Spring has officially sprung – reawaken your palate with zingy, zesty seasonal ingredients
After what felt like months and months of endless rain this winter, in the UK at least, the arrival of spring is more welcome than ever this year.It’s undeniable that a few days of sunshine and milder temperatures change everything: my mood, my palate, my dinner table (see below for my achilles heel: serveware).And to mark the change in season, the Guardian is launching a new seasonal food magazine.This Saturday will see the arrival of the Guardian Food Quarterly, for which I have showcased crab – one of my favourite spring arrivals.I have written five recipes, including a speedy, spicy crab cake banh mi with quick pickles, and a hot cheesy crab and chive dip inspired by the American south.
If you are in the camp that thinks that cheese and seafood are a no-no, then I hope you will trust me on this one.Just be sure to use that sweet, punchy brown meat in the mix, too, for maximum flavour.Other springtime joys include forced rhubarb.Technically arriving in winter, the much-prized vegetable (which, when forced, is grown in dark and harvested by candlelight), is pretty constant until late spring.And, by late April, the outdoor variety will be making an appearance, too, meaning you haven’t missed the boat on recipes such as Felicity Cloake’s rhubarb and custard tart, or Thomasina Miers’s rhubarb, cardamom and mascarpone trifle.
Despite its tendency to be teamed with puddings and all things sweet, rhubarb has a tartness that lends itself perfectly to savoury dishes.These seared king prawns with rhubarb and ginger sambol from Alexina Anatole officially take all the frumpiness out of winter.As does this mackerel with rhubarb and sherry vinegar from Nigel Slater; they are exactly the kind of dishes I want to eat to see in the arrival of the new season.For quick weeknight dinners, meanwhile, you can’t go wrong with a risotto, or my personal favourite, an orzotto, and this asparagus, pea and lemon orzotto from Rukmini Iyer is putting a spring in my step this week.It also celebrates one of the UK’s other much-loved spring arrivals: asparagus.
You can almost mark the departure of winter by the arrival of asparagus and jersey royals in the greengrocers and supermarket veg aisles,These pakora-esque asparagus and artichoke fritters from Yotam Ottolenghi are high up on my to-make list, as is this recipe for asparagus wild garlic hollandaise by Nigel Slater (pictured top),A double spring hitter with asparagus and wild garlic in the mix,Boom!And for the aforementioned jersey royals? Well, they have to be simply boiled for me, and dressed in an eye-watering amount of salty butter,Or, at the very most, a light dressing.
One of these from Anna Jones would be perfect; a bowl of aïoli, a pan of hot, tender spuds and a fork.Spring perfection.Zesty vibes | While I’m not in the habit of a seasonal wardrobe overhaul, my kitchen, on the other hand, does get a little sunshine glow-up.This zesty citrus garland is hanging on the wall, and providing me with constant joy.And these tulip jute placemats (from one of my all-time favourite shops Luna & Curious) have brought an instant pop of colour.
Tomatoes, I love you | Another current obsession, for a lot of people it seems, are tomatoes.My new book MEDesque comes out soon, with tomatoes featuring on the cover and heavily throughout (of course), and I’ve recently bought almost all the tomato-themed items on Modern Love Store’s website.These tomato napkins are a personal favourite, and this half-a-tomato storage container is especially adorable.We don’t often have tomato halves left over in our greedy house, however I absolutely get the appeal.The lemon one is excellent, too.
Water-meadow whimsy | If you’re in the market for investment pieces to elevate your dining table, then linens from Bertioli by Thyme (a hotel and spa in the Cotswolds, with an excellent farm-to-table restaurant) are a great choice,They are heirloom pieces, but you don’t need the whole set – a few napkins or a tea towel would bring an instant wow factor (for spring, I especially love the cherry blossom design),They are very special pieces indeed, with the range being hand-painted by Thyme founder Caryn Hibbert,If you want to read the complete version of this newsletter please subscribe to receive Feast in your inbox every Thursday,
Spring has officially sprung – reawaken your palate with zingy, zesty seasonal ingredients
After what felt like months and months of endless rain this winter, in the UK at least, the arrival of spring is more welcome than ever this year. It’s undeniable that a few days of sunshine and milder temperatures change everything: my mood, my palate, my dinner table (see below for my achilles heel: serveware).And to mark the change in season, the Guardian is launching a new seasonal food magazine. This Saturday will see the arrival of the Guardian Food Quarterly, for which I have showcased crab – one of my favourite spring arrivals. I have written five recipes, including a speedy, spicy crab cake banh mi with quick pickles, and a hot cheesy crab and chive dip inspired by the American south
There’s more to Mexican spirits than tequila
“We were amazed,” wrote the Spanish conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo as he beheld the extent of the Aztec empire in 1521. “Some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream.” I remember feeling a similar vertigo when I first saw the wall of agave spirits at the long-since-closed Los Angeles mezcaleria Petty Cash more than a decade ago. Agave spirits are distilled from the fermented heart (or piña) of the agave plant – not a cactus, but a succulent, like aloe vera or that thing dying on your windowsill.The Guardian’s journalism is independent
Buzz kill: US breweries shutter as fanfare over craft beers appears to fade
In the early 2000s, Chris Bell, then a student at University of Colorado Boulder, followed a common path among people interested in brewing beer. He started doing so at home, then spent years working at established craft beer makers Long Trail Brewing in Vermont and Avery Brewing in Colorado before opening Call to Arms Brewing Company in 2015 in Denver.In a crowded market, the business was successful. Its More Like Bore-O-Phyll beer won a gold medal in the fresh or wet hop ale category at the 2018 World Beer Cup. A local outlet called it one of the city’s best breweries, and it had a 4
Stir-fries, crab cakes and carbonara: Georgina Hayden’s crab recipes
It’s hard not to be excited by the arrival of spring and all the produce that will soon be gracing our kitchens. Asparagus, spinach and new potatoes can’t come soon enough, but it’s not just fruit and vegetables that I count down the days for – there’s plenty of seafood to celebrate too, and in particular crab. Sweet and delicate, its freshness mirrors the arrival of brighter, sunnier days. If you’re lucky enough to pick through a fresh crab, then it needs very little in way of adornment – a squeeze of lemon perhaps, and warm bread and salty butter. Thankfully for the time-poor among us, you can also buy pots of it pre-cooked and picked, which is glorious lightly spiced in a dip or for folding through pasta
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for spaghetti with mushrooms, soft cheese and herbs | A kitchen in Rome
Before cooking something, it is never a bad idea to turn to the expert on the science of food and cooking, Harold McGee. This week, I had mushrooms, which, as he notes, are fruiting bodies, specialised structures that, encouraged by the parent body underground, force themselves up through the soil and open their umbrella-like cap so the gills or pores can release spores into passing air currents. The aim is the same as for all pushy parents: get the next generation into the world and hope they don’t get eaten in the process.I am hoping that a few million spores got out before the white and chestnut mushrooms I bought at our local supermarket were picked and packed. Mushrooms are often described as smelling and tasting earthy, but, as with most things, McGee is right
How to turn puff pastry offcuts into a brilliant cheesy snack – recipe | Waste not
After testing puff pastry for the Filter a few weeks ago, I had loads of trimmings left over, which reminded me of one of my favourite zero-waste recipes. Malfatti are biscuits made from pastry offcuts, which are seasoned, rolled in seeds and spices, baked and served with cheese. Determined to create something new with all my excess puff, I realised that it would be perfect for making misshapen cheese straws. Even if you have only a few offcuts, I implore you to top them with cheese and some sauerkraut or kimchi, then twist and bake alongside a tart or pie. They’re a brilliant little cheeky snack
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