“Today, people may think of eating “waste” as a novelty exercise or a passing culinary trend, but really it’s the basis of cuisine – codifying a way of farming, cooking, and eating that responds to the demands of a landscape. How do we make these traditions accessible for everyday eaters? The first step is simple:
My mum is a stickler for mayo. The homemade kind. Had I not watched her make it so often I’d have dismissed it as a cheffy thing nobody really does. We tend to overthink it. We hear the word emulsify and turn immediately for the Hellman’s, but this is a mistake. The ease and time it
Bean broth, bean juice, bean liquid. Whatever appetising name you like to call it (there aren’t any), that murky liquid from a tin of butter beans or the cooking water from a tender chickpea, is liquid gold. Liquid gold! Especially, when saved for a rainy, bare-fridge kinda day. That day was yesterday. A jar of chickpea cooking
Forgive me for going on about eggs and potatoes, again. A very bare vegetable box, and a strong urge to eat all things comforting and simple are to blame. So eggs and potatoes it is. Fittingly, I’m re-reading a brilliant book by home-cook and writer, Patience Grey, called, Honey from a Weed: Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalan,
December was a month for firsts. I saw an avocado tree for the first time, I picked my first passion fruit (and ate it), I built my first yurt, I became a dab hand at using a circular saw and it was the first time I completely avoided the Christmas prelude – this caused a
There is no good reason to throw onion peelings straight to the compost. The robes of a humble onion serve a far nobler purpose, and that is to make boiled eggs taste (and look) better. This is a new discovery for me, and one that I learnt at my latest workaway in Israel. I’ve been spending my days with
Before you shrug and scroll on, this is not pesto. This is a potent, fiery, fresh hit of a relish, and it’s from Yemen. It’s zhoug… as tricky to spell as it is to pronounce. Yemenite food is entrenched in Israel. Or I should say Yemenite Jewish food, because there is a difference. What is great
Mornings in Svaneti, high up in the Georgian mountains, follow a slow rhythm. It’s a purposeful rhythm, but unhurried, methodical, each person with their job to do. Chabu chops wood, old Nora stokes the fire, Zaza brings in the eggs and a bucket of potatoes, the cows are milked, coffee made, the ducks and piglets
Fresh herbs are great. When all you have are a few back-of-fridge ingredients, herbs are the stuff to reach for. Finely chop and sprinkle them on a hot bowl of yesterday’s rice, chop them up with oil and drizzle over fried eggs or bash them into a pesto and spread over hot toast. These are delicious meals at little