Welcome to City Cottage
This is now our fourth issue and we are really excited about how people have responded to our little efforts, which were born out of the need for a self sufficiency / gardening / cooking publication dedicated to people who live in the city, hence the term City Cottage!
Sometimes it is easy to see the need for growing your own food. People get scared when they see what is happening in the world and automatically think they should start growing. But other times the living is easy, the shops are full of cheap and good produce and we would be forgiven for thinking that it will always be like that!
Whatever your reason for growing and cooking your own food, the whole thing needs passion. That’s why there is a passionflower on the cover - I was amazed at the number of passionflower hedges in London on a recent visit.
Passion for growing and cooking is possibly the most important aspect of what we do, and is reflected in many cultures. The French have the idea of terroir, the combination of man’s effort, the soil, water and climate combine to make the best produce. Equally the Italians have La cochina povera, the simple kitchen creating food from the simplest ingredients, such as turnip tops, pasta, shallots and garlic with olive oil and a little salt.
What makes it so special? It is the cooks turnip tops, collected and cooked within minutes, the cook’s shallots and garlic, and in Italy, the cooks olive oil too!
Please do share us with your friends - anyone you think might be interested in what we are doing, and if you're on Facebook, please give us a mention.
Darren Wright
Diana Peacock
Paul Peacock
Rebecca Wright