

Hawaij, spice mixes and marketing
The other day I bought this expensive jar of Ottolenghi hawaij paste. It was on a special, I was just filling in time waiting for David for some reason I cannot now remember, wandering around Woolworths when I spied it. I had noticed Hawaij a lot here and there, or so I thought, and I was feeling a bit down, and so I thought 'why not?' and put it in my trolley. I feel a tiny bit cross at myself, because there are lots of recipes online for a hawaij spice mix, and it's not
Oct 23, 2025


The mysterious invisible cake - France, Russia, Japan?
"It seems to me that invisibility is the required provision of elegance. Elegance ceases to exist when it is noticed." Jean Cocteau Tuesday is the day that Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen newsletter arrives in my inbox. Today - seeing as how it is autumn - well fall - over there in the US of A - she was focussed on apples, and amongst the many delectable recipes on offer was this Invisible apple cake, which she likened to Apple sharlotka - a Russian cake that she had wri
Oct 21, 2025


Pizza and pineapple - yes or no?
"that conversation never ends well, and in fact never really ends." Itamar Srulovich/The Guardian It's interesting how some foods create...
Oct 4, 2025


Fried bread
"Not to be confused with fry bread." Wikipedia I sat for a while at my desk trying to think of something to write about but gave up and...
Sep 24, 2025


Ciabatta
"The Mother's Pride of the middle classes" - The Guardian " a new bread posing as an old one that is new?" Robin Stummer - The Guardian...
Sep 22, 2025


Krispy Kreme and doughnuts in general
"one of those deep, childish pleasures you never grow out of." Felicity Cloake You might have thought that I had forgotten those...
Sep 11, 2025


Scacce ragusana
"a bit like a lasagne crossed with a focaccia and pizza." Lorraine Elliott/Not Quite Nigella This is just one of those short posts,...
Sep 6, 2025


Thickening with bread - a ramble
"Where there is stale bread there is home." Juls' Kitchen This was going to be a blog about the different ways you can thicken things. ...
Aug 29, 2025


Un mélange
Mélange: a mixture, or a group of different things or people" Cambridge English Dictionary time for some oddments, and it's amazing how...
Aug 25, 2025


Nuggets
" nugget - a small piece or lump, especially of gold in its natural state" or "something small but valuable or excellent" Cambridge...
Aug 5, 2025


Lessons from a recipe
Yesterday we celebrated my older son's birthday here with the now almost traditional and compulsory spaghetti and meatballs - and a cake...
Aug 4, 2025


An earl, history and recipes
"Tea, Earl Grey, hot" Picard/StarTrek Well the above quote has nothing to do with this post really, but not being a Star Trek follower I...
Jul 23, 2025


Samples
"a small amount of something that shows you what the rest is or should be like" Cambridge Dictionary Samples is perhaps particularly...
Jul 19, 2025


Are we British ashamed of cream buns?
"The fisherman fishes as the urchin eats cream buns, from lust". T. H. White I actually started out with the idea of doing an oddments...
Jul 18, 2025


Sfouf cake
Working my way through my email newsletters and looking for something relatively quick and simple I came across the above in a newsletter...
Jul 14, 2025


Lunch party decisions
"Please all, and you will please none." Aesop I haven't hosted a lunch party for ages - well I sort of don't count my occasional family...
Jun 11, 2025


Filo tarts
"I think of filo pastry as edible wrapping paper. Something in which to hide fragile fillings, such as feta cheese and thyme leaves,...
Jun 7, 2025


Intangible Mexico
"perhaps the most misunderstood country and cuisine on Earth." Anthony Bourdain Mexican food is huge. It is one of just four cuisines...
May 26, 2025


Baked oats
"Everything looks like cake, but is not in fact cake." Emily Gerard/Today This is one of those posts that began with me thinking I was...
May 17, 2025


Granules
"granule - a small piece like a grain of something" Cambridge English Dictionary "a small particle; especially : one of numerous...
May 12, 2025

