Tuna – food by sole

16th July 202116th July 2021

Plato de verano (“Summer’s dish”)

When it gets hot in Spain we avoid eating hot food and turn our attention towards things that are eaten cold. You might have heard about gazpacho or salmorejo!

Then there is the “plato de verano”, which literally means “summer’s dish”. It’s not a unique recipe, but a way of describing “something somewhat substantial that you eat cold”. It depends on the cook and whatever is available on the day.

My recipe provides a good balance between sharpness, oiliness, savouriness, softness and crunchiness so that it’s a pleasant and refreshing thing to eat, but without having to bite too much (too much effort if it’s very hot).

¡Buen provecho!

12th May 202113th May 2021

Pimientos rellenos / bajoques farcides (stuffed peppers)

I absolutely adore stuffed peppers—if Proust had madeleines, I have stuffed peppers.

It’s smelling them and instantly thinking of sunny Sundays and visiting grandparents; chasing the faint scent of the roasted skins all the way from the ground floor through three flights of stairs, across the long corridor leading to the kitchen, and then finally (finally!) digging into the strongly flavoured rice while sitting on a pile of cushions on a chair that was way too low for me… Yummmm!

31st May 20201st June 2020

Self-isolation, week 11: this place is still like a ghost town

Porridge with strawberries, peanut butter and dukkah

This week we’ve ventured outside of our Fitzrovia bubble and checked that

it’s still pretty much a ghost town elsewhere too
some things are timidly opening
this does not apply to parks on Sunday

We’ve also cooked some wonderful things and I’ve discovered that DUKKAH IS THE BEST

10th May 2020

Self isolation, week 8: the known classics, the new classics

We resorted to two types of ‘classics’ this week:

the known classics: the dishes we like and who never disappoint
the new classics: classic dishes we’ve eaten in restaurants, but not made ourselves before

It was a really good break from the extremely anxiety inducing messaging coming from the pinnacle of ineptitude hanging out in number 10…

🙄 *collective eye roll* 🙄

In other news, the local shops seem to have gone back to pre-lockdown and pre-stockpiling stock levels. They even had eggs! And toilet paper! But it is still very stressful to go to the shops.