Are you hungry? If so, heed my warning: reading this record of good food and people who matter on an empty tummy is not helpful. Before you know it, the book will be placed down and you will be separating eggs, whisking, and making a good old-fashioned mess. You might even want to ring someone close and just check the ingredients of that dish you had when you were travelling together when the kids were little and oh, do you remember how you ate that pasta dish …

Kate Legge – novelist, journalist, mother and friend – has written a memoir of numerous shared meals she has eaten over the years. Each chapter celebrates a particular time, location, person, and a dish. These tales range from when she lived in a dodgy area in Washington to when she was with a friend’s friend on a Greek Island, and in another remembers a cake given to Legge at a time of crisis. The time and place do not matter, really, the point is these are tales that recognise and celebrate food made with love, food that made each situation better, and Delicious is a series of these moments. Of course, along the way, we learn more about the formidable Legge’s life and that’s as interesting and insightful as the recipes featured at the end of each chapter.

(In excellent news, I have now made the carrot cake and I can attest to the power of Legge’s words.)

Delicious is going to make you hungry. It will also make you remember the importance of shared meals – and how those memories count for everything good in life.