We used to have pancakes once a year at home, on Shrove Tuesday, when the squeezy Jif would appear at the table and my mum would stand at the stove, grumbling about what a fuss they were to cook. English pancakes were never a breakfast thing. I only remember them with the backdrop of aContinue reading “Crêpes”
Category Archives: Recipes
Stuffed Aubergine with Apricot
Last Saturday, we held a party. It was somewhere between a house party and a dinner party – a halfway house celebration between youth and adulthood, which seems pretty apt considering this Friday we get the keys to a three-bed cottage in the East Midlands. But back to last Saturday afternoon, and the slow cooker humming, chicken braising, radishes pickling andContinue reading “Stuffed Aubergine with Apricot”
Lemon and asparagus risotto
As a teenager I spent a few years working in a greengrocers. On the whole, I hated it. There was no heating so I’d spend those dreaded Saturday mornings wrapped in scarves with a hot water bottle stuffed inside my coat. When I wasn’t fending off the advances of the butcher boy opposite, I wasContinue reading “Lemon and asparagus risotto”
Tater ‘Ash
It’s hard to write about the meaning of a dish you’ve never grown up with. Write in any sort of meaningful way, I mean, without feeling a fraud. Especially when it’s the sort of recipe that’s so undeniably lived in – the kind that isn’t written down by its owner or even memorised, but internalisedContinue reading “Tater ‘Ash”
Polenta: A History
Every cuisine is built on a staple food – a starchy backdrop to the main event. It might be potatoes, rice, bread, or, if you’re from the north of Italy, polenta. Cheap, rib-sticking, and innately comforting, it is – as tradition dictates – the perfect starchy staple. Yet, ever since Elizabeth David introduced the UKContinue reading “Polenta: A History”
Potted Shrimp
We pass through the Peak District. The hills are heavy with damp. The train stops at yet another Northern mill town on its long journey back to Norwich. I always do my best thinking on long train journeys, especially once the view fades into black and my reflection is the only thing staring back. Apart fromContinue reading “Potted Shrimp”
Risotto alla Milanese
Today I’m bringing you one of my absolute favourite recipes – risotto alla milanese. I wrote this recipe for a guest post on Bistropop a while back, but it’s so perfect for a crisp late November evening that I want to share it with you all now. My usual ramblings about Verona will return later thisContinue reading “Risotto alla Milanese”
Italian sausages and beans (and Verona)
I was planning to write about sausages and beans, but then I remembered that I haven’t properly told you about Verona. About the way the crisp morning air nips at my fingers as I cycle to my Italian class (late, of course), or how the narrow streets ripple with life, and music, and spritz-drinking revellersContinue reading “Italian sausages and beans (and Verona)”
Risotto al radicchio di Verona
Autumn eating in Italy is a bitter-sweet affair, and no more so than in Veneto where bitter red bulbs of radicchio di Verona stands alongside hunks of sweet pumpkin at the market – both destined for risotto, ravioli or soup. Rich, sweet lunches are bookended by an Aperol spritz as an aperitivo and a shot of bitter darkContinue reading “Risotto al radicchio di Verona”
Fregula with pancetta and squash
Although the topic has been the focus of countless poems, photographs and childhood memories, I would like to bring something to your attention: the sweetness of an October evening in London, circa 6pm. It was on yesterday’s commute home from Putney to Canary Wharf – I know, I know, it’s madness – that I firstContinue reading “Fregula with pancetta and squash”
To The Table 