With the increasing demand from chefs and consumers on provenance and the accompanying desire to cultivate a kitchen garden, this book could well become a go-to for any chef who wishes to embed greater seasonal practice in their work and cooking. After toying around for a year post-graduation with a career as an artist, some words of wisdom from his mum encouraged Julius to pursue a career as a chef: ‘I’d been brought up in a house that loved food. The kitchen was the heart of our home. My parents were very cool about letting me have free reign in the kitchen. I couldn’t see how I could make a career as a sculptor work, and my mum said “you’ve always been into food. Just go and get a job at a restaurant and see what happens.”’ I decided to make a crab risotto - it was actually a first time dish so I was very excited to cook it for everyone. I initially wanted to make a squid risotto but couldn’t find any squid in the local fishmonger so crab was a worthy replacement. The local Devon crab around here is amazing. It's a simple dish with some of the last tomatoes I harvested, along with garlic, chilli and saffron, quite a wet, unctuous and rich risotto. Finished with tons of parsley and lemon zest at the end to brighten it up and give it a bit of zing. I thought it was delicious!" We heartily concur. The joy of cooking is invariably inherited from one's family, as any Italian will be at great pains to tell you, or in my case from one's family's inclination to butcher even the simplest of meals. It's a push-pull thing, with Julius's epicurean passion coming very much from the pull of his grandmother's esteemed culinary repertoire.

Book review: The Farm Table by Julius Roberts Book review: The Farm Table by Julius Roberts

winter: an elegant, fuss-free dinner of roast pumpkin, mozzarella, hazelnuts and sage, and a hearty sausage stew Start by slicing the skin of the sausages so you can remove the meat. Then roughly break into small meatball- size pieces. Finely slice the garlic, celery and onions. Get a large heavy-based pan hot, drizzle in the olive oil and, once warm, add the sausage. Fry for a few minutes to release the fat and get some colour on the meat. Then turn the heat right down and add the garlic, chilli flakes, rosemary, bay leaves and cinnamon. Don’t let the garlic take on any colour – this stage is about slowly infusing flavour into the oil, so you want a low heat and a gentle sizzle. Julius Roberts reveals the reality of managing your own smallholding in A Taste Of The Country. He cooks up a storm in the kitchen, cares for his animals, learns new skills and enjoys good times on land and sea with his family and friends. Here, he talks about living his best life… Sure enough, wherever you're standing on the farm you're rarely more than 10 metres away from a stout little goat looking for conversation or somewhere to playfully lodge his horns. 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.

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First-generation farmer and chef Julius Roberts shares honest tales of farming life and easy, thoughtful dishes to reconnect us to nature and the seasons. What’s it about: Julius’ first cookbook is a collection of 100 recipes that capture the essence of British rural life. Written over the course of a year on his smallholding in Dorset, The Farm Table offers a unique insight into farm life and features an array of thoughtful recipes that celebrate the changing seasons. Julius is a firm believer in the importance of seasonality and he showcases how to make the most of each season’s produce with simple, unfussy recipes that allow these hero ingredients to take centre stage. Think stewed plums with whipped yoghurt in autumn, poached quince with ginger cake in winter, asparagus and ricotta tart in spring and courgette frittata in the summertime. With breathtaking photography throughout, this is a cookbook that embodies the essence of home cooking at its finest.

Julius Roberts the chef turned farmer championing the Meet Julius Roberts the chef turned farmer championing the

He was inspired by River Cottage as a child, looking up to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his emphasis on field to plate. His time in restaurant kitchens (having previously studied sculpture in Brighton) nurtured his appreciation for seasonal ingredients. Julius pulls into the yard in a battered old red Defender not five minutes later with co-pilots Loki and Zephyr, two grey lurchers who look as if they have been preternaturally hewn from storm clouds, wind and earth. Dressed as you would imagine someone who runs a farm dresses (trousers splattered with mud; boots that look like they've been on a chain gang; sensibly warm layers on top), Julius - much like the lurchers - sports a fabulously wild head of hair - dark blonde curls tumbling from his crown like twisted ears of corn. He has a big, friendly smile on his face (which as I discover is a near permanent feature) and a bag of crab meat in his hands which is to form dinner later that evening, once we're done shooting the new winter collection on the poor lad. As Julius was a chef, there'll be plenty of cooking in A Taste Of The Country. (Image credit: Channel 5) More from Julius Roberts on A Taste Of The Country Food has always been a huge part of my family and how we socialise. My granny was such an incredible cook and I have such fond memories of sitting next to her on the aga, her passing me wooden spoons laden in all these different flavours for me to taste."Spring: Spicy Green Salad with Nuts and Pecorino; Barbequed Wild Quail with Garlic Butter and Tahini Sauce