About the books

“Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I've been seduced by their labyrinthine logic, which suggests that reason (if not art) rules over a cacophonous arrangement of books.”
― Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night

The Food Library is a collection of over 400 books dedicated to the subject of food. It is located in the private home of Michael Mayhew & Laura Elliott.

With a growing collection of books, the food library aims to share a knowledge of our relationship with food with book borrowing, a Dining Club and produce for sale made with reference to the books.

Our books range from the history of plants, how to be self sufficient, what vegetables to grow where, when and how, from back yards, to window sills, allotments to smallholdings, a focus on organic and biodynamic practices, and methods, books on health, herbs and preserving, foraging, curing, through to butchery and cooking skills, and techniques.

There are areas dedicated to vegetarianism, game, soups, and fish.

The library launches you into an international cuisine journey of recipes, from the 1969 United Nations Cookbook, to the recipes of Britain, Asia, India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Europe, South America and Africa.