Delicious UK March 2025

March has to win the award for the most hopeful month. Soon we’ll have the spring equinox, our clocks will pull forward, and all those patient bulbs and buds will finally get their moment to shine. It also has the perfect balance of cosy and cold, so it’s a great time to hunker down with a good project. I can’t think of a better one than making one (or all?!) of our world-class cheesecakes (p76), whether you’re feeling retro (hello, Viennetta-inspired mint-choc slice) or, like me after a recent Spanish minibreak, you can’t stop banging on about the beauty that is Basque cheesecake. Or perhaps you’ll become obsessed with our cover star, a stunning set cheesecake with the flavours of the coffee-shop order of the moment – blueberry iced latte.…

“Hong Kong is a melting pot of all cuisines, not just globally but from all over China” Q What does Hong Kong mean to you? A It’s like a second home. I grew up here in the UK, but my parents lived in Hong Kong for a long time. My dad worked there and on the mainland. My sisters and I would spend our summer holidays there so it’s like a holiday home; our time there was always for enjoyment. It means a lot to me because my dad’s buried there. He passed away in 2009, so I have a lot of memories there, some fond and some more negative. But food draws all those memories together. I joke: it doesn’t matter whether it’s at the start of life or…

SEASON'S EATINGS SPRING ONIONS Equally brilliant sliced and sizzled, charred whole or scattered over dishes like a herb, spring onions are probably my best-loved veg. My favourite way of eating them is cutting them into 5cm lengths and throwing into a stir-fry – they don’t dissolve in the sauce and remain nice and snappy. BLOOD ORANGE It’s getting near the end of blood orange season, so make the most of them before they disappear. There’s nothing better than the combination of blood orange, rhubarb and pistachio – such bright vibrant colours and flavours in a month where there isn’t much in season. SPINACH Often thrown into dishes as an extra for vaguely healthy purposes, spinach can offer so much more. Try chopping it finely and cooking it down into a…

THE FOOD HISTORY BIT Pancake Day (4 March this year) must rank as one of our most popular celebrations. The religious name for it is Shrove Tuesday (to ‘shrive’ meant to confess and be forgiven for your sins) and it marks the beginning of Lent and the run-up to Easter. But what’s that got to do with pancakes? Lent commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, and Christians would purify themselves by abstaining from eating food such as meat, eggs, fat and milk. Before Lent, all the foods people couldn’t eat needed to be disposed of to avoid temptation, and the most effective (and pleasurable) way to do that is to use them up making pancakes. To prepare yourself for the privation of Lent, search ‘pancake recipes’…

Written from her Cotswold veg patch, the book follows the seasons. As well as a self-deprecating and heartbreaking picture of Kathy’s mental health struggles you’ll find warm, humorous, nature-packed restoration – and excellent recipes (like those on p108). Expect (at this time of year) a leeky rarebit and a story you can neither put down nor stop thinking about.…

Improving the quality of our soil, which has been depleted by modern farming methods and chemical fertilisers, is recognised globally as an important step to combat climate change. A thriving, diverse community of microorganisms in the soil (the soil microbiome) helps our crops to grow better, captures carbon and cleans up pollutants. Art is a good way to digest complex topics, so the new exhibition at London’s Somerset House, Soil: The World At Our Feet, has arrived at the right time. On at the venue’s Embankment Galleries until 13 April, it invites the audience to think about soil as more than just dirt, emphasising how it’s the foundation of all life on Earth and celebrating the everyday encounters we don’t realise come from soil. Tickets from £10, somersethouse.org.uk…