Join us for an evening celebrating the joys of food and community as we welcome Shanaz Ahsan to our Stockport shop for the launch of her stunning new memoir THE JACKFRUIT CHRONICLES – a vital and heartfelt tale of migration, love and identity told through one family’s recipes and their search for home.

Shanaz will be in conversation with award-winning food writer Olivia Potts and the talk will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Light refreshments are included in the ticket price.

Event starts at 6:30pm (doors at 6pm)

About the book:

The Jackfruit Chronicles is a heartfelt memoir that delves into the stunning flavours and captivating history of Bengali food while giving a voice to those individuals who introduced this cuisine to the United Kingdom.

Beginning with the arrival of Shahnaz’s grandfather, Habib, in Manchester in the 1950s, this memoir not only focuses on the author’s family story but also the broader narrative of the Bangladeshi diaspora, their struggles and their quest for a better life in Britain.

Among the cultural divides and misunderstandings that affected the generations before her, Shahnaz beautifully weaves together her family’s recipes and cherished memories, including dishes like sour tomato broth, jackfruit kofta curry, lentil fritters, fish with clementine peels, and much more.

Interspersed with stories and exciting recipes, The Jackfruit Chronicles is a heartfelt love letter to family, food and Bangladesh.

About the author:

Shahnaz Ahsan is an author, columnist and award-winning food writer. Her debut novel Hashim & Family was an Observer Best Book and was shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize. Her articles and recipes have appeared in national daily newspapers and magazines, and have won grants from the Society of Authors and the Guild of Food Writers. Born and raised in West Yorkshire, Shahnaz is of British-Bangladeshi heritage, and has also lived in the USA, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

Olivia Potts is an award-winning writer and chef. After a career at the criminal bar, she retrained in professional patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu. She is resident cookery columnist at The Spectator and has written for Financial Times, delicious, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Slightly Foxed, TLS and The Times, and in 2020 was named the Guild of Food Writers Food Writer of the Year. Olivia is the author of A Half Baked Idea, which won the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Award, and Butter: A Celebration, which Nigella Lawson called ‘her dream book.’