The Kitchen Survival Cookbook for Students

When my son and daughter left home I got calls almost every day, ‘Mum, how do you cook this?’ and ‘What can I do with this fish?’.  There was little or nothing on the market for students and what little there was, lectured rather than helped, had ideas about nutrition that just wouldn’t fly in the culinary world of the newly fledged student and were difficult to use.


So I decided I would try to create the book I had looked for. 

Having been lucky enough to travel the world, living in Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Nigeria, Belgium, Germany and of course the UK I had a feel for different cooking styles and ingredients.


I taught myself as much of the local cuisine as possible and had the added good fortune to work in some great hotels with amazing chefs who allowed me to look into their cooking pots, I learned many different tastes and styles.


To me cooking is magical, my husband calls what I do, ‘Kitchen Alchemy’, always leaning over steaming pots, making potions from throwing herbs and spices into the bubbling saucepan.


Students will tend to gravitate to burgers, fajitas, curries and the like, but, give them the opportunity to learn kitchen alchemy they will prefer to make their own rather than get a take away.  The most valuable tip I could give you is always be organised and clean in the kitchen. Clear anything which you don’t need any more straight away and have everything ready prepped before you start cooking.


I tried to make the book very easy to follow and easy on the pocket, I hope you enjoy the experience and the food, do let me know what you think.


Astrid is married to Paul, has two wonderful children an Afghan hound that’s as mad as a box of frogs and lives in a beautiful part of sunny Kent, England.