

Vadouvan - will 2026 be its time?
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." [not] Oscar Wilde I'll begin with an aside - the quote above. First I just used the first half of it which I had a feeling was by Oscar Wilde, then I found Terence Eden's Blog which first reminded me that there was a second part of it and then told me in great detail why it wasn't Oscar Wilde who said it - the conclusion being it might have been a now defunct magazine - My Family Magazine
Jan 30


Cumin
"little striped torpedoes of flavour" Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall I'm pretty sure that I first encountered cumin in what this family calls simply - Kebabs - and probably the close second favourite dish of the Dearmans. I know I have written about the dish before - and sadly the recipe is not online. So just as a reminder - it's the marinade that is the thing - for beef cut in strips and threaded on to skewers to cook. The marinade for around 500g beef is 6 tbsp olive oil
Jan 23


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


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


Piri piri chicken
"It seems we just can’t get enough spicy grilled poultry. Popularity, however, breeds contempt " Felicity Cloake Inspired by a Feast ...
Aug 8, 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


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


Belize - do you know anything about it?
"Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Eat nothing but fry jacks!” Anon I'm continuing my world foodie tour and have...
Jul 12, 2025


I found it - sort of
"Passing time adds false memories and modifies real ones." Stephen King Remember yesterday my despair at not finding the tube of hot...
Apr 26, 2025


Chaat
"anything – crisps, samosas, leftover chana masala – can be chaat" Diya Mukherjee/Vittles I have been increasingly aware of late of...
Apr 8, 2025


A gallimaufry
Gallimaufry: "a confused jumble or medley of things" Oxford Langauges "a meat stew called galimafrée" Merriam-Webster There's your new...
Dec 2, 2024


Chicken and green peppercorns for dinner
“It was there all the time: That small, green, aromatic, fresh berry that eventually becomes our common black or white peppercorn was...
Nov 30, 2024


Nigel's essential marinades
"little kitchen lifesavers" Nigel Slater This is the last of my Nigel's A Cook's Book Essentials - a group of first recipes, and these...
Nov 16, 2024


Last night's dinner
'A mashup between a Western steak and a Chinese stir-fry" Marc Matsumoto/No Recipes In an attempt to tick off my 'new' dish for the week,...
Oct 13, 2024


Coffee rubs
"It works particularly well with chilli, smoky foods, barbecued meat and chocolate" Tom Hunt/The Guardian Well we sort of knew that...
Aug 1, 2024


Chicken, saffron, almonds - a Spanish lucky dip
"I felt a little dubious about the combination of ingredients before testing it, the red wine gives a rich colour and flavour, the...
Jun 24, 2024


Chermoula - and fish
"The object of the chermoula seasoning is not to mask the natural taste of the food, but enhance it." Robert Carrier I'm pretty sure I...
Apr 12, 2024


Tajín - a quickie
"So why should you use Tajin? Simply put, it just makes so many things taste better." Nancy Lopez-McHugh/The Spruce Eats I'm not a huge...
Mar 21, 2024


Allspice
"Everything is in there: it gives you a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, that pepper-y, clove-y taste, all of these different flavours out of...
Feb 12, 2024


Cauliflower, saffron, anchovies + ...
"As always, we never seem to do the ingredient du jour by halves" Nigel Slater It's an unbelievably, considering it's summer, wet,...
Dec 9, 2023

