Goldfinches & Dandelions

Having driven over 200,000 miles through Europe spanning seven years exploring 20 countries, over 30 cities, countless languages, seven mountain ranges, and a plethora of markets and restaurants, I was struggling to find a way to quantify these experiences along with the knowledge so far gained. As I naturally built a repertoire of recipes and culinary photography from across the continent, the idea struck that all this could be neatly tied up in one subjective pan-European cookbook. Written by a twenty something year old for twenty something year olds. Personally, this surmises an incredibly intense and formative period of travel and movement that occurred over my early to mid-twenties, when Brexit, a pandemic, and many other geopolitical changes were shaping the countries I was living in and eating through. The moving sands made life and its priorities hard to negotiate. They gave rise to difficult questions only solved through experience and perhaps slightly overindulging in the continent's many great wines and spirits. However, one thing remained constant: the absolute adoration of our local foods and producers. The knowledge built has been invaluable in enriching life, and at this point, it seeps into all its aspects.