Explore the food of France's borderlands with acclaimed chef Alex Jackson in his second cookbook Frontières.

This is a book about the cooking of France’s borderlands: from the geographical to the historical, linguistic and metaphorical. In it, Alex Jackson sets out to investigate the cooking of these borderland areas with a view to exploring the similarities between the food on either side of the borders. From the Riviera, where the border has shifted many times but the cooking remains of a delicious whole, to the Occitan valleys of the Italian Alps, the Franco-German cooking of Alsace, and Marseille, one of the most important ports of the Mediterranean, and its historic (and current) links with North Africa.

Alex explores how French cuisine has been influenced through history and that many of these dishes are part of a shared tradition of western European and Mediterranean cookery.

With over 80 mouth-watering recipes and fascinating introductions to each region, Frontières will take you on a delicious gastronomic journey through France's varied borderlands, adding many interesting dishes to your repertoire along the way.

Reviews

‘If you fell in love with food through trips to France you’ll be in heaven. Frontières shows you why you felt that way in the first place. This will stand alongside my favourite books on French cookery, by Richard Olney and Anne Willan. A dream of a book’

— Diana Henry

‘’Tis a joy to read of the pleasures of French cooking which have so inspired and informed cooks for generations. This book is a delightful new addition to a most distinguished company of cooks and writers, bravo Alex.’

— Jeremy Lee

‘Frontières is an intelligent and articulate research of authentic, tightly regional French recipes, anecdotes and stories. It is a delight. Ironically, poignantly even, in this 21st century, it could have only been compiled and written by an impassioned rosbif.’

— Simon Hopkinson

‘By exploring the overlapping flavours and traditions of the French borderlands Alex Jackson takes you on a fascinating and potent culinary journey. This wonderful and timely book serves as a reminder that good food always reflects a breadth of influence and, like music, art and friendship, it crosses all boundaries. It contains a superb collection of recipes.’

— Rachel Roddy

About the author

Alex Jackson's passion for French cuisine was ignited by a year in Paris as part of his French degree at university, which served as an introduction to what simple French food really was. After working at Stevie Parle's Dock Kitchen, his interest journeyed further south to Provence, where from the surplus of sunkissed vegetables, fresh herbs, and good olive oil his restaurant Sardine was born.

With rave reviews from Fay Maschler, Grace Dent, Diana Henry, Marina O'Loughlin and Tom Parker Bowles, Sardine was established as a favourite on the London food scene. Alex is now head chef at Noble Rot Soho, which opened in Autumn 20 with much excitement.