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You want the recipes in a cookbook to work. All the more so in a baking cookbook. This is the obligatory minimum. A proper cookbook should also swell your imagination and expand your kitchen confidence. Natasha Pickowicz’s “More Than Cake: 100 Recipes Built for Pleasure and Community” succeeds on all counts, supplying both inspiration and […]

Christmas is the perfect time to enjoy a panettone. While the festive bread-cake is “synonymous with Italy”, for years it has proven to be popular “all over the world”, said Forbes. Whether “elegantly boxed, tinned, or wrapped in paper”, it is the “quintessential” edible gift. Carluccio’s limoncello panettone (Image credit: Carluccio’s) This elegant and dangerously […]

With Christmas around the corner, mince pies have returned “in full force” to supermarket shelves, said Holly Morgan in The Mirror. The seasonal staple is part of the festive furniture, as beloved as “carol singers and questionable novelty jumpers”. Brits eat more than 800 million of the delightful mincemeat-stuffed pastries a year, and it isn’t […]

Beans are “having a moment”, said Andrew Ellson in The Times. “Small, dry and often flavourless” the humble legume has never been particularly “glamorous” – but its fortunes have changed of late. Major supermarkets have seen “soaring” demand, with Waitrose’s canned beans sales up 122% year-on-year, while sales of chickpeas have surged by more than […]

When we think of Puerto Rico a few things come to mind: Bad Bunny, Bacardi rum and, of course, piña colada, which is believed to have originated from the Caribe Hilton in 1954. The islanders are to this day arguing about which particular bartender had that stroke of genius but you can leave that to […]

Telling your personal narrative through food is a common cookbook trope. Taking an anthropological wander through a peoples’ — or country’s — food culture is another prevailing cookbook methodology. Less ubiquitous is an author who merges the two, swiveling a mirror to look at both themself and their ancestral background. Niloufer Ichaporia King’s 2007 masterpiece, […]

Telling your personal narrative through food is a common cookbook trope. Taking an anthropological wander through a people’s or country’s food culture is another prevailing cookbook methodology. Less ubiquitous is an author who merges the two, swiveling a mirror to look at both themself and their ancestral background. Niloufer Ichaporia King’s 2007 masterpiece, “My Bombay […]

The cocoa content of Club and Penguin bars is now so “debased” that Britain’s much-loved lunchbox biscuits can no longer legally be marketed as chocolate, said Tony Turnbull in The Times. Their downgrading to “chocolate flavour” highlights how products that look and taste like chocolate may actually contain very little of the real ingredient. Dire […]

This has to be one of the easiest, most decadent desserts you’ll ever make, says Poppy O’Toole. I picked it up when working in the kitchens of a bank: for big events it would be our go-to sweet treat, as it was so easy and everyone loved it Ingredients (serves 8-10) 20cm loose-bottomed fluted tart […]

Mezcaleria Alma Denver Every spot that Johnny and Kasie Curiel have opened in Denver in the past few years has been “a window into Mexico’s dynamic food heritage,” said Kate Kassin in Bon Appétit. Late 2023 brought Alma Fonda Fina, winner of a Michelin star. Late 2024 brought this companion, a deeply stocked mezcal bar […]

For me, soups are always superior when the veg has been roasted beforehand (as opposed to boiled), said Flora Shedden. The squash and apple in this recipe both develop a lovely natural sweetness when they are left to roast and caramelise; the other great thing about this recipe is that you just shove everything in […]