Books published by Consilience Media

The author was born and brought up in Cairo, Egypt. She was expelled with her family in 1956 as a result of the Suez crisis and came to England as a refugee. Her maternal grandparents were born and lived in Aleppo, which they subsequently left for economic reasons, settling in Egypt in 1910. Her paternal ancestors originated from Toledo and were expelled from Spain in 1492 during the time of the Inquisition. They eventually settled in Constantinople, but the gradual collapse of the Ottoman Empire left them struggling financially and her grandparents chose to leave and seek their fortune in Egypt. The main purpose of writing this book was to transmit to her family a legacy she is proud of and also to share this with a wider audience. Her heritage is a unique blend of three different cultures and styles of cooking, which she has tried to amalgamate in her book. The food of Aleppo is known for its delicacy of seasoning and elaborateness and many dishes have a sweet-and-sour flavour, provided by the balance of citrus fruits, pomegranates, tamarind and dried fruits. Judeo Spanish cooking is relatively simple, with the use mainly of olive oil, lemon juice and very few spices. In addition, the author grew up in Egypt, where cooking and eating were an integral part of everyday life and she still remembers the scents which filled the kitchen, such as the smell of freshly roasted spices, the aroma of orange blossom water and rose petal jam cooking slowly on the stove. There are 260 recipes in the book, covering a wide range, from fish, meat and poultry, vegetarian dishes, soups and salads to cakes, sweet and savoury pastries, Passover baking and authentic Egyptian dishes. Included are many Sephardi favourites, such as borekas, borekitas, pastelles, boyos, bulemas, apio con avas, almodrote de berendjena, albondigas de pishkado, avgolemono soup, prasifutchi, mina de prasa, travados and sansaticos. There are also many Judeo Syrian dishes, such as sweet and tart chicken with apricots, meatballs in apricot sauce, aubergines stuffed with quince, stuffed caramelised onions, kibbeh bil sanieh and okra with prunes and apricots. The Egyptian dishes are what the author remembers her family cooking back in Cairo, from megadarah, molokhehia, lahmah b'ageen, mahshi, koshari, samak b'fereek, filo triangles, roz we hamud, ta'ameyeh, sambusek and dukka, to the classics baklava, konafa, basbousa, Om Ali, Aish ell saraya, menenas and ghorayebah.

Let''s be honest, children are gits. Total, complete, utter little gits. I was no exception, and this book is about that, really - the stuff I did as a child and the occasional bit of self-justification, though we all know that there was no real reason for most of it.This book outlines a bunch of honest stories of times my parents wanted to rip their hair out, and my reflections looking back on it now as a proper grown-up (ish).

This is the story of one woman's life in nursing, from beginning her career shortly after the NHS was formed to retiring in 2000 as director of quality and patient services. From Evelyn's training at the Western General in Edinburgh to eventually setting up a new hospital including hiring the staff, as well as being a mother to three children.Over the five decades, so many medical and technological changes occurred that it's at times a marvel to read about how procedures used to be carried out. Only fifty years ago, penicillin was the only antibiotic and vaginal smears would have been a very different experience to now.From reorganization to further reorganization, we also read about the changes to the NHS with private care encroaching and profit becoming an increasing priority. Changes to nurses and clothing and attitudes are also covered with increasing humour and much self-awareness.They say there is a book in everyone. This is Evelyn's story