Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2024 i Delicious UK

Goodbye to the so-called ‘hungry gap’ of March, hello to oh-mygoodness-what-will-I-eat-first April. Asparagus, fragrant wild garlic, purple sprouting broccoli… All the old favourites are rolling around again, and naturally you'll find them in this issue. We've picked out hot-crunchy radishes, too, for our veg hero of the month (p35), with exciting new ways to enjoy them – are you ready to get smacking? Everybody knows how to cook chicken – or so you might think… Our dedicated food team never rest when it comes to tweaking and perfecting their techniques, and I've learnt a few tricks from their in-depth chook special (p24). I hope you do too – I just need to find something heavy to squash down those thighs for proper crispiness… There's only one restaurant in the West…

april moments. REQUIRED LISTENING The brilliant wild food chef Harriet Mansell (pictured) is launching season 2 of her weekly podcast, If A Tree Falls. If you're new to its joys, you're in for a thought-provoking treat. Each week Harriet heads off to forage, walk and talk with a nature-knowledgable guest. Expect the likes of Amy Jeffs, author of Wild, as well as restaurateurs and even theoretical physicists discussing how they find meaning in everyday life. Catch up with the previous series and listen to new episodes (from Tuesday 9 April) wherever you get your podcasts. harrietmansell.com/podcast COULD YOU EAT INSECTS? Think you'll have grubs on your dinner table one day? As part of its Meat The Future exhibition, The Food Museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk, is hosting an event with Nick…

This month's star email wins a Magimix Mini Plus – a small, powerful food processor worth up to £200 The easy-to-use Mini Plus can handle blending, whisking, slicing, grating and more. With a 1.7 litre capacity and a 400 watt motor (guaranteed for 30 years), it's ideal for small kitchens, and all blades and discs can be stored in the handy box provided. magimix.co.uk FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A MAGIMIX MINI PLUS… Let us know your thoughts on this month's issue by emailing us at info@deliciousmagazine.co.uk*…

Yes way, José! Homemade romesco is a heavenly partner for fish, roast chicken or poached egg – anything where the hero flavour on your plate is gentle, ready to be enhanced by a punchy sauce. But let's get real: if you don't have time to roast loads of red peppers, laboriously peel them, whizz with almonds and so on, Spanish chef José Pizarro's in-a-jar version is a tasty time-saving alternative (albeit with slightly less of a flavour hit than the homemade version). While you're online (and if you're feeling flush), order a pack of acorn-fed, handslivered jamon Ibérico too – savoury, sweet, sublime. Epicure Cook With José salsa romesco, £4.29 for 130g, shop.josepizarro.com IS IT A PEA OR A BEAN? The delicious. team are converts to Bold Beans, as the…

KEN'S GARDEN-FRESH FEAST I believe we should eat seasonally – why do we eat tomatoes in the middle of winter? I love seeing all the vegetables coming to fruition. When I was a student in France one of my favourite early summer dishes is what my Franco-Italian adoptive mother Bruna called a tian. She would take leftover rice, soak it in milk, mix it with sautéed courgette, garlic, parsley, butter and parmesan – and throw it in the oven. It was so good – even better cold the next day – and perfect with a cool glass of pinot grigio. Home is not one place. It's about being close to the people that you love. Home to me is everywhere. I travel a lot – Europe, China, UK – and…

WHAT ARE RADISHES? They're root vegetables with the botanical name Raphanus sativus and you might be surprised to learn they belong to the cabbage family (Brassicaceae). Brassicas, you see, also include crucifers or mustards (such as mustard root, horseradish and wasabi), hence the radish's hot, peppery taste. Their English name comes from the Latin word radix, meaning root. The British season starts now and runs all the way to October. IS THERE MUCH VARIETY? The most common type you'll see in shops is the round red one with white flesh – they can vary from oh-my-God-that's-peppery to almost disappointingly mild. French breakfast radishes are longer, and radish lovers claim they have a distinctive flavour of their own. Interesting heritage varieties come in purple, white, pink or red, and can have…

“Indo-Chinese food is really an Indian interpretation of Chinese cooking, but it's become a popular cuisine in its own right. It has powerful Indian spices mixed with huge hits of umami from soy and sweetness from other sauces. You can use chicken or paneer here, but soya chunks absorb all the flavours so well” I'm lucky as my partner, Mishke, is a great cook who loves experimenting with flavours, and we have a brilliant kitchen at home to cook in. When I'm cooking I tend to keep it quite simple, as in the restaurant we follow certain processes that take days (or in the case of fermenting, even months) to make just one element of a dish. We're usually entertaining friends and family at home too, so I want to…

A handful of prawns, a few squid rings and a bag of mussels can be transformed into all manner of luxurious dishes – but serving them in a simple broth or sauce has always been my go-to. It's a failsafe way to cook seafood to perfection, it works in the height of summer as well as the depths of winter, and it means you can make use of the discarded shells (which are packed with flavour). Of course, seafood stews vary hugely depending on where in the world you are. There's creamy cullen skink from Scotland and the rich chowders of New England; tomato-based bouillabaisse and cioppino from the Mediterranean (the latter via San Francisco); the fragrant coconut-laced moqueca of Brazil, Sri Lankan fish sothi and many more. Here, rather…

The project. be a better cook: skills. Making your own noodles sounds daunting but, as with pasta, there are varying levels of complexity. Handpulled noodles are an artform, while others are extruded via special machines. But noodles cut with a knife are easily achievable at home. And when it comes to udon – the famously thick and chewy noodles of Japan – homemade will knock shop-bought into a cocked hat. As udon are made with just flour, salt and water, technique is key. You need to knead and rest them over a period of 24 hours to develop the gluten and give them their characteristic springy texture. The good news? Udon are traditionally kneaded with your feet, which is great fun (don't worry, the dough is in a bag!). Masaki Sugisaki,…

be a better cook: sustainability. Cooking sweet potato in an airfryer is an energy efficient way to get perfectly crisp fries. Load them up with a black bean and jalapeño topping and you have a Tex-Mexstyle dish that just happens to be vegan, too COOKING METHOD: AIRFRYER Airfryer loaded sweet potato fries Serves 4 as a side (or 2 as a main) Hands-on time 10 min Airfrying time 16 min Specialist kit Airfryer ECO TIP There's no need to peel sweet potatoes when making fries – just give them a good scrub before using. BE A BETTER COOK Silken tofu is great for creating creamy, mayolike sauces – it doesn't have much flavour of its own, so it'll absorb anything you whizz it up with. Try mixing any leftovers with…

Cocktail of the month To mark the 75th anniversary of Nato this month, this gift from America to Europe is a military-strength concoction (essentially a treble). So go easy, or add more cola and enjoy it with a friend – or ally Long Island iced tea Serves 1 Hands-on time 10 min SCALE IT UP The drink is easily scaled up to make a bigger batch (or see introduction). Put 15ml tequila, 15ml gin, 15ml vodka, 15ml white rum, 15ml Cointreau (or other triple sec), 15ml sugar syrup, 15ml lemon juice and 15ml lime juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake for 30 seconds, then strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Top up with 50-100ml cola (depending on how strong you like it), then garnish with…

SCAN HERE… for heaps more pasta recipes for you to try, from speedy weekday favourites to labours of love The recipe Serves 4-6 Hands-on time 20 min, plus resting Oven time 25-30 min Specialist kit Baking tin about the size of your pasta sheets MAKE AHEAD Wild garlic is in season only for a month or two in the spring, so it's worth making a big batch of the pesto and freezing it. EASY SWAPS Is your search for wild garlic proving fruitless? Switch it for the same quantity of baby leaf spinach, plus an extra garlic clove. For the pesto • 50g pine nuts • 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped • 50g parmesan or vegetarian equivalent, finely grated • 50g wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped (see Easy Swaps) •…

health matters. What kind of milk do you order with your coffee? There's a good chance it's non-dairy as nearly one third of Brits favour plant-based milks. Some of us have no choice, of course. The British Nutrition Foundation estimates 5% of people in the UK are dairy intolerant, which means they can't digest lactose, a sugar found in milk. A further small number are allergic to dairy. Some people avoid cow's milk because of the taste or out of concern for the environment and/or animal welfare. Large numbers, though, choose plant milk because they think it's healthier or because it's what everyone else is doing. WHAT ARE PLANT BASED ‘MILKS’? They are mostly water, with the plant ingredient making up as little as 2% (and usually only up to…

We all know about soy sauce, right? It's the dark, salty liquid that comes in little sachets with trays of supermarket sushi, which we use to season our fridge-cold sushi rolls. Not exactly. While some might call it soy sauce, that mass-produced liquid bears little relationship to the naturally brewed stuff produced by Taiwanese firm Doyoubo, according to marketing director Lulu Lee. “Most soy sauce on the market is produced via acid-hydrolysis, a chemical process that makes it quick and cheap to produce,” says Lulu. “This takes less than a week and results in a sauce that's salty but lacking in umami. In contrast, our process makes use of the hot climate in Taiwan to ferment the soybeans naturally over a period of four to six months, producing a sauce…

For your chance to win £50 to spend in store, solve the cryptic clue on the magazine spine, then email your answer with your name, full UK address and phone number to info@deliciousmagazine.co.uk by 30 April 2024.* Solution to February's clue: pear crumble ANSWERS TO FEBRUARY'S CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Fricassée 8 Bonnet 9 Warhol 12 Iris 13 Negus 14 Feta 17 Obesity 18 Taproom 19 Lapsang 22 Cordial 24 Thaw 25 Flour 26 Curd 29 Punnet 30 Tahini 31 Sweetcorn DOWN 2 Rind 3 Cutlery 4 Sawdust 5 Earl 6 Comice 7 Pomelo 10 Ribollita 11 Marmalade 15 Pilau 16 Opera 20 Peanut 21 Galette 22 Caustic 23 Iguana 27 Gnaw 28 Char…

Harissa, feta and filo cigars Makes 10 Hands-on time 15 min Oven time 12 min, plus cooling Heat the oven to 200°C fan/gas 7. Slice a 200g feta block lengthways into 10 strips. Melt 20g butter in a small pan, then stir in 1 tbsp harissa and take off the heat. Lay 2 filo pastry sheets on a worktop next to each other and brush the harissa butter all over. Cut each sheet into 5 strips, roughly 1cm wider than the pieces of feta. Sit a piece of feta across one end of a strip of pastry, then roll the pastry around, at a slight angle if need be, until it's completely covered. Put seam-side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with more harissa butter,…

Follow us on Instagram and X/Twitter @deliciousmag “I really want to try cooking with potato milk” Most treasured food memory? Eating soursops (a green prickly fruit) from our garden when I lived in Antigua as a child. Signature recipe? Chocolate brownies made with ground almonds. How did you discover our magazine? I started reading it to keep up with food trends when I left catering college almost 20 years ago. What's on your foodie bucket list? A beachfront meal in the Maldives or Eleven Madison Park restaurant in NYC. Go-to local restaurant/café? The Gamekeepers in Mapledurwell, Hampshire. They do amazing game dishes all year round. Biggest cooking adventure? Eating my way through Vietnam and Malaysia and trying the different regional foods. Food goals? I really want to try cooking with…

KEFIR MOVES UP A NOTCH You doubtless already know about the gut benefits of kefir, the popular fermented milk drink, but this new baked version has the added USP of being super tasty, bringing a natural maltiness with no added sugar or flavourings. Breakfast time transformed… Biotiful baked milk kefir, £2.95 for 500ml, Waitrose and Ocado LUCKY DIPS We say dips are underrated. The taramasalata (not luminous pink), tzatziki and ajvar (made with roasted pepper and aubergine) from Odysea's new range make for a speedy and satisfying mezze lineup – just add olives and flatbreads. They're great as sandwich additions too. £3 for 200g, Sainsbury's CRUNCH TIME These have been out for a while but they're new to us. Tender, gently piquant from the mustard seeds, with a hint of…

family favourites. CHICKEN 101: GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT BUY A BETTER BIRD The difference between a chicken that's been intensively farmed and one that's free-range and corn-fed is like night and day. We love (and used) Sutton Hoo chickens for these recipes, but there are many good suppliers out there producing chicken packed with flavour. IF YOU'RE FRYING, DON'T USE A NON-STICK PAN Stainless steel or cast-iron gives the intense, even heat you need for a proper sear and crisp skin. The meat will naturally release when it's ready to be flipped (see our pan feature on p60). REST THE CHICKEN AFTER IT'S COOKED A roast chicken needs at least 20 minutes, while even a breast or thigh benefits from a few minutes’ rest. If you whip it from the…

In my childhood, the seasons dictated what we ate, and I looked forward to each season for the different produce it would bring. Spring brought all the wonderful herbs, young salad leaves, spinach and asparagus. In Italy, no one serves plain boiled veg – it's always flavoured or made into something more substantial, as it is in these two wonderful dishes. I hope they inspire you to make good use of vegetables and turn them into the superhero of your meals “A classic carbonara is loved the world over and the addition of asparagus brings a wonderful fresh flavour. I even use the hard stems to flavour the pasta water” TURN THE PAGE FOR GENNARO'S BRILLIANT VEG-CENTRIC RECIPES NEXT MONTH Georgina Hayden's Greekinfluenced, sun-flecked cookery genius Carbonara di asparagi (asparagus…

This magnificent towering layer cake combines light pistachio sponge with a decadently rich cream cheese coating, which gives it a beautiful finish. Perfect for celebrations or special occasions For this teatime treat, buttery shortbread is lightened with lemon and given a nutty richness, thanks to plenty of pistachios Choux buns with raspberry, rose and pistachio Makes 10 Hands-on time 1 hour 20 min, plus chilling and infusing Oven time 25-30 min Specialist kit Piping bag; 3cm diameter round cutter MAKE AHEAD Make the craquelin, cream and coulis and chill for up to 24 hours. It's best to make the buns on the day you'll serve them, then fill when you're ready to serve. For the craquelin • 20g demerara sugar • 20g plain flour • 1 tsp shelled pistachios, chopped…

As the youngest member of our family, I was always glued to my mother's side, watching her prepare and cook our family meals from scratch each night. It never ceased to amaze me that, despite having four kids and working full time as a seamstress from home, she always found precious time to lovingly prepare three to five fresh dishes every day. I would vigilantly observe her adding a splash of this and a pinch of that to each dish, as nothing was written down. All her recipes were taught from feeling and tasting. Shaoxing wine (along with soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil) is used in the majority of my mum's Cantonese recipes. It's a traditional ingredient made from fermented glutinous rice and you're sure to find a…

Buying a whole chicken is often better value than specific cuts and using it all saves on waste. Emily Gussin shows you how to make the most of it – skin, fat, carcass and all SECRET INGREDIENT We buy goose fat to roast potatoes but often dispose of the fat from a chicken roasting tin without thinking. There's so much flavour in this fat and it's great for cooking with. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and use it to roast veg, pimp mayonnaise or simply spread on toast. THE NEW CRACKLING Crisp chicken skin is great eaten like crisps, added to a sandwich for crunch or sprinkled over pretty much anything. To make it, scrape any excess fat/meat from the skin, then stretch it to a…

A green sauce – essentially whizzed up herbs bound with oil and flavoured with anything from spices and nuts to chillies and aromatics – is such a versatile friend in the kitchen. It can become a pesto or a marinade; it can be drizzled over roast meat, fish or vegetables, folded into a salad just before serving for a fresh hit of flavour, or adapted to complement a specific recipe. No wonder you can find a version of it in cuisines all over the world. A fresh green sauce will keep in the fridge for a few days as long as it has enough oil in it, but it'll soon start losing its vibrant colour and fresh flavour. That's why it's a perfect candidate for freezing: you can make a…

M&S Expressions Vermentino 2022, Sardinia, Italy 12% A new dry Sardinian white that sings with freshly sliced citrus – lime and grapefruit particularly – and has a sunny succulence, just right for lighter spring salads. Try it with braised fennel. £8, Marks & Spencer (in-store only) Norton Torrontés 2023, Mendoza, Argentina 13% Torrontés is a lip-smacking, palate-wakening grape, here with notes of galia melon, tangerines and an exotic drop of orange blossom. Chill it for corn fritters or lightly spiced chicken empanadas. £8.99 (down to £7.99 from 3 Apr to 7 May), Waitrose Taste The Difference Austrian Riesling 2022 12.5% From vineyards along the Danube riverbanks, an elegant dry riesling with a bright lemon streak and the flavour of crunchy green apples, perfect with light white fish dishes or baby…

Whizzed up watercress, spinach and dill provide a delicious base for crispy-skin chicken thighs, nutty lentils and charred asparagus Combine the spice and fragrance of Singapore chilli crab with the simple charm of a baked potato for a weeknight staple we're eating on repeat Chilli crab jackets Serves 2 Hands-on time 10 min Oven time 20 min (or 50 min if not using a microwave) KNOWHOW Got an air fryer? The spuds will take 35-40 minutes at 200°C. Start them in the microwave to reduce the air fryer time to 15 minutes. ECO TIP Bake extra potatoes while the oven is on to use in other meals. • Veg oil for coating and frying • 2 medium baking potatoes (see Eco Tip) • 6 spring onions, finely sliced • 20g…

IN SEASON NOW Reach for the watercress this month for its peppery flavour, versatility and abundant nutrients. Deploy this leafy green in everything from salads and stir-fries to soups and smoothies, and reap the health benefits. Watercress is a source of iron and packed with many important vitamins including A, C and K, plus minerals and beneficial plant compounds. Look for the British-grown stuff. PLANT POWER Women who consume higher amounts of protein, especially from plant-based sources, develop fewer chronic diseases and are more likely to be healthier as they age, according to a new US study. Middle-aged women are almost 50 per cent more likely to be healthier as they get older if they eat plenty of beans, nuts and other animal-free forms of protein rather than meat. “Notably…

1 Garbure is a French dish made with… a) Goose and cabbage b) Sausage and beans c) Chicken and lentils d) Beef and onion 2 In wine, what is TCA (trichloroanisole)? a) It's used to clarify wine b) A disease of young vines c) The chemical responsible for wine being ‘corked’ d) It gives sauvignon blanc its characteristic smell 3 Himmel und Erde (heaven & earth) is a German dish made from… a) Black beans and rice b) Apple sauce and mashed potato c) Fried eggs and bacon d) Chocolate and cherries 4 Which of these has not been used in a famous fizzy drink? a) Cocaine  b) Lithium c) Pepsin  d) Cheese whey 5 What is another name for the French pastry pain au chocolat? a) Chocolatine b) Royale au chocolat c) Coco-canelé d) Chouquette 6 The first recorded use of the…

TASTE OF CHINA Smacked radishes p37 Three cup chicken p72 Indo-Chinese soya chilli p50 All three of these dishes are a celebration of Chinese cooking in some way, be they traditional (the chicken), a merging of cultures (the soya chilli) or a seasonal dish inspired by a classic (the radishes). Serve them together and you have a serious feast on your hands. Just add steamed rice. SNACK TIME Harissa, feta and filo cigars p7 Airfryer loaded sweet potato fries p88 Crunchy mozzarellastuffed olives p44 Having people over but want to focus on the company instead of slaving over a sit-down meal? This trio of crispy finger foods is sure to impress and delight in equal measure. Provided you put some time aside earlier on to make the cigars, prep the…

STAR EMAIL Subject: Parting gifts From: Camilla Rothwell My husband and I moved from the UK to the US in 1987. My friend recently made the reverse move to the English countryside. Vowing to keep in touch, my parting gift to her was her own subscription to your wonderful magazine. It has been the perfect connection across the miles – introducing her to British regions and cuisine and so much more, plus trying and sharing our favourite recipes from each issue. A huge thank you for being such a brilliant conduit to keep us closely connected across the miles. My only problem is she receives her copy a few days ahead of me! Subject: Wife-saving recipes From: Nigel Daintith Newly retired, I have time to indulge in cooking for the…

Ann Tobin Daffodils and the sound of birdsong Sally Jenkins Snowdrops outside my window (that's the only good smell in rural North Yorkshire!) Esra Delen Aktuglu When you open the windows at dusk and it smells like fresh watermelon (don't laugh!) and grass. That's spring for me OUR FAVOURITE SMELLS OF THE SEASON… • Hot cross buns toasted and buttered (liberally) • Light rain on warm soil (it even has a name: petrichor) • Freshly cut grass • Freshly washed laundry, drying on a line • Bluebells and wild garlic (sweetness and pungency) on woodland walks WHAT'S YOUR VIEW? Join the chat and connect with other delicious. food lovers on social @deliciousmag or join our Facebook group at deliciousmagazine.co.uk/foodlovers Who wants to be a delicious. cook? Cut a dash –…

Recipe I can't wait to make: Lamb shank fricassée with preserved lemon (above). I didn't know that… I've been missing out on barbecued olives all my life. Look out for recipes from Greekish in next month's issue BOOK OF THE MONTH GREEKISH Award-winning food writer and delicious. favourite Georgina Hayden delivers again with 120 vibrant recipes that transport appetite and mind to the sunny Med. Inspired by her Greek-Cypriot roots and travels, the recipes and combinations are often familiar, but only to a point – hence the title. Hayden's recipes – brilliant breakfasts, appetising small plates and salads, and I-wantthat-now desserts – are as reliable and inspiring as ever, with her usual emphasis on flavour and minimal fuss. There really is so much to enjoy: when I was eating the…

Miso, tahini and feta bring a depth of flavour to this spring vegetable tart, made with a simple pastry rich in ground almonds. It's the perfect centrepiece for an al fresco lunch Wild garlic gives this creamy quiche a delicate fragrance that lifts the rich trout beautifully. A pure encapsulation of the season Trout, spring onion and wild garlic quiche Serves 4-6 Hands-on time 30 min, plus chilling and cooling Oven time 1 hour 15 min Specialist kit 20cm round deep cake tin EASY SWAPS If you can't find any wild garlic, you can use another soft herb such as chives or dill. • 300g plain flour, plus extra to dust • 1 tbsp fennel seeds • 160g salted butter, chilled and chopped • 1 medium free-range egg, beaten •…

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH OLIVES? An ingredient that always features near the top the most-hated foods lists in the UK, olives are disliked even by people who say they love olive oil. Naturally very bitter, green and black olives (they're both the same fruit – the latter are just left on the tree longer to ripen) need to be processed and/or fermented in brine or pickled to reduce the bitterness, but many still find the resulting flavour too strong or object to the olives’ overly salty or vinegary sliminess. HOW HAVE WE SOLVED IT? This recipe attempts to convert olive haters by using large green olives, which often have a firmer texture than most black olives and a fresher, more olive oil-like taste. The creamy mozzarella stuffing acts as a…

You can spend a lot of money on a pan. You can also spend very little. And for all those pans in between, there's a world of techno-marketing speak, golden promises about how they'll never let you down, and all sorts of materials, coatings, shapes and sizes – making choosing where to spend your money seem daunting. One thing you don't need to worry about, however, is buying a huge range of different pans. You might want that copper saucier pan or shiny teal cast iron cocotte, but as long as you have a frying pan and a few saucepans, you can cook the vast majority of dishes. After that, you can tweak your arsenal to suit your style: if you cook a lot of stir-fries, get a wok; if…

A BIT ABOUT ANNA She's a Scottish pastry chef, baker and writer. Anna has recently opened Quince Bakery in north London (see our flour feature on p84) after a career in top London kitchens such as Lyle's, Pétrus and The River Café. Her glittering career in sweet things could all have been so different, as she started out as an architect… Anna's debut cookbook, The Last Bite (DK £22), is a love letter to desserts and baking. @anna.atthetable; search our recent interview with Anna at deliciousmagazine.co.uk “Making brioche is easier than you think – you just have to be patient. Making sure the dough is well mixed and developed, then adding the butter methodically are key to success. It comes together into the most beautiful glossy dough. I've added plenty…

be a better cook: sustainability. What's all the fuss about stone-milled or stoneground flour – and what exactly is it? Until the 19th century, stone milling was the only means by which whole grains were ground into flour at scale. The mechanics are simple: two flat stone discs are put on top of each other, one of which remains static while the other is turned, slowly crushing the grain into a brown, textured flour with a rich aroma and flavour. Since industrialisation and the introduction of modern varieties of wheat, traditional mills have been usurped by huge industrial roller or steel burr mills, in which the grain is ground multiple times very quickly, then sifted to remove the bran and the germ, creating the fine white powder most people think…

I'm not just a foul weather soup fiend. To me, soup is for life. Soup is life. Don't get me wrong, I've eaten some terrible soups. Spare me those boring admissions of defeat where every spoonful is as dreary and disappointing as the last. We're better than that. In winter, I love those dense soups filled with meat and root vegetables, the sort of bowlfuls that could keep a medieval village going through a siege – just the thing when it's snowing outside and you're about to do a double shift on the trebuchet. Even when the sun comes out, my love for soup is strong. At this time of year, I love soups full of sprightly vegetables, newly sprung from the warming earth. Bring me a basket of baby…

One of the key ways to appreciate beer is to understand the individual ingredients. Think about it in food terms: the more herbs and spices you've tasted, the more likely you are to identify them in a dish and value the flavours they bring. A great place to start is with understanding hops, and this month's beers are all brewed with citra – the world's most popular aromatic hop variety. With its intense citrus, tropical and stone fruit flavours, citra has been so successful that it's redefined the flavour of modern beer for many drinkers, who now, when they think of craft beer, think of citrussy hops. Single-hopped beers (or beers where one hop is dominant in the recipe) give us the perfect chance to learn exactly what that hop…

Peanut butter and raspberry jam marble cake traybake Serves 20 Hands-on time 40 min, plus cooling Oven time 25 min Specialist kit 20cm x 30cm baking tin MAKE AHEAD Freeze the cake and icing separately for up to 3 months, then defrost and assemble. KNOWHOW Try to use a peanut butter without any additives and stir it properly before you use it. • 150g unsalted butter • 4 medium free-range eggs • 125g smooth peanut butter • 50g soured cream • 200g golden caster sugar • 210g self-raising flour • 80g seedless raspberry jam For the icing • 100g unsalted butter, softened • 100g smooth peanut butter • 160g icing sugar, plus 2 tbsp • Splash whole milk (optional) • 3 tbsp seedless raspberry jam • 2 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts…

Chances are, either by ferry or plane, you'll arrive in Bastia to begin your Corsican adventure. Happily, it's in easy reach of the Cap Corse peninsula that juts out to the north of the island. There, winding roads that skirt the coast and cross spectacular mountains take you to the fishing village of Centuri in the far northwest. Despite its tiny size, the village is France's premier port for the spiny rock lobster (called langouste locally), and you can try this speciality at the many harbourside restaurants such as U Cavallu di Mare (+33 6 18 15 76 31), where chef Jean-Christophe Strinna comes from a family of fishermen. While there, have a glass of the region's very own bittersweet aperitif, also named Cap Corse – you can visit the…

When it comes to food and language, we all have our bugbears. Some people, for example, can't stand words like ‘yummy’ or ‘nom-nom’ or ‘mouthwatering’. They are, of course, correct and I'm sure you can think of plenty more. Irritating adjectives, however, pale in comparison to a semantic device I deem worthy of death by a thousand editorial cuts: the overapplication of possessive pronouns. For those without a linguistics degree (honestly, you're not missing much), a possessive pronoun indicates ownership – his, hers, theirs, yours – and, most irritatingly on social media, the first person ‘my’. Yes, my (bear with me) greatest gastrophonic grievance is to hear someone, usually on social media, say something along the lines of “you guys have to try my salted caramel brownies” or “these are…