Psychogastronomy

This sensory-rich collection of short reflections explores what it means to cook intentionally — attuned to where you are, what’s in season, and how food connects to the land beneath your feet. Written by British chef-turned-writer Thom Eagle, these pieces are not recipes, but meditations: on ripeness and restraint, memory and appetite, hunger and home.

Eagle eats a nectarine on a hillside above a Sicilian town, breaks bread outside Tbilisi, and sifts through the catch at a Suffolk fish market. Through these glimpses, he captures a kind of culinary attention that is intimate, fleeting, and deeply grounded.

Each essay is brief—most no longer than a page, some just a paragraph—but the effect is cumulative and lingering. This is not a book for the hurried reader chasing takeaway tips, but for those who savor language, place, and the quiet rituals of a well-lived kitchen.Two Plum Press produces slim volumes of literary works both contemporary and classic. Titles include works of poetry, essays, fiction, philosophy, visual art, travel and food writing. The books are produced entirely in industrial southeast Portland, Oregon.

Thom Eagle is the author of three previous books on food: First, catch: study of a spring meal, Summer’s Lease: how to cook without heat, and The Philosophy of Pickles. He can be found cooking at Bottega Caruso in Margate, England and doing pop ups, teaching workshops, and making nocino.