Amba sauce. When I think about it, I feel utter love because it’s such a beautiful thing. I think so highly of it that, if Amba were a man, I would run away with him. My first experience of this Iraqi sweet and sour mango condiment was sitting on a harbour wall in the Crusader…
Tag: Lemon
Caldo Gallego, a Spanish White Bean Soup with Sherry Vinegar and Mojo Verde
A beautiful bowl of love for late summer 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 –…
Nephele’s Beetroot and Garlic Salad with Creamy Ricotta and Fresh Dill, Pantzaria Salata
Whilst holidaying in the harbour town of Symi in August, we were invited to lunch by my friend Nephele, the lucky custodian of one of those beautiful pastel-coloured neo-classical villas that slowly wind up the herb-covered hills that rise up from the sea. Hers is buttercup yellow. Inside, the huge middle floor is open plan…
Greek Wild Oregano-roasted Tomatoes and Whipped Feta on Garlicky Sourdough
Thinking ahead for a vibrant working lunch, I drizzled a tray of lusciously ripe plum tomatoes with olive oil, a flourish of organic oregano and plenty of sea salt and placed it in a low oven for a couple of hours. As they slowly caramelised, I was immediately transported to a recent visit to Corfu old…
Pera Garlicky Spinach with Yoghurt and Biber Salçası
After a dark and stormy day we literally fell through the doorway of Asmalı Cavit, a treasured wooden-fronted traditional meyhane in the centre of Pera in Istanbul. Here, the walls are lined with photographic portraits of people from a more glamorous age alongside vintage posters promoting wine, long forgotten theatre productions and the seaside resorts…
Moroccan Zaalouk Tartine with Whipped Feta, Lemon and Mint
Dusk falls and the Jemaa el Fna – place of the vanished mosque – in the heart of the ancient walled médina is transformed into a seething mass of tribesmen, Berber villagers, performers and musicians who converge upon Morocco’s ochre-tinted city every evening to tell stories, juggle, bang drums in a trance-like state of bliss, dance, charm snakes,…
Umbrian Barley, Cavolo Nero and Lemon Soup with Pesto alla Genovese
High up in the hills of Umbria, winters can be long and very cold. A chilled silence wraps itself around the small towns and villages like a damp white cloak and the region falls into a kind of reflective slumber until Easter. Restaurants – at least those that choose to remain open after the feasting…
La Belle Salade Niçoise with a Green Olive Tapenade Dressing
Named ‘La Belle’ after the frequently used nickname for the city of Nice which lies in the French Riviera on the Mediterranean Sea, this salad typifies for me the fresh seasonal beauty of the local cuisine. This simple plate of summer is inspired by Richard Olney’s musings on Lulu Peyraud who, with her husband Lucien,…
Pesto alla Genovese
It’s early on Tuesday morning at Genoa’s Mercato Orientale and a light summer rain still lingers in the air. Softly fragrant and warm. Dozens of men and women are quietly and efficiently focused on the business of setting up their stalls stopping only occasionally to bid someone buongiorno. Fragrant bouquets of basil line the stalls their uniquely…
Pal Haveli Paneer Makhani with Almond and Lemon Basmati Rice
After a long and eventful drive from Jaipur – so many stories to tell – we eventually arrived in the ‘blue city’ of Jodhpur just as its colourful residents prepared themselves for the business of the cooling evening (even in October the temperature rarely falls below 100 degrees). All of the tiny artisan shops that…
Cardamom and Dill 