A bejewelled and honey-basted fruit cake that makes a lovely Christmas centrepiece and celebrates the life of late writer Gillian Riley

The Oxford Companion to Italian Food by the food historian Gillian Riley is never far from and very often on my desk. It was on my desk and open, as was her book Food in Art, when I received a message that Gillian had passed away in her sleep. She was 90, and had been working on her next book.

I knew Gillian only a little, which felt like a great amount. It was thanks to Russell Norman that we first began corresponding, about lard, in 2015. As well as possessing enormous knowledge and a great intellect, she was also generous, funny and curious, and it was in Russell’s Polpetto in London that we first met for lunch. One of the last times I saw her was with Owen Barrett at his former deli, Monty’s, and the three of us ate salt beef sandwiches while chatting about sausages.