Psychogastronomy

A quiet, thoughtful companion for those who cook with a sense of place and presence.

This sensory-rich collection of short reflections explores what it means to cook intentionally — attuned to where you are, what’s in season, and how food connects to the land beneath your feet. Written by British chef-turned-writer Thom Eagle, these pieces are not recipes, but meditations: on ripeness and restraint, memory and appetite, hunger and home.

Eagle eats a nectarine on a hillside above a Sicilian town, breaks bread outside Tbilisi, and sifts through the catch at a Suffolk fish market. Through these glimpses, he captures a kind of culinary attention that is intimate, fleeting, and deeply grounded.

Each essay is brief—most no longer than a page, some just a paragraph—but the effect is cumulative and lingering. This is not a book for the hurried reader chasing takeaway tips, but for those who savor language, place, and the quiet rituals of a well-lived kitchen.

Paperback. Endsheets printed with black-and-white-photographs.