Salt gets a bad press. I know it’s responsible for the untold misery of heart disease, high blood pressure and a thousand other fairly major medical complaints, but it also has a near mythical ability to preserve food and concentrate flavour, the closest thing to culinary alchemy there is. This duck prosciutto, a ham born [...]
At this time of year, I tend to over indulge a little, not too much, but enough to make me think that, yes, I really do need to go to the gym or grind out some miles along the canal bank. This recipe was the start of the Christmas downfall for this year. It’s rich, [...]
This is a traditional Italian torte, loaded with hazelnuts and poppy seeds, rich with ricotta cheese. It goes well with a cup of good, strong coffee. First butter and line a 28cm tart or cake tin, one with a removable base, with greaseproof paper. Toast 125g of hazelnuts in a dry frying pan over a [...]
I posted some photos last week from a small café and bookshop in Becherel, France. It was an amazing place, a bookshop with a café attached as a sideline rather than the other way round. This is the way these things should be. It was how I imagine my bookshop will look and feel if [...]
I’m not a huge fan of spirits, so when a recipe calls for a dash of this or a small glass of that, a trip to the off-licence is often needed. This Spanish tart from the superb Moro Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark calls for oloroso sherry, a smooth, dark and nutty wine. I [...]
dessert,
Food,
Food & drink,
Liquor,
Moro,
Oddbins,
oloroso,
Pastry,
Sherry,
Sugar,
tart