After all the culinary gymnastics and trumpeting of molecular gastronomy and other mystifying cooking methods, simple cooking seems to be the theme for cookbook writers this year. This is a smart move, because then they can capitalise of a huge market of time-poor people who want to cook delicious meals.
One of the best books I’ve seen in a while is One Perfect Ingredient: Three Ways to Cook It by Marcus Wareing. I haven’t had the opportunity of eating at his Michelin-starred restaurant Petrus, but I have tried his recipes, seen him at work at food shows and on television. I enjoy looking at him cook because he’s one of the most technically proficient chefs on the box these days.
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There’s always something to put you off when you plan to cook an ambitious meal. A few weeks ago, I wanted to treat some friends to a really lovely Indian dish to commemorate Phagwa and so to pay homage to this vibrant festival, I put together a menu of Caribbean Indian delicacies and North Indian inspired dishes.
My guests would be treated to saheena, kachowrie, pitod ka saag (chickpea flour dumplings in yogurt sauce), subz miloni (seasonal vegetables in spinach and garlic sauce) and gulab jamon.
It all started so well, waking up early to make the saheena and the kachowrie and moving quickly on to the chickpea flour dumplings which needed to be rested and done just before serving.
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It’s St Patrick’s Day and there’s wild carousing, loud singing and gallons of Guinness being drunk - and that’s just at my local pub! If those are the scenes at my local, then it must be an absolute riot in the streets of Dublin - and Chicago!
In honour of St Pat’s, I tried my hand at Soda Bread, a famous Irish classic. I usually pick up very good quality soda bread at the supermarket but never tried making it.
This bread is quite versatile and moreish. It’s excellent with jam or mature cheese and also goes well with stews because it’s great for sopping up these delicious juices.
I urge you to have a go at making this bread, it’s not difficult at all. I used a recipe from the ever reliable Handmade Loaf by the master Dan Lepard.

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Earlier this month, my Chinese friends ushered in the Year of the Rat. It’s supposed to be a time of hard work, activity, and renewal.
In terms of hard work and activity, it makes this year no different from any, but I’m eager to see where the renewal will come, as change is the only certainty in life.
The Chinese community in the Caribbean is small, but their achievements are quite significant and certainly, the region’s culture would be poorer without them.
In food terms, Chinese food in the Caribbean - particularly in Trinidad and Cuba - has become ‘creolised’ and I can safely say that chow har lok in Port of Spain tastes totally different (or better) from chow har lok in London, even though the same basic ingredients are used.
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Keep the Hershey’s, forget the cheesecake and don’t even bother with the ice cream, they are nowhere as tempting as a dish of sugary, crispy kurma!
Kurma is a sweetmeat that’s usually served at Indian weddings in the Caribbean and it’s a huge favourite among the non-Indians as well.
In Trinidad, I used to buy kurma in the supermarket that was nice and gingery but it was literally rock hard. It was so hard that you had to suck on it first to avoid damaging your teeth.
I then found what I thought was the best kurma in the world from an Indian lady at the San Juan Market but then about three years ago Bonnie came back from a holiday in Trinidad bearing her Mom’s amazing kurma.
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Baking is a task to which you must give your full and undivided attention. Not that I didn’t know this but it hit home last weekend when I took my eye off the ball after putting two Roquefort and walnut fougasses in the oven.
It was in the small hours, I was tired and more concerned about enjoying a glass of whisky and shooting the breeze with two friends in the living room. You know how it is when girls get together!
The old talk was so sweet, that by the time someone passed by the oven and shouted that one of the breads looked a bit burnt, it was too late. After a few hours rest, I tried with the remaining dough and the result was rustic, tasty bread that was perfect for a grey day and a bowl of cream of broccoli soup. I loved the mix of flavours of textures - and thought this bread could also go well with a bowl of callaloo.
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I got really excited when my friend Heather brought me the latest edition of Gourmet magazine from the States.
Gourmet isn’t widely available here and although the information’s all online, there’s something kinda special about thumbing through the magazine to see what foodies across the pond are speaking about.
This edition is devoted to southern cuisine and I was intrigued, as I’ve always heard people compare southern cuisine to Caribbean food.
It’s easy to think that the two cuisines are similar, especially as they have both have a strong African influence. But from what I’ve read, it seems the biggest similarity is the use of offal - like pig trotters and pigtail - as slaves in both regions had to make do with the leftovers from the plantation house. I might be wrong, but from reading Gourmet, it seems that is probably the only similarity.
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Pitta bread is an extremely versatile bread, however, I don’t like a lot of the commercially made stuff from the supermarket that tastes more like cardboard than bread.
As with all other bread making, it takes a bit of patience but the end result is totally worth it.
I particularly wanted to learn to make pitta bread because I’ve been looking for lunchtime alternatives since I don’t always feel like cooking everyday, but I do want to eat healthily.
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One of my New Year’s resolutions is to become a better baker. How can I claim to be an accomplished cook if I don’t know how to knock out a decent loaf or a tasty cake?
My determination to seek baking nirvana grew stronger yesterday, after an attempt at ginger cake failed spectacularly.
I used the wrong sized tin and fell asleep, so what came out of the oven was a burnt mess with the texture of industrial sponge. It was irreclaimable and ended up in the bin.
It’s not that I can’t bake, I simply have a small repertoire of things that I do very well (roast bake, banana bread, black cake for example), and now it’s time to move beyond my baking comfort zone.
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A true Caribbean Christmas isn’t complete without seasonal drinks. In Trinidad and Tobago, sorrel, ginger beer and ponche a creme are must haves for the season.
I have very vivid memories of Auntie Gloria’s delicious, spicy sorrel on the rocks in posh frosted glasses - usually reserved for company and special occasions - and a thick slab of black cake. Absolutely fabulous!
Sorrel isn’t exactly the easiest thing to find in London - unless you’re after the herb sorrel. You’d have to find a savvy Caribbean shop where the owner has sourced some dry sorrel from back home and then you’d pay around £1.50 for 150g of the dried red leaves.
But sorrel is an experience, of which drinking is the final stage. It starts with the tedious task of picking the red leaves as explained by a sorrel vendor in this short video made by Bookman.
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