In the UK cucumbers are predominantly eaten raw or pickled. A backbone of British salads, or dainty finger sandwiches, or combined with yoghurt in dishes such as raita, tzatziki and cacik. But they are also fabulous to cook with, as evidenced by this very quick and easy Sri Lankan cucumber curry from Karan Gokani’s Hoppers ... Read more »
For many years, ezme has been one of my favourite side dishes when visiting the many Turkish restaurants of North London. A simple cold dish of chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and red peppers with lots of parsley and mint, ezme is the perfect foil to kebabs such as adana kofte, chicken and lamb cis, and ... Read more »
This delicious summer vegetable salad hails from Lithuania, and is one of those dishes where a handful of simple ingredients – potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, and radishes along with kefir and dill – combine into something more than the sum of their parts. The recipe is shared in recently published Baltic cookbook Amber & ... Read more »
Shiso is one of my favourite herbs, one that I first encountered in Japanese cuisine (which is where its name comes from). In this straightforward recipe from Mark Diacono’s Herb: A Cook’s Companion cucumber is quick-pickled with shiso, vinegar, sugar and a few additional flavourings to create a light condiment or side to a wide ... Read more »
I’m rather partial to a cocktail! Especially since I don’t like table wine or beer, which seem to be the default alcoholic choices to drink with food when eating out in a restaurant. I usually end up choosing a soft drink – a fizzy drink, fruit juice, maybe a milkshake or a lassi, or just ... Read more »
I have always loved pickled gherkins. Many’s the time I’ve come to the chagrined realisation, as I munch one straight from the jar, then another and then one more, that I have eaten an entire jar in one sitting! Over the last several years, Pete and I have gradually converted our back garden into what ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]