I’m welcoming in spring with big Mediterranean flavours
A combination of the warmer weather, dusting off my sunglasses and the impending release of my new book, MEDesque (out on Thursday!), has got me fully focused on sunshine food and Mediterranean flavours.OK, so I’m not quite in rosé-in-the-garden territory just yet, but it’s close.And I am counting down the days.At home, I am leaning heavily on recipes from the queen of all things Med, Claudia Roden, to get my fix.Big hitters such as her bean stew with chorizo and bacon and chicken traybake with olives and boiled lemon deliver on all fronts, and immediately transport me to my favourite region.
And gone are cold, slow days spent labouring over a lasagne.Instead, I am gravitating towards lighter pasta dishes such as Georgia Levy’s broccoli and anchovy farfalle, Giorgio Locatelli’s pasta con le sarde (with sardines, anchovies, fennel, raisins and pine nuts) and Yotam Ottolenghi’s straccetti with red mullet, harissa and black olives – all effortless yet flavoursome.If you’re not quite ready to give up on wintry ragu and bolognese just yet, then Anna Tobias’s lamb shanks and orzo are a joy – it’s how many pasta dishes are cooked in the eastern Mediterranean and north Africa, where the pasta is stirred through the meat and absorbs all those juices and flavours.It’s my favourite way to eat pasta.While I’m not quite ready to eat outdoors, I have started cooking outdoors, and last week I reawakened our wood oven.
It was heated out of its winter slumber especially for Greek Orthodox Easter, because my yiayia (grandma) had requested kleftiko for Sunday lunch.Nothing screams summer and Med cooking as much as when I get that wood oven going, and not just for pizzas (although they do taste pretty elite when cooked outdoors).Nigel Slater’s pizette recipes are a great place to start if you are giving homemade pizza a go, and The Ultimate Wood-Fired Oven Cookbook, by Genevieve Taylor, was a bible when we first got acquainted with our new toy.I’m yet to dust off the barbecue, but that will undoubtedly be the next step, and I cannot wait for the smell of perfect pork souvlaki and charred, spiced adana kebabs to waft through the garden.For a sweet fix, I am a big fan of gelato and sorbet once the sun starts making an appearance.
Having a stash of lemon sorbet in the freezer is always a good idea, and this one by Felicity Cloake is a real winner.For a showstopping make-ahead pud, Helen Goh’s almond and honey semifreddo is perfect for when you have guests over, and will instantly transport you to a sunny Italian spot, too – as, indeed, would any of Yotam’s grownup granitas.Perhaps I will have my first rosé in the garden this weekend, and perhaps it will be in granita form? That would be glorious indeed.You say tomato, I say tomato | The first UK tomatoes are now being harvested, and you can order them direct from the brilliant Isle of Wight Tomatoes.I love it when a box of their colourful sweet toms turn up on my doorstep, plus they also have an excellent range of sauces and preserved tomatoes.
Greek salads are officially a go.Break the ice | Having tubs of gelato in the freezer, just because, is one of my adult “musts”.It started when London favourite Nonna’s Gelato began delivering its incredible Christmas range (sage and brown butter, anyone?), and I bought tubs and tubs of the stuff as treats over the festive season; they’re now a freezer essential.We’re also big fans of Baboo, which makes small batches of delicious gelato in Dorset, with local produce and delivery nationwide; there’s even a banana and peanut butter gelato especially for dogs.Get into the grill | While I am a dab hand at Greek and Cypriot barbecue, this year I have made a pact to learn a variety of techniques, to which end I’ve been devouring the latest release from barbecue master Melissa Thompson.
Her new book, Fired Up, has everything you’d want and more: weeknight grilled peanut and cumin lamb chops, and courgette and halloumi buns, as well as larger projects such as coffee-rubbed smoked short ribs and cornbread with brown butter, chilli and thyme.If you want to read the complete version of this newsletter please subscribe to receive Feast in your inbox every Thursday.
Yes, retail investment needs a boost – but the squirrel looks too tame | Nils Pratley
Red squirrel characters have a history in the public information game. Older UK readers may recall Tufty, who taught children about road safety in the 1970s. His chum, Willy Weasel, regularly got knocked down by passing cars but clever Tufty always remembered to look both ways.Now comes Savvy Squirrel, who, with backing from the chancellor and a multi-year lump of advertising spend from the financial services industry, will try “to drive a step-change in how investing is understood, discussed and adopted”, as the blurb puts it. In translation: don’t squirrel everything away in a boring cash Isa but try taking an investment risk or two if you value your long-term financial health
Capital gains tax changes are on the table, and yet Armageddon has not arrived. Has the tide on housing turned at last? | Greg Jericho
A funny thing happened on the way to the budget: changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing, which had for years been a no-go zone, are now looking likely.One of the first times I wrote about negative gearing was in 2015 when I covered the then treasurer Joe Hockey appearing on Q+A. He said negative gearing was needed because when the Hawke government scrapped it in the 1980s rental prices rose.He was wrong (and to be honest, this was not unusual – a lot of my columns back then involved arguing Joe Hockey was wrong). While rental price growth went up in Sydney and Perth, it didn’t in Melbourne, Brisbane or Adelaide
Tesla reports mixed financial results as Musk pivots automaker to AI and robots
Tesla reported its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, disclosing some better-than-expected results but faltering in some key areas. The report failed to significantly buoy Tesla’s stock, which has limped along this year while its CEO, Elon Musk, has tried to sell the company’s new vision of humanoid robots and self-driving robotaxis. Its core car business has struggled in the face of competition from Chinese counterparts and backlash against his close involvement with the Trump administration.“There remains significant effort and hard work to realize our mission of Amazing Abundance,” Tesla said in its report, while claiming that demand for its vehicles was rebounding.Tesla revealed earnings of 41 cents a share on Wednesday after market close, more than the 37 cents per share that Wall Street expected
What is Mythos AI and why could it be a threat to global cybersecurity?
Anthropic has ruled out releasing its latest AI model, Mythos, to the public because of the threat it poses to global cybersecurity.However, the US tech startup behind the Claude chatbot confirmed on Wednesday it was investigating a report that a group of people had gained unauthorised access to Mythos. The alleged incident has raised concerns over the pace of development and the ability of tech companies to keep their riskiest products out of the public domain. Here, we examine Mythos and its potential impact.Mythos is an AI model – the underlying technology that powers tools such as chatbots – that, according to Anthropic, represents a serious potential threat to any organisation’s cybersecurity
Carlton coach Michael Voss accuses media of bullying after Elijah Hollands incident
Embattled Carlton coach Michael Voss has defended his staff and accused the media of bullying as the spotlight intensifies on the club for allowing Elijah Hollands to play last week during a mental health episode.Hollands behaved erratically in the match against Collingwood and is now in hospital, and speculation has focused on how Voss’s staff had allowed the young player to take the field given his struggles were obvious even from the stands.Fronting a large press pack on Thursday at Princes Park ahead of Saturday’s match against Fremantle, Voss said he wanted to respect the AFL’s investigation into the club’s actions on the night and “we accept that we need to look at process”.But he said that in a “complex situation that has history and background” his staff deserve praise.“I’m proud of my people, and the process itself will take care of itself, and we need to put our support behind that,” he said
Bournemouth 2-2 Leeds, Charlton 1-2 Ipswich: football clockwatch – as it happened
Time to sign off; I’ll leave you with Sam Cunningham’s match report from the Vitality Stadium. Thanks for joining me.Jamie Jackson watched as Manchester City won at Burnley to go top of the league …Ed Aarons was at the Valley to see Ipswich dig out a vital win:Championship table: Ipswich edge back into second place but Millwall, Southampton and Middlesbrough can all still claim automatic promotion. Oxford are not quite down after Charlton failed to take a point from their game tonight.Premier League table: Manchester City are top on goals scored, Bournemouth climb above Chelsea, and Burnley are relegated
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