Cookbook authors Tessa Kiros and Emiko Davies chat to Joanna Savill about their books, Provence to Pondicherry and Tortellini at Midnight.

Tessa Kiros, renowned for her exquisite food and travel books, takes us on a fascinating journey across the globe to explore French culinary influences in far-flung destinations with Provence to Pondicherry. As Tessa points out “there traces of the French zest for adventure today sprinkled across the world map”. This is a beautiful collection of her travels to some of these places.

In her new book, Tortellini at Midnight, Emiko shares wonderful stories and some of her favourite recipes from her Italian family. Tracing back recipes to generations that span the entire length of Italy, from the Mediterranean port city of Taranto in the southern heel of Puglia, to elegant Turin, the city of aperitivo and Italian café culture in the far north on the border of France and, finally, back to Tuscany, where she now calls home.

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Born in London to a Greek-Cypriot father and Finnish mother, Tessa Kiros developed an interest in the food of different cuisines and travel from an early age. She grew up in South Africa and left home at eighteen to travel and cook, working in restaurants in London, Sydney, Athens and Mexico. She now lives in Tuscany with her Italian husband, Giovanni, and two daughters.

Her first cookbook Falling Cloudberries, a world of family recipes was an instant success. Continuing her travel and culinary adventures, Tessa has written a further eight books, exploring the food of Italy as a whole, Tuscany, Venice, Portugal and Greece. Tessa’s previous books have sold over 800,000 copies. Evocative writing and beautiful photography epitomise her unique books.

Emiko Davies fell in love with Florence as a twenty-something art restoration student, soaking in the Florentine lifestyle and learning Italian along the way. Then she met Marco, a sommelier, who shares her lifelong passion for cooking and travelling. In 2010 Emiko began a dream project — a food blog sprinkled with her own photographs, where she could tell the true stories behind regional and historical Italian dishes from the point of view of a foreigner living in Italy. She soon caught the eye of Food52 cofounder Amanda Hesser who called her a ‘Renaissance woman for the internet era’.

Emiko continues to develop recipes and write about food and travel for Food52, as well as contributing to publications such as Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, The Guardian, Gourmet Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller and more. This is her third cookbook after Florentine and Acquacotta, which was shortlisted for the Fortnum & Mason Award for Best Cookery Book. Emiko lives in Florence with her husband, Marco, and their two daughters.