Bournville by Jonathan Coe Recipe by Sam Balshaw – Hungry Woman Cooks
About the Author
Jonathon Coe was born in Worcester in 1961 and after school in Birmingham, he attended Cambridge before teaching at the University of Warwick where he completed his MA and OHD in English Literature.
A writer who is known for writing satire on political issues, first published when he was 26, he is also interested in music, played in the band The Peer Group in the 80s and tried to get a recording deal.
Married with two daughters, his books have won many such as the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.
Throughout his writing career, there been biographies, short prose and children’s stories. But his skills dint stop there, Johnathan has judged for the Booker Prize, the Venice film festival and the Edinburgh film festival.
Find Jonathon on Instagram here, FB here, Website here.
Johnathon Coe
Book
A story told through four generations of one family sees Mary grow old and her children have children of their own.
In and around Bournville, where ‘everything smells of chocolate, Mary and her family travel through seventy-five years of social change.
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth, the 1966 world cup final, the wedding of Princess Dianna, Brexit and Covid.
Mary has children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, she watches them and her beloved Bournville change with the times and ends up dying alone while those in government party.
A satirical politically themed book about a family moving forward and adjusting to life around them.
By Jonathon Coe
My Thoughts
Once I got into this book, and I thought the beginning was slow, I really liked it.
Never a fan of books that jump back and forward through time, I had to let that go in order to enjoy this book.
I liked the way the story sat on easily recognisable points in history in order to achieve its coherent line of thought throughout the story, and quite enjoyed the political aspect of the book. Never one to like being preached at, about political or religion, it was a nice change to have the story drive the politics rather than the other way around.
I give this book a 4 egg rating
$ Egg Rating from me
The Food
Chef
Sam Balshaw is the Hungry Woman Cooks.
Fabulous photo of Sam
Sam learnt to cook badly of the young age of 11, practicing on her mother who learnt who herself had never learnt to cook at all due mainly to economic circumstances-simply no food to cook.
They both learnt together by trial and error, mainly error and some shocking mistakes.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Sam decided to share her food and her style on Instagram and quickly gained a storing proactive community, which has just grown and grown.
With her infectious humour and cheeky stories, she has gone viral across the world many times with some of her followers travelling hundreds of miles to get the ingredients just to copy the food.
Sam is a self-taught cook who believes and lives the mantra that ‘everyday has to be delicious’
Find her on Instagram here , on FB here .
Recipe
Chicken with Crispy Skin
Find the Instagram link for the recipe here
Chicken with Crispy Skin
4 Skin on bone out chicken thighs
Sauce
50ml Dark Soy Sauce
50ml Mirin
2Tbs Honey
1 Tbs garlic/ginger paste
Zest and juice of a lime or lemon
Red and green chilli chopped
Sesame Seeds
Salt and white pepper for the skin
Tsp Baking powder for the skin
Enjoy
Method
Mix all the sauce ingredients together
Fry the thighs, skin side down for at least 15 minutes
Check that they are cooked
Pour the sauce into the pan and let it bubble and cooked through
