If there's one thing that typifies California cooking to me more even than artichokes, it has to be garlic. It grows famously in Gilroy, south of San Francisco, where the town smells of garlic in the best kind of way, and you can procure anything … [Read more...]
California cooking: artichoke tart, and artichoke steamed
California cuisine seems to be enjoying renewed attention in the UK, not only for its multicultural fusion-cooking, but for its creativity with seasonal, interesting produce – thanks no doubt to our current interests in more adventurous vegetable … [Read more...]
The Chez Panisse leek and goat cheese tart: a vegetable with history, and a tart that symbolises a revolution
This is one of the recipes I make most from my time cooking at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, back in the ’eighties. It’s been one of my favourite things to eat and make ever since. This beautiful tart always surprises, always delights. … [Read more...]
Sicily, part 2: Sicilian caponata
This is where I share the treasured recipe and insider tips for making traditional Sicilian caponata, as we learned it from two wonderful cooks in Noto, in the south-east of Sicily (read more here). It's the real thing -- exquisitely vibrant, … [Read more...]
A Maytime menu to cook together: asparagus and pea ravioli, and coffee crème caramel
May: the landscape is never so alive with growth as it is now, life pushing ahead, making more of itself. It renews us too: our love for life and each other, our desire to connect with all this radiance. A friend was telling me recently as we … [Read more...]
Celeriac and apple soup with stilton, and winter squash soda bread
January days so far in our part of England have been mild, grey dishwater days. That is about to change, with a blast of the Arctic cold that has been freezing mainland Europe, even to the Greek islands. The North East US is shivering, too, and … [Read more...]