Food
Fresh ingredients, home cooking, flavour first. How to make simple food taste like you meant it.
- How do you choose a good olive oil in a supermarket?How to read an olive oil label in the aisle: what extra virgin legally means, harvest and best-before dates, origin, and why the bottle matters.
- How do you cook for one without eating the same thing all week?Cooking for one without a week of identical leftovers: cook components not dishes, make half-batches, and send one base in three different directions.
- What do you cook when it's too hot to cook?Italian-summer thinking for heatwaves: no-cook plates, one-burner dishes, and food that is better at room temperature than hot.
- How do you get chickpeas properly crispy?Truly crunchy roast chickpeas come down to drying them well, enough oil, a hot oven, plenty of space, and seasoning at the right moment.
- How do you plan a dinner party menu without stressing?A calm dinner party menu has one hot dish, everything else made ahead or served at room temperature, and a clear order of work for the day.
- How do you make eggs for dinner without it feeling like breakfast?Eggs feel like dinner when they sit on or in something substantial: a spicy tomato sauce, a frittata, greens or beans, with an egg timed to land just right.
- Why finish a dish with raw olive oil?A thread of raw olive oil at the end brings back the aroma that cooking dulls. Which dishes want it, which oil to use, and when to skip it.
- What should you pack to eat on a long day outdoors?Food that survives a backpack and still tastes good at the top: sandwiches that hold, things that don't wilt, salt and crunch, and smart packing.
- How do you make a frittata that isn't rubbery?A tender frittata comes from gentle heat, enough fat, the right pan and taking it off the heat while the centre still wobbles. Here is how we do it.
- How do you know how much salt to use when cooking?Salt by tasting, in layers, from the start of cooking to the last flake on top, plus how to salt pasta water and when to reach for flaky salt.
- Are frozen vegetables cheating?No. Frozen vegetables are a sensible, delicious part of cooking. Which ones freeze well, and how to cook them from frozen without them going soggy.
- How do you use lemon zest without it turning bitter?Lemon zest turns bitter when the white pith comes along for the ride. Which tool to use, how deep to go, when to add it, and why unwaxed lemons help.
- How do you make lentils interesting?Pick the right lentil for the job, cook it to the texture you want, finish with fat and acid, then send it in one of three directions.
- How do you make tinned beans taste like you meant it?Tinned beans are among the best things in the cupboard. Warm them in flavoured oil, mash some for body, and finish with acid and herbs so they taste deliberate.
- How do you cook vegetables so they actually taste good?Vegetables taste good when they brown instead of steam: dry surfaces, a hot roomy pan, salt at the right moment and a sharp finish. Here is how.
- How do you make pesto that doesn't go brown?Why pesto darkens and what we do about it: gentle leaf handling, cool tools, an oil cap, and freezing in small portions without the cheese.
- How do you make a salad that isn't sad?A salad stops being sad when the dressing is tasted, the leaves are dry, there is texture and something warm, and it is dressed in a bowl, not drowned.
- What is the best way to keep fresh herbs from wilting?Soft herbs like a jar of water, woody herbs like damp paper in the fridge, and basil hates the cold. How we keep each kind lively for longer.
- Are tinned tomatoes as good as fresh?For cooking, often yes, and out of season frequently better. Whole versus chopped versus passata, and how to choose a good tin.
- How do you make a tomato sauce taste less flat?A flat tomato sauce is usually short of salt, fat, acid or time. How to tell which one, and the order we try the fixes in before anything clever.
- How do you get umami flavour without meat?What umami is, and the pantry ingredients that bring savoury depth without meat: parmesan rinds, tomato paste, mushrooms, miso and soy sauce.
- What can you do with stale bread?Stale bread is an ingredient, not leftovers: panzanella, pappa al pomodoro, ribollita, croutons and breadcrumbs, and the Italian logic behind them.
- How do you make a vegetarian dinner feel like a proper meal?A meat-free dinner feels like a meal when the plate has four things on it: something crisp, something rich, something sharp and something warm.
- What should you keep in the pantry for quick weeknight dinners?A short, opinionated pantry list for fast weeknight dinners, and why each item earns its place on the shelf instead of gathering dust behind the paprika.
- What is a soffritto, and why does it matter?Soffritto is the slowly cooked base of onion, carrot and celery behind countless Italian sauces, soups and braises. What it is, how to cook it, when to skip it.
- What is cucina povera?Cucina povera is Italy's "poor kitchen": the resourceful peasant tradition of making good food from little. What it means, what it doesn't, and its dishes.
- What is pasta water for, and when do you add it?Pasta water is salty, starchy and the reason restaurant sauces cling. When to save it, how much to add, and how to tell it has worked.
- What can you cook when the fridge is nearly empty?With eggs, a tin, a starch, an allium and something sharp, an empty-looking fridge still has dinner in it. The five-things approach to pantry improvisation.
- Why does cacio e pepe sauce go clumpy, and how do you stop it?Cacio e pepe clumps when the cheese gets too hot or the sauce lacks starch. How heat, starch and fine grating decide between silky sauce and stringy lumps.
- What is the difference between lemon zest and lemon juice in cooking?Zest brings lemon perfume from the oils in the skin; juice brings sourness. When each one fits, why most dishes want both, and how other citrus compares.