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,
Prolonged high oil prices could ‘crimp’ AI boom, WTO warns
An extended period of high oil prices as a result of war in the Middle East could “crimp” the AI boom, the World Trade Organization’s chief economist has warned.The war and its impact on energy and fertiliser costs is the main risk to the global economy identified in the WTO’s latest Global Trade Outlook.But the Geneva-based body also raised a question mark about the continued strength of AI investment, which in 2025 helped to offset the hit to global trade from Donald Trump’s tariffs.“There is an interesting possible interaction between the Middle East conflict and the AI boom, in part because the boom is very energy-intensive,” said the WTO’s chief economist, Robert Staiger. “If the price of energy continues to be elevated for the whole year, that could put a crimp on the AI boom
Europe’s biggest airlines say fuel price spike caused by Iran war will drive up fares
Europe’s biggest airlines have said the rise in fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East will drive up fares and are advising passengers to book early.While carriers have partly hedged the price of jet fuel, bosses said they could not keep avoiding passing on additional costs to passengers for long.Long-haul airlines such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa said they would be adding more flights via Asia with Gulf carriers’ hubs either shut or operating at a reduced level since the US-Israeli attack on Iran.EasyJet dismissed any fears of imminent fuel shortages affecting flights in Europe despite concerns about supplies in parts of Asia, with Vietnamese airlines this week warning that they may reduce schedules.Kenton Jarvis, the airline’s chief executive, said it was “not seeing any issues” with its fuel supply
‘Alright mate?’: Amazon pins UK hopes on AI upgrade of Alexa
“Commiserations, mate, Chelsea lost 3-0 in the Champions League last night against Paris Saint-Germain,” says Alexa as it attempts to break the news gently to an awaiting Blues fan. Such is the injection of personality and understanding that Amazon hopes will lead to Britons re-engaging with their millions of Alexa devices, restoring it to the cutting edge of voice assistants rather than resigned to being a glorified egg timer.After its early access launch last year in the US, the long-awaited generative AI upgrade Alexa+ is finally making its debut in the UK, supporting eight years of existing devices strewn through more than half of UK households. With the UK being Amazon’s most engaged market and more than 40 accents to contend with across the UK and Ireland, the “next-generation ambient AI assistant” has its work cut out for it.The service will be available immediately for new purchases of Amazon’s latest generation of Echo and Show devices, with an invite system in operation for existing devices, which Amazon’s head of Alexa and Echo, Daniel Rausch, insists will progress faster than it did in the US
Inside China’s robotics revolution
Chen Liang, the founder of Guchi Robotics, an automation company headquartered in Shanghai, is a tall, heavy-set man in his mid-40s with square-rimmed glasses. His everyday manner is calm and understated, but when he is in his element – up close with the technology he builds, or in business meetings discussing the imminent replacement of human workers by robots – he wears an exuberant smile that brings to mind an intern on his first day at his dream job. Guchi makes the machines that install wheels, dashboards and windows for many of the top Chinese car brands, including BYD and Nio. He took the name from the Chinese word guzhi, “steadfast intelligence”, though the fact that it sounded like an Italian luxury brand was not entirely unwelcome.For the better part of two decades, Chen has tried to solve what, to him, is an engineering problem: how to eliminate – or, in his view, liberate – as many workers in car factories as technologically possible
March Madness 2026 women’s predictions: can anyone thwart a UConn repeat?
Can anyone derail the Connecticut juggernaut? Our contributors pick the winners, sleepers and upsets for this year’s women’s NCAA TournamentThere have been just four women’s Final Fours featuring all No 1 seeds. This year feels like it could give us the fifth. UConn v South Carolina would be a tantalizing rematch of last year’s national championship game – made even more interesting by the fact they didn’t meet in the regular season for the first time since 2013-14. Texas held off a late UCLA comeback when they played in November, but the Bruins have rolled off 25 straight wins since. EBCircle the date for UConn v South Carolina in the national semi-finals on Friday 3 April
‘The only thing left for me was death’: meet the meth-addict long jumper who has been to hell and back
Three years ago Luvo Manyonga knew he must change his life or die. In Poland this week, the former world champion makes an extraordinary return to athletics’ top tableSprawled prone in the dirt, the cold metal of a baseball bat cracking against his skull, spine and down to the legs that had once propelled him to glory, Luvo Manyonga experienced an epiphany. This existence could not continue; he must change his life or die.Manyonga had been a drug addict for as long as he could remember, seeking recreational highs that provided the opposite of the performance-enhancing shortcuts that some of his deceitful athletics rivals might have pursued.At times, he just about kept his habit in check
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