Last chance to eat - Gina Mallet

Food has never been more fashionable, yet fewer and fewer people really know what good food is. Drawing on a lifetime full of rich culinary experiences, Gina Mallet's irreverent memoir combines recollections of meals and their milieus with recipes and tasting tips.

In loving detail, Last Chance to Eat muses on the fates of foods that were once the stuff of feasts: light, fluffy eggs; rich cheeses; fresh meat; garden vegetables; and fish just hauled ashore.

Mallet's gastronomic adventures will appeal to any palate: from finding the perfect grilled cheese ('as delicate as any Escoffier recipe') to combing the bustling food department at post-war Harrods for the makings of 'an Elizabeth David meal'.

The search for taste often takes her far from the beaten path - to an underground 'chevaline' restaurant serving horsemeat steaks and to purveyors of contraband Epoisses, for instance - but the journey is always a delight.