Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the prolific chef and restaurateur in New York City, operates more than 45 restaurants around the world and has written five cookbooks. All of his books capture the remarkable way he merges simplicity and elucidative flavor combinations. His fourth book, 2011’s “Home Cooking with Jean-Georges ($40),” does so in a particularly utilitarian fashion.

Cooking with eyes wide open

Vongerichten’s five-ingredient watermelon salad, for example, is a ferocious overturning of how to think about a favorite fruit. The rich funk of the blue cheese and resonant twang of freshly ground black pepper convince the watermelon to let its sweetness glow. The fruit’s juicy core tangoes with extra-virgin olive oil’s grassy unctuousness. Pop, pop goes a dusting of flaky salt.

In the recipe’s intro, Vongerichten offhandedly notes the salad “tastes even better when the watermelon is cold and the cheese is room temperature and soft.” Texture steps into the spotlight and turns a sublime recipe all the grander. Vongerichten tosses this intel at the reader as an aside. He cannot help himself. Wisdom plops out of him like ice in a sleet storm.

Such is how “Home Cooking with Jean-Georges” flows. This is a book in which the tricks, takeaways and techniques are embedded in the recipes themselves. Parmesan chicken teaches you that breadcrumbs are extraneous when you grate Parmesan on both large and small holes on a grater, coat chicken breasts with it, bake, and, whammo, savory, textural contrast without the filler.

You might in no other cookbook see someone add a stick and a half of butter to boiling water to cook mustard greens. Then you eat those greens, all silky, their jagged acerbity mellowed after four minutes of boiling, and you shake your head in confounded appreciation.

Famous chef, best-in-class writer

A chef creating a cookbook is only as reliable as their writer. For “Home Cooking,” Vongerichten enlisted one of the finest recipe writer-developers in the game, Genevieve Ko, who is currently an editor at The New York Times.

Ko ensured the recipe’s instructions in this book were as pristine and legible as Vongerichten’s cooking is nimble and gleaming. A watermelon salad can say so much and teach so readily if its quiddities are conveyed with precision. Effortlessness has perhaps never been presented with such rigor.

Shandy is “poised for a resurgence”, said Jane Denton on This Is Money. The thirst-quenching mix of lager and lemonade has become an “unlikely” drink of choice for 20-somethings who are seeking out lower alcohol content tipples that “don’t compromise on taste”.

Originating in 1850s England as “shandygaff” – a mixture of beer and ginger ale – the popular drink had dropped the “gaff” by the end of the 19th century and swapped in lemonade for a citrussy twist. Shandy “started going out of fashion” in the 1990s, Jane Peyton, founder of the School of Booze, told the publication but it is now “undergoing a revival”.

Ocado sales of shandy have climbed by 40% year-on-year, said Rachel Dixon in The Guardian, and the drink is popping up in supermarkets everywhere. Made with just two ingredients, it’s “easy to make at home” and “shouldn’t get you too sloshed”. Use a “chilled glass”, pour in classic or cloudy lemonade up to the halfway point, then “slowly add the beer”.

For a fruity twist, try mixing lager with pink grapefruit soda or pale ale with lime soda. And for a sweeter tipple you can blend lager with cola to create a sweeter, amber-brown coloured cocktail that’s known as diesel in Germany. “Yes, it’s a thing”.

If you’d rather buy your shandy ready to drink, try Pillars Radler, said Melissa Cole in The Telegraph. Packaged in a “suitably nostalgic” stubby bottle with a “charming” yellow label, it blends “quality” lager with orange zest and lemon juice for a touch of “refreshing acidity”.

Other options to keep an eye out for include LoFi’s Raspberry Radler which feels like “inhaling a slightly jammy slice of summer”, and Shandy Shack Ginger Beer Shandy which perfectly balances the “bready malt” of the pale ale with “decently spicy ginger pop”. It’s a “belter”.

This is a moist and moreish cake to have at any tea party, said Jennifer Rinkoff. With a scrumptious mascarpone buttercream, you’ll be tempted to make it every weekend.

Ingredients (makes 1)

• 175g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 175g caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp strong espresso, cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp milk

For the syrup and topping:

• 2 tbsp strong espresso, hot
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 250g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 150ml double cream
• 50g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• cocoa (unsweetened chocolate) powder, sifted, for dusting

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160C fan/180C/350F/gas mark 4 and grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well but being careful not to over-mix. Fold in the flour and baking powder. Stir through the cooled espresso, vanilla extract and milk until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
• While the cake is still in the tin and warm from the oven, make a syrup by mixing the hot espresso with the sugar until the sugar dissolves. Poke small holes in the loaf with a skewer and spoon over the syrup. Leave to cool completely.
• In a bowl, whisk the mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract until thick and spreadable (don’t over-whisk or it may split). Spread the mascarpone topping generously over the cooled loaf using a small spatula.
• Dust with cocoa powder for a lovely finish. Chill for 1-2 hours to set before slicing, and store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
• Tip: this cake can be frozen for up to three months. The frosting and cake can both be frozen but it’s best to freeze them separately, or the finished cake can be frozen if sliced first.

Taken from ‘The Jewish Bakery: over 100 Family Recipes from east London’s oldest Jewish bakery’ by Jennifer Rinkoff.

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The Mediterranean is a place, a mood, a cooking ethos. Twenty-two countries border the cherished body of water, each with its own specialized manner of feeding their people. These books are no comprehensive consideration of every kitchen in the Mediterranean. But they sure are an exhilarating starting point.

‘The Food of Morocco’ by Paula Wolfert

Wolfert’s original book on Moroccan food was published in 1973, far ahead of its time in its insistence on the proper way to cook the food of the North African country. In 2011, she published an even more deeply considered version of that landmark book. “The Food of Morocco” is “hardly the quintessential Paula Wolfert cookbook,” said LA Weekly. “This book is Paula Wolfert.”

Her influence in the intervening decades was immense. The popularity of clay pots for cooking and the ubiquity of preserved lemons in many an American kitchen are all Wolfert’s doing. With “The Food of Morocco,” tagines of all sorts, lively salads with touches of flower water, and the proper way to make couscous can become second nature in American kitchens far from the shores of Rabat and Tangier. ($60, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘The Food of Sicily’ by Fabrizia Lanza

Italy points its finger well into the Mediterranean Sea, but you could argue that the region most influenced by that body of water is the island of Sicily. Lanza runs a cooking school in Palermo, and “The Food of Sicily” (2023) sings a song many Americans know well, being that so many Italian immigrants to the U.S. were Sicilian.

But no entire cuisine travels with its migrants, so “The Food of Sicily” is loaded with surprises, too — swordfish stuffed with garlic and mint, octopus salad, and watermelon pudding included. Sicily has “always been at the crossroads of the Mediterranean,” said Lanza to Monocle magazine. “It’s a place where people have brought their own unique customs to enrich our table.” ($40, Artisan, Amazon)

‘The Glorious Foods of Greece’ by Diane Kochilas

Love your Greek salad and gyros to your heart’s oregano-laced content. There is a world of Greek food most Americans have never experienced. A “landmark for Greek cooking in the U.S.,” Kochilas' seminal 2001 book, “The Glorious Foods of Greece,” is the result of eight years of research across the country’s varied regions, from the mountains of Macedonia and Thrace in the north to Greece’s six main island groups, and “displays a deep grasp of history,” said Publishers Weekly.

The 400-odd recipes include savory pies of all stripes, a mind-boggling array of uses for many styles of cheese, and boundless vegetable dishes. Moussaka, you are adored, but Kochilas will have you seeing Greek cuisine in colors beyond blue and white. ($40, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

‘Istanbul and Beyond: Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey’ by Robyn Eckhardt

Turkey, a sprawling, varied country, in the hands of Eckhardt and the photographer David Hagerman, is a “picaresque portrait of a country that doesn’t really have a national cuisine at all; it has dozens,” said Max Falkowitz at Saveur. There are the famed Urfa chiles of the country’s southeast, the seafood, greens and corn in the north that edge the Black Sea, and the grand amalgam of influences in Istanbul.

“Istanbul and Beyond” (2017) is organized according to a number of Turkey’s regions, so you acquire a sense of place as you deepen your knowledge of Mediterranean cooking. Corn and creme fraiche biscuits, brown butter scrambled eggs, sun-dried tomato and pomegranate salad, and herbed fish cakes — this is Turkish food in its truest, most varied form with an aperture in every recipe. ($22, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland’ by Anissa Helou

In “Lebanon” (2026), a book both personal and anthropological, the famed Beirut-born author Helou “returns to her girlhood roots, examining the country’s regional cooking as she makes her way from place to place,” said The Boston Globe. She learns aspects of her native cuisine she had never fathomed. Imagine, then, what we nonnatives glean.

Yogurt is everywhere, from dressing fava bean fatteh (bread salad) to wee meatballs. Vegetables, like chicory, plus artichokes and potatoes, are braised in extra-virgin olive oil. Zucchini and cabbages are stuffed; fish is cooked with tahini. This is Lebanese cuisine in all its familiar, surprising brilliance. ($50, Ecco, Amazon)

‘The New Book of Middle Eastern Food’ by Claudia Roden

Be not fooled by the title. The Middle East is a construct created by people in the West. Across 500-plus pages, the “great cook” and “captivating food historian” Roden captures the foods of countries like Greece, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey, said the blog Cooks Without Borders. What do all these countries have in common? Yes, they abut the Mediterranean Sea, just not the well-trod Mediterranean of the average American tourist.

In the book’s 16 central chapters, Roden wanders from central categories such as yogurt, egg dishes, breads and pickles, showing how the countries of this region prepare stunning variations of common foodstuffs. Your kitchen repertoire will mature as handily as your new lens on geography will if you take an open-eyed tour of “The New Book of Middle Eastern Food” (1985). ($55, Knopf, Amazon)

‘The New Spanish Table’ by Anya von Bremzen

All the hits are here — Spanish tortilla, patatas bravas, various kinds of paella. But “The New Spanish Table” (2005) is also a snapshot of the revolution in cooking that happened across Spain during the early part of the 20th century, an era in which Spanish cuisine began “rapidly usurping the culinary dominance of Italy and France,” said Publishers Weekly.

Von Bremzen spent decades traveling across and writing about Spain. There is both modernity and history in this book. The text profiles the cooking of such influential figures as the Catalan chef Ferran Adrià and the Basque Country’s Juan Mari Arzak and provides recipes for centuries-old dishes from Madrid. ($25, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

I dream about clafoutis for breakfast every day, says Alice Kelly. I can’t make a pancake now without wishing it was a clafoutis instead. Something about its sugary crust, creamy centre and the tangy blackberries won’t leave my head. If you make this, I am almost certain it will be one of your favourites too.

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 30g (2 tbsp) salted butter, melted
• 150g plain flour
• 125g caster sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 250g whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 125g blackberries for the topping
• 50g caster sugar for the topping
• To serve: vanilla ice cream or warm custard

Method

• Preheat the oven to 190°C. Brush the melted butter all over the base and sides of a large (approx. 30.5cm) ovenproof frying pan.
• Put the flour, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until smooth, then pour the batter into the buttered pan. Scatter the blackberries evenly over the top, then sprinkle over the caster sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until the clafoutis is golden brown around the edges and set in the centre.
• Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with warm custard.
• Tip: the clafoutis is best eaten on the day it’s made, but if you want to make it ahead of time, store the baked clafoutis in the fridge and reheat it in the oven before serving.

Taken from “Scratch” by Alice Kelly, published by Nine Bean Rows at £30. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £26.99, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk to place your order, or call 020 3176 3835 to speak to a bookseller.

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Produce shelves are becoming sparser and featuring fewer options. Economic, cultural and environmental factors have reduced the variety of vegetables available to consumers. Prioritizing the same produce can have negative health effects and could make crops more susceptible to climate change.

The same stock

Vegetable diversity is “declining due to market homogenization, land-use change and other threats,” and its “current conservation is insufficient,” said a study published in the journal PNAS. There have been “substantial declines in the range of traditional vegetable varieties grown over the past century, while almost one-quarter of assessed wild relatives of major vegetable crops are threatened with extinction,” said a release by the World Vegetable Center about the study.

“Vegetable biodiversity is one of the world’s greatest assets for improving diets and adapting agriculture to a changing climate,” Colin Khoury, the global conservation lead at the crop diversity preservation nonprofit Crop Trust, said in the release. “But we’re losing it at exactly the time we need it most.”

Several factors have reduced vegetable biodiversity. Initially, “humans selected only a portion of wild plants for cultivation, and then the variety narrowed even further due to the industrialization of agriculture, globalization and the spread of mass production,” said the news publication BB. As a result, traditional varieties of vegetables and “their wild relatives have fallen out of favor, leaving just a shrinking selection of tamed vegetables on supermarket shelves,” said IFL Science.

Also, agricultural practices like “monoculture, the practice of growing a single crop variety across vast areas,” are a “risky business, both economically and ecologically,” said IFL Science. If a “disease takes root in one plant, it rapidly spreads through the entire identical field like wildfire.”

Underrated options

People “consume nearly 40% fewer vegetables than recommended by the World Health Organization,” said the release. Low vegetable consumption is “among the five leading dietary risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease.” In addition, “relying on the same familiar crops,” like “standard varieties of eggplant, kale, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, onion and tomato,” may “not be enough to meet the climate challenges ahead,” said Food & Wine. The good news is that there are 1,480 known species of edible vegetables, most of which are underused.

“The solution isn’t simply to grow more vegetables,” Maarten van Zonneveld, who led the research, said in the release. “It’s also to grow more kinds of vegetables.” Many nutrient-rich vegetables, like “spider plant, slippery cabbage and other dark-green leafy vegetables, receive little breeding attention due to their lower commercial value compared to crops such as pepper and tomato,” said the study. The less-consumed vegetables also “carry traits that could help breed new varieties better able to withstand heat, drought, pests and disease,” said IFL Science.

Unfortunately, these underutilized crops “receive only a tiny fraction of the research, breeding and conservation efforts devoted to globally traded vegetables and staple grains,” said the release. The study highlights the need to “strengthen breeding capacity among both public and private organizations, combined with investment in participatory breeding with farmers,” said the study.

“Much of the vegetable biodiversity we need is still out there,” Zonneveld said in the release. The “urgency is to conserve it properly so that we can use it wisely to diversify diets amid climate change.”

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People in the U.S. eat so much Mexican food in restaurants that you could be fooled into thinking there’s no such thing as Mexican home cooking. You would be wrong. The best Mexican cookbooks lift the veil, revealing a world of lush, inviting, easy recipes that have all the elements you adore in Mexican food. And if you are doing it right, it will be different than you ever knew Mexican food could be.

‘My Mexico’ by Diana Kennedy

Prolific researcher and author Diana Kennedy is a complicated figure in the world of Mexican cookbooks. She did champion the cooking of “rural Mexican women, Indigenous women and working-class women,” said Tejal Rao at The New York Times. But she also “never reckoned with her authority over Mexican cuisine as a white British woman.”

Nonetheless, “My Mexico” is a benchmark, a personal travelogue. Kennedy wanders across the country, picking up a recipe for pozolé de camarón in Jalisco, chuletas de puerco en agridulce (sweet-and-sour pork chops) in Morelia, and chilaquiles en salsa verde from her longtime home state of Michoacán. These are purist dishes that tell the story of place as only cooks from those locales can. ($45, University of Texas Press, Amazon)

‘Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico’ by Bricia Lopez with Javier Cabral

Serious food people know that Oaxaca, in central Mexico, has some of the finest cuisine in the country, if not the world. It’s the land of many moles, inspired uses of corn, and sparkling seafood on the coast. And one of the U.S.’s best trumpet-bearers for Oaxacan cuisine has long been Los Angeles’ family-run restaurant Guelaguetza.

In “Oaxaca,” one of the restaurant’s owners, Bricia Lopez, works to “demystify this idea that it takes days to make mole” and other signature Oaxacan dishes, she said to the Los Angeles Times. It’s less anthropology and outsiders looking in and more hands-on cooking. “We are just people, and this is our story. We are not exotic.” ($45, Abrams, Amazon)

‘Pati’s Mexican Table’ by Pati Jinich

With her boundless positivity and irrepressible curiosity, Pati Jinich is a cross-border Pollyanna. She has hosted 15 seasons of her PBS show, “Pati’s Mexican Table,” and her first book, by the same name, is a cheerful invitation to embrace an open-ended version of Mexican cooking. There’s nothing slavishly authentic here, but the recipes’ bones are pure Mexico.

Burgers are laced with ancho chiles and served with lime aioli. A variety of dried chiles are snipped into a plucky take on spaghetti with garlic and olive oil. And hibiscus flowers appear in a vinaigrette that dresses spinach festooned with goat cheese and caramelized pecans. Cook from “Pati’s Mexican Table,” and you too will be a beacon of optimism. ($35, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘The Taste of Mexico’ by Patricia Quintana

Published in 1986, this book is a “straightforward guide” to the “fundamentals of regional Mexican cooking,” said Saveur. Patricia Quintana, a Mexico City chef and author, introduced American readers to the nuances of good Mexican cooking long before the country’s cuisine took over the U.S. in all its varied glory.

“The Taste of Mexico” operates like a greatest hits of Mexico’s regional food styles. Chiles en nogada from Puebla, draped in a creamy walnut sauce, capture the tricolors of the Mexican flag. Including Oaxacan black mole, beer-soused pinto beans from the north, and European-influenced dishes from Mexico City, the cookbook celebrates the “sumptuous breadth” of Mexican cuisine, said Publishers Weekly. ($20, ThriftBooks, Amazon)

‘Truly Mexican’ by Roberto Santibáñez

Sometimes you want an anchor, rather than the full catamaran, when you aim to understand one of the world’s finest cuisines. In Mexican cooking, those moorings are salsa, moles and their kin. “Truly Mexican” shows you how to prepare them and only them.

You will learn to assemble both cooked and raw tomato salsas and be reminded that endless other traditional salsas have never seen a tomato in their life. Adobos, whether with three chiles or the lone suave guajillo chile, become life-giving purees for marinated fish, chicken and beef shank. Moles are here too in many hues of the color wheel. With “Truly Mexican,” you will gain the “necessary skills to master other recipes,” said New World Review. It’s precisely what one wants from a cookbook. ($38, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘Yucatán: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition’ by David Sterling

A grand self-contained microcosm much like its subject, “Yucatán” hovers at nearly 600 pages, telling the varied food stories of the far southeastern edge of Mexico. The food of the Yucatán Peninsula, aside from a few restaurants in several U.S. cities, is not known well north of the border. And Sterling, who died in 2016, aimed to change that.

This “beautiful and comprehensive” book opens with an ingredient primer, then grabs the reader by the wrist and wanders across cities like Valladolid and Mérida, from coast to inland, and into the region’s pueblos and their singular foods, said Portland Book Review. Few books mark the scope of a place so thoroughly, let alone a locale so underrepresented in the U.S. ($60, University of Texas Press, Amazon)

We’re used to puréeing watermelons with sugar syrup and freezing it into granita. Or at barbecues, plugging their “emerald-rinded posteriors” with “an upturned bottle of vodka” for a boozy treat, said Ravinder Bhogal in the Financial Times. But more and more people are now pairing watermelon’s “refreshing flesh” with salty, herby, even hot flavours to unlock vibrant new levels in savoury dishes. Here are some of our favourite deliciously unusual watermelon combos.

Peanut and watermelon chaat

Chaats are crunchy, spicy fried snacks, often served as appetisers throughout South Asia. “Every chaat has a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of tartness, a little heat, and a little crunch,” said chef Vishwesh Bhatt in Food & Wine. He flavours his peanut-based chaat with chilli, cayenne, chaat masala, thinly sliced cucumber, red onion, radishes, mint, basil, coriander, lime juice and “the fleeting succulent sweetness of watermelon”.

Sour watermelon and monkfish curry

For a “bold, new” take, I combine watermelon with “dashes of umami fish sauce, blistering chillies and mouth-puckering tamarind”, said Bhogal in the FT. In a monkfish curry, watermelon chunks bring “bright, pleasing bursts of sweetness” to temper the spiciness of the sauce. “Serve with sticky rice, topped with plenty of fresh Thai basil.”

Spiced pork belly with quick-pickled watermelon

Watermelon pickled with grapefruit, lime, chilli and fish sauce makes a “chunky salsa” so tempting you’ll want to eat it “straight out of the bowl”, said Diana Henry in The Telegraph. But, paired with “punchy” pork belly, marinated in chillies, lime, ginger and garlic, it makes a “delicious sweet-meets-savoury main”.

Watermelon and tomato salad with spicy feta sauce

Chef Ana Sortun has given a much-loved Mediterranean classic a spicy twist, said Adam Dolge Food & Wine. Sprinkling charred jalapeño onto the simple chopped melon and tomato base adds a “subtle smokiness and gentle heat”, and the creamy feta sauce brings a “tangy, savoury richness” that strikes a “pleasing balance with the sweet fruit”.

Watermelon rind pickles

“Don’t toss out that watermelon rind,“ says Jodie Kautzmann in Food & Wine. With ginger, allspice, black peppercorns, bay leaves and lemon peel, you can turn it into “crunchy, tangy” pickles that are “perfect for adding to a charcuterie board” or “chopping into a relish for burgers and hot dogs”.

Sweet figs and salty prosciutto make an irresistible pairing, said food writer and cookbook author Sue Quinn. And it’s even better combined with the tang of blue cheese and the crunch of nutty pangrattato in this light but luxurious appetiser.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 80g creamy blue cheese
• 4 ripe figs, halved lengthwise
• 4 slices prosciutto, halved lengthwise
• 1 tbsp runny honey, plus extra for serving
• 1 small handful of basil leaves, torn

For the pangrattato

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 30g fresh breadcrumbs (not too fine; ideally sourdough)
• 20g chopped hazelnuts or walnuts
• 1 small garlic clove, minced finely
• grated zest of 1⁄2 a lemon

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place a small spoonful or slice of blue cheese on the cut side of each fig half. Wrap each with a strip of prosciutto, and arrange them snugly in a baking dish.
• Drizzle with the honey and roast until the cheese has melted and the figs are soft – about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the pangrattato. Warm the olive oil in a small skillet, add the breadcrumbs, nuts and garlic and fry over a medium-high heat, stirring until crisp and golden. Stir in the lemon zest and set aside.
• Transfer the roasted figs to a serving plate, pour over the juices from the dish, and scatter with the pangrattato. Top with torn basil leaves.
• Serve straightaway, with an extra drizzle of honey, if desired.

Taken from Cheese Please by Sue Quinn.

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This is the way to enjoy the British summertime. Battered fish and salt-and-vinegar-seasoned chips have been a staple for hundreds of years, best paired with stinging seaside winds and spray. Wherever you are in the UK, there will always be a handful of chippies vying for your order. Here are some of the best seaside establishments, giving you decades-crafted favourites, and some newer twists on tradition.

Anstruther Fish Bar – Fife, Scotland

“My heart belongs to Anstruther Fish Bar,” said Gordon Thomson in The Telegraph. Edinburgh has “salt and sauce”, a “piquant brown-sauce-and-vinegar combo”, and in Glasgow, the “mighty ‘fish supper’ reigns”, but fish on the east coast of Scotland is something else. Once you’ve navigated the queue under the “watchful eye of the mannequin fisherman”, you settle down into an “old-school caff table”. Last time I was there, I had haddock, with the “most incredible chips – perfectly crisp and yet fluffy inside – and mushy peas, all washed down with white wine and a craft beer”. Truly “award-winning fare”.
anstrutherfishbar.co.uk

Aldeburgh Fish & Chips – Aldeburgh, Suffolk

“The Cooney family and their faithful tribe of fryers have been frying in beef dripping on Aldeburgh High Street since 1967,” said Chris Haslam in The Times. There are actually two spots on the high street to pick up your supper, and you’ll get the “same shatteringly crispy battered fish” at both. Above the second location, the Golden Galleon, there’s a small dining space, but Aldeburgh’s “windswept sand and shingle beach is an unbeatable picnic spot”. I’ve even known a seal to have “bobbed along to say hello”.
aldeburghfishandchips.co.uk

Whelan’s Fish and Chips – Lytham St Annes, Lancashire

Whelan’s has been visited by some esteemed figures in the culinary world – such as Gordon Ramsay and Rick Stein – and yet it primarily “remains a favourite with the locals”, said Delicious. It was established in 1937, and “since it started, not much has changed and for all the right reasons”. They source fish from “sustainable stocks, they use local produce (wherever possible)” and you are always looked after by “welcoming” staff. Of course, you can’t go wrong with something traditional, but keep your eyes peeled for one of the “gourmet fishcakes which often feature as a daily special”.
whelansfishandchips.co.uk

Ainsworth’s – Bridge Street, Caernarfon, Gwynedd

Now this is a “treasure trove of a place”, said Joanna Whitehead in The i Paper. Naturally, “no two chippies are the same”, and each place is “dazzling with individuality”: a “gratifying phenomenon in a homogenised world of chain eateries”. It is hard to beat cradling a “box of their glowing offering under your arm” and heading “to the waterfront to eat between bay and castle”.
ainsworthscaernarfon.co.uk

The Rockfish – Dartmouth, Devon

If you need convincing, look no further than celebrated chef Mitch Tonks’ “65 awards”, said Food and Travel Magazine. “Set overlooking the bucolic River Dart with its fishing boats meandering up and down with the ebb and flow of the tide, you can almost taste how good The Rockfish’s wares are going to be before they arrive.” In winter, the restaurant’s log burner is the perfect antidote to “long yomps across the moors”. There are a few West Country change-ups from your classic chippy menu: the “South Coast calamari with aïoli” and a “South Devon crab roll, served with pickled cucumber, Marie Rose sauce and lashings of sweet white crab meat” are fan-favourites.
therockfish.co.uk

I would only recommend making this dish – which has converted even a few hardened anchovy haters – during the summer, when peaches are at their best, said Dara Klein. You can use flat peaches, white peaches, yellow nectarines, white nectarines – whatever looks good at the time and feels ripe. And use the freshest, highest-quality mozzarella you can find. I like to serve the dish with fresh sourdough, ciabatta or focaccia, to mop up the juices.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 370g fresh mozzarella
• 400g peaches
• 1⁄2 shallot or Tropea onion
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1⁄2 tbsp moscatel or red-wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregano (the wild variety if you can find it), plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• zest of 1⁄2 a lemon
• 1 x 30g tin of anchovy fillets in olive oil
• sea salt

Method

• Drain the mozzarella and place on a piece of kitchen paper to dry. Allow the cheese to come to room temperature, this may take around 30mins.
• Meanwhile, wash the peaches and slice them in half, removing the stones. Cut each half into a variety of medium-sized chunks, cutting on an angle. Finely slice the shallot or onion.
• Add the peaches and shallot to a mixing bowl along with a large pinch of salt, the olive oil, vinegar, dried oregano, lemon juice and zest. Stir thoroughly to combine. Taste the dressing with a piece of peach and adjust very gradually with more salt, vinegar or lemon juice.
• Tear the mozzarella into large pieces. I like to taste a tiny bit to check for saltiness. Many mozzarelle are already seasoned, so it’s worth checking whether you need to add any salt.
• Remove the anchovies from their oil and blot with some kitchen paper. If they are particularly thick, slice in half lengthways.
• Distribute the mozzarella evenly across four plates (alternatively you can use a large platter). Season with salt, if needed. Spoon the peach mixture over and around the cheese, leaving the dressing in the bowl. Drape the anchovies over the peaches and mozzarella.
• Whisk the dressing a couple of times to re-emulsify, then spoon over each dish. Sprinkle a little more oregano on top and serve immediately with fresh sourdough, ciabatta or focaccia.

Taken from La Trattoria: Intuitive Italian cooking by Dara Klein.

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“For once the colour associated with a boom in Zimbabwe is blue, not gold,” said The Economist. The country’s blueberry industry is booming; it is exporting 40 times more of the fruit than 10 years ago as part of a wider fresh produce drive across the continent.

“The success of Zimbabwean blueberries, Kenyan flowers and South African oranges” would suggest that there is “huge potential for African agriculture to play the sort of role long envisioned for manufacturing”, said The Economist. And if Africa can learn from such success stories, “there will be fruitful returns”.

‘Momentum is still building’

Just a few years ago, blueberries in Zimbabwe were seen as a “relatively small niche crop”, said Linda Nielsen, CEO of Horticultural Development Council, on Fresh Fruit Portal. Now, it is becoming “one of the country’s most exciting horticultural export success stories”. In 2025, 9,500 tonnes of blueberries were exported from the country, this year the total is expected to reach 12,000 tonnes. And “momentum is still building”.

New production techniques promise “exciting development”, planting “improved blueberry genetics” from international “breeding houses”, with “encouraging” results. These newer varieties are showing “strong performance in yield, fruit quality, shelf life and production timing” and could “significantly speed up industry growth over the next few years”. And with “favourable growing conditions, competitive labour availability, improving technical expertise, and strong international demand for our premium blueberries”, the future is looking bright too.

One major reason for the African blueberry boom is improved trade with China, said Fruitnet.com. Zimbabwe has maintained strong export links to the EU, UK and Malaysia, but China offers a market “capable of absorbing considerably larger volumes”. Growing consumer interest in healthy eating has meant “premium fresh fruit” has become much more attractive to the Chinese.

New commercial agreements have also strengthened Zimbabwe’s position. At the start of May, China’s zero-tariff policy for 53 African nations, including Zimbabwe, took effect. The first arrival of blueberries into China represented “far more than a symbolic shipment”: it marked the “opening of a potentially significant new trade channel” for the industry.

However, compliance with China’s rigorous import protocols could add “another layer of cost and complexity”. Additional steps such as methyl bromide fumigation for airfreight needed to be approved by the Zimbabwean government, and fluctuations in seasons either in Zimbabwe, or competitors Morocco and Peru, could mean the African nation being squeezed out.

A ‘boon for Africa’

Beyond blueberries, a wider emphasis on fresh fruit could be a “boon for Africa” and “force a rethink of what is meant by farming and manufacturing”, said The Economist. “In recent years African agribusinesses have responded to rising global incomes – and demand for fresh produce.”

For example, Kenya and Ethiopia account for a combined 8% of global cut-flower exports and, last year, Europe consumed more than one million tonnes of avocados for the first time, and “much of its demand was met by Morocco and Kenya”. South Africa, whose biggest export has been citrus fruit since wine was overtaken in 2010, recently replaced Spain as the world’s largest citrus exporter.

This milestone in particular not only “marks a significant shift” in the fruit trade, but also “South Africa’s growing influence in international agribusiness”, said Business Insider Africa. Yet, while South Africa leads the export market by volume, China and Brazil dominate global production, though most is used domestically, said South Africa’s agriculture minister John Steenhuisen. Forecasts have been trimmed due to bad weather and war in the Middle East, but South Africa’s position in the industry is becoming more and more established.

Nostalgia for trifle has led to a “sudden resurgence” in sales of the classic British dessert, said The Times. Made with layers of “sherry-soaked sponge, fruit, custard, whipped cream and jelly”, the traditional pudding is even popping up on the menus of fancy restaurants.

The origins of the dish go back to the late Tudor period but the cake base layer was only added to the recipe in the mid-18th century. Today, the dessert is no longer “just a festive centrepiece” but instead the “ultimate nostalgic crowd-pleaser” embraced “all-year-round”, Charmaine Katz, chef tutor at Waitrose said in The Times. Its popularity comes down to how “versatile” the dessert is: recipes can be either “quick and easy” or “dramatic and technical”.

Chefs are finding ways to put innovative spins on the traditional dish. At Restaurant Roots in Bournemouth, for example, the “bitter chocolate millionaire’s trifle” is “laced with Rémy Martin cognac”. Nowhere is “seemingly too posh for a trifle” as five-star hotels and restaurants, including The Ritz, have found their own “twists for a modern palate”.

Want to try making one yourself? Nigella Lawson’s showstopping “Anglo-Italian” trifle recipe is a “delightful summer pudding” perfect for “garden gatherings”, said WalesOnline. The recipe calls for soaking trifle sponges in limoncello then layering – the “shiny black of the berries” and “soft whiteness of the mascarpone”, topped with the “golden toastiness of the almonds” making it look ”beautiful”.

For a “gloriously pink” version, try Georgina Hayden’s “twist on the traditional Greek dessert ekmek” on the BBC. Swap sponges for “crisp, buttery kataifi” as your base, then drizzle over rhubarb syrup and top with custard and whipped cream.

A good trifle, however you make or eat it, is a “self-indulgent concoction” that will have you “sink into a pleasurable, full-sated stupor”, said Rowan Pelling in The Telegraph. “It’s the food stuff of hedonists: innocent-looking, nostalgic, yet laden with booze, not to be underestimated or (forgive me) trifled with. Edible heaven.”

This dish is loosely inspired by my go-to Thai order: som tam, or papaya salad, said Ella Risbridger – except that I use mango instead, because I find it hard to get hold of good papaya. Apparently, one of the ways that fast food makes itself irresistible is by hitting most of the base flavours simultaneously: salty, umami, sweet. This dish does exactly that, except in the rather healthier form of an enormous bowl of mostly vegetables. It is peak summer food: zero cooking, 100% refreshing.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 red chilli
• 2 medium carrots
• 3 baby cucumbers (or ½ a big cucumber)
• 50g green beans
• 1 long red pepper
• 300g chopped mango
• 10g mint
• 10g Thai basil
• 10g coriander
• 1 romaine lettuce
• 150g cooked prawns or fried tofu, or chopped chicken or crispy chicken thighs
• 30g chopped roasted peanuts
• 1 lime
• sriracha, if liked

Method

• In a much-too-big bowl (it will hold everything!), whisk together the fish sauce, vinegar and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Thinly slice the red chilli and add it too (easy to omit).
• Peel the carrots and use a julienne peeler to turn them into thin, pretty little strips. Toss the carrot strips into the bowl and let marinate for a minute. Halve and thinly slice the cucumbers: if you’re using half a big boy, split it in half, and use a teaspoon to drag out the seeds. Discard the seeds, and thinly slice. Toss the cucumbers in with the carrots and stir.
• Chop the green beans. If you can do this on the diagonal, so much the better (discard the stringy ends). Add to the bowl. Deseed and finely slice the pepper; add to the bowl.
• Tip: this is a good point to stop at if you’re making in advance.
• Finely chop the mango into little dice. De-stem and finely shred the herbs, then shred the lettuce (wash the leaves; stack the leaves; roll the leaves in a bundle; slice the bundle across). Mix the leaves, the mango, the prawns into the pickled vegetables.
• Roughly chop the peanuts; quarter the lime. Divide the salad into bowls; drizzle with sriracha, if liked; scatter with peanuts; set the lime quarter at a jaunty angle for individual squeezes.
• Tip: if you keep the components separately in the fridge – so pickled vegetables and vinaigrette in one container, chopped lettuce and herbs in another, prawns in their packet – it is a phenomenal make-ahead lunch for the week.

Taken from The Kitchen Book: Good Food For Every Day by Ella Risbridger.

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An sweet, icy treat is exactly what you need when temperatures peak on a hot summer’s day. From fruity to creamy to outrageously chocolatey, here are some of the coolest-tasting supermarket options around.

Waitrose No 1 Santo Domingo Chocolate Ice Cream

Supermarket ice creams no longer come with a regulation “cocktail of gums and emulsifiers”, said Tom Hunt in The Guardian. Brands are using “fewer additives” and prioritising a more “rich and complex” taste – and Waitrose has really hit the mark with this “dark and deeply chocolatey” tub. “Voluminous, super-rich, smooth and creamy”, it includes Rainforest Alliance-certified Dominican Republic chocolate, free-range egg and “no stabilisers”. It is “remarkably good”.
£4.50 for 480ml; waitrose.com

Häagen-Dazs Matcha Ice Cream

This one is for “devotees of the powdered tea”, said Giulia Crouch in The Times. It “delivers big time”, even for a “matcha snob”, with a “proper hit of green tea flavour” where most similar products tend to “fall short”. Its “intense” flavour has “sweet, grassy, slightly bitter notes”.
£6 for 460ml; waitrose.com

Hackney Gelato Banana Caramel & Pecan Gelato

This “deservingly” won two stars in the Great Taste Awards 2024 and the flavour combination still “plays beautifully” for me, said Crouch in The Times. The “deep, buttery richness” of caramel pairs wonderfully with the “sweet creaminess of the banana”. A sprinkle of toasted pecans adds a layer of “welcome crunch”.
£5.50 for 46ml; ocado.com

M&S Pineapple, Coconut & Lime Ice Lollies

Ice cream may be what you crave when the temperature rises but your body actually generates more “metabolic heat” when it works to digest food, said Sophie Morris in The i Paper. Luckily, lollies are “mostly made from sugar, water, fruit juice and flavourings”, so there isn’t as much to digest. These M&S ones are a “frozen dream” of “pineapple juice, coconut milk, sugar and lime juice.”
£4.75 for six 80g lollies; ocado.com

This is a dish for one of those days where you blinked somewhere around 9.45am and now find that it’s somehow 8.30pm, said Richard Makin. It requires zero cooking, uses supermarket-stocked ingredients you may already have to hand, and can be on the table in 10 minutes. Crisis averted!

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 190g thin rice noodles
• 40g kale, destemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp tahini paste
• 2 tsp gochujang (or substitute with harissa paste)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (or substitute with tamari sauce)
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
• 1⁄2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 160g cooked edamame beans
• 1⁄2 cucumber, sliced
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 2 tsp crispy chilli oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Method

• Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them soak for 5-7 mins, until tender. Drain and set aside.
• While they soak, put the kale in a separate bowl, drizzle with sesame oil and massage until it softens slightly.
• In a small bowl, mix together the tahini, gochujang, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic and ginger for a creamy dressing.
• Add the noodles to the kale. Pour the dressing over and toss everything together until well coated.
• Divide the noodles between two bowls. Top with the edamame, cucumber, spring onion, chilli oil and sesame seeds. Serve warm or cold.

Taken from “Stress-Free Dinners” by Richard Makin.

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There is no paucity in veganism. Plant-based eating — phenomenally delicious plant-based eating, that is — has long existed in many of the world’s great cuisines. As with any kind of cooking, how a dish tastes is all in how it is cooked. Cook it poorly, with mediocre ingredients, and you get an insipid meal. Prepare it with care, smart technique and sublime ingredients? Welcome to the world of top-tier vegan cooking. These six cookbooks all show you how to achieve that goal, from six different angles.

‘Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking With the World’s Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, With 125 Recipes’ by Joe Yonan

An adeptness, a fluidity, a knowingness with beans is a godsend when cooking vegan. It is akin to learning a new alphabet, then hurtling toward fluency using that new language’s architecture. With “Cool Beans,” the author, Joe Yonan, convinces you to “handily add beans to your cooking arsenal,” said Eater. Over the course of the book, he “evokes the incredible versatility of the bean,” said Daniel Modlin at The Daily Beast, with recipes like Nigerian Stewed Black Eyed Peas with fried plantains, Tunisian Chickpea Stew that “will change your winter” and Cuban Style Black Beans that will have you gladly not “make any other kind of black beans” again. ($33, Ten Speed Press, Amazon)

‘The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen’ by Joanne Lee Molinaro

If you pay the slightest attention to food or cooking on social media, you may already know Joanne Lee Molinaro, aka The Korean Vegan. Her lush videos lure and enjoin viewers to try their hand at her style of vegan cooking.

Molinaro, in her debut, namesake book, “masterfully intertwines delicious recipes with intimate moments from her life, sharing how her Asian American identity has been shaped by her family’s cooking,” said Julia Duarte at Bon Appétit. Americans might think of Korean food as meat-centric, but Molinaro learns from a Korean monk that “Korean plant-based eating is not a new idea. Korean temple food, the cuisine prepared by Korean Buddhist monks, has been around for a thousand years, predating Korean BBQ and bibimbap.” Korean vegan food being novel or a bastardization? As if. ($37, Avery, Amazon)

‘Provecho: 100 Vegan Mexican Recipes to Celebrate Culture and Community’ by Edgar Castrejón

Let us begin with aguachile. Bright, supple and plucky, it is a staple seafood treatment in some coastal regions of Mexico. Author Edgar Castrejón, when he decided to no longer consume animal products, realized an apt substitute for fish, shrimp and their kin is young coconut. The same slip and bite, nary an animal employed.

Such is the galvanizing approach that anchors “Provecho,” a book that proclaims the monumental possibility of Mexican veganism. There are jackfruit tacos, cauliflower roasted in the semi-style of carne asada, pozole rojo loaded with mushrooms. These are “quick, relatively straightforward recipes,” said Library Journal, that are a “solid starting point” for people who want to play in a vegan remodel of the Mexican-cooking playground. ($35, Ten Speed Press, Amazon)

‘Superiority Burger Cookbook: The Vegetarian Hamburger Is Now Delicious’ by Brooks Headley

Come for the recipe for the New York City restaurant’s legendary vegetable burger, stay for the monstrously delicious dishes that orbit that burger’s well-deserved fame. What with a battery of ingredients, making the burger is an ordeal of sorts, but the result is a paragon of the genre: “crisp outside and a soft but not-boring inside that’s lightly spiced and spicy, with plenty of vegetables and meat-free umami,” said Josephine Scott at Edible Manhattan.

Not every recipe in the text is vegan, but most are — or can be made so. Dishes like burnt broccoli salad, salt-and-vinegar string beans and BBQ carrots with cashew cream and corn chips are “infinitely craveable, combining textures and flavors in unexpected ways,” said Library Journal. 224 pages of incontrovertible evidence that vegan cooking can electrify. ($30, Norton, Amazon)

‘The Vegan Chinese Kitchen: Recipes and Modern Stories From a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition’ by Hannah Che

Hannah Che discovered that her present-day vegan approach to eating has a centuries-old history in China. The book she created as she pulled the thread from her present to her ancestral past is “as much a cookbook as it is a historical document and educational resource to turn to time and again,” said Dayna Evans at Eater.

There is, of course, a chapter on tofu that shows readers how to treat it like both a hearty stew and an invigorating salad, among endless other treatments including an additional chapter on tofu skin. Bonus: “Many of the dishes are served room temperature or cold — which means that not only are they great for do-ahead entertaining, but also that they’re great for summer picnics and potlucks,” said Leslie Brenner at Cooks Without Borders. ($35, Clarkson Potter, Amazon)

‘Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes’ by Bryant Terry

In “Vegetable Kingdom,” Bryant Terry, a food justice advocate and author, skips across the Black and African diaspora, pulling inspiration from boundless sources. Spinach salad with blackened chickpeas, a panko-crusted cauliflower take on the Kenyan chicken and coconut curry called kuku paka, jerk tofu enveloped in collards — this is a book for “anyone who wants to expand their vegan cooking repertoire and make their beans and greens more exciting,” said Bettina Makalintal at Bon Appétit.

For people with children, know this: Terry wrote “Vegetable Kingdom” in part to show kids, including his own, how thrilling vegetables can be. The book is a tool to “provide a few recipes for vegetables — something that’s simple and easy — that might be a way to sneak a vegetable in as an initial contact” for picky kids, he said to The Kitchn. ($30, Ten Speed Press, Amazon)

The perfect summer cocktail used to include “enough sugar to make a dessert blush”, said The Times. Now, though, “Britain’s drinks cabinets are taking a decidedly saltier turn” as people opt for a “splash of pickle juice” or a sprinkle of chilli flakes in their cocktails.

Waitrose has enjoyed “rising sales of sauces, citrus juices and seasonings” as shoppers turn to savoury cocktails, said Grocery Trade News. With shopping lists full of items like hot honey and chilli crisp, it's only natural that drinks follow suit.

Savoury cocktails are far from new but their “recent momentum is impossible to ignore”, said Rachel King on Forbes. Not confined by any rulebook, these drinks can be “earthy, briny or smoky”, and all are complex and bold. While one may be tempted to dismiss savoury drinks as “gimmicks, they have “moved from the margins to the spotlight” because of the “steady refinement of ingredients and techniques”.

Many drinks highlight East Asian flavours through ingredients like “nori, sesame, soy, dried mushrooms and teas”, which have become “common in modern bar programmes”. Other savoury ingredients like “pickled vegetables, spices like basil and thyme and bacon fat” are also appearing in cocktails that appeal to “adventurous” bar customers, Jen Jackson, from Thompson Restaurants, told Forbes.

If you want to delve into the world of savoury cocktails but don’t know where to start, try the gibson cocktail. The “punchy tipple” is “garnished with a pickled onion that’s been charred in a hot, non-stick frying pan”, said Good Food. Similar to a classic martini, the drink is made by mixing dry vermouth and gin. Pour them into a glass or jug and add some ice cubes. Give it a stir “for around 30 seconds” before straining into a “chilled cocktail glass”.

Another twist on a classic is a Mediterranean savoury gin and tonic, which adds tomatoes and ginger to the traditional recipe. Add a halved cherry tomato on a cocktail stick and sprinkle in some drops of “good-quality extra virgin olive oil” before serving for an “elegant finish”.

I must have eaten a masala omelette every other day when I went on a four-week trip in India, and unsurprisingly I never got bored, said Emma Petersen. It’s spicy, savoury and so delicious, and it’s a brilliant way to switch up your usual breakfast. Serve simply alongside some leaves, or tuck it into a roti for a more substantial masala egg wrap.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 6 eggs
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ onion, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 salad tomato, finely diced
• 1 green chilli, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh coriander
• salt and pepper
• olive oil, for cooking
• dressed salad leaves, to serve

Method

• Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and add the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
• Whisk until the yolks and whites are completely combined.
• Fold in the onion, garlic, tomato, green chilli and fresh coriander, so everything is evenly distributed.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
• Once hot, pour in half the egg mixture and use a spatula to spread it gently to the edges of the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes until the underside is golden and the top is mostly set, then flip and cook for another couple of minutes. Slide onto a plate.
• Wipe out the pan, add another drizzle of oil and repeat with the rest of the egg mixture to make your second omelette. (Or, if you’re working to the clock, cook both at once using two pans.)
• Serve warm with dressed leaves.
• Alternatively, cool and place in an airtight container, storing in the fridge for up to 2 days. Enjoy cold, or reheat gently in a pan or the microwave until warmed through.

Taken from “Healthyish High Protein: Full-on Flavour, All-day Energy” by Emma Petersen.

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Vinho verde, which translates literally to “green wine”, is northern Portugal’s gift to those looking for a light and refreshing tipple to enjoy in the scorching summer heat.

The wine takes its name from the lush, verdant Minho province where it is made. With its “ocean breezes”, “cool nights” and “high rainfall”, the “Atlantic maritime climate” provides the perfect environment for indigenous grapes to flourish, said Mina Holland in The Guardian. Many producers blend together several grape varieties, including the “aromatic loureiro, softening trajadura and arinto for acidity”.

The result is wine with a “vibrant” flavour and “notes of ripe lime and orchard fruits” that excels at “gluggability”. With their “high acidity, low ABV” and slight effervescence, these “young wines” are ideal for “summer frolics”. Despite the name, they “aren’t actually green”; as well as the Minho countryside, the “verde” also refers to the wines’ “inexperienced” and youthful character.

The northwest region “shot to fame” in the 1980s and its wines have been a “dinner party staple” ever since, said Sarah Neish in The Drinks Business. But now producers are entering a new era, with an “increased focus on premium single-varietal, and often single-vineyard” wines. With so much choice it can be tricky deciding where to begin, but here are three bottles worth trying.

Quinta do Ermízio Chin Chin Vinho Verde 2024

This is an “inarguably delicious and nattily labelled” wine, said Holland in The Guardian. It uses a “blend” of the traditional loureiro and trajadura grapes varieties and has notes of crisp green apples and tropical fruits. Chin Chin rose in popularity during the pandemic and gave way to “several dupes” but the original remains a “cult” favourite.

£13.99, Selfridges

Bowl Grabber 2024

Made primarily from alvarinho (also known as albariño) grapes, this refreshing vinho verde is “light, zesty and dangerously easy to drink”, said Will Lyons in The Times. Expect a gentle spritz and a “mouthwatering purity giving way to a long, saline finish”.

£9.50, Ocado

Casal de Ventozela Arinto Vinho Verde 2024

This “zippy” wine is made from the “lesser-known but interesting” arinto grape variety, said Susy Atkins in The Telegraph. The delicate notes of “yellow apples, pear and passion-fruit” pair nicely with “bitter salad leaves or baked fennel”.

£10.75, Majestic

This dish felt like a permanent fixture on our menu during the late 1970s and early 1980s, says Rick Stein. I probably first had it in Paris, during one of our early trips, which would have been around 1978. When my then wife Jill and I were on holiday, we made a point of testing things out and picking up recipes and ideas for the kind of restaurant ours should aspire to be. When fish conservationists began discouraging people from fishing for skate, we discovered that ray was OK – so this dish was born.

Ingredients

• 4 skinned ray wings, about 225g each
• 15g nonpareilles capers in brine, drained and rinsed

For the court-bouillon

• 300ml dry white wine
• 85ml white wine vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 12 black peppercorns
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt

For the black butter

• 175g butter
• 50ml red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method

• First, make the court-bouillon. Put all the ingredients into a large pan with 1.2 litres of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool, which will allow the flavour to improve before using.
• Put the ray wings into a large pan. Pour over the court-bouillon, bring to the boil and simmer the wings very gently for 15 minutes until they are cooked through.
• Carefully lift the ray wings out of the pan, leave the excess liquid to drain off and then place the wings on to 4 warmed plates. Sprinkle with the capers and keep warm.
• For the black butter, melt the butter in a frying pan. As soon as it starts to foam, turn quite brown and smell very nutty, add the vinegar, then the parsley. Let it boil down for a minute or so, until slightly reduced. Pour the butter over the ray and serve.

Taken from “The Seafood Restaurant Cookbook” by Rick Stein and Jill Stein, published by Jon Croft Editions at £35. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £31.99 (incl. p&p), visit theweekbookshop.co.uk or call 020 3176 3835.

As the heatwave burns on, “the last thing people want to do is turn on the oven”, said the BBC. Sweltering weather can suppress your appetite and make it harder to concentrate or sleep. Could tweaking your diet help?

Crucially, it’s important to “drink more” to replace the liquid lost through sweat. But there are other ways to rehydrate than keeping your bottle topped up. “We need to eat our water as well as drink it”, said Aisling Daly, senior lecturer in nutrition at Oxford Brookes University. Fruit and vegetables like watermelon, celery, cucumbers, grapes and tomatoes have a “very high water content” of over 90%, making them great to snack on.

Sweating also “depletes our electrolytes”, said The Telegraph, which play an important role in helping our nerves and muscles to work properly. Instead of relying on powders or gels, try stocking up on coconut water or the yoghurt-based drink lassi, which are both natural sources of electrolytes and packed with magnesium.

It’s worth making yourself a cup or two of mint tea, or mixing the fresh leaves through a salad. Mint contains menthol, which scientists have found activates your mouth’s cold sensitive receptors and “triggers the same response as touching ice”.

Spicy foods can also be beneficial as peppers and chillies contain capsaicin – a compound that “tricks the nervous system into thinking the body is hot, encouraging you to sweat and cool down”. Avoid heating up the kitchen by having a barbecue outside instead and marinating your kebabs in a spicy marinade.

And what should you steer clear of? Salty nuts and crisps, caffeinated artificially sweetened drinks like Diet Coke, or a glass of wine might sound appealing in the heat but they “won’t leave you feeling your best”, said Metro. Their high salt content can “encourage water retention” and make you “bloated and uncomfortable”, said nutritionist Lola Biggs. Instead, for a “satisfying crunch”, try whipping up a batch of paprika-roasted chickpeas.

To me, chakalaka is the ultimate South African classic, says Nokx Majozi. It’s one of those dishes that reminds me of summer braais and big family get-togethers. The mix of peppers, onions, tomatoes and spices is just so vibrant and full of flavour, it enhances any meal you add it to. Whether I’m pairing it with grilled meats, spooning it over eggs or avocado toast, or just enjoying it on its own, it’s always a crowd-pleaser. I like mine with a bit of heat, but you can easily make it milder.

Ingredients (serves 8)

• ½ spring cabbage (hispi), finely sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
• 4 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 5 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 8cm ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 x 400g tin of baked beans
• sea salt and black pepper
• chopped parsley, to serve (optional)

Method

• Start by preparing the cabbage, peppers, carrots and tomatoes and set to one side.
• Put the oil in a large saucepan and set over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly until soft and translucent.
• Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes to soften, then add the curry powder and cook for a further minute until it smells fragrant.
• Add the cabbage, peppers, carrots and tomatoes and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly to ensure nothing sticks.
• Add the baked beans, including their juice, cover with the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Serve it on toast, on baked potatoes or with chicken or fish. Scatter over some parsley if you’d like a hit of green, but it isn’t strictly necessary.
• You can keep any leftover chakalaka in the fridge for five days.

Taken from “The South African Cookbook” by Nokx Majozi

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As the scorching weather returns, the best way to cool down is with an ice cream by the sea. The UK’s coastal towns are peppered with parlours serving everything from rich, creamy gelato, to refreshing sorbets and conefuls of quirky flavours. Here are some of our favourite spots.

Joe’s Ice Cream, Mumbles, Swansea

This century-old family run parlour in Mumbles is a “local cult”, said Felicity Cloake in The Times. It also has branches in Cardiff and Llanelli. There are rules: “always order the vanilla” which is “churned fresh every day” and has a “distinctly savoury edge”. You’ll also find huge sundaes here, and a knickerbocker glory that present owner Adrian Hughes thinks is “far too big for one person. Believe me, it’s not.”

joes-icecream.com

Jannetta’s Gelateria, St Andrews, Fife

“If you’ve ever visited St Andrews in winter, you’ll appreciate just how good Jannetta’s gelato must be to have stuck it out in South Street for the past 118 years,” said Cloake in The Times. When it comes to choice you’ll be hard pressed to find better: the parlour serves 54 different flavours that make use of locally sourced ingredients like Fife tayberries and Dundee marmalade. Expect long queues when it’s hot but the samples on offer while you wait “sweeten the deal”.

jannettas.co.uk

Hive, Aberaeron, Wales

Master ice cream makers Kevin and Mateuz make their “legendary” honey ice cream at Hive, said Portia Jones on Wales Online. The “distinctive, creamy” confection is “hands down my favourite ice cream” in the country. “One scoop, and you’ll see why it has a cult following.” Located right by the picturesque harbour in Aberaeron (with branches in Cardigan and Saundersfoot), it’s a great place for a sunny afternoon stroll.

thehiveaberaeron.com

Rossi’s Ices, Weymouth, Dorset

“Forget your standard vanilla”, said Judy Cogan in The i Paper. At Rossi’s, the Figliolini family “let the natural taste of the cooked milk shine”. They’ve been scooping here since 1937 and certainly know a thing or two about how to make and serve ice cream properly. Expect everything from banana splits and chocolate sundaes to affogato and ice cream sodas.

rossisweymouth.com

Moomaid of Zennor, St Ives, Cornwall

Milk is supplied by the cows at the on-site family farm to the parlour at this charming spot in St Ives, said Cogan in The i Paper. In keeping with its Cornish location, every scoop of ice cream is “topped with a dollop of clotted cream”. Flavours are creative but not “heinously quirky”: things like orange and mascarpone or almond and cherry ripple. “Watch out for circling seagulls”.

moomaidofzennor.com

Naples is in what is still a poor part of Italy, and meat doesn’t play a huge role in its traditional cookery, said Tom Parker Bowles. But this slow-cooked ragù, which I’ve adapted from Arthur Schwartz’s “Naples at Table”, is a masterpiece – the pride of every Sunday lunch. And it will taste even better after reading “Naples ’44”, Norman Lewis’ magnificent memoir about the time he spent in this most magical and seductive of cities, as a young intelligence officer.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

• 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 250g rindless pork belly, cut into large chunks
• 250g stewing veal
• 250g beef shin, cut into chunks
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 bottle (37.5cl) of punchy red wine
• 3 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
• big pinch of sea salt
• big pinch of dried chilli flakes
• handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• cooked fusilli or spaghetti, to serve

Method

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy pot over a medium-high heat and brown all the meat, in separate batches, until well browned – around 5 minutes for each batch. Start with the pork belly as it will release some fat, but add more oil if the meat starts to stick.
• After removing the final batch of meat, tip the onions into the pan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until soft, stirring and scraping up the crisped bits of meat stuck on the bottom of the pan.
• Return all the meat to the pan, add the wine and reduce over a high heat.
• Add the tomatoes, salt and chilli and simmer very gently for 3-4 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so, skimming off any excess fat. You may need to add a little water, 100ml at a time, if the sauce begins to stick in the last couple of hours.
• The Neapolitans would remove the meat and serve the sauce with pasta to start, then serve the meat separately for a next course. But I like it all together. Scatter on the parsley and serve with a pile of cooked fusilli, spaghetti or pasta of your choice.
• Tip: when making a ragù the Neapolitan way, “you must stay with it, guide it, caress it for hours, so that the aromas of its various components can be released and mingle with each other,” writes Jeanne Caròla Francesconi in “La Cucina Napoletana”.

Taken from “Let’s Eat Meat: Recipes for prime cuts, cheap bits and glorious scraps” by Tom Parker Bowles.

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“Is this the summer of the can? I’d say so,” said Jane MacQuitty in The Times. Gone are the “dull, tinny, beery and oxidised notes” common in the canned wines of years gone by. Now, thanks to advances in technology, quality is “on the up” with more choice than ever before and “roaring” sales. Easier to transport and with better “sustainability” credentials than hefty glass bottles, these red, pink and white wine tins are ideal for “a picnic, the beach or a festival”.

Vinca Organic Red Wine

“Fuller-bodied, more robust” reds with higher alcohol content “take best to the canning process,” said MacQuitty. This Sicilian offering is made of “summery nero d’avola and frappato grape”. It is bold in flavour and boasts “red berry pizzazz”. And of course, it’s organic and vegan.

£3, ocado.com

Most Wanted Pinot Grigio

This can lives up to its name if you are looking for a “vaguely floral and fruity” wine, said Tina Gellie in Decanter. The palate remains true to the Pinot Grigio tradition; and it tastes a little “like pears in soda water with a dash of peach syrup”. There is also a tinge of “green apple acidity” for balance. Light-bodied and highly drinkable, this is a vegan wine that will satisfy a Prosecco lover’s needs.

£2.55, tesco.com

Mirabeau Prêt-à-Porter Rosé

If you’re in the market for a “pale and pink” wine, this one is for you, said Rosamund Hall in The Independent. Coming from renowned Provençal producer Maison Mirabeau, this organic wine is “delicate” in taste and has “aromas of ripe raspberries”, alongside notes of rose petals and “a lick of cream”. One for the next grocery run.

£4, waitrose.com

When in Rome Pecorino

Italian wines are summertime’s best bet and a refreshing can of Pecorino is an “uncomplicated, fun” way to drink your grapes, said Hall. It is “packed full of soft nectarines, ripe pears and a lemon sherbet twist”.

£3.50, ocado.com

In south Lebanon, this was always a weekend favourite, says Jad Youssef. Served from a big tray in the middle of the table, it was the kind of dish that brought the neighbours in, uninvited but welcome. You can use chicken thighs or drumsticks if you prefer – but whichever cut you choose, remember that bone-in chicken will always have better flavour. For even more garlicky punch, leave some of the garlic cloves whole in the traybake and mash the roasted garlic into the potatoes before serving.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.4kg-1.6kg), cut into 6-8 pieces, skin on
• 16 large garlic cloves, finely grated
• 250ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 150ml olive oil
• 1½ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1½ tsp baharat (Lebanese seven-spice seasoning)
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 800g Maris Piper or chipping potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1cm-1.5cm rounds
• 1 large bunch fresh coriander (about 80g), washed, picked and finely chopped

Method

• Preheat oven to 200C fan/220C/425F/gas mark 7.
• In a bowl, toss the chicken pieces with half the grated garlic, half the lemon juice, half the olive oil, and all the spices, salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for at least 30 mins (or up to 2 hours in the fridge).
• Rinse the sliced potatoes under cold water to remove excess starch and pat dry. Layer them in a large baking tray and season lightly with salt and pepper.
• In a separate bowl, mix the remaining garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil with the chopped coriander and 200ml water to make a fragrant dressing. Place the marinated chicken pieces on top of the potatoes, skin-side up. Pour the dressing all over the traybake, making sure that the potatoes are well coated.
• Use your hands to rub everything in gently. Wash hands thoroughly.
• Cover the tray with foil and bake in the oven for 45 mins. Uncover, baste the chicken in all the juices, then roast for another 25-30 mins, until golden and slightly crisp on top.
• Serve hot in the tray alongside Lebanese rice with vermicelli or a simple salad, and lemon wedges.

Taken from “Lebnani: a journey through family, food and the flavours of Lebanon” by Jad Youssef

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Visit the “specialist aisle in most British supermarkets” and you’re almost certain to find a “red jar with the kindly face of a middle-aged Chinese woman staring back at you”, said Ammar Kalia in The Guardian.

These are jars of Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp – a “spicy, crunchy and moreish umami condiment” that has made the woman on the label, Tao Huabi, a fortune. Generously dolloped on top of everything from dumplings to fried eggs, chilli crisp has become a “social media sensation” and inspired countless spin-offs from independent producers.

It is usually made by “pouring hot oil over chilli flakes, spice mixes and fresh ingredients such as spring onions, garlic and peanuts”, resulting in a “multi-sensory flavour bomb”.

Both “comforting and punchy”, Lao Gan Ma is “stupendously addictive and can be added to basically anything”, said Dusty Baxter-Wright in Cosmopolitan. “Fiery yet sweet”, it’s “crunchy with soybeans and tingly on your tongue”.

Lao Gan Ma is a “classic for a reason”, said James Park in Eater, but there are other options. As a “self-proclaimed chilli crisp hype man”, I discover “creative” new brands almost “daily”. Momofuku Chilli Crunch is “full of umami with a surprising level of heat”; what “sets it apart” from other jars is the addition of shiitake mushroom powder. Try serving this with baked brie and “you will be hooked”.

Other stand-out jars include Barnacle Foods Kelp Chilli Crisp, which features “salty” Alaska-grown kelp, in addition to spicy chilli flakes, fried onion and garlic. Fermented black beans add an extra “layer of depth” and it goes perfectly into a “light vinaigrette to top off fresh oysters”.

Or you could try making your own. Start by heating a neutral, high-heat oil then add sliced garlic and shallots, and fry “until golden”, said Great British Chefs. Remove the crunchy bits from the oil before mixing in dried chilli flakes and Sichuan peppercorns. Then return the fried garlic and shallots to the oil, “allowing everything to infuse together”.

There are so many dishes a drizzle of chilli crisp can lift to another level. Consider “using it as a topping for pizzas and tacos” or even folding it into bread dough to make a “spicy, aromatic loaf that pairs wonderfully with savoury spreads”.

If you love feta as much as I do, I reckon this dip will be a winner, says Marina Georgallides. Think tzatziki made with courgette instead of cucumber, and with feta cheese as well as yoghurt. The result is creamy, tangy and silken – and extremely moreish.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 courgette
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 200g feta cheese
• 100g Greek yoghurt (10% fat)
• 1 garlic clove, grated or crushed
• handful of dill fronds, finely chopped
• ½ a lemon, juiced
• salt to taste

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/400F/gas mark 6)and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Slice the courgette into rounds roughly 5mm thick. Place the slices on the baking tray and drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Toss to coat them evenly in the oil then bake for 25-30 mins, until soft.
• Transfer the courgette to a serving bowl and add the feta and yoghurt. Mash with a fork to a smooth consistency, mixing for about 2 mins to ensure everything is combined. Add the garlic, dill, lemon juice and remaining oil and mix until well incorporated. Check the seasoning and add salt to taste.
• Serve the dip at room temperature or chilled – it will keep until the next day stored in the fridge. Enjoy with flatbread or pitta.
• Tip: another way to cook the chopped courgette is to place it in an air fryer and coat in 1 tbsp of olive oil and the pinch of salt. Air-fry for 12 mins at 180C, turning halfway through.

Taken from “Eat Like a Greek”by Marina Georgallides

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“Tropical fruit and chilli sauce” is a tried-and-tested flavour combination that “works”, said Lucy Knight in The Guardian. The zingy mix of fruity and spicy – “fricy” – flavours has been around in South American cuisine for years. Now, though, it’s being tipped as the food trend of the summer here, with “more fresh, spicy, exciting flavour combinations” appearing on UK menus.

‘Fricy’ may sound like a “silly word” but the demand is real, Holly Thomson, food editor at online food retailer Sous Chef, told the paper. The website has seen a 19% year-on-year increase in sales of the “hero product” of the trend: a Mexican lime, salt and chilli spice blend called Tajín.

“The hashtag #fricy hasn’t quite gone viral” yet, said BBC Bitesize, but there are “plenty” of posts celebrating the flavour combination. The Mexican drink mangonada, more traditionally known as chamoynada, a mix of mango with chamoy, a condiment made from pickled, spiced fruit, has “more than 47k TikTok posts with people trying the fricy taste for themselves”. Spicy fruit bowls that mix “fruit such as pineapple and mango covered in spices like chilli” are also having a moment.

Food trends usually rely on “emotional pull” and “visual appeal”. Just as the “striking purple” hue is responsible for the rise of ube, or purple yam, the “vivid yellows, oranges, reds and browns” of the mangonada makes people “curious” to taste it.

The mangonada has lured many customers into Mango Twist, a London café founded by Peru-born Dominic Vargas, which sells its own version of the drink. The “tangy, spicy, sweet, salty” combination is “something you wouldn’t find in the UK that easily”, Vargas told The Guardian.

But this isn’t the first trend marrying the sweet and savoury. People have been “endlessly seeking umami” flavours in their food, Marks & Spencer food trends lead Annette Peters told The Times. She added that this explained the increasing demand for miso-infused desserts because the “balance of sweet and savoury gives you such a depth of flavour”. As long as the dish doesn’t “tip into cloyingly sweet”, the pairing can be “delicious”.

This lovely summer dish is one to prepare if you – or someone you know – has a glut of courgettes, said Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. But it also brings out the best in shop-bought courgettes. It only takes about half an hour or so, and contains lots of fibre and other nutrients. Perfect for a weekday lunch, or as a simple dinner-party starter.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 firm, medium courgettes (about 350g total weight)
• 1 garlic clove, slivered
• 2 tsp baby capers or chopped larger capers
• 2 tsp finely chopped preserved lemon, or finely grated zest of ½ a lemon
• 400g tin cannellini beans, drained with 1-2 tbsp liquid saved (or from a jar, about 240g drained weight)
• 2 large slices of wholegrain bread
• sea salt and black pepper

To finish:

• a squeeze of lemon juice
• extra-virgin olive oil, to trickle
• a small handful of parsley, chopped (optional)

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (ideally at least 28cm) over a medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and fry, stirring regularly, for about 10 minutes, until soft and golden. In the meantime, slice the courgettes about 5mm thick.
• Add the courgettes to the pan and fry for 10-15 minutes, until they are softening and colouring in places, turning up the heat a little if you need to.
• Toss in the garlic, capers and preserved lemon or lemon zest and cook, stirring now and then, for a minute or two.
• Now add the beans with the saved liquid (a nice way to lubricate them a little). Stir well, then put the lid on the pan and cook gently for a few minutes to heat the beans through. Taste to check the seasoning and add more salt and/or pepper if needed.
• Meanwhile, toast the slices of bread.
• Pile the bean and courgette mixture onto the hot toast. Spritz with lemon juice, trickle with extra-virgin olive oil and scatter with chopped parsley, if you like. Serve straight away.
• Tip: you can switch in any tinned beans or chickpeas here. You can also use frozen edamame beans: put them into a pan, cover with boiling water and simmer until tender while you cook the onions and courgettes; drain and add at the end.
• Tip: for a crunchy finish, toast 2 tbsp pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds in a dry pan before cooking anything else; set aside. Scatter over the courgettes before serving.

Taken from “High Fibre Heroes” by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

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Though caffeine remains the world’s most widely consumed drug, some people are turning to a smaller dosage to achieve their morning kick. A slew of lower-caffeine drinks are hitting the market as consumers look for ways to shake the negative effects of caffeine, while still having their daily cup of coffee.

‘Experimenting with a new range of options’

Even as millions of Americans consume mass quantities of caffeinated drinks, some question their caffeine intake. Many started “experimenting with a new range of options beyond the traditional cup of hot java, paying heed to caffeine’s impact on their sleep, mood and energy level,” said Bloomberg. Some people still consume multiple caffeinated drinks per day, but others are “becoming more cognizant of ‘energy management’ in their beverage choices,” Daniel Jhung, the president of the coffee and beverage division of Nestlé USA, told Bloomberg.

Many of the options are changing to accommodate shifting preferences. Younger consumers have begun to “embrace cold, canned beverages over hot coffee,” said Bloomberg. The change is not only evident in “rapid growth of energy drinks but also in less-supercharged options.” Sales of ready-to-drink, low-caffeinated bottles of coffee and tea were “up almost 15% in the 52 weeks ending March 22” of this year, while “sales of coffee beans and cocoa fell nearly 10%,” according to data from market research group Spins cited by Bloomberg.

A number of companies are also moving toward this trend. Panera Bread began “rolling out a new line of lightly caffeinated drinks,” said Business Insider, which comes about two years after the company’s discontinued, ultra-caffeinated Charged Lemonade was “linked to two deaths and multiple lawsuits.” While the Charged Lemonade had about 260 milligrams of caffeine, or the equivalent of three Red Bull cans, Panera’s lighter caffeinated drinks “contain about as much caffeine as a can of soda.” There has also been a resurgence in sales of Coca-Cola Zero Zero, which has no sugar or caffeine, said Bloomberg.

‘There are also some concerns about excessive consumption’

Many doctors seem to be happy that caffeine is trending the way it is due to potential health issues. Caffeine can “have positive effects on alertness, cognitive function and athletic function,” but there are also “concerns about excessive consumption and potential health risks,” said the American Medical Association (AMA). “One of the things that people don't realize is, if you think of it as a medicine, then the best way to use it is in small, frequent doses,” Dr. Shannon Kilgore, a neurologist, told the AMA.

Most people, despite the shifting tides, are consuming too much caffeine, which could have negative health effects. About 85% of adults “consume 135 milligrams of caffeine daily in the U.S.,” approximately “equivalent to 12 ounces of coffee, which is the most common source of caffeine for adults,” said the AMA. While drinking up to three cups of coffee per day “can reduce dementia risk and slow cognitive decline,” according to a recent JAMA study, even that would still be over the recommended daily dosage of caffeine.

The shift toward low-caffeine is because “health and wellness trends have persuaded many consumers to scrutinize ingredients more closely, with many trying to cut back on artificial dyes, added sugar, processed food and, in some cases, caffeine,” said Bloomberg. The anxiety of Jeremy Clark, an engineering professor in Montreal, has declined “almost to negligible levels” since he cut back on caffeine, Clark told Bloomberg. “So I think it was worth it.”

It’s the ice, people! Yes, ice is central to the making of any cocktail — unless it’s a hot one. In the playland of frozen drinks, though, ice plays an all-the-more crucial role. It doesn’t simply chill then bolt for the sink. Ice becomes integral to the lush texture of a blended cocktail. These frozen reconsiderations of classic cocktails are summer manna.

Frozen Banana Daiquiri

An instant coconut cordial is made by combining coconut milk and sugar. Then you’re off to the banana-daiquiri races by blending together two kinds of rum (1 part each) with fresh lime juice (¾ part), half a way-ripe banana, that cordial (2 parts) and a load of pebble ice. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Caribbean Coffee

What happens when Irish coffee, tres leches cake and spiced coconut syrup take a trip to the islands? You get a lively, luxurious blended drink that merges a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and whole milk (2 parts) with an egg, coffee liqueur (¾ part), rum (½ part), brandy (½ part) and a heady masala-coconut syrup (¾ part). (Get the recipe)

Frozen Gin & Tonic

In this brain-freeze-y adaptation of a G&T, the tonic water is substituted by a tonic syrup. Because no one wants a watery frozen cocktail. A touch of that syrup (½ part) tangoes with gin (1½ parts), simple syrup (½ part) and lime juice (¾ part). (Get the recipe)

Pink Frozen Margarita

Campari (1 part) provides the pink element in this animated variation on a classic margarita. The tequila (3 parts), triple sec (2 parts), lime juice (2 parts) and agave nectar (2 parts) all play their roles like they typically would. The blender and ice step in for this performance, turning everything the right kind of chill. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Mojito

All that you admire about a mojito is present here. The mint (1 part), the rum (2 parts), the simple syrup (1 part), the fresh lime juice (1¼ parts). Start the four together in a blender so the mint is properly blitzed. Then add ice (8 parts), zap away and pour a few out for your pool mates. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Moscow Mule

You know the quartet — vodka (2 parts), ginger beer (3 parts), lime juice (¾ part), simple syrup (¾ part). Pour the lot into a blender, add ice, and your Moscow mule becomes even more of a warm-weather lounge-fellow. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Negroni

A Negroni is always an appetite-whetter. Come summer, one wants it to do double duty by dragging it into refreshing territory too. Freeze the base combination of gin (4½ parts), Campari (2½ parts) and sweet vermouth (2½ parts) for at least eight hours. Then whir that with ice in a blender. Zip, hunger, poolside nap. (Get the recipe)

Paloma Slushy

A handful of ingredients turn a classic paloma into a summertime icon for you and three pals. Start by freezing together grapefruit juice (2 parts) and lime juice (1 part) for a chunk of time. Toss the frozen juices in a blender along with tequila (1½ parts), sugar (¼ cup) and ice (4 cups). And if you like, line the rims of those glasses with salt. (Get the recipe)

Instead of reaching for biscuits or chocolate to “combat the 4pm slump”, people are turning to a “more natural sweet alternative: dates”, said The Guardian.

The wrinkled fruit has been “thrust into the snacking spotlight” thanks to a slew of viral online recipes and a growing demand for alternatives to ultra-processed foods. Ocado reports that sales of Medjool dates have soared by 100% year-on-year and searches for date butter have shot up by 458% over the same period.

Some fitness experts are suggesting their followers swap “additive-laden” protein bars for energy balls made with a mix of dates, nuts and oats. And TikTok is bursting with ideas for comforting yet nutrient-dense snacks like “sticky fried dates drizzled with olive oil and served with tangy yoghurt”.

First cultivated in the hot, arid climates of the Middle East and North Africa, “dates have had a place in culinary culture for millenniums”, said The New York Times. Traditionally used to break the fast during Ramadan, they are a staple ingredient in everything from tagines to sticky toffee pudding.

With more consumers interested in adding fibre to their diet, dates are “emerging as a simple vehicle for the macronutrient”. One serving of dates (around two to three large Medjools) contains about 5g of fibre – “a helpful step towards the daily recommendation of 25g per day for women and 38g for men”.

Brands like Date Better are opting for “bold flavour choices” to stand out in the crowded market. Varieties include dates stuffed with cashew butter, coated in chocolate infused with lime and dotted with toasted quinoa “for texture”.

But it’s important to “manage your health-related expectations” if you’re reaching for a jazzed-up version of the fruit. “If it’s stuffed with peanut butter and covered in chocolate, enjoy it!” said nutritionist Maya Feller. “But don’t think it’s going to support gut health. Right? That’s a dessert.”

If you don’t want to splash out on pricey on-the-go packaged snacks, consider adding the fruit when baking cakes, said The Times. Dates can be “chopped or blended” and “stirred through the batter instead of sugar, substituting the weights like-for-like”. They also make a delicious caramel sauce: simply soak them in boiling water before “blending them with butter” and “adding enough hot water until you have a smooth sauce”.

Dates aren’t only suitable for sweet treats, though. “I do a simple but brilliant lemon, chickpea, feta and date traybake,” said author and cook Melissa Hemsley. “The sweetness of the roasted dates with the salty feta is amazing. I’ll have that in a wrap or toss it into a warm salad. It’s perfect.”

I always say you get more flavour from the shells of a crustacean than you do from the meat, said Theo Randall. That is why, for this risotto, I start by making a stock based on the prawn heads and shells: it’s very easy to prepare and uses up all the parts of the shellfish that usually go to waste. The resulting risotto is intense and delicious.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the prawn stock:

• 500g frozen shell-on prawns, defrosted
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 leek, washed and chopped
• 2 celery sticks, halved
• 6 parsley stalks
• 2 litres water

For the risotto:

• 2 courgettes
• 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 300g tomato passata
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 300g carnaroli risotto rice
• 100ml dry white wine
• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Remove the heads and shells from the prawns and place in a saucepan with all the prawn stock ingredients except the water. Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the heads and shells turn red.
• Add the water and cook for about 20 mins to reduce by a third. Strain through a fine sieve, season with salt and keep to one side.
• Slice the prawns in half lengthways, keep to one side.
• Cut the courgettes into 1cm rounds, then stack three rounds on top of each other and cut into 1cm matchsticks.
• Put 2 tbsp of the oil, the garlic, courgettes and a pinch of salt into a small frying pan over a medium heat and cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally, so the courgettes have a little colour. Add the passata and cook over a low heat for 5 mins. Check the seasoning, then set aside.
• Put the remaining oil, the celery and onion into a large, hot, straight-sided saucepan and cook for 3 mins over a medium heat. Add the rice and cook for 3 mins until the rice absorbs the oil and turns translucent. Add the wine and cook until absorbed.
• Start adding the prawn stock, ladleful by ladleful, stirring until the rice is just covered before adding more. Do this for 10 mins, then add another ladleful and check the seasoning. The risotto should be wet, almost soupy; the rice should have a good bite.
• Add the courgette and tomato sauce and stir until the risotto starts to thicken. Give the pan a shake, and when you feel the risotto is becoming emulsified, add the prawns, butter and parsley. Stir until combined, then remove from the heat, add a lid and set aside for 2-3 mins. Remove the lid, add some black pepper and give it one last vigorous stir. Serve in warmed pasta bowls.

Taken from “The Italian Table: 100 Classic Recipes Celebrating the Spirit of Italy” by Theo Randall

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“It wasn’t long ago that chilling red wine was the sort of niche sommelier activity everyone laughed at,” said Will Lyons in The Times. “How times change.”

Chilled red wines are popping up in trendy bars and on supermarket shelves. Aldi recently launched its first “chill-to-reveal” red, in a bottle with a “clever” thermodynamic label that turns blue when the wine is at the perfect temperature to drink.

Cooling down lighter reds with a brief spell in an ice bucket brings out their “vibrant, fruity notes and makes them all the more refreshing”. While it’s more traditional to chill beaujolais or cinsault, “adventurous” wine merchants are introducing a wide variety of other grape varieties to the “chilled-reds lexicon”, including frappato and nerello mascalese from Sicily.

But not all red wines should be put in the fridge, said Rosamund Hall in The Independent. “I would avoid overly chilling big, heavy reds with high tannins”, like malbec or cabernet sauvignon, as you’ll risk bringing out “astringent” notes.

Instead, try chilling Gerard Bertrand’s Le Chouchou Syrah – a “dangerously moreish” blend of grenache, syrah and cinsault that’s like a “posy of pretty scented flowers” and “bright red cherries”. Or grab a bottle of The Interlude Pinot Noir and “chill it down for an easy BBQ summer sipper”.

You can’t go wrong with Domaine de Vavril Cuvée de l’Ecluse 2024, said Victoria Moore in The Telegraph. This “silky” beaujolais “smells of redcurrants” and has a “very seductive ease and brightness”.

And if you want to try chilling a “slightly heavier” red, I’d recommend Araldica Barbera d’Asti 2022, said Lyons in The Times. Packed with vivid notes of black fruit, spice and a “smidge of oak”, it’s “gloriously drinkable” and pairs well with “robust salads, cold sausages or pizza”.

Whichever you pick, avoid serving it “ice cold, as you might a sauvignon blanc”. Chilled reds only need “an hour or two in the fridge door, or half that lying down at the back”. The bottle should just “feel cool to the touch”.

When I first tasted elderflowers, I fell in love, said Jerusalem-born chef Sarit Packer. The combination of strawberries and elderflower in this recipe is just perfect, and makes a light, fresh dessert.

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 large gelatine leaf
• 400ml single cream
• 140ml elderflower cordial

For the macerated strawberries:

• 200g strawberries, trimmed and quartered
• 2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Method

• Soak the gelatine leaf in cold water for about 5 minutes, until it is soft. Bring 50ml of water to the boil in a small pan and add the softened gelatine. Mix until completely dissolved.
• Pour the cream and cordial into a large jug and add the gelatine solution. Stir.
• Pass the mixture through a sieve into another jug so there are no lumps, then pour into six small serving glasses. Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set.
• To macerate the strawberries, mix them with the cordial in a small bowl and set aside for at least 30 minutes. You can do this up to 4 hours in advance.
• Just before serving, top each glass of elderflower cream with a couple of spoonfuls of the macerated strawberries, along with some of their liquid.

Taken from Honey & Co. Daily by Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer.

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We all have our favourite neighbourhood pub but if you want to be more adventurous, visiting a beer festival is the way to go. These events are spread across the UK and feature an array of beers that may help you find your next go-to pint. Here are a few of the best ones taking place this year.

St George’s Hall Beer Festival, Liverpool

This festival in Liverpool promises a long list of “real ales, craft beers, continental lagers” and a “specialist gin and rum bar”, said the Liverpool Echo. There is no shortage of drink options and the event “blends respected national breweries with some of the most exciting local names in the region”.

Port Sunlight’s Hulme Hall has staged the last 21 festivals but the organisers, the Ship & Mitre pub, is bringing its celebration of beer to the “historic” St George’s Hall, marking a “new partnership between two Liverpool institutions”.
Tickets from £3
24–27 September, liverpoolcityhalls.co.uk

Chelmsford Beer and Cider Festival

As summer approaches, most of us are looking forward to soaking up some sun. This festival takes place at the perfect time of year to enjoy a “refreshing pint” in the “largest beer garden” in the city, said Chelmsford City Life.

Taking place in Admirals Park, the festival will offer a wide range of “ready to enjoy” beers and ciders. If you get peckish, there are several food options, including “burgers, sausages, Caribbean and African food, pizza and ice cream”.
Tickets from £17
13–18 July, cbcf.camra.org.uk

Bristol Craft Beer Festival

Lloyds Amphitheatre in the “heart of Bristol” is the venue for a festival that gives the “craft beer revolution” a platform to promote local brewing communities, said The Drinks Business. More than 300 beers will be available to try, alongside cocktails, ciders, wine and a range of specially curated food options.
Tickets £62
12–13 June, bristolcraftbeerfestival.co.uk

London Craft Beer Festival

Whether your drink of choice is “a funky sour, cheeky saison or a fruity IPA”, London’s “biggest beer celebration” has something for you, said Time Out. The event takes place in Southwark Park over two days and “promises four-hour sessions of non-stop-beer-drinking bliss”. There will be more than 800 brews to choose from, including “London’s best beers as well as some international standouts”. Keep an eye out for the drool-worthy food stalls with menus from the likes of Meltdown Cheeseburgers, Bone Daddies and Chick N’ Sours. The price of the ticket covers all the beers and there are group discounts available. “Happy drinking, folks.”
Tickets from £59.50
17–18 July, londoncraftbeerfestival.co.uk

Cooking in paper is nothing new, but it makes for a super-simple way of serving delicate fillets of fish, said Nathan Outlaw. Marrying fish and shellfish with beer may sound a bit strange, but trust me – it works so well. I use a wheat beer because it is not too bitter, but has a touch of acidity and freshness that works beautifully with the fish.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the leeks and bacon:

• 100g unsalted butter
• olive oil
• 8 slices smoked streaky bacon, finely sliced
• 2 leeks, washed and shredded
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 150ml wheat beer

• 4 x 150g skin-on hake portions
• 2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
• 20 live mussels, cleaned and beards removed
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• zest of 2 oranges
• 8 tbsp wheat beer
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• To cook the leeks, heat a large pan over a medium heat and add the butter and a drizzle of oil. When the butter is bubbling, add the bacon and cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. When the bacon has started to brown, add the leeks and cook for another 5 mins. Season with salt and pepper. Now add the garlic and cook for 1 min, then pour in the beer. Cook for about 5 mins until the beer has reduced, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
• Preheat the oven to 200C fan/220C/425F/gas mark 7. On a clean work surface, lay out four large sheets of baking parchment (roughly 30 x 30cm/12 x 12 inches). Divide the leek and bacon mix into equal portions and arrange over one half of each sheet of parchment.
• Season the hake portions with salt, pepper and ground coriander seeds and place on top of the leeks together with five mussels in each parcel, a sprig of thyme and an equal share of the orange zest.
• Fold over the paper and crimp the edges so they are firmly sealed, leaving you with four parcels.
• Make a small opening to allow you to pour 2 tbsp of beer into each parcel. Seal the hole by folding it down tightly. If the quality of the paper isn’t great, you may need to use two sheets for each parcel or add a layer of foil on the outside. The aim is that the moisture inside doesn’t escape – this is crucial.
• Place the hake parcels onto a baking tray or two and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then remove the parcels and serve immediately. Allow whoever is eating to open their own parcel – that’s the magic and the drama.

Taken from “On Fish: a Seafood Handbook”, by Nathan Outlaw.

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“Maxed out on matcha lattes?” said the Financial Times. Try swapping the trendy, green-hued drink for its “toasty cousin”.

Hojicha has many of the same benefits as matcha but with much less caffeine. Made from green tea leaves roasted at a high temperature over charcoal, it has a distinctive “nutty” flavour. While it’s not traditionally paired with milk in Japan, in the UK hojicha lattes are starting to appear in cafes up and down the country.

At London matcha chain Jenki, for example, sales of hojicha lattes were 55% higher between January and April than the same period last year, said the BBC. The popularity of hojicha “feels like where matcha was two or three years ago”, Rashique Saddique, director of How Matcha, told the broadcaster. “It’s moving from niche to mainstream quite quickly.”

Less bitter and more earthy than matcha, hojicha also contains “significantly lower” levels of caffeine, with around 7.7mg per cup, compared to matcha’s 70mg, said Country & Town House. But it still boasts a range of health benefits; hojicha is “packed with antioxidants” like catechins and polyphenols which help to protect cells from damage, and the amino acid L-theanine which may help to calm the nervous system and improve sleep quality while enhancing focus.

The roasting process also breaks down the tannins and lowers the acidity, making it perfect for aiding digestion after a meal as it’s “gentler on the stomach than raw green tea”.

Traditional hojicha is “steeped like a loose-leaf tea” but it can also be mixed with milk and served hot or cold in a latte, said Vogue. “Look out for organic, shade-grown hojicha from Japan to avoid contaminants and ensure purity”, nutritionist Rhian Stephenson told the publication. And if you don’t fancy a latte, try adding the powder to smoothies or mix it into cakes, cookies or even ice cream.

The briefest spell of sunshine sends Brits rushing to the park or pub. But if you’re looking for somewhere a bit more special to soak up the rays, try a buzzy terrace with a view. From trendy, canal-side spots to swanky rooftop bars, these are some of the best places to catch up over a cocktail.

The Gun, Docklands, London

The waterfront terrace at the Gun “feels a little like one of many harbourside restaurants in Amsterdam”, said London’s The Standard. Open all year round thanks to the retractable roof and glass walls, the views are “superb”, looking out “where the river bends around the O2 on its way to the Thames Barrier”. Sip a glass of rosé and “feast on oysters” or, come summer, enjoy a pizza from a van in the riverside garden.

Lock 91, Manchester

This “charming canalside garden” is one of the city’s “best-kept secrets”, said Secret Manchester. The fashionable bar is set within a carefully restored 19th-century lock-keeper’s cottage, and you can usually “snag a spot” on the “intimate” outdoor terrace. Once you’ve settled with a drink and begun soaking up the “serene” views, it’s hard to “pull yourself away” from this “addictive little suntrap”.

Blackstock Roof Garden, Liverpool

Set atop the newly revamped Blackstock Market, this “Mediterranean-inspired rooftop brings a slice of coastal Europe to Liverpool”, said Condé Nast Traveller. “Sun-drenched” breaks can be spent here enjoying brunches, afternoon teas and cocktails, while in the evening the terrace transforms into “the perfect place to dance under the stars”. Inside, there’s a “chic” lounge, ensuring the party continues “rain or shine”.

The Raeburn, Edinburgh

This “smart boutique hotel” is “often unknowingly overlooked”, said Condé Nast Traveller. Its “secret rooftop terrace” becomes a “real suntrap” over summer, and there’s also a first-floor mezzanine looking out over the historic Raeburn Place sports grounds for an “out-of-the-city type view that you won’t find anywhere else”.

Rockwater, Hove

“A beach bar with a rooftop terrace, what more could you possibly ask for?” said The Telegraph. Rockwater offers a “huge wine collection, along with cocktails and spritzes”, all with a sea view. And if you’re feeling peckish there’s a great selection of “luxurious seafood dishes” and handmade pizzas. Down at the beach, you’ll find “extra food shacks”, too.

In Istanbul, beetroot is often served in salads, mixed with garlicky yoghurt, said Özlem Warren. This easy meze is inspired by such dishes. The pomegranate molasses in the dressing adds a natural sweet-and-sourness that goes well with the beetroot, complementing both the cooling yoghurt and the heat of the pul biber oil. You can replace the hazelnuts with any nut, if you wish.

Ingredients (serves 6)

For the garlic yoghurt:

• 170g full-fat Turkish or Greek yoghurt (use a plant-based version, if preferred)
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• salt

• 650g beetroot, raw or pre-cooked
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 85g stoned green olives, halved
• 55g shelled hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• small handful parsley, finely chopped, to garnish

For the dressing:

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• salt

For the pul biber oil:

• ½ tsp pul biber
• salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Method

• For the garlic yoghurt: take the yoghurt out of the refrigerator about 45 mins before serving, to bring it to room temperature. Stir in the garlic, season with salt and set aside.
• If you are cooking the beetroot, preheat the oven to 200C fan/220C/425F/gas mark 7. Wash the beetroot, trim and pat dry. Wrap each beetroot in foil (first cutting small ones in half lengthways and large ones into quarters), place on a baking tray and bake for about an hour. Allow to cool before peeling and cutting into 5mm-thick slices. If using pre-cooked beetroot, drain the excess liquid from the package, halve any large ones, then cut into 5mm-thick slices.
• Place the beetroot in a bowl, add the spring onions and olives and combine well.
• Toast the hazelnuts in a small, dry pan over a medium heat for 2½-3 mins, until they start to turn golden, stirring often. Remove, and set aside.
• For the dressing: pour the olive oil, pomegranate molasses and lemon juice into a small bowl, season with salt and pepper and give everything a good mix.
• For the pul biber oil: pour the olive oil into a small pan, stir in the pul biber and allow to infuse over a low heat for about 45 seconds.
• Stir most of the hazelnuts into the beetroot mixture, reserving some for garnish. Pour on the dressing, stir to combine, then spoon onto a wide serving dish and top with dollops of the yoghurt, swirling it to reveal the shades of red. Sprinkle with the reserved hazelnuts and the parsley, and drizzle with the pul biber oil.

Taken from “İstanbul: Delicious Recipes from the Heart of the City” by Özlem Warren

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Most standard-size cookbooks showcase between 100 and 150 recipes. In 2008, the author and cooking teacher Raghavan Iyer said “pshaw” and published his magnum opus, “660 Curries.”

“To us Indians, a curry is a sauce-based dish,” said Iyer, meaning “curry” as employed in Western instances like all-purpose “curry powder” is a term so general as to lose all significance. Curry instead is both the alpha and the omega. It’s both a saucy dish across the subcontinent and a hyper-regional way of preparing said saucy dishes.

Name your cooking weapon

Pick a base, and you are nearly guaranteed at least one recipe for it in “660 Curries.” More often, you will be bombarded with an array of options.

Consider the legume. Yellow split peas, horse gram, chickpeas, brown lentils and moth beans — Iyer assembles an armada of more than 15 different types of legumes for the Legume Curries chapter. The hits are present, including a faultless recipe for the restaurant icon, dal makhani, with its whole black lentils opulent with Punjabi garam masala, yogurt and heavy cream.

A behemoth is forever going to do the absolute most, so lesser-known regional specialties are everywhere across the book. Toovar dal (split yellow pigeon peas) is softened in a bath of unripe green mango, green bell pepper and coconut milk in a dish from the southwestern state of Kerala. Stressing the omnipresent influence of the Portuguese colonizers, chorizo cooks with red kidney beans and black-eyed peas in a spunky chile-vinegar tomato sauce in a Goan adaptation of Brazilian feijoada. Here and in the book’s other chapters on vegetables, seafood, poultry and eggs, meat, and paneer, curry is no catch-all. It slips, shifts and adapts.

To the curry-sphere and beyond

Iyer cheated a touch with the book’s title because some chapters exist outside of the sauce world. The opening chapter, Spice Blends and Paste, provides a constellation of building blocks and endless masalas with seven types of garam masala alone.

The final chapter, Curry Cohorts, dabbles in a touch of everything: rice preparations, including a Maharashtrian-style fried rice with peanuts and curry leaves; all manner of breads, such as poori, roti and naan; and even a mango cheesecake and saffron-licked green tea. “660 Curries” is an imposing endeavor. And, oh, how the book’s recipes work.

Iyer died, too young, at 61 in 2023. He was an admired teacher and an indefatigable researcher. And almost 20 years later, “660 Curries” remains as essential as it was when it first appeared. Scratch that. “660 Curries” is all the more pertinent now. The world needed time to embrace its sweeping, detailed grandeur.

“Is it a red wine, or a white?” said The Economist. “It is both.”

Trendy “blouge” wines have started popping up in bars around the world. A mix of white (blanc) and red (rouge) grapes, the resulting tipple is “light and refreshing, like a white, but with the structure and depth of a red”.

Mixing red and white like this is “not a new idea”. Winemakers have long been making champagnes from different coloured grapes. But recently producers have been “breaking new ground” with a growing number of “fresher” blouge wines often with “playful names to emphasise their novelty and expand their appeal”.

While rosé is made from red grapes alone with limited skin contact, and orange wines are made from white grapes in the style of a red with extended contact with the skins, blouge wines are a hybrid made by co-fermenting both red and white grapes. They are targeted at “younger, more adventurous” consumers keen to try something new.

Combining grape varieties gives producers more “flexibility” in the face of climate change. Hotter weather can lead to red grapes accumulating sugar faster, while the “ripening of skins and seeds can lag behind, causing a mismatch”. By adding white grapes to the mix, acidity is boosted while the high alcohol level found in ripe red grapes is diluted.

The pretty colours “tempt the Instagram lens”, said The Telegraph, luring “aperitivo-hour drinkers” on the lookout for wines with the “appeal of a light cocktail; often fruity and chilled, perhaps with a vestige of florality and a tinge of either astringency or sweetness”.

BoogieWoogie from Aubert et Mathieu is due to arrive in the UK this month, said The Guardian. A “light and juicy blend of red and white grenache grapes”, this is the “perfect match for tapas, pizza and picnics”.

Or try Domaine Lucas Madonia: The Blouge 2024, a “high-quality, natural” wine that uses grapes grown at a vineyard nestled on a “steep mountainside in the Swiss Alps of Valais”. Best enjoyed “cold on a sunny day after work”, the “fruity, aromatic blend” of chasselas white and gamay red grapes has a “clean, lively finish” with hints of “juicy strawberries and raspberries”.

Everyone in my family is a fan of bread studded with salty briny olives, and this recipe takes that craving a step further, said Joe Woodhouse. Feel free to add a block of grated halloumi to the mix. You can also cut the flatbreads in half and freeze them. Just put them in the toaster to defrost and crisp from frozen.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 400g self-raising flour, or plain flour with 1 tbsp baking powder
• 200g wholemeal flour, plus more to dust
• 250g yoghurt, or kefir
• 3 tbsp olive oil, or oil from the sundried tomatoes, plus more (optional) for cooking
• 200g jar of sundried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and sliced
• 50g black olives, pitted and sliced
• 25g basil, stalks finely chopped, leaves chopped
• 3 tbsp drained capers
• 1 tbsp dried oregano

Method

• Put the flours in a mixing bowl. Mix the yoghurt or kefir in a jug with the oil and 200ml water. Add to the flour and knead to combine. Knead in the sundried tomatoes, olives, basil, capers and oregano.
• Divide the dough into 4 and roll out each piece on a floured surface to a diameter of about 20cm.
• Heat a griddle pan over a med-low heat. Add the flatbreads one at a time, brushing with olive oil first to get them extra crispy. Cook for 4-6 mins on each side until puffed and cooked through. To check if they’re ready, break a chunk off one, pull it apart and see if it is fluffy in the middle.
• Serve as is or spread with pesto, harissa or tapenade, or with a bowl of pickled chillies.

Taken from Weeknight Vegetarian by Joe Woodhouse

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Long used as a “staple” in Filipino desserts, ube is now “increasingly appearing on the menus of UK cafes”, including “big hitters” like Costa, Starbucks and Pret A Manger, said Country & Town House. Native to the Philippines, the colourful yam is similar to a sweet potato, with an “aesthetic purple hue”.

As a "key part of the country’s food culture", it is used to make halaya (a sweet jam crafted from ube with milk and sugar) as well as pandesal, which is essentially a “fluffy bread roll”. Now, it’s popping up in the UK in all kinds of lattes, cocktails, pastries and more.

A root vegetable may not sound like the most inviting ingredient. “I remember the faces people used to pull when they saw the purple ice cream,” said Filipino restaurateur Omar Shah. Many would “walk in and walk straight back out” of Mamasons, his dessert shop in London, when they realised familiar flavours like strawberry or vanilla weren’t on the menu.

Now, the tide has turned and the “majority of our customers come specifically because we do ube”. Its natural nuttiness and vanilla notes work well in “European formats” like pastries and tiramisu, said Shah, adding to the visual appeal “without feeling gimmicky”.

Now, high street chains are investing in ube-flavoured menu items in an attempt to “replicate the viral success of matcha among younger, higher-spending customers”, said the Financial Times. As brands tap into social media trends, ube’s “unusual and vibrant colour” is appealing to big brands, said Kiti Soininen, a food and drink analyst at Mintel.

Companies are in a “flavour arms race”, actively investing time and money finding novel ingredients, said The New York Times. Most of these new flavours are offered for a “limited time” and Gen Z customers “rush to become one of the first to review the new summer drink or fall snack”. However, unlike the Dubai chocolate trend, ube is more of a “slow burn”, said industry veteran Mark Webster.

There are some “mixed feelings” about ube “going mainstream”, said Philippines-born bakery owner Maria Leyesa. She hopes the “proliferation of ube brings greater awareness to Filipino cuisine” but worries most people engaging in the trend won’t understand its origins.

If you do want to try it for yourself at home, strain and whisk ube powder with a “splash of hot water until in forms a paste”, said The Times. Then add your milk of choice (coconut milk works “exceptionally well”) to a glass and pour in the lavender-coloured mixture.

Something special happens when cinnamon and puff pastry come together, says Moroccan chef Nargisse Benkabbou; it’s like culinary alchemy. And these knots are extra special because they include amlou, often referred to as “Moroccan Nutella”, a paste traditionally made with roasted almond butter, honey, and argan oil. The amlou in this recipe is slightly thicker than normal, so that it can be used to fill the knots without risk of it running out of the rolls during baking. Eat while warm – but they will keep in a sealed container for up to three days.

Ingredients (makes 12 knots)

For the amlou:

• 120g natural (ideally, roasted) almond butter, or substitute with peanut butter
• 1 1⁄2 tbsp (35g) honey
• 1 tbsp argan oil, or substitute with walnut or groundnut oil
• 1⁄4 tsp fine sea salt

For the knots:

• 2 sheets puff pastry (about 400g each)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 100g granulated sugar
• 3⁄4 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

• Combine the almond (or peanut) butter, honey, argan (or nut) oil and salt in a medium bowl and stir together until smooth and well blended.
• Unfold one of the puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured work surface. Use the back of a large spoon to spread the amlou over the sheet in a thin, even layer, about 3mm thick. The layer shouldn’t be thicker than a coin, as too much amlou will leak out when you slice the filled pastry.
• Place the second puff pastry sheet on top, making sure that the edges are aligned. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the pastry rectangle lengthways into 2.5cm-wide strips.
• Line two baking trays with baking paper. Pick up one strip and shape it into a knot: hold the opposite ends of the strip, pull on them slightly, then roll it up into a spiral and tuck the end of the strip into the centre of the knot. Place the knot on a tray and shape the rest, dividing them between the two trays and leaving about 5cm between them.
• Cover the knots and transfer to the fridge. Let them rest for at least 45 mins, and as long as overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. Brush the knots with the beaten egg and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 mins, switching the positions of the trays about halfway through, until the knots are puffed up and golden. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
• Remove from the oven and let cool on the trays for 1 to 2 mins. Gently transfer each knot to the bowl of cinnamon sugar and turn to coat thoroughly, then transfer to a plate. Serve the knots warm or at room temperature.

Taken from Madaq: Simple Everyday Recipes with the Flavours of Morocco by Nargisse Benkabbou.

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“There are few better ways to immerse yourself in the great outdoors than to forage,” said Connor McGovern in National Geographic. As the countryside springs to life with an abundance of edible plants, now is a great time to start keeping an eye out for ingredients on your next walk.

April is “peak nettle season”. Packed with minerals and vitamins, the herbaceous perennial is surprisingly versatile and can easily be added to soups or used to make tea. Best harvested “sooner rather than later”, make sure you wear gloves to avoid getting stung and only pick the “top few leaves”.

Look out also for wild garlic, which “often grows in dense clusters on the floor of damp woodland and along shaded hedgerows”, said Helen Keating on the Woodland Trust. The leaves and flowers of the native bulb have an “unmistakable” garlicky smell, and can be used to whip up a “wild garlic pesto” or mixed with butter to make a “delicious version of garlic bread”.

Cow parsley, also known as wild chervil, is an “excellent all-round” ingredient. The perennial herb features tiny white flowers in “umbrella-like clusters” and “fern-like” leaves, and can be used in the same way as parsley when cooking. A word of warning: be careful not to mistake it for poison hemlock, which has distinctive purple blotches at the base of its stems, and an unpleasant musty odour.

Now is also the time dandelions “explode across fields, verges, scrubland and any patch of your garden they can set down roots in”, said Carys Matthews on BBC Countryfile. The petals of the bright yellow wildflower can be used to make desserts and “look lovely sprinkled on a cake”.

Be sure to look out for blackcurrant leaves, too, which have palmate lobes and a “serrated margin”. A handful of “fresh, young leaves” from the deciduous shrub can be used to make a “tasty tea with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory” properties.

And if you’re on a health kick, try swapping out spinach for common mallow leaves or using the edible weed to thicken up soups. Identifiable by its “five-lobed leaves”, it’s rich in vitamins A, B, C and E and come summer its mauve-coloured flowers can be used to garnish cocktails and salads.

You can’t go wrong with a meatball, says chef Georgina Hayden. Light, lemony and spring-like, this brothy meatball recipe is both comforting and fresh – and a gorgeous way of getting greens into your dinner. My kids love it, especially when I roll the meatballs really small.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 bunch spring onions
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
• a few mint sprigs
• 50g breadcrumbs
• 400g minced meat (beef or pork, or a mixture)
• 1 unwaxed lemon (zest and juice)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
• 180g mini pasta shells, or other small pasta shapes
• 150g peas, frozen or freshly podded
• 40g pecorino or parmesan (optional)

Method

• Trim and finely slice the spring onions.
• Peel and finely slice the garlic.
• Finely chop the herb leaves.
• Place half the sliced spring onions in a food processor with the sliced garlic clove, the breadcrumbs, half the chopped herbs and the minced meat.
• Finely grate in the lemon zest, season generously with salt and pepper and blitz until it all comes together. (You can of course do this by hand and mix well in a bowl.)
• Roll the mixture into small meatballs, around 2.5cm wide.
• Set a large casserole over a medium heat, drizzle in 3 tbsp olive oil and fry the meatballs for around ten minutes, turning, until they are browned all over.
• When the meatballs are browned and gnarly, pour the stock into the pan, bring to the boil and then stir in the pasta shells and the peas.
• Return to the boil, and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.
• Remove from the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice.
• Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as needed.
• Finish by stirring in the remaining herbs and spring onions, and serve in warmed bowls, finely grating over the pecorino or parmesan cheese, if using.

Taken from MEDesque: Everyday Recipes with Mediterranean Roots by Georgina Hayden.

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“It wasn’t long ago that crunchy or smooth was the sum total of our nut butter options,” said Sue Quinn in The Telegraph. But there is now more choice than ever and the “humble peanut is jostling for shelf space with almond, cashew and pistachio” spreads.

Sales of peanut butter overtook jam in the UK for the first time in 2020, and nut butters are “now making a bid to unseat honey from its long-held perch as number one”.

Filled with “fibre and healthy fats, it’s easy to see why nut butters appeal to the health-conscious among us,” said Lauren Shirreff in The Telegraph. They are a fantastic source of protein, “especially for people who are following plant-based or vegan diets”, nutritionist Jenna Hope told the paper.

A 30g serving of peanut butter contains around 8g of protein, which is “roughly the same as that in a large egg”, and a large spoonful “would also contain nearly three whole grams of fibre”.

One of the best alternatives to peanuts is almond butter, said Shirreff. It ticks lots of boxes, having the “most fibre” of any nut butter, and “fewer calories” too. Though it has “marginally” less protein than peanut butter, it’s “packed with magnesium and calcium”.

Pistachios have been all the rage as TikTok-viral sweet treats – think Dubai chocolate – but the best way to unlock their “bold, subtly sweet, roasted-nutty taste” is in savoury dishes, said Autumn Swiers on Tasting Table. A dollop of pistachio butter can be “placed under the skin of a chicken breast pre-roast for extra crispy, sweet-nutty moisture”, or as an “elevated candidate for homemade salad dressings”.

It is important to check the label for additional ingredients, said nutritionist Brianna Sommer on Delish. “I would look for a pure nut butter that has no added anything.” It is much better to add a pinch of salt, or a dollop of honey yourself than relying on whatever the “manufacturer has decided to include”.

The easiest way to eat nut butters is “on a slice of sourdough” or “poured over porridge”, said Stacey Smith in Women’s Health. But we all know they taste just that bit better “sneakily spooned straight from the jar”. For a “treat day” indulgence try Pana Organic Cashew Caramel Spread. “Packed with good stuff”, it includes coconut sugar for a hint of sweetness, while maca and sesame seeds bring “extra oomph”.

And if you’re looking for a classic peanut butter, try the M&S range, said Martha Roberts on Which?. Its smooth version is “rich”, “creamy” and “high-oleic” with the highest fibre content of the 56 items tested. Not only is it "reasonably priced”, it contains high levels of protein, and is “extremely low” in salt. Its crunchy alternative “comes a close second to its smooth sibling” because of its higher calorie and lower fibre content, but it’s “still high-oleic and with the same keen price”.