This simple yet nourishing Levantine breakfast dish is a celebration of the humble legume slowly cooked with fresh rosemary, cumin and a little love and brought to life with a vibrant relish that packs a hot citrusy punch. It was first introduced to me by a friend I used to meet in Florentin – then…
Category: Herbs
Symi Roast Tomato Soup With a Wild Garlic and Walnut Pesto
I first tried this beautiful interpretation of the classic roasted tomato soup on the island of Symi, a glorious island that elegantly lies in the Southern Dodecanese, north of Rhodes and close to the coast of South West Turkey. Although it’s a relatively barren place, the island’s rich merchant founders made the most of its…
Shuk Ha’Carmel Green Herb Falafel
“Wait. You’re telling me that you have never – NEVER! – eaten falafel?” he exclaimed, narrowly missing the turning onto Boulevard Rothchild as we made our way to dinner one impossibly hot and humid evening in downtown Tel Aviv. “No!” I replied, “I have never – NEVER! – eaten falafel!“. He looked at me with that…
Mallorcan Smoky Tomato and Garlic Dip
On a recent trip to Mallorca, breakfast consisted of endless cups of darkly strong black coffee, freshly baked ‘ensaïmada’ – a beloved Mallorcan sweet pastry originating from Arabia – and ‘pan con tomate’ (Spanish tomatoes on garlicky toast). I could happily live forever on the latter so I wanted to create something similar for this…
Kısır, a Turkish Bulgur Wheat Salad with Pomegranate Molasses, Lemon and Herbs
Several years ago I came across a gorgeous little concept store/café just behind the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It’s one of those places that seems so effortlessly chic where the food is personal, fresh and made with love of the contemplative kind. Its walls are lined with blonde wooden shelves each carrying a collection of…
Egyptian Mesa’a’ah, a Spiced Aubergine Dip with Tahini Yoghurt
Last weekend I made a plate of Egyptian fava bean falafels (ta’miyah) for the first time and they were, by far, the best I’ve made to date; super crispy on the outside and crumbly and moist on the inside. I’m tweaking the recipe at the moment but look out for it soon. To accompany them…
Cádiz Tortilla de Patatas, a Spanish Omelette
For a time, I lived close to Cádiz in Andalusía, the southernmost point of mainland Spain where the Atlantic crashes into the Mediterranean. It’s a beautiful city with a laid-back vibe, brilliant seafood and a maze of curved streets bathed in intensely luminous white sunlight. It’s a place described by the novelist Laurie Lee as “a scribble…
Greek Kritharaki with Feta, Tomatoes, Olives and Wild Oregano
‘Each day had a tranquility a timelessness about it so that you wished it would never end. But then the dark skin of the night would peel off and there would be a fresh day waiting for us glossy and colourful as a child’s transfer and with the same tinge of unreality’ – Gerald Durrell. I…
Caldo Gallego, a Spanish White Bean Soup with Sherry Vinegar and Mojo Verde
A beautiful bowl of love for early spring evenings, this beautiful aniseed-based broth with lightly braised haricot beans, tomatoes, courgette and fennel is seasoned with a really good Spanish sherry vinegar, chilli and fennel seeds but it’s the punchy mojo verde – a garlicky green herb and garlic sauce originating from the Canary Islands –…
La Cecìna Toscana, a Fermented Chickpea Flour Pancake with Rosemary
In pre-Covid times, it always amazed me that having eaten breakfast in England we can be enjoying a late lunch in Italy looking up to the sun and taking in the aromas of the streets: jasmine blossoms and linden trees fighting for our olfactory attention against smokey Vespas, buttery patisserie, melting chocolate, over-ripe peaches, the…
