

Is it possible to keep it simple - and cheap?
"Simple is easy to get wrong" Neil Perry It seems that Catalonia is the flavour of this week, because here I am about to talk about a...
Oct 22, 2022


Picada - a non-Ottolenghi extra
"anyone who has tasted a dish before and after its addition will understand that picada 'seems to fill in all the holes, plug in all the...
Oct 19, 2022


Buy this book - now
"good things come to the table, where good things are food things and food things must absolutely be good." Noor Murad/OTK I know. I've...
Oct 18, 2022


A man well ahead of his time
what to do with watermelon and pomegranates Still life with a watermelon and pomegranates is the title of this painting by Paul Cézanne. ...
Oct 17, 2022


Still life
"simple, wholesome food standing on a sill or held in air by the hand of a geometer and poet adept at ordering a world of marvels: did he...
Oct 14, 2022


Serve with?
I said I would, and tonight is the night that I am going to cook Ottolenghi's Double lemon chicken with cheat's preserved lemon. It's...
Oct 13, 2022


A great big bunch of fennel leaves
My gardening friend gave me a fennel bulb which I shall use in some delicious way yet to be decided. But it came with this great big...
Oct 11, 2022


Should we acknowledge french onion soup in a packet as an ingredient?
"That beefy, caramelized onion flavor is actually really hard to achieve on your own at home. Improbably, the product is vegan, made...
Oct 9, 2022


The evolution of preserved lemons
"Preserved lemons are not great if you have a short attention span." T. Susan Chang/NPR Kitchen Window I have bookmarked this rather...
Oct 7, 2022


Chutney - especially mango
"What the British did was just simplify and standardise what seemed like a general Indian trend." Madhur Jaffrey This is Delia's version...
Oct 7, 2022


Charter pie
"the 'Charter'. Was it sweet or savoury? Was it in fact food at all?" Jane Grigson It begins with this man - Parson Woodforde a Norfolk...
Oct 5, 2022


Morello cherries
"où sont les neiges d'antan? (where are the snows of yesteryear?)" François Villon (1431- after 1463) Now what has that quote at the top...
Oct 3, 2022


Summertime - More Please
"it's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine ... it's summertime!" Kenny Chesney Today, just to demonstrate the yin and yang nature of...
Oct 2, 2022


Dukkah - how did we do without it?
"a deeply fragrant, crunchy mix, neither paste nor powder, but somewhere in between, and deeply, headily scented. ... Sometimes I tip it...
Sep 30, 2022


Parsley is a herb not a garnish
"food that survives the ages is food that is good for us." Jill Dupleix So says Jill Dupleix in her page of bon mots called Kitchen...
Sep 28, 2022


Good things = kippers
"Eat with horseradish sauce, good bread and a poached egg - if you fancy - and tease every last morsel from the spine bones and head. ...
Sep 27, 2022


From 'De lasanis' to M.E. mac 'n' cheese with za'atar pesto
"cooks keep tinkering with macaroni cheese, oblivious to the way that, with their metaphorical dubs and bonus beats, they are frittering...
Sep 25, 2022


Now what?
“Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be.” Eckhart Tolle Is this what holidays are...
Sep 23, 2022


A bag of Brussels sprouts and some milk
First thought - Is it brussels (after the city and should it be capitalised) or is it brussel? I think the Americans think it should be...
Sep 8, 2022


Gleanings
"to obtain information, knowledge, etc., sometimes with difficulty and often from various different places" Oxford Learner's...
Sep 7, 2022

