This Turkish fast food staple starts with a large potato baked in a special three-tiered oven. The potato is cooked in the lower tiers and kept warm on the top. Once done, it’s sliced lengthwise, ...

Recipes are like magic potions. They promise transformations,’ says Bee Wilson in her introduction to Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Cake (Faber, £12.99), a collection of classic authors’ recipes.

In both countries, kindness and generosity are deeply ingrained in the way people host guests, shaping a rich and welcoming ...