about this book

Since becoming the chef at Young Space, Mafruha Ahmed—who has cooked for the likes of Grace Wales Bonner, Sampha, and Jamie xx—has come to understand that lunch is more than just a midday refuel. When approached with care, it becomes a space for creativity, nourishment, and connection beyond what’s on the plate.

Extended Lunch, Mafruha’s debut cookbook, began in early 2024 as a newsletter where she shared recipes developed at Young Space with friends, family, and the wider creative community. From there, stories unfolded from the kitchens of loved ones and acolytes, shaping the 60 versatile and accessible recipes found in these pages. Split into two comprehensive sections—lunch/dinner and dessert—Extended Lunch embraces an intuitive approach to cooking, where ingredients take precedence over strict measurements, and seasonality is celebrated.

Drawing from her Bangladeshi heritage, culinary school training, and experience in professional kitchens, Mafruha brings a unique perspective to cooking. She encourages home cooks to trust their instincts, adapt dishes to their tastes, and appreciate the process of sourcing high-quality, local produce. Recipes like grilled leek mimosa, warm summer vegetable salad, and marinated courgettes with butterbean stew reflect a balance of bold flavors, diverse influences, and a deep appreciation of ingredient-driven cooking. Each dish is accompanied by full-color, medium-format photographs by Abena Appiah and beautifully intricate illustrations by artist Sophie Glover.

In addition to the cookbook, Extended Lunch includes the E.L. Zine, a short, unedited publication that celebrates the imperfect side of home cooking. Rather than treating recipes as rigid formulas, the zine illustrates that cooking should be a space for creativity, adaptation, and play. It gathers stories and images from newsletter subscribers who tested early iterations of the recipes—capturing the successes, the failures, the good, the bad, and the ugly—reminding readers that beautiful, flavorful food isn’t always flawless.

More than just a cookbook, Extended Lunch is an invitation to slow down, savor the process of cooking, and create meals that bring people together in a meaningful way.

This book was selected by Tique for Objects & Sounds.