Today's guest can conjure entire worlds through her writing. Whether she’s evoking the salty tang of the Lofoten Islands, the rustic flavours of rural Normandy, or the buzz of a New York kitchen, her words are rich with atmosphere and emotion - it is of course, Diana Henry, one of Britain’s most celebrated food writers.

She's a James Beard Award winner, long-time Sunday Telegraph columnist, and author of bestselling books like Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons, How to Eat a Peach, and Around the Table, a new audio collection of essays spanning decades of food, travel and life.

As you’ll hear, Diana’s wanderlust was born not from glamorous holidays, but from imagination. Growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, she escaped into books and encyclopaedias, dreaming of faraway places long before she ever had the chance to visit them.

In this episode, we trace her journeys from Dublin to the Dordogne, Spain to Maine. We talk about foraging for mushrooms in France and eating cod’s heads in Iceland, She shares why she reads restaurant menus for fun, and the deep emotional connection she feels to the places she’s travelled, through taste.

I spoke to Diana last month, and although we hadn’t met before, I instantly warmed to her. I loved the way she speaks about travel, through a different lens, shaped by flavour and feeling. I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

Holly's recap: Beaverbrook Hotel, Surrey, England

Destination Recap:

Dublin, Ireland
Dordogne, France
Colombey les Deux Églises, Haute-Marne, France
Spain
Le tonneau, Normandy, France
New York, USA
Union Square Cafe, New York, USA
ABC Kitchen, New York, USA
Estela, New York, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA
Lofoten Islands, Norway
Iceland
Nebo Lodge, North Haven, Maine, USA
Morocco
Japan

Around the Table - 52 Essays on Food & Life, Mitchell Beazley is available now in audiobook and will be published in hardback on 2nd October.

To win a holiday to Trisara, in Phuket, Thailand, head over to my Instagram page here.

With thanks to Airbnb for their support of today's episode.

Thanks so much for listening today. If you want to be the first to find out who is joining me on next week’s episode come and follow me on Instagram I’m @hollyrubenstein, and you’ll also find me on TikTok - I’d love to hear from you. And if you can't wait until then, remember there’s the first 14 seasons to catch up on, that's over 155 episodes to keep you busy.

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