Hot off the press

When it was first published some three years ago, Paul and Jeanne Rankin's Hot Food, released in conjunction with a naff CD of…

When it was first published some three years ago, Paul and Jeanne Rankin's Hot Food, released in conjunction with a naff CD of jazz tunes, got rather lost in the Christmas rush, and was quickly forgotten. That was unfortunate, because Hot Food is easily the Rankins' most personal and accomplished book, and the most indicative of their eclectic and spirited fusion cooking. Well, the good news is that it has been retrieved from the great shredder, and has just reappeared in a new hardback edition (published by Mitchell Beazley), with James Merrill's excellent photography completing a funky, I-must-cook-every-recipe text. At a penny under a tenner, it's also good value.