The Missing Ingredient

The Curious Role of Time in Food and Flavour

Jenny Linford author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Published:7th Mar '19

£10.99

Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.

The Missing Ingredient cover

A delightful epicurean adventure through the most essential yet overlooked of culinary ingredients- time.

'Brilliant and original ... From slow feasts to fast food, Linford shows that, no matter what we are cooking, time is of the essence' - Bee Wilson, Sunday Times

The Missing Ingredient
is about what makes good food, and the first book to consider the intrinsic yet often forgotten role of time in creating the flavours and textures we love.


Written through a series of encounters with ingredients, producers, cooks, shopkeepers and chefs, exploring everything from the brief period in which sugar caramelises, or the days required in the crucial process of fermentation, to the months of slow ripening and close attention that make a great cheddar, or the years needed for certain wines to reach their peak, Jenny Linford shows how, time and again, time itself is the invisible ingredient. From the patience and dedication of many food producers in fields and storehouses around the world to the rapid reactions required of any home cook at the hob, this book allows us to better understand our culinary lives.

Brilliant and original ... From slow feasts to fast food, Linford shows that, no matter what we are cooking, time is of the essence' -- Bee Wilson * Sunday Times *
A compelling book...Time is the unacknowledged genie of the kitchen. The Missing Ingredient considers the meanings that go beyond quantitative measures -- Darra Goldstein * TLS *
Thoughtful, lively and original. No one has approached food in regard to time before -- Jill Norman, Food and Wine Writer
Interesting...clever...revelatory -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *
Thoughtful and engaging * Waitrose Weekend *
Beautifully written and highly original. Jenny Linford scrutinises time-honoured food production methods and cookery techniques through the often ignored lens of time. A gently informative, almost lyrical volume for our impatient times -- Joanna Blythman, author of Shopped: The Shocking Power Of British Supermarkets
Jenny Linford has created something quite remarkable: a treatise on the single most vital and most overlooked element of food and cooking that's as page-turning as a thriller. It's hard to believe nobody has tackled the concept of 'time' before, and Jenny has done it more than justice. A glorious, essential addition to every food lover's book shelves. -- Marina O’Loughlin, restaurant critic

ISBN: 9780141982816

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 21mm

Weight: 269g

368 pages