“You can tell any story through food,” Caroline Eden on her new culinary travel book, ‘Cold Kitchen’

Caroline Eden (right) with Vijeta Kumar, at the book launch at Champaca Bookstore, Bengaluru

Writer and book critic Caroline Eden said a career in writing came naturally to her. “I did some PR and marketing for a guidebook company. They had published a guide for Tajikistan, and I did the PR for it. By the end of it, I thought I better go and see this country.” This sparked an interest in travel writing, and now she has seven books about travel, food and recipes. Her latest is called Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels, and chronicles her journey through Central Asia, Turkey, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, Russia, the Baltics and Poland. Each chapter is peppered with recipes from the regions. She visited Bengaluru last week to launch her book at Champaca Bookstore.

In conversation with Vijeta Kumar, a writer and professor, Caroline spoke about her travels in these countries. “You can tell any story through food. Food is a lens to talk about other things I am interested in. I write about the uncomfortable things surrounding food,” she said. Cold Kitchen starts in her kitchen in Edinburgh. She cooks recipes from her travels – soups, dumplings, pies – and recounts her experiences through the chapters.  The chapters are divided into four sections, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Each chapter, with titles such as Winter Melons, Russian Railway Pies, Carried Away by a Cloudberry, Clover Dumplings, delves into one region or anecdote.

At the launch she read from the book and remembered a few memorable ones. “I had to write about my Trans-Siberian train experience. It was a food-filled journey. Seven days on a train from Moscow to Vladivostok. People board with snacks, and a lot of vodka and pirozhki. These are hand pies that are simple to make. Yeasted dough with mushrooms and sauerkraut inside. It is very reassuring to have those.” She met all kinds of people on this journey, an ice hockey referee, a man who is a tap salesman, a young couple, and each had a story to share. We also learnt about Uzbekistan’s love for winter melons, and Armenia’s devotion to its apricots.

In her earlier book, Red Sands: Reportage And Recipes Through Central Asia, From Hinterland To Heartland she visited Kazakhstan, and wrote about the famine there. While her books have recipes, she does not want her books to fit into any boxes. “I don’t call my books cookbooks, I call them travelogues with recipes. I see it as a way to write about countries which Americans and Brits (which are my biggest markets) are not as familiar with, like countries in central Asia.”

Caroline grew up in the UK mostly eating frozen meals. Her first introduction to a more colourful food culture was through her Turkish neighbours. “My parents said, ‘listen to them, learn from them.’” And it was a backpacking trip to India where she had her first taste of culinary travel.

Her next book, coming out in April is part of her colour trilogy (the previous ones being Red Sands and Black Sea) is called Green Mountains. “It starts in southern Armenia and ends in northern Georgia. It is a walking book with recipes.”

Cold Kitchen is priced at ₹1,899 and is available online and in bookshops