ENGLISH lecturer Mike Harrison has cooked up his life story in what is proving to be a best-selling book of recipes.

Formerly of Durham City, Mr Harrison left home more than two decades ago to travel the world and has now put down his roots in Dubai.

But this week, Mr Harrison was back in his native city and revealed how during his years of travel, from Albania to Vietnam, he had accumulated a vast knowledge of food and its preparation.

Although he is a full-time lecturer, Mr Harrison decided to devote his spare time compiling a recipe book of the food he had encountered on his travels.

But it was not just about picking up recipes along the way and trotting them out in a book.

"I have always been interested in why people eat the food they do and how their dishes evolved,'' he said.

And for a man who was in Iraq at the time of the Gulf War, whose apartment was blown up in Albania and who spent time in Senegal and Zanzibar, his publication was always destined to be exciting.

Produced by a Dubai publishing house, his book, called From Tagine to Masala, is a culinary journey from Morocco to India and Turkey to Zanzibar.

"But incidentally, along the way, I realised it is also the story of my life so far,'' said Mr Harrison, whose book has almost sold out and has brought him minor celebrity status in Dubai.

The book includes recipes he has picked up and those he has created.

His book is available on the Internet from Amazon or from www.zodiacpublish ing.org or can be ordered in book shops.