Why you should forget superfood fads and follow a traditional diet

For decades we’ve been told to eat a different food practically every year if we want to be healthy: blueberries, avocados, chia seeds, quinoa and kale have all had their moments in the sun, but a new book claims we should forget food fads and eat like our ancestors.

100 Million Years Of Food: What Our Ancestors Ate and Why It Matters Today by Stephen Le also reveals that we’re not actually consuming more calories than our predecessors, despite common belief.

Paleo, raw, veggan (nope, not a typo - that’s vegan but with eggs) - nowadays we’re spoilt for choice with diet options that will supposedly bring us optimal health and wellbeing, but it could be that these modern trends are doing more harm than good and have caused the current explosion of chronic diseases and allergies.

Le’s family are originally from Vietnam but his parents settled in Ottawa, Canada, in the 1960s, where Le and his three brothers were born and grew up.

He was finishing his PhD at the University of California when he discovered his 66-year-old mother's breast cancer - with which she’d been diagnosed years earlier - had spread to her lungs.

Le rushed home to Canada where his mother died three months later, aged 66. It was just two years after her own mother had died almost three decades older, aged 92.

His parents had obeyed every western food fad over the years, whereas his grandparents, unable to read English, had stuck to the traditional fare they knew. This got Le thinking.

As a biological anthropologist, he started doing research into ancestral diets and food-related illnesses: “Some of my preliminary readings,” Le told Macleans, “showed that Asians who migrate to North America and Europe see elevated rates of breast cancer as well as prostate cancer.” And he wanted to find out why.

Contradicting nearly everything we’ve been told recently, Le discovered that the average person in 2016 doesn’t consume more calories than humans millions of years ago, and thanks to our increased metabolisms, we’re burning just as many calories as our predecessors too, despite our sedentary lifestyles.

So rather than eating less or exercising more, Le believes the key to health is eating like your ancestors. He champions traditional diets and argues that we should be looking to our genetic and cultural history when deciding what to eat.

Forget foodie fads and so-called superfoods, it’s the simple fare of our great-great-great-great-grandparents we should be consuming, whether that’s meat and potatoes or vegetables with rice. So instead of asking for the latest healthy cookery book, it might be worth taking a look at your grandparents' cookbook and making the recipes handed down to them over the years.

Le thinks our society in fact places too much emphasis on fruit and vegetables. As our bodies have evolved, he believes we can no longer cope with the “daily jug-loads of fructose” we’re consuming through juices, smoothies and fruit.

And as for vegetables, Le points out that they became part of our diets late - even after meat and dairy - because they contain toxins.

Whilst cooking vegetables neutralises said toxins, western cultures place salad and raw vegetables on a pedestal: “If you took people from most parts of the world to a salad bar, they would gasp in horror. They’d say, ‘You can’t digest these things!’” Le explains.

Le is not a nutritionist and admits that fruit and vegetables have nutritional value, he just believes we overstate their importance. “As long as we’re eating an adequately balanced diet, there’s no fear of non-nutrition,” Le says.

So next time you fancy potatoes but feel you really ought to have broccoli instead, that’s something to remember.

Orange wine: Why we'll all be drinking it in 2017

Orange wine - which combines the richness of red and the freshness of white – looks set to be the drink of 2017.

Also known as the "fourth wine", orange wine earns its name from its colour and does not contain any citrus fruits.

While the grape juice and skins are separated immediately when white wine is made, the skins are left on for orange wine. This process - known as skin contact - produces tannins. Grape skins can be kept in the wine for between a week to a year to create different colours and flavours.

Additives, including yeast, are rarely used in the process. The result is a wine that can be more nutty and fruity in flavour.

Orange wine has been popping up on influential wine lists across the world. In the summer, the London Ritz added five orange wines to its highly traditional 800-wine “Livre du Vin” list, while wine sellers in New York are also catering for a spike in its popularity, according to Bloomberg.

While orange wines are experiencing a resurgence, they were first developed in George centuries ago, but have been made in Italy and Slovenia in recent years.

Amelia Singer, the ITV’s wine expert, recently told the Evening Standard that the best orange wines have a “thrilling perfume, combined with an enticing intensity of honeyed, fleshy fruit and assertive grip from the tannins.”

Orange wine is “incredibly versatile”, she added, and can be paired with cheese boards as well as Indian, Ethiopian, Persian and Moroccan dishes because of the acidity and fruitiness.

However, as orange wines are made in small batches you are more likely to find a bottle at a wine bar than a supermarket.

How to make chunky winter soups

British seaside chowder with saffron

Whenever I visit the seaside I’m a sucker for cockles and whelks, but the idea of turning them into a chowder is from farther afield. This is such a quick and simple soup when you have the seafood to hand. Use whatever local shellfish you can get your hands on as long as you stick to the same amounts, but this is a good traditional version.

Serves 4

2 tomatoes
300ml white wine
1kg mixed shellfish: cockles, clams, mussels, winkles, soaked in cold water
50g unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
½ leek, white part only, finely chopped
250g potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm pieces
2 pinches of saffron strands
1 star anise
500ml chicken stock
175ml double cream
75g samphire, trimmed
12 shelled cooked whelks
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
handful of celery leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, skin and deseed the tomatoes: bring a saucepan of water to the boil, take out the stalk of the tomatoes and make crosses on the bases. Drop the tomatoes into the water and simmer for 10–15 seconds until the skin starts to peel away. Lift straight out into a bowl of iced water and peel off the skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds, then finely chop the flesh.

Heat a sauté pan until hot, add the wine and the shellfish, cover and cook for three to five minutes until just cooked through. Strain into a colander over a bowl, reserving the cooking liquor, and allow to cool slightly before picking the meat out of the shells. Wipe out the sauté pan, then add the butter, shallot and garlic and sweat for a couple of minutes, then add the fennel, leek, potatoes, saffron and star anise and cook for another minute.

Add the reserved cooking liquor and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for three to four minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Add the cream and samphire then simmer for another couple of minutes until just thickened. Reduce the heat then add the tomatoes and all the shellfish, including the whelks, and gently warm through. Add the chives and celery leaves and season to taste (you probably won’t need much salt). Serve straight away.

Chicken and winter vegetable broth

This hearty broth is ideal for a quick weekday supper or sustaining lunch. I often make it in the depths of winter, but it is easily transformed into a spring or summer soup with lighter seasonal vegetables, such as courgette, peas and beans in place of leeks and celeriac. The hint of ginger gives a lovely warm, fresh fragrance.

Serves 4

olive oil for cooking
2 carrots, peeled and diced
½ celeriac, peeled and chopped
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped root ginger
2 free-range boneless chicken breasts, about 170g each, skinned and diced
750ml chicken stock
1 bouquet garni
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g medium egg noodles
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced

Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat and add 1–2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the carrots and celeriac and sweat gently for 2–3 minutes, then add the leeks, fennel, garlic and ginger and sweat for a further 2–3 minutes. Now add the diced chicken and stir to combine with the vegetables. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the bouquet garni and some salt and pepper. Simmer the broth gently for 12 minutes. Drop the egg noodles into the stock and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Scatter the chopped parsley and sliced spring onions over the broth to serve. If you’ve had roast chicken for Sunday lunch and have some meat left over, this is an ideal recipe to prepare for lunch early on in the week. Strip the meat from the carcass, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate until ready to prepare the soup. Use the carcass to make chicken stock. When you make the soup, dice the leftover chicken and add it with the noodles, just to heat through.

Great British Chefs Serve Up The Best Mulled-wine Recipes

Mulled cider

Mulled wine is pretty much a staple drink over winter in our house, but this year I thought I would shake things up a bit and branch out into mulled cider, just to see what all the fuss was about. I’ve sampled various sickly sweet mulled ciders at pubs over the years but they had all paled into insignificance next to mulled wine due to the cheap cider and high sugar content. So I mulled it over, tried a few combinations and this was my favourite. The most important thing is not to let it boil as this will burn off the alcohol.

1l scrumpy cider, medium-dry
60g of Demerara sugar
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
5 cloves
1 star anise
fresh ginger, 3cm piece
1 clementine, zest and juice

Add the sugar, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, star anise and clementine zest to a pan with 100ml of the cider. Bring to the boil and cook to a syrup. Turn the heat down and add the rest of the cider and the clementine juice. Bring to a very gentle simmer. After 10 minutes pass the cider through a fine sieve and divide between warmed mugs or glasses.

This fabulous mulled wine Bellini recipe,served at The Gilbert Scott, distills the essence of the warming Christmas beverage to produce a sophisticated cocktail. The mulled wine reduction will keep for up to a month and will make 40-50 of these cocktails, so whip up a batch early on and use it throughout the festive period.

For the mulled wine reduction

3 cinnamon sticks
2 2/3 handfuls of cloves
15 black peppercorns
20 star anise
1 pinch of mace nutmeg, grated
1 orange, juiced and peeled in strips
2l red wine
500g of caster sugar

To build the cocktail

100ml of sparkling wine, preferably Nyetimber Classic Cuvee
lemon juice to taste, 5-10ml

To prepare the mulled wine reduction, add all of the ingredients to a saucepan, apart from the sugar. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the sugar, stir to combine and continue to simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Set aside and allow to cool. Strain and allow the mixture to cool before transferring to a clean, sterilised bottle. This reduction will keep for up to 1 month. To assemble the cocktail, add the sparkling wine to a champagne flute. Pour in 25ml of the mulled wine reduction, then stir in the lemon juice to taste and serve.

Mulled wine

Essential for bonfires, Guy Fawkes, Halloween and Christmas, mulled wine is a great way to brighten the dark evenings of autumn and winter. Adam Gray's recipe includes the expected festive spices and orange zest, but cleverly adds a dash of sweet peach schnapps.

750ml of red wine
250ml of orange juice
100ml of water
50ml of peach schnapps
1/2 orange, pare the zest
5g of star anise
3g of cloves
1g of juniper berries
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 cinnamon stick
1 cardamom pod

For the mulled wine, combine the red wine, orange juice, peach schnapps and water in a saucepan. Add the bay leaf, cardamom pod, cinnamon stick, cloves, orange zest, juniper berries, thyme and star anise and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Carefully pass the mulled wine through a fine sieve and into a jug. It is now ready to serve.

My Favourite Everyday Recipes: From cheddar and ale soup to pollack with orange

Cheddar and ale soup

This is a super soup – ideal on its own with some bread for lunch, or as part of a bigger meal. I really like the combination of the rich, hoppy ale and the gentle acidity from the dairy. The chopped apple and malty dressing I use to garnish the soup cuts through the rich flavours and really makes them shine.

Serves 4

75g butter
1 large onion (about 175g), diced
1 large potato (about 175g), peeled and diced
70g plain flour
500ml chicken stock
500ml brown ale (your choice, but the stronger the better)
100ml double cream
350g strong Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

4tbsps olive oil
1tbsp malt extract
1tbsp cider vinegar

To garnish

1 large Bramley apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
2tbsps chopped chives

Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and potato and cook gently, stirring from time to time, until softened (but don’t let them take on any colour), around 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables in the pan and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the chicken stock. Whack up the heat and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook gently for about 10 minutes until the soup has thickened. Pour in the ale and heat gently for a further few minutes.

Remove from the heat, let cool slightly and then transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the cream and whiz until nice and smooth. Pass the soup through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and season with pepper and a little salt – do not add too much at this stage as the cheese will introduce extra saltiness later.

To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, malt extract and cider vinegar in a small bowl until emulsified. Warm the soup gently over a low heat and stir in the grated cheddar, allowing it to melt. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and trickle a little dressing on top of each one. Sprinkle on the diced apple and chives and serve immediately.

Pollack with orange and dill

The lovely, white flesh of pollack goes really well with a citrus dressing and the earthiness of the dill. I use a bit of Douglas fir in this dish, which might seem a bit “cheffy” for everyday, but if you can get your hands on some, it’s a fantastic addition and goes brilliantly with the other ingredients. If you can’t, no worries. Just leave it out. I like to serve this with a simple potato salad.

Serves 4

4 pollack fillets, about 250g each
Vegetable oil, for frying
Flaky sea salt

For the dressing

3 unwaxed oranges
100ml olive oil
150ml cider vinegar
75g caster sugar
Small bunch of dill, chopped, a few sprigs saved for the garnish
2tbsps Douglas fir pine needles, chopped (optional)

For the coating

175g coarse yellow cornmeal
40g plain flour
1tsp salt
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp garlic powder


For the garnish

1 orange, peeled, all pith removed and cut into segments

First make the dressing. Pare the zest from 2 oranges with a vegetable peeler, keeping a little of the pith on, and cut into small dice. Place in a small saucepan, cover with the olive oil and heat very gently over a low heat, for 20 minutes or until the skin is just soft. Take off the heat and leave to cool. Squeeze the juice from all the oranges and put into a small pan with the cider vinegar and sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it bubble to reduce by two-thirds until thickened and syrupy. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool.

Add the orange zest and olive oil mix to the orange juice reduction and whisk to combine. Stir in the chopped dill and pine needles if using, and set aside until ready to serve.

For the fish coating, mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Heat about a 2cm depth of oil in a deep-sided frying pan or sauté pan until it reaches 180°C. Use a frying thermometer to check the temperature, if you have one; otherwise drop a cube of dry white bread into the hot oil to test it – if the bread turns golden brown in just under a minute, the oil is ready.

Dust the fish fillets on both sides with the cornmeal coating, shaking any excess. You may need to fry them in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Lay the fish in the pan and fry for 2–3 minutes on each side until the crust is crisp and golden brown. Using a fish slice, carefully transfer to a tray lined with kitchen paper to drain. Season lightly with salt. Serve the pollack fillets on warmed plates, garnished with the orange segments and dill, with the dressing spooned over.

White chocolate and pistachio blondies

These make a tempting, sophisticated alternative to the more familiar dark chocolate brownies. The earthy flavour of the sesame seeds and oil works so beautifully with white chocolate, balancing out its sweetness. Sprinkling on a little flaky sea salt at the end is a lovely finishing touch.

Makes 16

300g plain flour
2tsps baking powder
Pinch of salt
100g shelled pistachio nuts, (bright green ones if you can find them), roughly chopped
200g white chocolate, roughly chopped
50g sesame seeds
150g butter, plus extra for greasing
300g demerara sugar
40ml rapeseed oil
40ml sesame oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthways
Flaky sea salt, to finish

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Lightly grease a 25cm square cake tin with butter and line the base and sides with non-stick baking parchment, letting some overhang the sides of the tin, to make it easier to lift out the cake later. Put the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and mix well, using a balloon whisk, to combine. Stir in the pistachios, 100g of the chocolate and the sesame seeds.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a very low heat, then add the demerara sugar, rapeseed and sesame oil, and the eggs. Using the point of a small, sharp knife, scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pod directly into the pan. Heat very gently for 3-4 minutes, whisking constantly, to combine and warm through – don’t overheat or the eggs will curdle.

Pour the warm mixture onto the dry ingredients and whisk until thoroughly combined and the chocolate has melted. Finally, fold in the remaining chopped chocolate.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes, until cooked through. It should be lightly golden and quite firm to the touch. If a skewer inserted into the centre comes up slightly tacky, that’s fine, as it means the blondie will be nice and moist in the centre.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle on a generous pinch of flaky sea salt. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift out, peel away the parchment and place on a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares to serve. The blondies will keep for 4-5 days in an airtight tin.

Spuntino: New York Comfort Food From Eggplant Chips To Fennel Pizzetta

Restaurateur Russell Norman had fallen in love with new York before he even visited it. But what he found when he did first visit in 1999, was that most of the so-called American food was in fact Italian, from meatballs, to pizza and macaroni cheese.

Inspired by what he found in New York, across the pond back home, he opened a restaurant named Spuntino – Italian for snack – in London’s Soho area serving up his beloved American dishes in a similarly seedy area to New York’s East Village.

The book is made up of 120 recipes of those snack type dishes made up of luscious meats and the vibrant salads he found and recreated in his small restaurant.

Mozzarella & Cavolo Nero Crostini

When it is in season, cavolo nero is one of my hero ingredients. Its deep, dark green colour and its long crinkled leaves are incredibly glamorous, and it is surprisingly versatile. Florence Knight, one of my favourite chefs, picks the smallest, most delicate raw leaves and tosses them in a delightful anchovy dressing with bread fried in butter. Delicious. This recipe specifies a swift blanch; you really mustn’t overcook the cavolo nero, otherwise it loses much of its flavour and many of its nutrients too.

Makes 4

1 bunch of cavolo nero, about 200g, stems removed
3 garlic cloves
Good handful of grated Parmesan, about 20g
Flaky sea salt and black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
8 slices of ciabatta
2 x 125g balls of buffalo mozzarella, at room temperature

Place a pan of salted water over a high heat. Cut the cavolo nero into 2cm strips. Once the water has come to the boil, add the cavolo nero and, when the water comes back to the boil, blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess liquid. Transfer the cavolo nero to the small bowl of a food processor. Add two of the garlic cloves, the Parmesan and some salt and pepper, and whizz to a purée. With the motor still going slowly add 100ml of the olive oil, then transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the lemon juice.

Now place a heavy-based griddle pan over a medium heat. Lightly coat the sliced bread with a few brushes of olive oil and grill on both sides until lightly charred. Halve the remaining garlic clove and rub over the hot grilled bread. Top with broken-up pieces of mozzarella and a generous amount of the cavolo nero purée. Serve immediately.

Fennel Salami, Caper & Chilli Pizzetta

Fennel salami (or finocchiona) is one of my favourite sausages and one that is much celebrated in Tuscany, from where it comes. Dry-cured lean pork shoulder and fatty pork cheek, spiced with fennel, then aged for up to a year, are the secrets to this fantastically flavoursome salami. Cooking it makes it even tastier. I find the best capers for this pizzetta are the very dainty Sicilian variety.

For one pizzetta:

1 pizzetta base
1 tablespoon basic tomato sauce or tomato passata
25g grated block mozzarella – the hard, cheap kind
4 slices of fennel salami (finocchiona)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon capers
½ teaspoon chilli flakes

Preheat your oven on its highest setting. If you are using a pizza stone (which I highly recommend), allow 15 minutes for it to get really hot. (An alternative is a good metal baking sheet.) The temperature should be at least 240-250ºC, which is Gas 9 or over, but get it higher if you can.

Onto your pizzetta base, gently spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce (or passata), then sprinkle over the grated mozzarella. Place the slices of finocchiona on top. Scatter over the grated Parmesan, capers and chilli. Cook on the pizza stone in your preheated oven for about 6-10 minutes (depending on how hot your oven can go) or until the edges start to bubble and burn.

Eggplant Chips with Fennel Yoghurt

This has been on the menu at Spuntino since day one and is a much-requested recipe. For me, it’s a dish about contrasts. The hot eggplant chips versus the cool yoghurt. The crunchy sesame coating versus the soft centre. The smoky flavour of the eggplant versus the aniseed tang of the fennel. You can have fun with the presentation of this dish too, by using a shot glass for the fennel yoghurt and then stacking the chips around or to the side.

Makes 6-8

2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 eggplants (aka aubergines)
100g plain flour
1 teaspoon fine salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
3-4 medium eggs
150g panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1 litre vegetable oil, for deep frying

For the fennel yoghurt

1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
125g mayonnaise
200g plain Greek-style yoghurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Large pinch of flaky sea salt
Pinch of black pepper

First of all, toast the coriander and fennel seeds for both the aubergine and the yoghurt. Put them all – 3 teaspoons of each – in a non-stick frying pan and dry fry over a medium heat for a few minutes, until you can smell their spiciness. Do keep an eye on them, as they can easily burn. Remove from the heat, then grind in a pestle and mortar.

Now make the fennel yoghurt. Take 2 teaspoons of the ground seeds and combine with the rest of the fennel yoghurt ingredients. Put it in the fridge. Cut the eggplant into thick 10cm-long chips.

Now take three bowls. Mix the flour, salt and pepper in the first. In the second bowl, beat the eggs. Mix together the breadcrumbs, the remaining ground coriander and fennel seeds and the sesame seeds in the third bowl. Dip the eggplant chips in the flour, coating well, shake off any excess and then place in the egg wash, shaking off any drips, and then coat well with the breadcrumbs. Set aside at room temperature, not in the fridge, if not cooking straightaway.

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pan to 190ºC (or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil turns golden brown in less than a minute). Now fry the coated eggplant chips, in batches, for 2–3 minutes or until golden brown. Lift out, drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little salt. Serve hot with the chilled fennel yoghurt.

Caribbean Cooking: From Barbecued Jerk Turkey To Plantain Stew

Quorn chicken, coconut and plantain stew

The starchy and low-in-sugar plantain pairs wonderfully with high protein and low saturated fat Quorn chicken pieces. The use of coconut adds an exciting layer of flavour, while the lime juice gives it a lively finish.

Quorn is high in fibre and low in calories, making it a great alternative to meat for vegetarians or for meat lovers looking to reduce their meat intake. It is quick and easy to cook, with endless recipe possibilities.

Please note: Plantain can be found in local African, South American or Caribbean shops. Pumpkin or sweet potato work well as a replacement.

350g of Quorn chicken pieces
3tbsp of coconut oil
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
Black pepper, freshly cracked
1 plantain, cut into 1cm chunks
1 white onion, finely diced
2 tomatoes, cut into quarters
300ml of coconut cream
1 handful of coriander, chopped
½ lime, juice
Salt
Pepper
Chilli, (optional)

Spray coconut oil onto a large non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Then add Quorn chicken pieces and fry for 4-5 minutes until light golden. Remove from skillet and reserve.

Add more oil to the pan if needed, and fry the onions and tomatoes for 3-4 minutes until they are softened. Reduce the heat, add the coconut cream to the pan and the plantain in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, then turn each piece over and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Add the chicken pieces to the simmering sauce, cover and cook for approximately 15 minutes, until the plantain is completely tender. Add the chopped coriander, green chillies (optional) and lime juice. Serve immediately with rice.

Barbecued jerk turkey steaks

Scotch bonnets add some authentic fire to this jerk turkey recipe, but you can substitute them for chillis for a tamer heat if you like. Adam Gray’s celeriac and apple coleslaw provides some cooling relief as a side to the turkey steaks.

Jerk turkey
1 turkey breast, boneless
½ bunch of fresh thyme
4tbsp of clear runny honey
8tsp ground cinnamon
2 scotch bonnet chillies, chopped
8tbsp of allspice
4tbsp of dark rum
Celeriac and apple coleslaw
1 celeriac
3 Braeburn apples, peeled and cored
2tbsp of English mustard
150g of mayonnaise
½ bunch of chives
Salt
Ground white pepper

Pick the leaves from the fresh thyme and finely chop. Mix the chopped thyme leaves with the clear honey, ground cinnamon, chopped chillies, allspice and rum. Slice the turkey into 1.5cm-thick steaks and place in a shallow tray. Rub the jerk seasoning mix thoroughly into the steaks, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours – preferably 24 hours.

For the coleslaw, peel and finely shred the celeriac. Slice the apples into 0.5cm-wide discs and then cut into thin matchsticks. Mix the apple with the celeriac. In a separate bowl, mix the mustard and mayonnaise together. Gradually add the mustard mayonnaise to the celeriac and apple, ensuring that final mix is not too wet. Finely chop the chives and add them to the celeriac and apple coleslaw. Season the mixture with salt and white pepper to taste.

To cook the turkey, place the marinated turkey steaks on a hot barbecue, rotating every 4-5 minutes until cooked all the way through. Once cooked, remove from the barbecue and leave to rest on a serving tray for 3-4 minutes, to ensure they are moist and tender. Serve the turkey steaks with the apple and celeriac coleslaw.

Caribbean chicken with sweetcorn fritters

A simple marinade of buttermilk and hot pepper sauce creates perfectly tender, yet flavour-packed chicken in this easy Caribbean chicken recipe from Karen Burns-Booth. Pan-fried to create a crisp golden crust, Karen serves the spicy chicken with an easy sweetcorn fritter recipe and a tropical salad on the side.

This is a fabulous recipe for a family midweek meal and, more importantly, it can all be prepared in the morning, ready for a bit of frying action in the evening. Skinless chicken breasts are given a spicy makeover by being marinated in buttermilk with some fiery hot pepper sauce. The batter for the corn fritters can also be made ahead, and then all you need to cook this easy meal is just two frying pans.

If you want to serve the chicken in smaller pieces for the little ones, then just slice the chicken breasts into fingers before marinating. The hot pepper sauce I used for the marinade may be a tad too spicy for the very wee ones in the family, so adjust the amount you add to the marinade or offer it on the side when serving.

If you are cooking for a crowd (and this is a perfect recipe for any large gathering), then just keep the cooked chicken and corn fritters warm in a preheated oven whilst you cook the rest. I served this with a fresh pineapple, banana and coconut salad for added tropical taste, but any crisp seasonal salad will work as a fresh accompaniment.

Hot pepper sauce is a staple in my store cupboard (and has been for years now) as I love how the blend of Scotch Bonnet and Habanero peppers creates a fiery yet fruity finish.

Caribbean chicken with sweetcorn fritters

4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
2tbsp of West Indian Original Hot Pepper Sauce, plus extra to serve
150ml of buttermilk, or skimmed milk
1 large egg, beaten
Plain flour, for dusting
100g of breadcrumbs
Rapeseed oil, for frying
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Sweetcorn fritters

160g of sweetcorn, drained weight
1 large egg, beaten
75g of self-raising flour
Red chilli, or fresh herbs, chopped (optional)
1 dash of milk, if needed
Rapeseed oil, for frying
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To serve

Mixed salad leaves
¼ fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into chunks
½ red onion, finely chopped
Coconut, shaved into slivers
Fresh coriander

Mix together the buttermilk and hot pepper sauce. Place the chicken breasts in a shallow dish and pour over the marinade to coat. Cover the dish and set aside to marinate for a few hours, or until ready to cook. For the sweetcorn fritters, prepare the batter by mixing the beaten egg into the flour until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then mix in the sweetcorn and chilli or herbs (if using). If the mixture is a little thick, add a dash of milk to loosen. Reserve until needed. When ready to cook the chicken, place the beaten egg in a shallow dish, a pile of plain flour (seasoned with a little salt and pepper) in another, and the breadcrumbs in a third.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and dip first in the seasoned flour, then the beaten egg, then in the breadcrumbs to create a thick coating. Add a little rapeseed oil to a large frying pan and place over a medium heat. When hot, add the chicken, turn the heat down slightly and fry the chicken for 5-7 minutes on each side until the chicken has a golden brown crust and is cooked all the way through. Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a second pan. Drop large spoonfuls of the sweetcorn batter into the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until puffed up and golden brown. Mix together the salad, pineapple, coconut and red onion for the salad. Add a few sprigs of fresh coriander. Serve with the chicken and fritters.

Cabana Carnival Food From Cheese Pastels To Grilled Crab

From snacks of grilled crab to barbecued chicken skewers, marinated in chilli, garlic and paprikia to tropical cocktails galore, Carnival! has everything you'll need to create your own Brazilian-inspired party to celebrate the Rio 2016 Olympics.

It is written by the team behind the popular chain of Brazilian restaurants, Cabana, and includes cultural tips from how to dance the samba to mixing that all-important caipirinha.

Four-cheese pastels

Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside Japan, but because the two countries were once at war, many Japanese immigrants tried to pass as Chinese, cooking their native dishes with a Chinese accent. The pastel (originating from the spring roll) is one such dish, and is still enjoyed all over the country.

500g  plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1½tsp fine sea salt
1tbsp hot chicken stock (or water)
15g lard, melted
1tbsp cachaça
100g  grated Gruyère cheese
100g  cream cheese
100g  feta cheese, crumbled
100g  ricotta
½tsp freshly ground black pepper vegetable or groundnut oil, for deep-frying Molho Vinagrete

First, make the dough. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre. Stir the stock, lard, cachaça and 125ml warm water in a jug,  then pour this into the well. Stir together to form a soft dough. If it’s too dry and won’t form a ball, gradually add more warm water until it comes together. Tip the mixture on to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Do not overwork it, or it will become tough. Cover with clingfilm and set aside for at least 15 minutes.

Mix together the four cheeses and black pepper in a small bowl and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the dough very thinly (cover the other half in clingfilm), then cut out 10cm squares. Put 1 teaspoon filling in the centre of each square on one side.

Brush a little water around the edges, then fold  over the other half to make a rectangle. Press down on the edges to seal, trying not to create any air pockets. Use  the tines of a fork to press down along all four sides to ensure a good seal. Continue making the rest of the pastels and transfer to the baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 180°C/350°F. Fry in batches for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown on  both sides, turning them halfway. Drain on  kitchen paper and keep warm while you  fry the rest. Serve warm with Molho Vinagrete or Mango Salsa.

Prawn and palm heart pastels 

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan, add a finely chopped onion and 3 chopped garlic cloves and cook gently for a few minutes. Skin, deseed and finely chop 2 tomatoes and add to the pan with 1bsp tomato purée. Stir well and cook for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Drain and roughly chop a 400g  tin of palm hearts. Roughly chop 100g  cooked, peeled prawns. Add  to the pan and season well with salt and pepper. Allow to cool before filling the pastels as described in the recipe.

Beef pastels

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide pan, add 400g minced beef and cook until browned. Add  1 finely chopped spring onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves and 2 peeled, deseeded and chopped tomatoes. Fry for a few more minutes until the tomatoes have softened. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and stir in 2 tablespoons chopped parsley. Allow to cool before filling the pastels as described in the recipe.

Molho literally means ‘sauce’ in Portuguese, and molho vinagrete is a typical sauce used at Brasilian barbecues. The  tangy flavours work well with most barbecue dishes.

3 ripe plum tomatoes (about 250g)
1 small onion
small handful of flat-leaf parsley
1tbsp white wine vinegar
3tbsp light olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Halve the tomatoes, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon, chop them and place in a large bowl. Chop the onion to about the same size as the tomatoes and add to the bowl. Finely chop the parsley leaves and add them to the bowl. Whisk the vinegar, oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper to make a dressing. Drizzle it over the tomato mixture and stir well. Spoon into one large or small individual bowls to serve.

Mango Salsa

Mangoes grow in abundance in Brasil’s tropical climate, in a rainbow of varieties. Juicy with mango flesh, tart and piquant with lime juice and chilli, this mango salsa is excellent with seafood, such as the Sweet Potato Crab Cakes, and also pairs nicely with grilled chicken and pork.

1 small ripe mango
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 red or green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
juice and zest of ½ lime
Few sprigs of coriander, leaves chopped 
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the mango and cut off the flesh around the seed. Slice the flesh into 1cm dice and place in a large bowl. Add  the rest of the ingredients, stir well and season with salt and pepper. Serve soon after preparing, as the coriander will darken once exposed to the lime juice.

Grilled crab shells

In Brazil, you’ll find the classic bar snack of grilled crab (casquinha de siri) served in scallop or crab shells – real or plastic – but you can just as easily use a ramekin. The siri crab is common in Brasil, but any fresh white crab meat can be used for our recipe. It’s best finished with a squeeze of lime to cut through the melted cheese and bring out the flavour of the crab. Serve with a side salad and an ice-cold beer as a summery starter.

300–400g fresh white crab meat (from an 800g–1.2kg cooked brown crab)
2 slices white bread, crusts removed
2 tbsp coconut milk mixed with 1 tbsp hot water
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
1 shallot, finely chopped
1⁄2 yellow pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
1⁄2 green pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 large plum tomato, deseeded and finely chopped 
60ml white wine
15g desiccated coconut (or use freshly grated, if available)
1 tsp English mustard
juice of 1 lime, plus extra wedges to serve 
small handful of coriander leaves, chopped 
60g dried breadcrumbs
25g grated Parmesan cheese
20g cold butter
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pick through the crab meat to remove any bits of shell. Cover and refrigerate. Tear the bread into small pieces and soak in the coconut milk for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the shallot, peppers, garlic, chilli and tomato and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in the soaked bread and desiccated coconut and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the crab meat, mustard, lime juice and coriander and season with salt and pepper. If it’s too dry, add a little more coconut milk. Spoon into 4 lightly oiled ramekins or clean scallop shells.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6. Mix the breadcrumbs and Parmesan and sprinkle them over the crab mixture. Cut the butter into very thin slices and place over the breadcrumbs. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown. (If the topping isn’t browning enough, put it under the grill for 2-4 minutes). Serve hot with wedges of lime.

Sweet potato fries

These fries are one of the most popular dishes at Cabana. The sweet potatoes turn a wonderful bright orange when fried, and are complemented by the deep red paprika, which adds a subtle spice.

500g (about 2 large) sweet potatoes 
vegetable oil, for deep-fat frying
1 tsp smoked paprika
sea salt

Cut the potatoes lengthways into 1cm thick chips. Heat the oil in a medium pan or deep-fat fryer to 130°C/265°F. Fry the potatoes in small batches for 3-4 minutes, until soft and tender but not browned. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Set aside at room temperature.

When you are ready to eat, heat the oil to 180°C/350°F. Carefully add a batch of par-cooked chips to the hot oil and cook for 2-4 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. If not using a deep-fat fryer, you may need to adjust the heat if the chips brown too quickly. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. While hot, sprinkle with a little smoked paprika and sea salt. Keep warm while frying the rest of the chips. Transfer to 1 large or individual warmed bowls and serve immediately.

From Carrot And Feta Bites To Rosemary Hake

After reaching the final of the BBC's baking programme aged just 20, Ruby Tandoh offers up her second cookbook, following Crumb.

Reflecting the way we cook, the book is separated by ingredients, from lentils and pulses to citrus, spice and sugar, which is designed to help you follow your cravings (or cook with what is in the fridge) and create the best possible flavours while doing so.

Ruby also explains the best way to cook each of her key ingredients, including when they are in season and what to pair it with.

Focusing on flavour and freedom, her recipes include Ghanaian peanut chicken, glazed blueberry fritter doughnuts, and hot and sour lentil soup. Flavour was published on 17 July, and Ruby is currently travelling around Italy.

Carrot and feta bites with lime yoghurt

Makes 16, serving 4

4 large carrots (roughly 600g/21oz total)
½ tsp salt
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
150g (5oz) feta, crumbled into small chunks
Zest of 2 limes
4 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Small handful of parsley, finely chopped
2 large eggs
Vegetable oil, for frying


For the dipping sauce:
150g (5oz) natural yoghurt
Juice of 1 lime
Small handful of parsley, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper, to taste

These are something like vegetarian meatballs: little bites of carrot married with the heat of spring onion, spice and plenty of tasty feta. A lime yoghurt dip does a good job of cooling the saltiness of the cheese and brightening the flavour of the carrot bites with a zesty, sour zing. Take care not to rush or skip the salting and draining of the grated carrot, as it’s this stage that draws out the moisture so that the little veg bites hold together without sogginess.

Coarsely grate the carrots and mix with the salt in a large bowl (it sounds like a lot of salt, but it’s just there to draw the moisture out of the carrots, and most of it will be lost). Let the salted carrot sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze it out – either in your hands or through a muslin cloth or tea towel – removing as much of the liquid as you can.

Stir the onions, feta, lime zest, flour, spices and parsley into the drained carrot. Whisk the eggs lightly together then add them to the mix. If the mixture is too dry to just about hold together in balls when you squeeze it in between your palms, add a drop of milk or water; if it’s too wet, add another tablespoon of flour.

Heat a little oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Divide the carrot mixture into 16 portions, shaping each little mound into a rough rugby ball shape using your hands. Working in batches, fry over a medium heat for around 4 minutes, giving them a quarter turn every minute, until they’re nicely browned and set on all sides.

For the dipping sauce, mix the yoghurt, lime juice and parsley with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Serve with the carrot bites while they’re hot.

Rosemary and Olive Hake with Cherry Tomatoes

Serves 4

75ml (3fl oz) olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 sprigs of rosemary
1kg (2lb 2oz) cherry tomatoes
125g (4oz) Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
4 skinless and boneless hake fillets (you can also use cod)
Salt and black pepper, to taste

This dish shows that with a little time and some careful cooking, you can turn just a handful of simple ingredients into a flavourful one-pot meal. Because it’s braised in the sticky tomato mixture, the hake stays perfectly moist and tender, soaking up the rosemary and garlic aromas as it cooks. Serve with ciabatta to absorb the tomato juices.

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat. A high-sided pan will do if you don’t have a frying pan large enough. Fry the garlic and whole rosemary sprigs for a minute or two, until fragrant but not browning. Add the Cherry tomatoes and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the olives, put a lid on the pan, and cook for 15 minutes more until the tomatoes are meltingly soft. Season the tomato mixture to taste then set the hake fillets in the pan, nestling them down among the veg. Put the lid back on and cook for 6-8 minutes, until the fish is cook through and flakes under a fork.

Our Korean Kitchen: Recipes From Asia's Best Kept Secret

Exploring the secrets of Korean cuisine, the book caters for novices as well as the more experienced, from stir-fried spicy squid, to sesame and soy marinated beef. The recipes have been created by acclaimed food writer Jordan Bourke and his Korean wife Rejina, whose culinary history forms the basis of the book.

Alongside the recipes there are notes on dining etiquette, a list of key ingredients that are used throughout the book and how and when to use many of the side dishes.

Haemul pa-jeon – Seafood and Spring Onion Pancake 

200g mixed squid rings and prawns 
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1tsp toasted sesame seeds
2tsp roasted sesame seed oil
100g plain flour (or white spelt flour)
3 level tbsp glutinous rice flour (or cornflour) 
2 eggs, beaten
2tbsp sunflower oil
6 spring onions, sliced lengthways
½ green chilli, deseeded and sliced
½ red chilli, deseeded and sliced 
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dipping sauce

2tbsp soy sauce
1tsp rice wine vinegar
½tsp roasted sesame oil
1 small garlic clove, crushed
¼tsp toasted sesame seeds

This dense, savoury pancake makes a fantastic starter or sharing dish with everyone diving in with their chopsticks, mopping up some of the soy dipping sauce along the way. Extremely popular as a snack in Korea, you can make it on your own with whatever selection of seafood you like. A plain spring onion version of the pancake, without any seafood, is also a very popular Korean dish, so feel free to leave out the fish if you prefer – just double the quantity of spring onions.

In a bowl, combine all the dipping sauce ingredients together and set aside. Wash the seafood and drain. Place it in a bowl with half the crushed garlic, the sesame seeds, sesame oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the flours with a ¼ teaspoon of salt, then add half the beaten egg, the remaining garlic and slowly whisk in 150ml of ice-cold water. (Do not add in all the water at once, as you may not need the full amount.) The batter should be the consistency of thick pouring cream. If you are not using fish, add the garlic, salt, sesame seeds and sesame seed oil straight into the batter.

Place a 22cm non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, add the sunflower oil and when hot ladle in 2 thirds of the batter. Use the back of a spoon to coat the base of the pan with the batter. Place the spring onion strips onto the pancake, with the green ends lying in both directions, then scatter over the chillies and seafood. Add the remaining beaten egg to the remaining batter and whisk to combine, then drizzle it over the spring onions and seafood so that they do not come loose when flipping the pancake. Fry over a medium heat for 3 – 4 minutes until the bottom is set then carefully invert the pancake onto a plate and slide it back into the pan and fry for a further 3 – 4 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the pancake is golden and crispy.

Serve immediately, dividing up the pancake into bite-size pieces, with the dipping sauce alongside.

Oh-ee kimchi - Almost-instant Cucumber Kimchi 

3 Persian (pickling) cucumbers or 1 regular cucumber
1tsp fine sea salt
1 garlic clove, crushed
2tsp gochugaru red pepper powder (or a little less if you prefer) 
2tsp unrefined sugar or coconut palm sugar
2½tsp rice wine vinegar
2tsp roasted sesame seed oil
2tsp toasted sesame seeds

This is for those days when you open the fridge and realise that you are out of kimchi! All is not lost however, as this almost instant cucumber kimchi can be made in no time, omitting the fermentation process. The shorter, squatter Persian cucumber – sometimes labelled as pickling or baby cucumber – is ideal for this recipe, being less watery with a more pronounced flavour. Persian cucumbers are easily available in good supermarkets and fruit and veg markets. If you can’t find it, you can use normal cucumber, but it will be a little more watery.

Wash the cucumbers and pat them dry. Halve them lengthways and then slice them into very thin half-moon shapes. Put the slices in a bowl with the salt and combine together. Set aside for 30 minutes. Combine the remaining ingredients, apart from the sesame seeds, in a bowl. Drain the cucumbers of any liquid then add them to the bowl. Gently, but thoroughly, combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour or until chilled. Serve sprinkled with the sesame seeds. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge if stored in an airtight container.

Paeju gui – Scallops with Salted Sesame Oil 

Serves 6

12 scallops
1½tbsp vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
squeeze of lemon juice
1tsp toasted sesame seeds
1tsp chopped chives
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Salted sesame oil
1tbsp roasted sesame seed oil
½tsp sea salt

One of the chefs I’ve worked with used to make this as a snack – it’s such a simple dish, and so quick, so we often make it when having guests over. The scallops work really well as a canapé or as a light starter, where you can serve them on or off the skewers. The sesame salt is unadorned here, so make sure to use good-quality roasted sesame seed oil. Soak 6 wooden skewers in water for 15 minutes. In a small serving dish, mix together the sesame seed oil and salt.

Rinse the scallops and cut off the tough white muscle tissue on the side. If preferred, you can also remove the orange-coloured roe, but we think they taste great and have a brilliant colour. Heat the oil in a pan over a high heat. Thread 2 scallops onto each skewer. Lightly season both sides with salt and pepper.

When the pan is very hot, place the skewers flat onto the pan (cook in batches if there is not enough space) and fry, undisturbed, over a high heat for 1 minute until golden.

Flip over and fry for 40 seconds. Then add the garlic and a squeeze of lemon juice. Fry for another 10 seconds, just to allow all the flavours to come together, making sure the garlic does not burn. Then remove from the heat.

Serve immediately with the sesame seeds and chives scattered over the top and the salted sesame oil on the side to dip into.

Gin Cocktails Recipes: Hepple gin English Favourites

From now until September, The Goring Hotel’s beautiful secret garden will be home to a living moorland hillock of heather, juniper and wild flowers surrounded by a mini forest of botanicals…all of which is actually a gin bar in disguise.

Award-winning spirits brand Hepple Gin, have created a one-off living bar and gin safari, bringing the soul-restoring Northumberland moors to the five star hotel. The Goring Gin Garden is the place to hide out this summer and enjoy an exclusive gin cocktail, which has been especially created by the Hepple team who are brining the wildness of the north to a corner of Belgravia and a gin experience like no other.

Northside Collins 

Hepple Gin stirred with chocolate mint, lemon balm and apple juice topped with soda water. Garnished with sprigs of chocolate mint and lemon balm from the garden.

50ml Hepple Gin
50ml Soda water

Add to pre batch mix of:

50ml chocolate mint/lemon balm tea
50ml cloudy apple juice
5ml citric acid  (made by adding 10g sachet to 100ml water)
10ml sugar syrup
Stirred in a highball glass with ice

Hepple 75 

Hepple Gin, elderflower and strawberry syrup and lemon juice crowned with sparkling wine

25ml Hepple gin
15ml elderflower and strawberry syrup
15ml lemon juice
125ml sparkling wine

Strawberry syrup is made with one cup of strawberries and one cup of sugar left for 24 hours. Add elderflower cordial in a two to one ratio (2 strawberry syrup to 1 elderflower). Ingredients stirred over ice, strain into champagne flute and top up with sparkling wine. Garnish with slice of strawberry.

Cosmopolitan Daisy 

Hepple Gin shaken with fresh raspberry syrup, citrus liqueur and lemon juice.

50ml Hepple Gin
10ml Triple Sec

Pre Mix:

15ml Raspberry syrup
15ml Lemon juice
Combine pre mix, Hepple Gin and Triple Sec
Shake on ice
Garnish with fresh raspberry

Raspberry Syrup: 1 cup of frozen raspberries to 1 cup of sugar left for 24h then add equal amount of lemon juice.

When grief strikes, food can be a gift from the gods

Less than two weeks ago, I suddenly lost a friend. On his 39th birthday, Andy drowned during a beach vacation with his family. The loss of someone so young and vital and full of life has sent shockwaves through our sleepy southern town.

Following the accident, the community has rallied around his widow and year-old son, donating money for funeral expenses and struggling together to come to terms with the tragedy. And while there are truly no words a person can say to ease the pain of losing a loved one, there are specific things we can do.

One of them is cooking. I don’t know if it’s a southern thing, a farm community thing, or maybe it’s just old-fashioned, but where I come from, when someone dies, the casserole dishes start coming out almost before anyone’s called the coroner.

People can eat all the carrot sticks and carb-free tortillas they want when they’re feeling happy
My memories of the time around my mother’s death two years ago are a strange mixture of too-sharp, minutely etched mental photographs and blank periods of bleak, gray numbness. I alternated between a kind of mown-down exhaustion and bouts of nervous, manic activity.

I would walk into rooms with no knowledge of why I was there or where I had just come from. I nearly burned the house down by putting on a kettle to boil for tea and then walking away for two and a half hours.

Sometimes I manifested all of the symptoms of deep depression including loss of appetite and constant sleeping. Other times, I was seized with violent urges toward anything that felt like living – sudden impulses to dance wildly or scream, to have sex, to buy things. And when I got hungry, it felt like the hunger of an animal.

I suspect this is why southerners try to bury bereaved people in food. My mother’s friends and our relatives brought a mountain of food to her house that last week of July 2014. Cakes, pies, loaves of homemade bread, crocks of macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, chilli, barbecue, homemade ice cream and a profusion of casseroles, congealed salads and other ambrosias.

“Feel free to eat your feelings, folks,” was the implicit message. “Turns out they are delicious!”

The bounty serves a dual purpose. The grieving family is freed of having to shake off their heavy sadness in order to cook for themselves and they also have a variety of treats on hand to offer the parade of well-wishers who will come to pay their respects.

The one item I remember most vividly from the week of my mother’s death was a chicken casserole made by my Aunt Faye. (She’s actually a cousin, but like many southern families, the titles “aunt”, “uncle” and “cousin” get thrown around with very little regard to how we are actually related – if we are at all.)

This casserole was everything a person could ever want in comfort food. Creamy and deeply satisfying, it boasted a crunchy crust made of poppy seeds and toasted Ritz crackers. It hit all the marks. I remember each bite feeling like it was steadily warming me up from the inside out, restoring me to warmth and life and providing some of the first real pleasure I’d had in what felt like eons.

I called Aunt Faye last week to get the recipe, which required not one but two cans of Campbell’s condensed soup and a lot more butter sour cream than is probably safe. I followed it exactly, though. People can eat all the carrot sticks and carb-free tortillas they want when they’re feeling happy. Heavy grief, in my opinion, is best fought off with equally heavy cream.

I dropped off the casserole and a chocolate meringue pie with Andy’s wife Nora and her mom, hugged the baby and politely withdrew. I wasn’t even halfway home when the first text came.

“Oh, wow,” Nora wrote, “this casserole is amazing!”

I texted back a row of emoji hearts when I got to a traffic light. While our powers to soothe heartbreak are limited, we offer what gifts we can.

In this way, I like to think we can strike little victories against the pain and darkness that inevitably come with being alive.

How to spice up your summer suppers with Korean influences

It’s oh-so easy to fall into a cooking rut. We all do it. You find yourself time pressed and whip up the same dish again and again. Sure they loved your tuna surprise the first hundred times you made it but now it’s greeted with audible yawns or barely concealed groans. Suddenly it’s not such a surprise anymore.

The good news? It doesn’t take much culinary muscle to climb out of a cooking rut. Sometimes all it takes is one ingredient.

These days, my new best friend is gochujang – a Korean hot pepper paste. The rise in popularity of Korean food – think kimchi and bibimbap – makes it much easier to find Korean ingredients these days. I found gochujang at a Korean market but you can buy it online too.

What is it? Gochujang is a savoury, spicy condiment made from red chilli, glutinous rice and fermented soybeans. It’s thick – we’re not talking about a pourable hot sauce here – and sticky with a hint of sweetness.

You’ll want to thin it out a bit before using but when you do the possibilities are endless. Brush it on a steak before grilling, mix a hefty dollop into some Greek yoghurt and serve with roasted vegetables, stir some into soup for a hit of chilli heat or spread it onto flat bread and top with leftover roast lamb.
Or use it for a marinade like I’ve done here. This couldn’t be easier – some garlic, ginger, and oil. That’s it. I used boneless chicken thighs because the dark meat stands up to the heat of a barbecue better than chicken breasts and they’re less expensive. Having said that, I use free-range thighs that cost more than bog-standard chicken but the taste is infinitely better. And it still only costs a few pounds for a serving of chicken (based on two thighs per person).

Pair it with a crisp salad chock full of raw vegetables and you’re in business. I like to serve the chicken on a platter with lots of lime wedges and a sprinkle of sea salt and some chopped coriander. Waltz into the dining room with that and folks will perk up.  And next time you’re tempted to make your tuna surprise, toss in a tablespoon of gochujang – that’ll surprise them.

You can find gochujang in Korean markets and also online at www.souschef.co.uk

Spicy chicken thighs

You could make half of this recipe no problem, but any leftovers are a joy to have the next day – great sliced and served on a salad or tucked into pitta bread.

Serves 5-6

2 tbsp Gochujang
4 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 knob of ginger, about 20-30g
12 chicken thighs, about 1 kilo
Coriander, chopped for garnish
2 limes, cut into wedges
Salt

Place the gochujang, oil, and garlic in a large bowl. Grate the ginger. I find the easiest way is to take a teaspoon and drag it along the ginger to remove the outer skin. A grapefruit spoon with a serrated edge works particularly well. Then finely grate the ginger and add it to the marinade ingredients.

Put the chicken thighs in the marinade and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to barbecue – a couple of hours if you have the time.

You can cook the thighs on a medium hot barbecue or inside in a frying pan or ridged grill pan. Salt the side facing up. If your hot pepper paste contains sugar – and mine does – then keep an eye out because it can burn if you’re not careful.

Cook until nicely browned on one side – about 4 minutes or so – then turn and cook on the other. Again, sprinkle lightly with salt. If you’re unsure if the thighs are cooked then you can pierce one with a skewer – the cooking juices should run clear.

When done, remove to a serving dish. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil (optional), a sprinkle of sea salt, some chopped coriander and wedges of lime. Serve hot or at room temperature.