Forget Paris — London is now the place to go for great grub, according to a Barnet author. REBECCA LOWE speaks to food writer Jenny Linford about the cultural and culinary delights of the capital

MOST people judge a city on its sights and sounds. Jenny Linford judges it on its tastes.

That’s why she came up with The London Cookbook. Much more than a list of tasty dishes, the book provides insight into the dazzling diversity of London life through recipes, reminiscences, history and photography.

For this Barnet author, food is more than a way to ward off hunger pangs. It is an expression of identity and a reflection of the heart, soul and spirit of a city.

“Food links you to your family, gives you a sense of place, a sense of history,” says Mrs Linford, of Bedford Avenue. “It is highly evocative. What things smell and taste like is incredibly powerful and can transport you to the past.

“I remember things in terms of food. If you come around for dinner, I won’t remember you from the conversation but from what we had to eat.”

Growing up in Ghana, Trinidad, Singapore and Italy was the catalyst for Mrs Linford’s love of food.

“I have warm memories of being a child, of preparing and eating all sorts of wonderfully diverse dishes,” she says. “We used to get together and cook things like satay chicken skewers over charcoal, or spicy meatballs, or lovely fresh pasta.”

When Mrs Linford moved to London, aged 16, she missed the excitement and exoticism of her childhood homes. But she was soon captivated by a city “rich in culture and contrast” — a city which offered chips and chorizo, ale stew and Asiago cheese.

“London is so cosmopolitan, you can find almost anything,” she adds. “There are Indian curry houses beside Afro-Caribbean stores, farmers’ markets beside coffee shops. It’s a wonderful way for people to connect and understand each other.”

Gathering recipes for The London Cookbook, Mrs Linford asked contributors to explain their choices. The array of tales she collected reflects the mosaic of cultures on London’s streets, each a window into the storyteller’s background and identity.

Fiona Platter, who owns Platters Dell, in Finchley Road, Temple Fortune, contributed her recipe for chicken soup. She told the writer: “It’s like a religion among Jewish people all over the world. Every Jewish community has a chicken soup recipe; so delicious. They call it Jewish penicillin.”

Mrs Linford’s passion for London cuisine runs through the book. She believes British food is finally catching up with its continental neighbours in receiving the recognition it deserves.

“We have some great producers making wonderful food in London,” she says. “Our farmhouse cheese, for example, is just as good as French, if not better.

“People are beginning to realise food is not a preserve of the wealthy. In the countries where I grew up, food was not an elite thing. Everyone knew how to cook and eat properly. That awareness is growing here.”

But the food connoisseur admitted the closure of small businesses and growing power of supermarkets was a concern.

“In the past, food shops were part of the community, part of people’s social lives, but now it’s almost impossible to find a good butcher. There’s not one greengrocer in High Barnet.”

The impression of Londoners given by this book is of a lively, friendly community. It is a place where cultures collide and connect, where aromas, flavours, races and religions melt together in a kaleidoscopic blur.