Audrey Gordon's Tuscan Summer

Join Audrey Gordon, voted three times Britain's sternest chef, as she travels to the heart of Italy and shares the recipes, produce and memories of her Tuscan summer.

Visit traditional farmhouses, local trattorias and sample the stunning range of local produce on offer as Audrey shares the sights, sounds and occasionally, smells, of regional Italy. Then sample these delights at home with the range of delicious and easy to make recipes that Audrey, inspired by Italian traditions, has created for the home cook.

This book is not directed at celebrity super chefs or haute cuisine high flyers dazzling diners in their Michelin starred restaurants. It's written for you, the ordinary cook, stuck at home with insufficient bench space and a set of chipped mixing bowls.

My fervent hope is that it will inspire you, give you the confidence to believe that you can be a wonderful cook or, at very least, an adequate one. This book is meant as a guide, not a set of strict instructions you may only deviate from at your peril! There's no need to slavishly follow my every measurement and step.

Does a violinist playing Beethoven not occasionally add a few notes? Or an aircraft pilot about to take off sometimes skip a pre-flight safety check or two? Of course! And so should you. I'm a no nonsense chef. If a recipe calls for squash and I think thinly sliced zucchini will work just as well (not to mention add a peppery crunch) then I'll just do it. That's what cooking should be about. Going with one's impulses and to hell with the consequences!

That said, I've had years of practice and I simply can't be held responsible for any inevitable disappointment that might arise from your attempts at improvisation. If you are a novice in the kitchen I'd strongly urge you to follow my recipes closely. And, no matter how experienced you might be, please pay careful attention to each instruction. You'd be amazed at the number of people who read ‘gently simmer' and then proceed to ‘simmer gently', or who think that there's no real difference between chopping tomatoes roughly and chopping them coarsely.

At the end of each chapter I've left a page or two for notes. If you think you've got something to add that hasn't already been covered perfectly well then feel free to defile the book. But I suggest you think twice before doing so. Finally, this book is not meant to be a monologue. I want you to imagine I'm there in the kitchen with you, helping, guiding, prodding and - only occasionally - wrapping your knuckles with the handle of an egg whisk.

XXX Audrey