It's Only Natural: A Cookbook

From the chef behind London's acclaimed Oliveira Kitchen.

Abandoning meat shouldn't feel like a loss, but an embrace of a whole new world of possibilities.

There's an abundance of ingredients hiding in plain sight that most of us walk right past. They aren't complicated; nobody has ever introduced them to us.

This book is that introduction.

In It's Only Natural, E. Amélio, chef and founder of London's acclaimed Oliveira Kitchen, redefines plant-based cuisine without succumbing to industrialised meat alternatives. His philosophy is simple: whole, natural food is more than enough.

Through a rigorous exploration of extraordinary botanical ingredients, Amélio takes you from the versatile textures of jackfruit, banana blossom, cassava, and mushrooms to the distinctive profiles of Amazonian fruits like graviola and cupuaçu, while revealing the techniques behind deeply satisfying gravies, pâtés, spreads, ferments, and other flavour-rich staples.

Balancing uncompromising technique with culinary artistry, Amélio offers a fresh perspective rooted in discovery rather than substitution.

This is not a book about what to leave out. It is a discovery of what you can bring in.

About the Author

E. Amélio was born and raised in Ji-Paraná, a small town in the state of Rondônia, deep in the Brazilian Amazon. The son of educators, he grew up surrounded by one of the most biodiverse places on earth, and watched, from a very early age, as that forest was slowly cleared to make way for industrial farming. That experience never left him.

After leaving Brazil, he spent years travelling through Latin America, North Africa, Europe, Asia Minor, and as far north as the Arctic Circle before settling in London, where he trained in some of the city's most demanding professional kitchens.

Sustainability was never a trend for Amélio. It was the point. When he opened Oliveira Kitchen, his intention was simple: to build a way of cooking and serving food that made sense, not just on the plate, but in the world.

He has since founded Amélio Restaurant in Shoreditch, London, where he continues to cook, explore, and ask the same questions that have always driven him.

This is his first book.

Perfect for readers interested in:

• Plant-based cooking and whole-food cuisine • Natural ingredients and minimally processed foods • Professional culinary techniques for home cooks • Discovering unusual fruits, vegetables, and botanicals • Jackfruit, banana blossom, cassava, mushrooms, graviola, and cupuaçu • Umami-rich gravies, sauces, pâtés, and spreads • Miso, fermentation, sea vegetables, and seaweed • Marshland plants, foraging ingredients, and ingredient-driven cooking • Creative alternatives to industrialised meat substitutes

What Makes This Cookbook Different

Most plant-based cookbooks either preach at you or hand you a factory-made substitute and call it progress. It's Only Natural does neither.

It takes you beyond the familiar and beyond the processed, into an abundance most of us have been walking past our entire lives.

Written with the honesty, humour, and rigour of a working chef, this is a cookbook for people who take food seriously.