ideally as you stand by the stove stirring a pot of stew, and to be transported by.

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cold Kitchen is a book to be savored (pun intended) as author Caroline Eden combines both narratives and recipes detailing her travels throughout Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

I loved the fact that Eden reminisces not only about her travels, but also about the variety of dishes that she savored and how she attempts to duplicate them in her cozy Edinburgh kitchen. The fact that she provides recipes is an added bonus.

I don't think you can pigeonhole this book into one specific genre -- to me, it's part memoir, cookbook, and travel journal all wrapped up together. A wonderful gem.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Bloomsbury Publishing for this electronic ARC of #ColdKitchen.

[Melissa Brown]

“Night cooking, when the kitchen offers a particular sort of shelter, carries a rare appeal. I don’t do it often, but when I do, it is baking that feels the most right. Main lights off, shoulders relaxed, hands doing the work.” […] “Sometimes, cooking belongs to the night. But night-time is not just for sweet midnight feasts and eerie melodies. It is a time for prayers, lullabies, insomnia, flickering neon signs, strange hotels, dragging hours, fraught vigils, and whirring movies of the mind. Overnight journeys, real or imagined. And storytelling. A time to summon up the past, to cross over into other lands.”

[Sarah Meehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I need to confess I really like Caroline Eden's mix of travel, current affairs and recipes so I went in biased. However.

This is a really atmospheric, emotive book. As I read it, I was there, in the stuffy carriage on the train in Russia, or seeing the leaves against the window listening to the coup in Bishkek or walking the streets of Lviv. I had the great joy of travelling in Central Asia 15 years ago and this book made that trip live again for me. It was a magical read.

A win for armchair travellers and cooks everywhere.

[Verity Halliday · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cold Kitchen is a food and travel memoir, showcasing the delicious foods of lots of places I’ve never been to and describing the author's adventures in those foreign lands contrasted with her own basement kitchen in Edinburgh.

It took me a long time to get through this book and I think that’s because I was entirely in the wrong headspace to enjoy it. I needed to be in rainy cold Britain, preferably in autumn or winter, whereas I was actually on the beach in Sicily. The vibes were wrong!

A recommended read if you’re feeling thoughtful and elegiac. Not so good on a sun lounger.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that I came across this book through a NY Times food article, although I can't be certain. I had never heard of the author before, but was so intrigued that I requested the book immediately from my library. I am SO glad I did. This is everything I enjoy in a book, all wrapped up in fantastic writing. There is travel, lots of food, atmosphere, history, and believe it or not, it even made me tear up. I am hoping to buy a copy for my collection, so I can revisit the delicious recipes, and I definitely plan to read the other books by this author as well.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

food is absolutely my love language and this book felt like such a wonderful sensory experience. Food is so so deeply connected with culture, history, and place, and Eden seamlessly blends the most decadent food descriptions with informative insights into her travels and the local history of the places she visits, as well as moments from her own kitchen, all written in gorgeous prose. I felt absolutely transported while reading, and I loved learning a little about cultures and cuisines I wasn't too familiar with before.

[Liz Canella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just for a passage in the chapter on Poland I gave this book an extra star. Even if you just read that section go to the break on page 148 and start reading the passage about the author’s visit to modern art gallery, MOCAK.

Overall this book was much more musings of the author, lyrical and elegiac, rather than focused on food. Yes there is a recipe at the end of each chapter, but most not ones I’d even consider making. Many contain ingredients hard or impossible to source in the US.

I had hoped for something more food centered—-just barking up the wrong tree

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming book written by a food journalist; she spends much of her time in her home kitchen in Edinburgh creating recipes from places she has visited while kept company by her dog Darwin (who, like two of our dogs, deals with epilepsy). She also discusses her travels to places such as Kazakhstan and Poland and her attempts to replicate recipes she has enjoyed. 'Loved this line: "A vital ingredient of cookery is hope" (p. 138). Really sweet...

[John_g · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially a travel book with some recipes added, plus references to history and language. The book resembles a collaboration between Paul Theroux and Martha Stewart. Synopsis could be: solo picnicking following wars.

The cookbook part covers exotic, unfamiliar food from central Asia and eastern Europe. But its treatment of food is too serious with little socializing or humor. She has occasional meal partners but otherwise seems lonely but has a rewarding life, able to travel and cook and reflect on memories. She has a humorless dedication to her mission as observer, recipe gatherer, cook. She feels "the sometimes - miserable fate of the solitary traveler." Partly her dour attitude fits her worries about Putin's invasion of Ukraine as well as grief on the Holocaust. She explains her past Jewish training and tells a tragic story of Vilhelms Ķuze of Latvia which humanizes her austerity a bit.

There's no real plot, at least chronologically. The chapters are not particularly linked. Each chapter climaxes with a recipe (which I skip). She is uninterested in chronological order, except within non-sequential chapters whose adventures are unrelated and often undated, complicating organizing my thoughts. The story feels thin, maybe because all the focus is on plants and not people, with the narrator as the only character, so it has little character conflict or drama.

Q - which meal would you eat? or make? I didn't find it useful, as I've no interest in cooking or eating from this menu, but some interest in visiting the countries.
Is she a good cook? amateur chef or pro? She smokes, drinks, eats butter.
No mention of health in these recipes.

Q: How is the "cycle of life ... evident : eggs , nuts , seeds , spines , bones"?
What geometry allows "two dark oak beams [to] bisect the ceiling? " Two lines divide a plane into more than 2 parts.
Emotional speculations: "food is so often deep - rooted in love." Some cooks at least, not the food. "a good café , one that has soul" again anthropomorphic and overdramatized like "noble - looking white asparagus"