The overcrowded camp that became known as The Jungle was close by, but Imad says that it was too terrifying and packed, so he and a group of several other Syrians slept on the steps of a church instead.

Syrian Kitchen, London: ‘Represents all the good Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, London: ‘Represents all the good

By July 2015, he’d made the painful decision to leave his wife and three daughters in Damascus to make the treacherous journey via Lebanon, Greece and North Macedonia, to the UK, where they had relatives. With 20 years of experience in plant-based cooking, bestselling chefs David and Stephen Flynn have become pretty damn good at making impressive and delicious vegan food. From the other side of the menu we have chargrilled and crisp-skinned chicken thighs, on a tomatoey mess of bulgur wheat alongside a chilli sauce that creeps in quietly then slaps you cheerily round the face.To make your life easier, recipes are categorised together based on the length of time they take and the amount of ingredients they incorporate, with solutions for breakfast (think French toast recipes), lunch and dinner. It involves so much waiting, unable to do anything, completely at the mercy of a constantly changing series of people who mostly don’t seem to care. Thankfully, not only does The Contented Vegan have plenty of mouth-watering recipes to get you started, but it also has a range of advice and information for new vegans from author Peggy Brusseau, who started her journey as a vegan 30 years ago.

Book review: Imad’s Syrian Kitchen

Still, the fact is that if you enjoy eating the food of the Indian subcontinent, or of China and the Middle East, or of West and East Africa, of Thailand and Japan and Poland and all other points of the compass, cooked by people schooled from birth in its intricacies, you should give thanks for immigration. At most dinner parties these days you can almost guarantee that at least one dish has been cooked using an Ottolenghi recipe, and we're here for it. From vegetable tempura and French onion ramen, to mushroom gyoza, this will satisfy your Japanese food cravings until restaurants open again and will keep you plenty busy in the kitchen.His moving, often harrowing story is woven into his cookbook, telling how his journey ended when he used a fake passport to cross the Channel in 2015.

Syria cooked for 400 refugees with hotplate on Chef who fled Syria cooked for 400 refugees with hotplate on

A third-generation Chinese chef (and also the brother of the one and only Gok Wan), Kwoklyn started working in his family's Cantonese restaurant in the 1970s and has since been slowly finessing his Chinese cooking, now sharing his secrets with the world. More than just a cookbook, Parwana is a deeply insightful look into one family’s history, interwoven with traditional recipes.The twin brothers started The Happy Pear in 2004 with the goal of inspiring people to live a happier and healthier life while adopting a more plant-based diet. Former GBBO contestant and NHS doctor James Morton’s Super Sourdough has all of the advice, recipes and tips and tricks you need to guide you through the process from start to finish. If you're short of inspiration for any larger gatherings, The Green Barbecue by Rukmini Iyer is an absolute must-have cookbook.